Chapter 31 #2
Dare looks at me then shrugs. “We’ll be right here. I’ll be able to see you. Plus, Tristen can keep watch of you. He does a hell of a job washing my money so I am confident that he can guard you for two seconds and keep the jerks at bay.”
I squint at him but don’t say anything. Mostly, what comes to mind is that the biggest shark in the room seems to be his Uncle Felix. The guy gives me the worst feeling. But I nod and smile. The two men walk away, huddling and sharing secrets.
I give Tristen my brave smile and he rolls his eyes. “Men, am I right? Let me see the ring that Dare chose.”
I hold out my hand to him and he steps closer to me, taking my hand and admiring the huge emerald on my finger. “It’s nice. Actually, it’s gorgeous.”
“Dare didn’t pick this out though, I think.” His gaze flits up to me and he releases my hands. “Am I right?”
There is a sour taste in my mouth as I nod. “You are right. He didn’t pick it out.”
“Yeah, he has a habit of relying on his assistant to have good taste. Luckily, his assistant picks excellent furniture and clothing. Jewelry, too, by the looks of it.”
My face burns but I nod. I have no idea who this person is or how much he might know about my life, so I am very careful with my next words.
“So, you’ve known Dare for a long time?”
Tristen glances at me, his gaze weighing his answer.
“You don’t really want to know about that.”
“But I do!” I protest.
Tristen steps closer, moving close to my ear. “I know how you two met. I know the whole story. You don’t have to pretend with me.”
Surprised, I step back. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
He exhales a laugh. “I know the whole fake marriage gambit. And I also know that you’re…” he mouths the word pregnant to me.
My cheeks stain with blood. I haven’t met this guy and I don’t know him from Adam but apparently, he knows all of my biggest secrets. When Dare and I leave this party, he’s going to get an earful from me. Why would he not have mentioned Tristen before?
“I didn’t know that Dare was so indiscreet,” I finally manage.
“Oh, I didn’t really mean it to come out like that. Dare is usually a black box. You tell him a secret and he never tells another living soul about it. But I just so happened to be around when the whole thing started up.”
I cross my arms, trying not to let my agitation show. “That’s nice,” I say. “It’s good that Dare has a friend, I mean.”
Tristen looks at me, his expression growing tense. But before he can say anything, someone clinks a knife against a wine glass at the far end of the room. I turn away from Tristen, glad that I have an excuse to pay attention to anything else.
Dare takes my hand, squeezing it as he looks toward the other end of the room as it clears around Remy Morgan and the butler, who stands with a wine glass and a piece of cutlery.
Remy is wearing an off-putting light green cardigan over a white Oxford and rumpled khakis. He leans on his cane and when he gets the attention he called for, he waves Clive away.
“Hello,” Remy grates out. “I’m so glad you could all be here tonight.
My grandson Burn and his fiancée Daisy have set a date for their wedding.
I never thought it would happen, honestly.
But you know.” He pauses and everyone laughs a little uncomfortably.
He raises his hand and beckons to the back of the room.
“Burn, Daisy, why don’t you come up here? ”
Burn and Daisy aren’t the only ones moving.
Dare clenches my hand and practically drags me to the front of the audience, elbowing his way past everyone else.
Remy glances over at Dare and I, his brow knitting.
But in the next second, Burn and Daisy step out into the circle that has been cleared to a room full of applause.
“There they are now,” Remy says pointing at Burn and Daisy. “My grandson. The spitting image of my father, I always said.”
Burn has the audacity to bow and wave to everyone, a smirk on his face.
Dare, raising his hand. “Actually, Remy… We have an announcement to make as well.”
Burn and Daisy immediately turn their glares on us. If looks could kill, we would be pillars of ash by now.
Remy, pulling at his ear. “What’s that, Dare?”
Dare starts moving forward, causing me to stumble. But he doesn’t even seem to notice me at all. His gaze is fixed on Remy as he moves to the front of the room, trying to display me to everyone present.
