Page 15 of Provoked

“That’s why she’s trying to kill me. So she can take control of the trust. And once she has it, she can forge more documents making her your beneficiary. Then she’ll come after you.” Myvoice is still strained from the accident, but there’s no mistaking my grim tone. Ingrid pales.

“But…” Her graceful hands flutter over the bed anxiously.

“Probably best to turn the fiction to truth,” Fred finally chimes in with a smirk. I close my eyes in resignation. He’s right.

“You’ll arrange it, Fred? And get me out of here, too, please?”

“Arrange what?” Ingrid asks in a whisper.

“Our marriage, Ingrid. For real. Or at least legally.”

“Oh.” She blushes a fiery red. Fred snorts a chuckle that he quickly turns into a cough at my glare.

“Did you have someone else in mind?” I ask her curiously. She certainly hasn’t mentioned dating anyone and I would have thought if she had someone serious in her life, they would have been here to help with the move.

Ingrid shakes her blond hair furiously. “No! I’d already decided I’m staying single for the rest of my life.”

My eyebrows go up at that one. I can’t see it. She’s too sweet and gentle.

“Well, you can return to that path I guess after we settle the requirements of the trust and I’m satisfied you won’t let some schmuck take advantage of you,” I mutter.

For some reason, that makes Ingrid slowly straighten, her brown eyes twinkling with mirth. “I see. Well, I think we need some ground rules and Fred can be a witness. First, I’m not leaving Montana. You can recuperate and supervise from my house. That will give you an incentive to maintain reasonable standards. And Justin? If we’re legally married, there can’t be any other women. Even if we aren’t…” Her voice trails off and then her spine stiffens, “I won’t be humiliated like that. Nobody else as long as you’re officially with me.”

A curious sense of warmth spreads through my belly,watching Ingrid stake her claim so sweetly. Even if it’s a platonic one. Whoever eventually steals her heart is one lucky bastard.

9

I can’t quite believe it. You know when your dreams come true, but they’re nothing like you imagined? That’s my life right now. Justin and I are getting married. But he’s not in love with me and definitely not planning on sleeping with me. Even if he wanted to, he’s not in any shape for that. I thought about adding a requirement for him not to yell, but I don’t think he’s capable of living up to that kind of condition. So why create an opening for him to not follow-through on the others?

Fred heads out to make the necessary arrangements. Namely, a marriage license and finding a non-gossipy judge willing to come to my house to perform the ceremony. Meanwhile, Justin is arguing with the doctors about letting him leave.

“We can’t advise it, Mr. Wilde. You need rest and quiet. You shouldn’t even be sitting up for at least another week.”

“I can lie flat on my back in my own bed as well as I can here,” he states calmly, but with a bit of a bite I recognize as hisattorney voice. The doctors must recognize it too, because they acquiesce fairly quickly. And then turn to me. “One of the nurses will give you a packet of instructions and a list of supplies you’ll need.”

“Supplies?” I inquire faintly, wondering what exactly I’m going to need to do and if it’s going to involve blood. My own is bad enough, but seeing Justin’s might send me over the edge.

“You need to sponge bathe him every other day for the next two weeks, at least.”

I blush furiously and only then peek over at Justin to gauge his reaction. I can’t read his expression for the life of me. Instead of looking argumentative, he’s busy watching me with a puzzled frown.

I’m all kinds of anxious over this new development, but I can’t exactly voice them. A wife would not be squeamish about something as simple as bathing her husband. Not unless she wanted to bring questions about the true state of their marriage. I bite my lip and wait to see if Justin will change his mind. He doesn’t. Just closes his eyes with a long-suffering sigh.

“Fred will see to the transport as soon as he’s back,” he mumbles before his breathing deepens into sleep.

Slowly, I pace back and forth in front of the window. I’ve been sitting for what feels like days and there’s so much to process. I’m dying to call my best friend Rose and fill her in on all these developments, but that requires complete privacy. With Margot’s wild plan still possibly in play, I don’t dare even go out to the parking lot to sit in my car. So I pace and think and worry about Justin leaving the hospital prematurely.

Fred returns looking smug. “Medical transport will be here at six,” he announces calmly. Well, it’s Fred, so it sounds downright ominous, but it’s not.

I nod. “All the groceries were in Justin’s car,” I point out. “We’ll need food.”

Fred looks surprised. “Your fridge was fully stocked when I checked. Maybe the neighbors took care of things?”

I shrug. And then worry. “How did you get in? Could Margot have been in my house?” My anxiety is rising as I contemplate what that could mean.

Fred shakes his head with a small scoff. “Not a chance. She’d have left signs and I’m better than that.”

It’s probably true, but if I don’t recognize the contents of the fridge, it’s all going.

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