Billionaire's Second Chance At Love

Chapter Seventy-Two

Carmen shook her head and snapped herself out of her distracting thoughts. There was no way she was letting him get into her head again. No way she was going to make a fool of herself.

Uncomfortable and slightly growing tired of standing for so long, Carmen decided to walk around him. But Simon surprised her, quickly grabbing her upper arm and forcing her to stay put.

Her eyes snapped up to him, but before she could tell him off, she found him already staring her down, with an intensity that twisted another knot in her stomach.

"Something is different about you," he said to her, as if acknowledging it for the first time but couldn't quite put his finger on it. "What happened to my sweet and innocent Carmen who couldn't say a bad word to literally anyone?" He wondered aloud. "What did they do to you?"

Something about the way he said it irked her beyond words, and she couldn't help but clench her jaw. She yanked her arm away from him, fixing him with a hard glare. "I'm not yours. I never was. And secondly, no one else did anything to me. It's you and the lessons I learned after making the huge mistake of trusting someone like you that taught me never to judge anyone solely by their appearance. I've learned it the hard way, but I'm never again trusting anyone. Thanks to you, I'll never be able to open my heart to anyone ever again."

Carmen had hoped to see some sort of guilt in his eyes. She wondered if he was even capable of it but hoped for it nonetheless. But, surprising her yet again, his lips spread into a grin, and she wondered if he had even heard a word she had just said. Probably not. Why else would he look so smug? As if, instead of feeling like a complete fool, he felt that's exactly what he had aimed for, for her to lose faith in basic humanity.

He touched the side of her face and stroked her cheek. "Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? Because if there's anyone your heart belongs to, it's—"

"Simon!" A cold, detached voice interrupted and snapped him out of his delusion. He turned to glance over his shoulder while Carmen stepped away from him, wrapping her arms around herself as if suddenly cold.

Diana walked into the room and glared at the man. "I told you to let her be."

"Come on, we were just talking," he rolled his eyes, looking miffed, before he turned back around and tossed a playful wink at Carmen, causing her to scrunch up her nose.

"She wanted to make a call, and I was just telling her why it was such a bad idea." He faced Diana again. "In fact, now that you're here, maybe you can try to shove some sense into her. Because, I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure if I'm getting through to her at all."

Diana shifted her gaze to Carmen before sighing deeply. She dropped her purse onto the couch chair next to her and rubbed her temples. "Can you just go and do whatever it is that you do? I've had enough stubborn men for the day. I can't deal with your annoying attitude right now."

Simon simply shook his head, and with one last glance over his shoulder, he left the two women alone.

The awkward silence that fell into the room this time was more pronounced than ever. Diana felt as if this silence was not just the lack of words between the two, but the universe of distance she couldn't fathom. The girl she had given birth to, the girl she had hoped to see grow into the beautiful woman she had become, now felt so far away, that she might as well be in a whole different galaxy.

Moving around the table, the older woman sat down on one corner of the couch and crossed her legs. She looked up at Carmen, finding her standing at the same spot she had been when she walked in. "Why don't you take a seat and tell me how you're feeling?"

Carmen refused to meet her eyes. "I just want to make a call. Please don't make me beg for something so small."

Diana sighed, looking more and more tired, and appearing older by the minute. "You don't have to beg for anything. I know it might seem unfair, but it's for your own good if you stay low for a while. You're simply not safe out there, not yet."

Carmen finally turned, frowning. "And why should I believe you? It's not like you suddenly care about me. I mean, you left when I was so little. You left Dad when he needed you the most. You left and never turned back. And now you want me to just believe whatever you're saying?" Not to forget that she had this odd connection with Simon Walsh—the man she couldn't hate enough—that made her even more wary of the woman in front of her. It made no sense. But then again, life had stopped making sense a long time ago for Carmen.

Diana lowered her gaze and picked at the armrest of the couch. "I know you're angry, Carmen. And you might not be wrong to feel that way. You can hate me for as long as you want. But you have to believe me when I say that I'm only trying to keep you safe. I won't make you stay here for longer than you absolutely have to. But for now, both you and I have no choice but to put our heads together."

Carmen had no plans to go easy on the woman who abandoned her, forcing her to live a motherless life. But despite her attempts not to care about anything she just said, she ended up feeling a flicker of truth in her words. She would be a fool not to take what happened that night seriously. Those people had tried to abduct her. Diana was right to think it wasn't safe for her right now.

But if not now, then when? When could she go back to the people she trusted the most and felt safe around? When could she go back to her dad, Molly, and Ronin?

Her eyes widened ever so slightly at the thought of Ronin—her heart clenched.

She hadn't realized it until now, but it was Ronin she had been most worried about. She had no way of knowing if anything might have happened in her absence. What if they had tried to hurt Ronin too...?

"I just want to make one call, that's it," she tried again, hoping that if she asked nicely this time, the woman in front of her might give in. She walked around the table and sat down on the other end of the long couch.

Diana shook her head, her eyes softening sympathetically. "Carmen... I don't think you're hearing me."

"I am. I swear I am," Carmen said before Diana could finish what she was saying. "But I just need to make one call. Just one. I promise I won't create any problems after that. I'll cooperate for as long as you want."

Diana regarded Carmen for a moment, her expression conflicted. She could see the desperation in her girl's eyes, and it tugged hard at her heartstrings. Despite the years of absence and the resentment she knew Carmen felt, she couldn't ignore the genuine need in her daughter's eyes.

After a heavy sigh, she had no choice but to relent. She shook her head and gave her a small smile. "Alright. Just one call. That's it."

A/N: What do you think about Diana so far? Do you think she means well?