“Remy, I would like you to meet my wife,Talia. Darling, this is my beloved grandfather, Remy Morgan.”
Remy’s face could not be more surprised.
He hobbles forward, leaning on his cane and extends his hand to me.
I take it and he grips my forearm. I glance down at his fingers against the flesh of my arm.
It looks like five stubby, spotty, bumpy red slugs are now trying to work their way under my skin.
I open my mouth thinking of all the things I could say to Remy. How he’s a bastard. How his money and power have corrupted this town. How he has screwed my family over again and again.
Dare must have a sixth sense about this because he puts his hands on my waist and squeezes. I stand upright and look Remy in the eyes.
“Hello, Mr. Morgan,” I say softly.
Remy looks me in the eyes and then releases my arm, stepping closer and cupping my cheek. “I see you married my grandson. I hope you’re fertile.”
My mouth drops open, but Remy turns away, hobbling on his cane once more.
“Everyone go back to the party,” Remy shouts. The Morgans begin to talk amongst themselves.
He claps Dare on the shoulder.
“Good job,” he growls. “Now get her pregnant.”
He hobbles off toward Burn, who is still staring at me like he could strike me down at any moment.
Dare eases his grip, putting his hand around my waist and exhaling a huge breath. But before he can truly relax, a red-faced man wearing a rumpled suit and nasty expression steps in front of us.
Dare sighs deeply, his possessive grip on me growing even more tense.
Dare throws up his hand, stopping the man before he can even say a word. “Look, Dad. Not tonight. Okay? Surely there is a bar somewhere that you should be plundering.”
Dare’s dad leers at me, wiping his mouth.
His words come out slurred and loud, the exact way you could only assume that he spoke.
“I am Tripp, Dare’s dad. I know that Remy acts like he’s Dare’s father, but I am.
And I am here to tell you that it is not too late.
You can still get an annulment. Because if I am sure of one thing, it’s that this one… He’s awful.”
His breath is bad and I take a half step back to avoid him spitting on me as he talks.
“I know who you are,” I tell Tripp, wrinkling my nose.
“Dad, stop. You’re embarrassing yourself,” Dare says.
He pushes me behind him, holding out a hand to ward Tripp off. But Tripp doesn’t even seem to notice Dare. His eyes are locked on me.
“He’ll let you down. He’s never been anything but a disappointment. If his mother were here, God rest her soul, she would tell you the same.”
Tripp’s drunk words make me madder than I can ever remember being. I don’t know that much about Dare’s family, but I have seen his dad twice and both times he was drunk. Gives me a pretty good idea of just why Remy was the stand in father for Tripp’s kids.
“Dad, fuck off. Don’t talk to her. She doesn’t want to be involved in our little family squabbles.”
Tripp lashes out, whipping his hand at Dare. Then he tries to grab me. I catch a glimpse of pure malevolence on Dare’s face.
“I’ll fucking kill you if you try to touch her, Dad. I’m as serious as a grave.”
Tripp lunges toward me again and manages to catch my dress where it flares out at the waist. He grabs a fistful of the dress and rips it, snarling.
Dare grabs his father and wrenches him back, raising his fist. “I’ll end you,” he manages, his voice laden with threats. “You will fucking die, old man.”
“Stop it!” My voice leaves me in a shriek. I clutch at Dare, stopping him from hitting his father. I turn to Tripp, my face growing red. “Stop it right now. Leave Dare alone, you big bully. Go bother someone else.”
Tripp and Dare both turn and look at me.
I realize that my words were loud enough to draw the attention of the surrounding people. My face goes an even deeper shade of red, but I lift my head, giving Tripp a haughty stare. He sneers at me and then clambers to his feet, lurching off toward the other side of the room.
“Fucking tyrant,” Dare spits, his eyes still fixed on his father’s retreating figure. “If he ever lays a finger on you, I’ll kill him. Hell, I’ll kill anybody who touches you. And I’ll do it gleefully.”
I put my hands on my hips, my lips twisting. “I have to say, Dare. I don’t much care for your father. I hope that you don’t take offense to me talking to him like that.”
