Page 24 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“It’s a doctor for Mom. I need you to get him to come to the house and look at her.”

“He won’t say anything different than what we’ve already heard.”

“I know.” I bit my lip. She wasn’t going to be happy with me. She loved my mom so much. Asking this of her was difficult. “I need you to find out if there’s any hope Mom will recover.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m not sure it will help. Or that your father will allow another doctor to step in.”

“Margaret,” I pleaded. “She’s been barely aware of what’s been going on for two years.”

She stepped back, shaking her head at me. “You’re giving up?”

“No, I’m asking for an outside opinion. If there’s something we can do for her, I’m glad to keep trying. But I won’t be around as much. I don’t know what to expect from Asher, so I need to be realistic about this. She won’t have me for constant company, which leaves you and the nurses. And we both know how hard it is to spend a lot of time with her. You do the best you can, but if she’s going to be left on her own…”

She covered her mouth as tears spilled down her cheeks. “You’re not saying…”

“If she’s trapped inside her body, I don’t want her suffering anymore,” I said, trying to hold back the tears. “She’s suffered long enough. I just want to know realistically what we’re fighting. I don’t think Dad always has the best intentions.”

She swiped at her face and ushered me to the door. “We shouldn’t be talking about your mother right now. You’re about to be married.”

“You and I both know that I may not see her very often. Promise me you’ll take care of her.”

She pressed her lips together, then pulled me in for a hug. “Of course I will.” She stepped back and smiled at me, wiping at her tears. “Let’s get you down that aisle.

I nodded, but I was anything but ready. Sure, Asher seemed like a decent guy—for a criminal—but that didn’t mean I could trust him not to turn on me after we were married.

I was just about to turn for the door when the dreaded knock came. The door was swung open by one of the guards, not even waiting for me to answer. My father stepped in and looked me up and down.

“I suppose you’ll do.”

I shook my head slightly. This wasn’t the way any of this was supposed to go. My father was supposed to walk in here and tell me what a beautiful bride I would be. He was supposed to give me the best wishes for the future and congratulate me on my choice of husband. None of that would happen, though.

He walked up to me and immediately grabbed my wrist, checking to make sure the scars were sufficiently covered. His eyes flicked up to mine, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. I held my breath as I waited for his approval—or disapproval. The good thing was that he couldn’t hit me today, not if he didn’t want all of his business associates seeing what he’d done.

“Let’s get this over with.” He grabbed me by the arm, his fingers digging into my arm painfully as he dragged me out of the room. I nearly tripped over my dress as I struggled to keep up in my heels. He yanked me to a stop just outside of the sanctuary, then turned to me with narrowed eyes.

“Just remember, your job is more than keeping your husband happy. I expect you to report anything that may be going on within his organization that I need to know about.”

My mouth gaped open as I stared at him. This was the first I was hearing about this. I thought I was simply a pawn in his game, but now I was finding out he expected a lot more from me. But how would that even work? My father didn’t let me in on any of his secrets—not since that day several years ago when I snuck into his office. There was no way I could be expected to find out anything worth knowing when I would have access to nothing.

But before I could respond, the doors opened and the wedding march played. The benches were filled with associates of his. Not a single friendly face stared back at me. In fact, most of them watched me with a cross between curiosity and disdain. I swallowed hard as my father tugged on my arm, dragging me closer to the aisle. Finally, I found the power to move my own feet and we walked down the aisle in a daze. The only saving grace was that Asher was staring at me, and what I saw in the depths of his eyes melted something inside me.

He wanted me.

Not in the disgusting way that those guards had wanted me. This was pure lust. He appreciated what he saw, but there were no creepy vibes coming off him. That gave me the courage to meet him in front of the priest and take his hand as my father offered it to him.

“You ready for this?” he whispered.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I answered, and then we both turned to the priest.

It felt like the ceremony dragged on for hours. I stood up there, well aware that everyone was staring at me. I wished they would look anywhere but at me. I checked in long enough to find out where we were in the ceremony, but then my mind would drift off to an island where I could lay in peace for just a few hours with the sun beating down on me.

I’d seen it in movies, but had never experienced it for myself. I wasn’t entirely sure Patrick was telling me the truth when he said there would be sunbathing and swimming with sharks. It sort of felt like one of those times when everything was one big joke, and I was the last person in on it.

Asher squeezed my hand and my eyes flicked to the priest, who stared at me expectantly. Luckily, he repeated the vow thing and allowed me the courtesy of answering the second time around without making a big deal about it. After that, I listened with rapt attention. He pronounced us husband and wife, and then I turned to Asher.

Fuck, this was the moment we were supposed to kiss. I wished now that we had at least practiced at some point, just to make sure I wasn’t revolted by him. His eyes caught mine through the veil, then his fingers gently lifted it and laid it over my back. His hand slid up my arm until he was cupping my jaw. My breath caught in my chest at the tingling sensation in my arm, not from fear, but from lust.

His eyes locked on mine, and then he crushed his lips to mine, kissing me like he had been dying to do it all day. My hand came up to cup his elbow, but the kiss was anything but short. His hot breath mingled with mine as he plunged his tongue in my mouth and tightened his hold on me.

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