Page 5 of His Naive Wife

I pull the sheet up, feeling exposed suddenly. Dylan is back to ignoring me. What did I do wrong?

“I love you,” I say.

Dylan heads to the kitchen and grabs a beer from the fridge. With his head still in his phone, he sits down at a small wooden table and begins to drink.

“Dylan?”

“Oh, sorry, baby. Did you want one?”

“No. Did you hear what I said?”

“No, I wasn’t paying attention. Was it something about your dad?”

“I love you.”

“Okay, baby.”

“You love me, right?”

“Sure, baby. Get me that promotion, and I’ll love you even more.”

I tell myself he has to be joking. I start to think about the times he’s told me he loves me and realize he’s never actually said it.

“You said we would be together forever,” I say. “So you must love me, right?”

“Why are you doubting me, baby? I told you, arrange everything with your dad and we can be together all the time. Get me a piece of that pie.”

“You mean the job? Is that all you care about?”

The front door is yanked open, making a rolling metal sound. Two overly muscular men burst in, and I wrap the sheet tightly around myself. I recognize them as Clive and Jimmy. They work for my dad.

“Let’s go,” Clive says.

Clive is the stockier and older of the two. His light brown hair is grey at the temples.

“No,” I say, sitting up straighter but careful to keep myself covered. “Dylan, do something.”

Dylan looks up from his phone and at the two men. “Oh hey guys, want a beer?”

“I wish, but we’re on the clock,” Jimmy says.

“Yeah, I get it. I told her she should go.”

“You’re covering for me tonight, right?” Jimmy asks.

“Yup, you know I got you. I’m looking forward to that sweet overtime.”

“Your father has been waiting for you,” Clive says.

“He can keep waiting.”

“I don’t think you heard me,” he says, his voice seething with anger. “I said we have to go.”

He reaches out and grabs my upper arm, then yanks me out of the bed. I hold onto the sheets to cover myself as I drop to the floor.

“Get dressed, brat,” he says before turning his back to me.

Dylan and Jimmy are talking while Clive taps his foot impatiently. I pick up my dress and undies off the floor and take them to the bathroom with the sheet still wrapped around me.

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