Dare whips his head around, his eyes fastening on me. To my surprise, he grabs me by the waist and hauls me close, his lips descending until they reach mine. He kisses me hard, his lips demanding, his breath coming out of his nose in a snort. It’s like kissing a dragon, or so I imagine.
I give myself over to Dare, pressing my mouth against his lips. He kisses me back, his hands digging into my waist, and I feel my pulse speed up. But then he slowly ends the kiss.
“I take that as an agreement that I should always talk to your dad like he’s a menace?”
Dare smooths back my hair, tucking a strand behind my ear. His gaze is direct and intense. “I’m going to reward you later, darling girl. Just remember that.”
We circulate for a little while longer, making sure that we are never far apart. I make sure to pretend to enjoy Dare’s possessive hold on me.
Well, maybe I don’t have to pretend that hard.
Dare, for his part, makes sure that he kisses me every few minutes. All in all, quite a spectacle for anyone that hasn’t met me yet.
And the best part is that I think it’s working. If I have to be honest about it, I don’t even hate his kisses as much as I could. There is a low tickle at the center of my stomach, thinking about what Dare promises me.
What will he reward me with in bed, I wonder? The question makes me shiver.
At one point, Dare steps away but keeps me in his eye line. I meet a lot of Dare’s female cousins and eventually I grow tired of my plastered-on smile and the continual shaking hands.
I excuse myself to go to the restroom and slip out the first exterior door that I see, which happens to lead to the gardens. Releasing a sigh, I lean against the outside of the mansion and look at the hedge maze.
It brings a smile to my lips before I remember that my marriage, such as it is, remains a hoax.
My phone buzzes in my purse. I blink and fish it out.
I haven’t heard it go off in days. At first, I think that maybe it’s just Olivia checking up on me. But instead of seeing texts from her, there are a series of texts, all from a number I don’t recognize.
Gulping, I shiver against the cold night air and read the text messages.
Dare is a liar.
He is not to be trusted.
Want proof?
There is a picture of Dare and Tristen from the side, their heads bowed as Tristen whispers something and Dare smiles wickedly back at him.
You didn’t just agree to marry him out of the blue… you were pushed. Dare had people damage your aunt’s store and leave threats. He also had people come into the restaurant you worked at and pretend to be impossible to please customers.
A video appears on my screen.
There is a short clip, shot in the dark.
A squat balding man in tears rubs his hands over his eyes and looks directly at the camera with a pleading expression.
“I’m sorry. I was paid to break some windows at some broad’s bookstore.
I broke the front window and went inside to mess some stuff up and then left the message that I was told to leave. I really didn’t mean…”
The video cuts off abruptly but I am completely shocked. I lean over, trying to catch my breath.
This man is clearly talking about Aunt Minnie’s bookstore. My fingers shake as I play the clip again, trying to gain any additional clues. But the video is too brief for that, and I am ready to close my phone when a final text comes through.
Get out while you still can.
I blink rapidly, unable to process what I have just read. Could this be true? Could Dare have really paid someone to intimidate me into thinking that circumstances were more dire than they really were? Would Dare do something like that?
The answer comes to me without even having to really think about it. Yes, of course he would. Dare is the first person to say that he is a cutthroat businessman first and only out for himself.
No muss, no fuss, no romance.
Acid fills the pit of my stomach and I close my eyes, tears leaking free and running down my face.
What have I done? Here I was, trotting around this party, performing like a trained pony for Dare. And he fucking let me. I can’t even blame him, because that is the nature of the devil.
The devil is silver tongued, incredibly sexually attractive, and will steal the breath right out of your lungs.
God, I feel so stupid. Dare is the fucking devil. I should have known from the second I laid eyes on him, but I let him woo me with money and the lure of a fairytale life for my unborn child.
I don’t know who would have sent the evidence to me, but I do know that if I don’t leave now, I might never get away from Dare Morgan completely.
Shoving my phone into my purse, I turn toward the front of the mansion and begin to run.