Page 17 of Kiss the Bride

“Liv, please go in and cancel any second cards on your accounts.Now.”

“Why?”

Hunter sits beside me and takes control of his cell, clicking and scrolling before stopping at a screen that makes my heart sink. No. No. No, it can’t be.

Mitch: Thanks mate. I owe you one. Don’t tell Olivia. She’s stressed enough about the wedding.

Hunter: You’ll tell her after the wedding?”

Mitch: Can’t bloody hide it then. Especially if you want me to pay it back.

Hunter: I expect you to tell her AND pay me back. Fuck. I can’t even believe you asked me.

Mitch: None of the other guys would have access to the cash

Hunter: Or, they’d fuck you over for being such a fuckwit

Mitch: I got in over my head. I’ve quit

Hunter: Isn’t marriage a big enough gamble? Why the fucking horses?

Mitch: I thought I had the connections to make it work. I’ll have a drink on you

Hunter: You’re having your whole fucking honeymoon on me

Mitch: I’ll pay you back. I’m good for it

Hunter: Just make her happy

I scroll up and reread the messages, again. And then again.

“What?” It doesn’t make sense.

“I should have told you. Like I said, confession time.”

“What did you do? It looks like you paid—“ I trail off, unwilling to finish the sentence. It would mean that Mitchel stooped low enough to—

“Yep.” Hunter holds my gaze and I know this is hurting him to admit as much as it hurts me to hear.He paid for my honeymoon?“So you can go on your honeymoon if you want to.Actually, I’d prefer you take the tickets, enjoy the beaches, and come back ready to face the world.”

“But Mitch?”

“My least preferred option is that bastard going on a three-week holiday at my expense. Especially since I doubt he’ll be paying me back any time soon.”

“Gambling? But he always said that was for losers.” I didn’t know about Lina. I didn’t know about his gambling. How could I be such a fool?

“He lost. Big time.”

I suck in my breath and admit softly, “I have a couple of credit cards and he knows the passwords to my bank account, my superannuation, and insurances. He knows everything. I trusted him.”

Hunter gives me back my phone and watches me in silence as I wait for a carbon-bodied life form to talk to me instead of a robot.

Finally.

“My name is Olivia Marie Woodgrove. I need to cancel the second cards on all my accounts and …”

With Hunter’s eyes giving me the strength I need, I prove my identity and explain the situation. The woman on the other end of the phone is so sweet that it almost makes me cry, and Hunter pulls out his phone to take down her advice on how to financially protect myself, especially from gambling debts. We go through my uncleared transactions, and I am grateful that when my father set up my accounts, he had an automatic block for gambling sites.

“Could the other cardholder have removed the block?” I ask, not wanting the answer.

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