Page 71 of Malicious Marriage
“I will.” My heart soars as he kisses me and for a weak moment, I consider asking him to stay. But it’s too much of a risk until I know what the hell Malcom is playing at.
Malcom keeps up the niceties until we’re standing in the lounge watching Dean drive away with Jack. When he spins to face me, the cold, hateful look I’m so familiar with is back in his eyes.
“Didn’t I make myself fucking clear, Clover?” he growls angrily. “I told you I didn’t want to see your fat fucking ass in this house ever again! Imagine my surprise when I come home and find a strange car in the driveway and your fucking stench stinking up my home.”
“Uncle, please! I can explain!” The term sours in my mouth as Malcom grimaces.
“I’m not your fucking uncle, you hear me? It comes with the whole cutting you out like most cut out a tumor. You’re nothing, you hear me?” He stalks toward me, and every alarm bell in my mind starts screaming. “Tell me, how the fuck did something like you bag a Savoy?”
“Dean?” My heart continues to pound and my fingers tremble as I clutch my hands together. “W–We just met.”
“Bullshit,” he sneers. “Someone like Dean would never be seen dead with someone disowned. That’s reputation suicide and I know the Savoys. They’re old bloodandold money.” His eyes narrow as he looks me over. “So, what’s really going on? You running a scam or some shit?”
“No!” My voice almost betrays me. “We met and we fell in love. That’s all there is to it. We love each other and we treat each other well. That’s why we got married so fast.”
Malcom studies me with beady eyes as if he’s peeling me apart layer by layer, trying to see deeper inside me. “He doesn’t know, does he?”
“Wh… what?”
“He doesn’t know you’re no longer part of the family.” Malcom laughs suddenly and turns away, walking back toward the window. “You’ve tricked a Savoy into falling in love with you and he doesn’t even know you’re a penniless nobody! How… interesting.”
Tears sting at the back of my eyes. I told myself that my uncle’s return wouldn’t mean anything once Dean and I were married, but I didn’t count on him finding out so soon. I thought I’d have more time to establish something with Dean before the news reached Malcom’s ears. News will have barely spread about the wedding, which means if Dean finds out and ends things, no one will be any the wiser. His reputation will be intact and I will be lost.
Hailey will be gone forever.
“Why the fuck was he asking about Hailey?” Malcom faces me again. “What did you tell him?”
“He, uh…” I scramble to come up with a believable lie. “He looked into the family and saw her. He asked after her and I panicked and just said she disappeared. He seems to want to find her, but I think he was just being nice.”
“Huh.” Malcom rubs at his jaw for a moment, then he breaks into a weird, cold smile. “Well, Clover, congratulations.”
“Huh?” My brow lifts.
“You’ve bagged one hell of a man. A fucking Savoy, of all people.” He approaches and clasps my shoulders despite how I shrink away. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep our little family drama between us for now.” His smile widens and he shakes his head, then he wanders away, muttering, “Dean fucking Savoy.”
That’s it?
He’s going to cover for me? Why isn’t he immediately threatening me or calling Dean back to tell him the truth and ignite my life once more?
What the fuck is going on?
31
DEAN
June passes in a blur.
Clover’s uncle appearing out of nowhere seems to set her on edge and I don’t see her in the days following the wedding. My attempts to reach out are met with reassuring texts, so I choose to trust that she’s simply bonding with family. Considering her sister’s disappearance, I don’t hold it against her. But just as I grow concerned that I haven’t seen her, things go to shit at work and the Russian deal implodes.
No one gives me an explanation as to why they suddenly decide to pull out of the weapons deal and any contact I make with them is answered by a wall of silence. A good deal in our favor suddenly turns into a disaster with weapons pouring into the country that I can’t shift and no one wants to buy because they fear retaliation from the Russians. At one of the emergency meetings I call about this disaster, Don points out how we’re bleeding money and if we aren't able to start shifting the weapons, it won’t be long until the law catches wind of what we’re doing. The more stock we hoard, the bigger the charges if the cops ever catch us red-handed.
My first suspicion is that the Russians caught on to my plan to shift our drug trade back into the territory they stole from us, but none of our cooking houses or drug runners run into any issues. That side of the business is completely unaffected, so I reason that this is purely a weapons-based issue.
I try for days to get ahold of the Russian general I was dealing with and he eventually responds by blowing up two of my warehouses and completely destroying all the weapons stock inside.
This means war.
Not only did they accept a deal for regular weapons, but they pulled out, refused to pay, and then blew up all the holdings, making the product completely unsellable. The loss is eye-watering even for us, and my patience immediately runs out.
