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“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” he says, cutting me off with a certain weariness in his tone I’m not sure I’ve heard from him before. “You caught me at a bad time. I shouldn’t have said those things to you.”
“I’m sorry, too. I didn’t have any right to come at you that way. I just—I wanted to be honest, you know? I had aseize the momentthought stuck in my head, but it wasn’t fair of me. You’ve been honest with me right from the start. I shouldn’t have…well, anyway, I’m sorry.”
He blows out a long breath, raking a hand through his rich black hair before he returns his attention to my knee and his face scrunches up in concentration. “I’ll try to do this as fast as I can, yeah? Just hold still.”
As he says it, he brings the gauze back to my skin and quickly swipes away the dirt before cleaning the scrapes. It’s not so bad, but he acts like he’s performing brain surgery, his attention squarely focused on my injuries, his movements swift and sure.
When he’s done, he surprises me again by pressing a soft kiss to each knee before he looks up at me. “All patched up.”
His gaze darkens. “Why would they do this? And so close to the end of the competition.”
“Jealousy,” I say immediately. “And they’re just mean. They knew I’ve been spending time with you guys outside of our dates and they also found out that my father is a gardener here now. Honestly, I’m not surprised.”
He pushes to his feet, and the mattress dips as he sits down beside me, his expression gentle as he looks deep into my eyes. “There is no shame in being the gardener’s daughter. It’s honest work, which is more than I can say about either of their parents.”
“Isn’t Rachel’s dad a politician?”
He dips his chin in a nod. “Sure, but not one of the honest ones. He’s power hungry, and he’s not above breaking some rules to get what he wants. It seems the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree.”
“What about the other girl?” I ask. “You dismissed her too, even if she was probably only doing Rachel’s bidding.”
“I doubt it,” he says. “Besides, it doesn’t matter. If she’s that easily manipulated, she would’ve posed a danger to the pack if we bonded with her. Either way, anyone who treats another Omega that way isn’t someone I want in our lives.”
“Antonio isn’t like that.”
Even as I say it, I realize though he isn’t mean, there is something he’s hiding from them. Something big enough to mean that he will not be the one Kaz ultimately selects.
A soft smile tugs at the corners of his lips. “I know. Neither is Casey Sinclair.”
My heart breaks into little pieces once again when I see the fondness on his features as he speaks about them. He’s right about Casey, the Canadian Omega who’s never mocked me about my mishaps in the dining hall or looked down at me even though she must’ve heard by now that I’m not exactly in the same social circles as the rest of them.
Since Antonio is in love with someone else, Casey is probably the best choice for the RP, but as much as I like her, it still hurts that it can’t be me. Kaz sighs, and his expression changes as he keeps looking at me.
“There’s just one problem with both of them,” he says quietly. “They aren’t you.”
My throat closes up, and I blink back the sting of tears.
He sighs again, shutting his eyes before bringing his hands to my face and then opening them again.
His voice is watery when he speaks again and the sound of it cracks something open deep in my core. “No one will ever be you.”
My hands move up to cover his on my cheeks. The moment between us stretches to eternity before finally, slowly, he leans forward and presses his lips to mine. The kiss is soft and sweet at first, but as my hands travel into his hair and his slide to the nape of my neck and the small of my back, it grows deeper. Harder.
Kaz’s lips are just as soft and firm as I remember, his scent more caramel than bourbon and musk now. Without conscious thought, I pull him closer, scooting up until I’m pressed to him as I devour his mouth like he’s already mine.
When an accidental whine slides out of me, he stiffens and abruptly breaks the kiss, his eyes blazing with determination as he gets up. “Wait,” he breathes, something churning behind his shifting eyes. He looks back at me for a moment, lips swollen and chest heaving. “Just…wait here. There’s something I have to do. I’ll be right back.”
Our eyes remain locked for another beat, then he spins and strides out of his chambers like he’s on a mission, leaving me alone in his bedroom, confused, turned-on, and wondering what the hell he’s up to now.
TWENTY-EIGHT
—
K A Z
I storminto my mother’s office, not bothering to knock and not stopping until I’m right across the desk from her. She looks up, seemingly unsurprised by my intrusion. “Kaspian.”
“I dismissed two of the Omegas. California and Sweden are gone.”
