Page 53 of Marrying the Enemy

“Dad.” Eve’s heart lurched as he stepped into the car.

“I’ll talk to him,” her mother promised as she stepped into the elevator with him.

“I’ll come to the hospital tomorrow and sit with you,” Eve promised her mother while her father looked through her as though she was dead to him.

The doors closed and they were gone.

“Eve—” Dom tried to turn her to face him, but his touch burned past her skin, into the marrow of her bones.

“I want to go for a run. Please?” She pressed against his chest, refusing his touch.

He nodded curtly and released her.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

WHEN AN HOUR had passed and Eve was still pounding the treadmill as though she was carrying a message from the battlefield, Dom made her stop.

“Shower, then come eat,” he urged her. He didn’t have much appetite himself so he wasn’t surprised when she only picked at the beautiful meal she’d arranged for her parents.

“Eve,” he tried again as he topped up her wineglass.

“I don’t want to talk.” Her hollow-eyed gaze met his. “I’m going to pull a Dom and ignore my emotions, okay?”

He prided himself on keeping his emotions on the surface, rarely feeling anything at a deep level, but that rang through him with the agony of a broken bone.

He kept hearing her say, I love Dom. I have since the first time we met.

That seemed impossible. It made him angry because... He didn’t know why it tripped his wires. Guilt? Because it made him feel as though he fell short? Or because he didn’t believe her?

Evie didn’t lie to him.

But she couldn’t love him. Why would she? His heart was as empty as his father’s and his father’s father. If he was lovable, his life would have been different.

Wouldn’t it?

When Eve went to bed, he came into the bedroom with her.

“Not tonight, okay?” Eve flashed him a glance as she hurried to put on silk pajamas. “I—”

“I just want to hold you, Evie.” It was the rawest, most needy thing he’d ever said.

After a charged moment, she nodded jerkily.

A few minutes later, they were in the dark, under the covers. She curled into his chest as he drew her into him. He felt all her hurt radiate out of her and soak into him. It was hellish, especially when he realized the small shudders rolling through her were sobs.

Every breath he took burned his lungs. He had never felt so helpless in his life, but he cuddled and coddled her, so damned grateful that she let him pet her and kiss her hair, and said, “Shh. We’ll get through this. I promise.”

He didn’t know how, though. That kept him wide awake most of the night, long after she finally relaxed into sleep.

He lurched awake when he realized she was up and dressed in skinny jeans and a cable-knit pullover. She was brushing her hair and fastening it into a low ponytail.

“Where are you going?” He came up on an elbow.

“To sit with Mom at the hospital,” she reminded him.

“Eve—I know you don’t want to talk. I don’t know what to say,” he admitted, sitting up. “I hope you know that I care about you. I don’t want to disappoint you. I want you to be happy in this marriage.”

“I know. It’s okay, Dom. It really is.” She sat on the bench at the foot of the bed with her back to him as she zipped knee-high boots over her jeans. “I just find it hypocritical of Dad to worry about whether you love me when he and Mom didn’t marry for love. They care about each other a lot, I know they do. It’s the same way you care about my well-being so Dad knows that’s not a bad reason to marry. It has served them really well and gave us a stable, privileged upbringing. I don’t have anything to complain about. I’m lucky to have what they have. I know that.”

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