Book 3 || Taming Prince Charming || Harry Styles

Chapter 27

Her view.

"Im going up to the room." I say to Harry as we arrive back at the palace after the lunch. "I need a shower to wash the shame off of me."
"Cassidy, no need to be so melodramatic."
"Whatever>" I shudder, thinking back to the farce of a lunch. Charlotte spent most of the hour talking about what a good husband Richard is, and I felt so sorry for her. I hurry up the stairs and am walking down the corridor when I see Tarquin.
"Oh, you're back." Tarquin grins at me. "I have something for you."
"For me?" I frown. "What?"
Well, it's from Kendall." He shrugs. "She dropped it off this morning with a card. I guess she wanted to apologize."
"Oh, really?" I say doubtfully.
"Yes, hold on. Let me go and get it from my room." He runs back down the corridor, and I wait patiently, wondering what Kendall bought for me.
I really don't believe she's going to apologize to me--and a gift as well?
Something seems off, but maybe Harry or Casper talked to her and told her to be nicer to me.
"Here we go." He walks back with a small box wrapped in silver paper and a cream envelope. "I wonder what she got you."
"I'll let you know later, when I open it." I take the box and card from him.
"Excuse me, I'm going to go and lie down now."
"Oh, okay." He looks disappointed. "Maybe we can hang out later?"
"Yeah, that sounds good."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Louis' coming back to Romeria."
"What?" I'm surprised. "When?"
"As soon as he can get a flight." He grins.
"No private plane for him?"
"It's a surprise." Tarquin grins. "No one knows except me and, well, you know."
"Oh, wow. Why is he coming back?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out." He grins and flicks his blond hair. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah, okay." I nod and walk back to the room, wondering why it's such a secret.

However, Louis soon leaves my mind as I want to know what Kendall got me. I rip open the box eagerly and my jaw drops when I see a vibrator in the box that looks very similar to the one Harry gave me. I drop it on the floor and rip open the envelope and read the card slowly.

Cassidy,

I heard about your fun last night with Harry. Just thought you should know that you're not the first girl he's taken to the club with a vibrator. It's a fetish of his. The one in the box is the one he gave me when we were together.
Yes, I'm the girl he was dating. I'm the girl who broke his heart. I moved on to bigger and better. I'm sure you'd agree that Casper is a much better-looking man.
Unfortunately, Harry is still a bit upset and jealous that I left him. I suppose that's why he proposed to you and brought you to a club. Only thing is, that doesn't make me jealous. Just sad for him and sad for you. Next time you feel like taking a ride, it might help you to remember that there have been many other riders before you. And some of us were treated to gallops, not trots.
XOXO

Kendall.

I read the letter twice unable to believe what I am reading. So Kendall isn't Louis' ex, she's Harry's ex? I suddenly feel like everything is clicking into place.
Is Harry using me to make Kendall jealous? Is that the real reason he brought me here to Romeria? I sit on the bed with the letter in my hand and read it again and then rip it up into little pieces and lay back and stare at the ceiling, waiting for Harry to enter the room.

***

His view.

I know as soon as I open the door that Cassidy's still upset. I didn't think she was going to react so badly to Richard being married, though it made me admire and respect her more. Cassidy's the girl I didn't think exists any more. She's the sort of girl I wanted to meet when I believed in love.
"You okay?" I ask as I turn the light on and she sits up. Her face is red and blotchy and I can tell that she's been crying. "What's wrong?" I frown as I walk over to her. "You're not seriously crying because of Richard and Charlotte, are you?"
"No. I'm not crying about that." She gives me a look that's void of emotion and I freeze in fear.
"Then what's wrong?"
"You used to date Kendall?" she spit out. "You used to take her to the club?"
"How do you know that?" I step forward.
"She sent me the vibrator you gave her."
Fuck! I should have known Kendall would do something like that.
"Don't you have anything to say?" She jumps up with her finger pointed at me. "How could you?"
"How could I?" I can feel my blood starting to boil. "I can do what I want. Yes, I used to fuck Kendall, what concern is it of yours? That was my past, Cassidy." I know I sound angry, but I'm filled with fear. Will Cassidy leave me now? The sudden emptiness that hit me at the thought scares me.
"I met her and she was rude to me and you never even told me." She glares at me. "I thought I was—"
"You thought you were what?" I cut her off. "Haven't I told you many times that this is not real? We're not really engaged, Cassidy. I'm not your Prince Charming. We both know this is about our chemistry together. This is about the sex." I say bluntly as I stick the knife into her heart. I can see the pain in her eyes as I speak, but I'm doing this for her as well as myself. I don't want her to think I'm someone I'm not. I can't make her happy. I'll never be the man she wants me to be. I've already brought her here under false pretenses. If she knows everything, she'll hate me. I know I should tell her everything. I know I owe her the truth. The complete and utter truth. But the fact of the matter is I'm scared. I don't want to lose her, not yet. Not now. I can't let go of her. I know that I'm losing her with my words, but I don't know how to stop hurting her. I don't know how to warn her to stay away from me without having her leave. I don't want her to leave. Not yet. I ignore the voice in my head that tells me, not ever.
"I know we're not engaged for real," she retorts angrily, the fire back in her eyes as she glares at me. I stare at her beautiful face and feel my heart crying out for her. I'm so confused. I don't even know what I'm thinking or feeling anymore.
"I'm sorry, though." I grab her hands. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I should have told you, but I wasn't sure you would want to know about my past."
"I don't know if I would've wanted to know either, but Kendall made sure that I did."
"I'll speak to her tonight." I frown, angry that Kendall's playing her old games again. Yes, we've been lovers and yes, I've enjoyed being with her until I've seen how manipulative she is.
"Tonight?"
"At the ball."
"The ball?" she groans. "Another one?"
"Yes, I thought you enjoyed it last night."
"It was fine." She frowns. "This is the last one, though. I think we need to talk tomorrow. Like, really talk. I think I'm ready to go home."
"I see." I turn away from her, pain searing my heart. This is it then. She's going to leave. "It is what it is. Tonight we'll have one last night of fun and then tomorrow, tomorrow we can talk about you leaving."

The words sound odd to my ears as I say them. I already know that tonight is going to be explosive. I can feel it in my bones. I don't know what's going to go down, and a part of me wonders if it's a good idea to go to the club again, but I dismiss my doubts. There's one room Cassidy hasn't seen yet. One room that might make her change her mind and stay. It's risky, but I've got to at least try to keep her here. The only problem is I no longer know why I want her to stay. Is it to help me carry out my plan or is it because I'm starting to fall for her?