31. Drew
Choosing to bring her into the lion”s den wasn’t an easy choice but the only option. I hate that I’ll be putting her in the same room as my father all over again, but I remind myself that this will be the last time. It has to be.
My stomach roils, and bile rises up my throat. I’m sick with grief and anger. I really don’t want to fucking do this, but now that I’ve administered the drug, I need to go through with it. I have no idea how long it will stay in her system. I have to take her to my father”s house while she’s still knocked out to sell the plan.
I need him to be arrogant and secure in the fact that he”s won before I rip his head off his body and burn it in the woods behind The Mill house.
Okay, that’s not the actual plan, but it”s one of the many endings I”ve envisioned for him over the years. Now that it”s finally time, I”m nervous. Not for myself since I haven”t been able to protect myself properly in years. No, for Bel.
If she somehow gets hurt in the crossfire, I”m not sure I can live with myself. She”s an intricate part of the plan, a way to put my father at ease. A way to ensure everyone but my father walks out of that room alive.
I swallow down my emotions and remind myself one last time that I’m doing this for us. Then I hike her unconscious body up a little higher and carry her down the stairs. I’m near the door when I spot Lee in the kitchen, a bottle of his alcohol of choice halfway to his lips. His gaze darts between me and Bel’s face, and I can’t miss the concern that appears in his eyes.
”Should I even ask?”
”No, you shouldn”t. The less you know, the better.”
His eyes narrow as he takes in the scene. ”Since you assholes have been exceedingly anti-social and don”t tell Aries or me anything, how can we help?”
”I don”t want your help,” I bite out, only realizing a few seconds too late how it sounds. But I don”t have time to soothe his temper.
“Whatever, be that way, but know that if something happens to her, that’s on you. This might be our own shit hole of lives, but we don’t have to drag those we care about into the pits of darkness with us.”
”Look, I’m sorry. I’ll explain as soon as I can. I’ll be back later… If—if I”m not, then you need to step up for The Mill.”
“You know Sebastian is next in line.”
I say nothing because the less he knows, the better.
”What are you planning to do, Drew?”
I shake my head and walk out the door to the car my father sent over for us. I cradle Bel’s sleeping body in my lap, breathing her scent in, wishing I could take this moment and encapsulate it forever. It’s short-lived, of course, since we get to the house faster than I”m ready for. Bel shifts in her sleep and every twitch makes me fear she”ll wake too early. At the house, the driver opens the door, and I step out, quickly clasping Bel to my chest so he doesn”t get any ideas about taking her.
She”s far too light as I carry her inside, reminding me of how fragile she is in this whole thing. Even though I don’t want to, I take her straight into my father”s study as he instructed me. When I enter, he looks up from his desk, the double doors of the office slamming against the walls behind me.
His desk sits across the room, his back to a bank of windows, shelves line the opposite end of the room crammed with books I’m pretty sure he’s never touched. An antique rug stretches the length of the room with a large leather couch, end table, and lamp near it. There’s a bar built into a shelf near his desk, and he’s cleared something out just beyond the doors. I stop dead and stare at the open space. “What’s this?”
He waves at the empty space. “I moved some things around so we’ll have room for your wedding guests.”
He’s fucking delusional, so I don’t even bother asking about the guests comment. His beady eyes scan me from head to toe, and I try to keep any lick of emotion off my face. Any show is something he can use against me, and he’s taken enough as it is.
”Well, shit, Son. I didn’t think you had the balls.”
Of course he didn’t.
“I told you I was going to do it.”
“I understand that. I’m just impressed. Not only did you stick to the plan but you got her here in one piece. Maybe there is potential in you after all.”
I watch him cautiously as he walks around the desk straight toward me. There’s a crystal glass of whiskey in his hand, the brown liquid near the brim. Great, he’s drinking. I try to do my best to hide my response to the way his eyes move over her limp form, almost hungrily. ”She is rather pretty when she tries. Not that it matters. You won”t have to be married to her for very long.” He waves at a clothes rack to the side of the room that I hadn”t noticed when I walked in. ”There are clothes for both of you. Put her on the couch, and I’ll take care of dressing her while you put on your tux.”
I clutch her tighter to my chest and nearly growl in response. ”No. This is your party, sure, but I”ll be dressing her myself. She’s mine at least until I choose to dispose of her.”
The usual ember of rage flickers to life in his eyes, and I expect a punch to the face for my defiance, but after a moment, the corner of his mouth lifts, and he nods.
”Fine. The white lace will look good on her, I think. She”s a little too skinny for the velvet.”
I carry her to the rack and pull the first white lace thing off I see. None of it matters since it”s all for show. The next time I see her in a wedding dress it’ll be on the day of our real wedding and my father won’t be in sight. With the dress in hand, I carry her to the far corner of the room near the bookcases. It”s still out in the open, and yes, he can see her, but I will do my best to shield her body as much as possible.
I quickly learn it”s really fucking hard to undress and dress an unconscious person. Every time I move her, I fear she”s going to wake up and freak out. I”m not sure what the hell I’ll do if she wakes too early. Not that I”d blame her for freaking out. I’m just not sure I’ll be able to calm her down enough to keep her in line.
The last thing I want is to see the fear in her eyes and worry that this time, this time, is when she decides she can no longer trust me.
I dress her in a white lace dress with a full gauzy skirt that bells out around her thin waist. I hurry to make sure she”s covered, not worried about straightening anything out. It takes half the time to get into my tux as it took to dress her, but I still keep my body firmly between his gaze and her body. I turn to tuck the gun I brought into the small of my back once I slip on my belt and the jacket.
