Page 27 of Malicious Marriage
“I swear if you are, you’ll never see this little shit.”
“You can’t do that,” I reply, fighting to keep my voice level.
“I will. In a fucking heartbeat I will, Dean. And everyone will praise me for saving this baby from growing up with a murderer for a family.”
“Everyone we know has blood on their hands. Do you really think that will stand up?”
“Sure, especially when I have to protect this baby from the fact that killing women and babies runs in the fucking bloodline!”
Every word is another wound against my soul. My family has tried for years to put those rumors to rest and find out what really happened in the fire that killed my siblings, but as the years tick by, the truth has been lost until nothing but these toxic rumors remain. It’s hard to navigate when families think we’ll stop at nothing and kill womenandchildren to get what we want.
I don’t rule on fear, but the fear is there.
“I have rights,” I state tightly as my heart begins to race. “I know my rights and nothing will stop me from being a father tomychild. Even one attached to spawn as fucking foul as you, Trisha. Don’t call me again unless it’s a real fucking emergency.”
“Dean!” Trisha screams as I take a step out the door. “You can’t leave me! I’m the mother of your fucking child and I’m having a breakdown. Do you really think anyone will see you as a fit father if you leave me now?”
“No,” I snap over my shoulder. “You’re not having a breakdown. You’re having a tantrum.”
“Dean, please!” The waterworks are back on. “I’m pregnant and I’m scared. Please, you have to stay with me.”
“I have people to see.”
A switch flips and the tears turn off eerily fast. “You might be able to walk out on me right now, but I swear if you marry anyone other than me, you’ll never see this baby.”
That stops me from leaving entirely and I turn back to her. “There is no world in which I will marry you, Trisha. Not in this life or the next.”
“Yes there is.” Her eyes flash. “Either you marry me or I’m leaving. I’ll flee the state and vanish, and you will never see this baby while everyone else will think you did away with us and that you’re just as bad as your brother. Think your reputation can really handle that scandal a second time?”
12
CLOVER
“Why didn’t you wake me up before you left?” Despite the gentle way Bobby applies aloe to the bruise beneath my eye, his words are sharp and bitter.
“It was a spur of the moment thing,” I groan softly with my eyes closed. “How was I to know I’d run into Ryan?”
“You have a death wish, Clover, I swear. Don’t you stop and think about these things? Recklessness gets you into shit like this and I’m the one who has to pick up the pieces!”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry.”
“Sure,” Bobby mutters and the stool creaks as he leans away. “You always are.”
“Bobby.” My eyes snap open. “Iamsorry. I thought it was just going to be a quick trip and I wanted you to rest because you need it and you already do so much for me forfree?—”
“You think this is about money?” Bobby’s head snaps up. “Clover, you’re myfriend. I care about you and I don’t want you to get hurt. I want you to get your sister back. None of why I am here has anything to do with my job or my pay.”
“But your husband and your baby?—”
“Two things I would not have if you hadn’t gone out of your way to help me get this job in the first place. All the contacts I have? The skills? The savings? I have mylifebecause you took a chance on me, so I don’t care if you never pay me again. I’m your friend. And going out at fucking four in the morning,alonewith that rat Ryan running around?” He shakes his head and resumes applying the balm below my eye. “Never again.”
It’s hard to keep the tears at bay, but I do my best not to wash away the balm Bobby’s carefully applying to my bruise.
“I’ll tell you one good thing that came out of it, though,” I murmur. “I’m not shaky about Dean anymore.”
Bobby frowns. “How so?”
“Well, Uncle will be back in a few weeks and when he gets back, Dean will learn the truth. He’ll find out I’ve been disowned and he’ll call off our engagement because there’s no way he can take a chance marrying someone disowned like me. The damage to his reputation, never mind the superiors in his family? The way he spoke about how much pressure they’re putting on him to get married made it clear that he’s chosen me out of desperation, and someone like me, who will damage his reputation, will not be allowed. So… we need to get married before Uncle gets back. Once that’s secure, I can pay off Ryan, I can pay you, and we can look for Hailey.”
