My face colors as I remember what I did that night in bed. How I had my first orgasm while thinking of him.
“Princess.” His voice jerks me back into awareness.
I turn to face him, the camera still held between my fingertips.
The guilty look on his face tells me all I need to know before I even ask the question.
“What the hell is this?”
Noah passes a hand over his face before he murmurs, “Fuck.”
My heart shatters.
eight
Noah
My stomach fallsto my feet. I feel like I'm going to be sick. This was the best day of my entire life, and now it's ruined because somehow Cynthia has found out my crime.
The look of betrayal on her face is enough to break my heart. I got overconfident. I see my cell phone still clutched in her hand, and I curse myself for not keeping better track of it.
My girl is smart. She no doubt saw the pictures of her on it and put two and two together. She figured out that those photos weren't taken last night. They were taken the night before from the camera I had set up.
“How long have you been spying on me?”
I don't answer.
She flings the camera across the room at me. It bounces off my chest, but I don't even feel it. It's tiny, but it doesn't matter. If it had been the size of a TV, I still don't think I have felt anything right now other than sheer panic at the thought of losing her.
“It was you, wasn't it?” She asks in horror.
When I don't say anything, tears pool in her eyes as she covers her mouth with her hand. “Oh my god, it was you.Youwere the one in my room. You let me sit there and quiver and shake in fear and pretended to look for an intruder, knowing all along that it was you!”
She lets out an incredulous laugh. “How fucked up is that?”
“Yes,” I finally manage to speak as I take a step toward her.
My heart breaks when she steps back away from me, backing into the wall. “Don't come near me!”
“Cynthia, princess—”
“Don't call me princess! I'm not your princess.”
My chest tightens painfully. “You are,” I insist firmly. “Nothing has changed.”
“How can you say that?” her voice rises shrilly. “Everythinghas changed.”
“It hasn't. Just let me explain. Listen, baby.”
She shuts her eyes tight as if she's trying to shut out my image, but I keep speaking, desperately praying that I can make her understand. “I felt like an ass, okay? Yes, I was the one in your apartment, but there was never any danger. I swear I never had any intention of hurting you. I just needed to be near you.” My voice cracks.
“When I first saw you at our parents’ wedding, I nearly fell to my knees. That's how beautiful you were to me.”
She peeks up at me with tears streaming down her face. While it hurts me to see her crying like this, at least she’s looking at me. At least she’s listening to me. I have a chance to explain.
“It’s like somebody had stolen my breath from me, Cynthia. I couldn't breathe for looking at you, and I know this might sound corny as hell, but it's like there was this light shining around you. You looked so pure, so angelic. I’ve never seen anything more perfect in my entire life. And then,” I let out a hollow laugh, “your mom introduces me to you, and I find out you’re my new stepsister. Fuck, I was crushed. The only girl I've ever wanted, I couldn't be with.
“I left the wedding and told myself I was going to forget about you, but god help me, I couldn't. I didn't make it two hours before I snuck in here and put the cameras up.