Then I face Bel again, if only to hide the shaking of my hands as I quickly button my shirt and tuck it into the pants. This is fucking ridiculous. Why dress us up like dolls if the marriage and wedding mean nothing more than a piece of paper and contract?
There has to be more going on, and that thought alone leaves me suspicious. I finish dressing and lift her gently to lay her on the nearby leather couch. At least she”ll be more comfortable when she wakes up freaking out.
My heart is in my throat, choking me at the thought of her waking, seeing the fear on her face and the mistrust in her eyes. She”ll be terrified and hate me all over again, and I don’t know if I can handle that.
She trusts you.
I square my shoulders and sit beside her, then I gently lift her head and place it on my thigh. I look away from Bel’s sleeping form to see my father wheeling a hospital bed into the room. My mother”s hospital bed. Fuck. I didn’t anticipate this.
What the fuck is he doing?
I’m tempted to go over to her and make sure she’s okay, but Bel is still in my lap, and I don’t want to risk moving her again, not yet. “What’s going on?”
He doesn’t even look at me as he maneuvers my mother’s bed near the bar on the far wall by his desk. I’m shocked that he even takes the time to engage the brakes on the bottom once he has her where he wants her. “I know your mother isn’t one-hundred percent with us, but I would assume you don’t want her to miss your big day?”
I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood. I’m beyond angry, and even more concerned with her here. If something goes wrong, I’ll have two people to protect, instead of one. Deep breath. I count back from ten in my head. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. I let the anger clouding my thoughts go and remind myself what the endgame in all of this is. “Fine. Whatever.”
Out of nowhere, a man I vaguely recognize walks through the door. I’m tense and jumpy. If I don’t calm down, I won’t be able to pull the trigger when I need to. The man’s tall, taller than either my father or me, with a heavy five o’clock shadow, and he’s wearing a long dress coat over a nice black suit. My father cuts across the room to shake his hand. “Richard, thank you for making it on such short notice.”
I’ve seen this man before at my father’s events. One of his allies, but not really a friend.
My father turns to me with a sneer. “Richard here is going to be our officiant. He’s a lawyer, naturally, and brought the contract, but he’ll be doing the vows too.”
I flick my gaze to Richard and back, not quite sure of him yet. “Is that legal?”
Richard smiles, and it makes him look younger than I thought. “I assure you, Mr. Marshall, the contract is perfectly legal, and I’m a state-certified officiant.”
I gulp, hoping neither of them see it. None of it matters. We won’t actually get that far anyway.
Bel stirs on my lap, and her whole body stiffens, telling me she’s awake but pretending she’s not. “So what’s the plan?” I ask, knowing she’s listening intently.
My father stalks over, hands in his slacks pockets, scowling down at me. “The plan is for you to marry this brat, gain access to all that Arturo money, and that’s really it.”
I don’t bother keeping the doubt off my face. “That’s it?”
He chuckles and shrugs. “I mean yes. That’s all I’m going to say with a lawyer present, that is.”
The lawyer in question heard every word. I glance his way. “Richard is it...what’s your last name?”
He smirks. “Bellago.”
Well, that explains it. One of the “community” so he wouldn’t care if my father pulled out his gun and shot me in the head right now. I skim my hand down Bel’s forearm. Her skin is colder than usual, and I place my arm over hers to try to warm her up. She shivers, and my dad’s eyes drop to Bel’s sleeping form.
“Ah, perfect timing. Our bride is ready to join us. Wonderful. We should get started.”
Everything in me revolts at this plan. Yes, I agreed to it. All of it seemed like the easiest way to put my father at ease and let him drop his guard, but fuck, if Bel and I marry one day, when we marry one day, she will be fully awake, alert, and present. Not to mention, I’ll spend every cent I have to give her the wedding she’s always dreamed of.
Not this rushed bullshit affair in my father’s fucking study.
I rub her arm again and then cup her chin gently. “Wake up for me, Flower. We’ll get this over with, and you can get some rest.” My voice is low and gentle, and I don’t miss the sneer on my father’s face or the muttered, “Fucking soft,” as he heads over to his friend to whisper and confer.
It’s not a moment alone like I wish I had, but it’s all I know he’ll give me right now.
Her eyes fly wide, and immediately, her gaze chase across my features. Tears welling. “Drew?” I don’t miss the waver in her voice or the way her fingers clench on my tuxedo jacket.
“It’s okay. You’re safe.”
Her voice cracks as she whispers, “Safe?”
“Bel, look at me.” I hold her chin tight in my hand and resist the urge to spread her hair across my lap and soothe her. “Do you remember what you said to me in the car the other day? You told me that you trust me. You trust me, right?”
I keep my voice low, and the fear and pain in her eyes are like an ice pick to my heart. “I…. I do. I just… I don’t know. What’s going on?”
I gently ease her into a sitting position and wait while she clutches her head in her hands, no doubt dizzy from the drugs. Dropping her hands from her face, she slides her eyes down over her body before meeting my own.
She’s looking at me with a mixture of confusion and fear, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do to ease her worries. “Drew. Please. Tell me what’s happening. What are you doing? Why am I in this dress?”
Here goes nothing. Giving her knee a squeeze, I raise my voice and smirk at her, hoping she sees through it, like she always does. “It’s your lucky day, Maybel. Today, you become a Marshall. You get to marry me.”