Page 18 of Marriage and Malice

After I finished cleaning her leg up last night, I carried her to bed and cleaned up the broken glass.

She didn’t say a word to me, but I could see the quivering in her bottom lip the entire time.

It was only when I left the room and closed the door that her sobs started. Which is why my back is now stiff after sleeping in the hall in case she needed help.

I’m in so far over my fucking head with this.

I walk down the hall so Zoe doesn’t wake up. “Hello, Jeremiah,”

I know I’m going to have to explain everything to her one day, but that day is not today.

It’s clear that Jeremiah didn’t bother to tell her my name which makes me think he’s been trying to find a way out of the wedding since he arranged it.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Herrera?” His voice is barely more than a hiss. “Do you think that this is some sort of fucking game?”

“No,” I say as I head down the stairs.

If I’m going to be dealing with him this early in the morning, I’m going to need a lot of coffee. “But you seem to think it is. Tell me, Jeremiah, what did you think would happen when you went back on our deal? I know you’re not a stupid man, but that seems like something a stupid man would do.”

“You don’t know what you’ve done.”

“I did what I had to do to protect my family.” Venom drips from my tone, and I end the call.

I don’t need to deal with him at all. I have what he wants, which means he is going to do what I want whether he likes it or not.

The sun is starting to rise as I walk into the kitchen and dump grinds into the coffee machine.

I yawn and stretch, my back popping as I lean down to open the fridge and search for the cream.

I don’t know how she takes her coffee.

Running my hand through my hair, I shut the fridge.

I should let her sleep. She’s had a long night and she’s going to be in pain when she wakes up.

I put a bottle of painkillers beside her bed while she was sleeping last night, but I don’t know if those are going to be enough.

Even though the cut didn’t need stitches, it looked like she was going to be in pain once the shock of everything that happened yesterday wore off.

My phone starts ringing again the moment I step onto my back porch with a steaming mug of coffee in my hand.

I shut the door behind me before taking a seat on one of the loungers by the pool and pulling out my phone.

“How is the problem back home?” Billie asks the second I answer her call.

“Good morning to you too. You do know that the sun is just now coming up, don’t you? I haven’t even had a sip of my coffee yet.”

Billie laughs, completely unbothered. “I needed to make sure that you got home okay. You didn’t seem happy when you left here. What’s been going on since you got back home?”

“I’m not talking to you about it.” I take a long sip of coffee before setting the mug on the table beside me. “Not a chance in hell. Now, tell me about how the party for the resort’s opening went. And how is being engaged?”

“You’re trying to change the subject. That means that there is girl trouble brewing. You have to tell me what’s going on. Now. Or I swear I will be getting on a plane today.”

Fuck. I know she's serious. “Fine.”

I run my hand down my face. “It’s girl problems. Well, girl adjacent. I have some people that have been after me for a very long time. Names from my men are leaked. Cops show up and arrest my people. I kill the rat. Wash, rinse, repeat.”

“And what does the girl have to do with it?”

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