Page 67 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“How much fucking longer are you gonna let this go on?” he argued with me.

I remembered on our honeymoon, I held her to my body, not by her wrists, and just squeezed her to me until she calmed down. It might not work, but it was all I had to go on right now. I hobbled over to her side of the bed and sank down beside her. She swung at me again, but this time, I didn’t try to stop her. I wrapped my arms around her, making sure to leave her arms free, and pulled her to me. The screaming got louder, the harder I held her to me.

“It’s okay, Jade,” I whispered. “You’re with me now. Nothing will ever happen to you again.”

Her breath hitched and despite still trying to fight me, her movements became more jerky. I ran my hand up and down her back, pulling her even closer. Every now and then, she struck out at me, hitting me in the back as she cried into my shirt.

I knew Lock and Patrick were still standing there watching my wife come apart. This was my fault. I didn’t protect her how I should have, and I missed just how badly she was taking this whole thing. I needed something that would help her get her mind off what had happened, to help her heal.

Finally, her cries died down until she was just taking stuttering breaths. I wasn’t sure if she was awake or asleep, and I wasn’t about to risk waking her up to find out. I nodded to Lock, who looked relieved that I’d been able to calm her down. He walked out the door, but Patrick stayed.

“What can I do?”

I shook my head. There was nothing he could do at the moment. “Just get some sleep. We have a lot of work to do in the morning.”

He nodded, but hesitated for a minute as his eyes locked on Jade pressed against my chest. For just a second, a flicker of jealousy ripped through me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he wanted my wife. But just as quickly as the strange look on his face appeared, it was gone and he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I laid back down in bed and held her to me. Her fingers dug into my skin, like she was using me as a lifeline. I definitely couldn’t fall asleep after hearing those terrified screams. They would haunt me for the rest of my life.

I thought when I agreed to marry her that I might be making her life better. I thought I was saving her from Ambrose, but maybe all I did was trade one terrible situation for another. At least at home, she still had her mother. What did she have here? She had me, but she didn’t really trust me, not the way a wife should trust her husband. She was constantly surrounded by bodyguards because the threat against her was too real. And the only way to keep her safe was to keep her on the property. She’d traded one prison for another.

When the sun was finally starting to rise, my eyes just wouldn’t stay open any longer. I was tucked in firmly with Jade at my side, and I had to admit that the more I let myself have moments like this, the less I wanted to keep my distance from her. If she noticed a change in me since we left the island, she hadn’t said a word. Of course, I couldn’t blame her. She’d had a lot to deal with since then.

Those words I said…I knew they cut her deep. Despite not having a real marriage, it wasn’t too much to think there would be a certain level of respect between us, one I had failed to provide. But since the attack, I couldn’t stay away from her no matter how hard I tried. My mind always wandered to her, wondering if she was okay or needed anything.

But I could be here for her now, just holding her because she needed it. Maybe it wasn’t everything, but it was a start, and I would continue to find ways to help her if it was the only good fucking thing that came out of this entire sham of a marriage.

* * *

I grumbled at the light knock at the door. My eyes were gritty from lack of sleep and my stomach was growling in pain. I hadn’t eaten enough lately, and that had to change. I breathed in the soothing vanilla scent from Jade’s hair and tried to fall back asleep, but the knock was persistent.

I sighed and carefully extracted myself from her warm body, then stalked over to the door. Flinging it open, I glared at Lock.

“What?”

“Her father is here.”

My jaw clenched hard. “It’s like six in the morning.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Um…it’s ten. Do you want me to tell him to leave?”

“Yes,” I snapped, only to instantly regret it. I hadn’t bothered to contact Ambrose since the attack and I knew this was coming. “No, I’ll be down in a minute. Let me get dressed. Offer the fucker some coffee.”

He smirked at me.”Sure, I’ll do that.”

He wouldn’t do that. Lock hated Ambrose just as much as I did out of pure principle, and there was no fucking way he was doing anything to be nice to the guy.

I shut the door and considered a quick shower to wake up, but I didn’t want Ambrose in this house any longer than necessary. I grabbed a suit out of the closet and tossed it on the bed, then walked into the bathroom and did a quick cleanup, making sure to splash myself with cold water. It did nothing to hide the bags under my eyes, but at least I no longer looked like I’d just rolled out of bed. I ran wet fingers through my hair and then slipped into my suit. I was as fucking fancy as I was going to get on so little sleep. He’d just have to deal with me.

Patrick was waiting outside the room and nodded to me as I passed, then slipped inside. After Jade woke up half the house last night, I was grateful for him stepping in. I could see Ambrose pacing downstairs as I took the stairs as quickly as I could. When he finally spotted me, the look of pure anger that was meant to intimidate me only pissed me off.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

“Why the fuck haven’t you retaliated?”

“Your daughter is alive, by the way.”

“I’m aware. What I don’t know is why you haven’t gone after whoever did this.”

---