Chapter 28
Dakota
If Rhylan taught me anything, it was patience.
I waited a few days before confronting Tiffany again. It was my last effort at keeping my sister within arm’s reach without having to shut her out from a significant part of my future.
We weren’t kids anymore, but I never thought there would be a time in our lives where we wouldn’t be close, and this drastic change in lifestyle would eventually drive a wedge between us, potentially fracturing our relationship forever.
Because how the hell could I ever explain disappearing out of the blue for weeks at a time?
I may not have known what to expect after my test, but she’d become suspicious at some point.
“Let me ask you this: Do you actually love him, or are you doing this to make some kind of shocking statement? Like all those thirty-something-year-olds that go all dramatic and blow up their lives—or get fuckin’ bangs?
” To no surprise, Tiffany had been combative from the start.
She was a younger version of me; stubborn, defiant, and occasionally, calling it like it is… a brat.
“If you’re suggesting that my marriage is part of some midlife crisis, then the answer is no.
” I’d fallen for Rhylan, with every fiber of my being.
But I didn’t expect her to understand how I’d gone from wanting to set his ass on fire to settling down within a matter of weeks.
Fuck, I barely grasped the concept myself.
“Are you sure you weren’t in some sort of psychotic episode with the whole shit show with my ex creating a situation that he took advantage of?”
“Okay, Harriet the Spy, enough with the crime fiction analysis. He asked, and I said yes, willingly. There wasn’t any kind of blackmail or coercion. I want to be with him.”
“It’s not overanalyzing when you’re the one begging for me to accept an arranged marriage to one of his…
friends just so you don’t have to keep secrets.
What is there to hide? What the fuck have you gotten yourself into that would even require something so extreme?
Is he working for the mafia? The cartel? A drug dealer?”
“Not… exactly…”
“Worse? What could be worse than a mob boss for a husband?”
No matter how much I wanted to spill every single detail, I couldn’t. Rhylan emphasized that once she knew—and I don’t know how the fuck he’d even find out—Tiffany would have to be legally married to another member, or she could consider herself a loose end.
In a nutshell… spilling any detail, no matter how minute, with her not committed to following through with the marriage, would mean that I was signing her death certificate.
“I just—need you to trust me, Tiff… Sister to sister. If you don’t want to know what’s happening in my life from this day forward, then I’ll drop this entirely, and you don’t have to marry anyone. But remember what happened the last time we kept secrets, and why we promised to stop?”
As it turned out, Jaiden wasn’t just my problem to deal with; he’d also been physically and mentally abusive to Tiffany. And by keeping our mouths shut, out of fear of the consequences he’d threatened, we almost lost everything. Secrets nearly destroyed us both.
The night we finally confided in each other was the same night we promised to never keep anything from each other, no matter what.
“I get that, but… fuck…” Tiffany threaded her fingers through her hair as she turned on her heel before falling on the sofa, wrestling with her thoughts.
She’d been pacing this entire time, hadn’t stopped once, and I half expected her to bolt out the back door instead of staying put. “Do I have a choice?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course, you have a choice. I’ve already said that if you want to be left in the dark—”
“Not about the arrangement… but who I will have to marry. Do I get to choose the man I’ll have to spend the rest of my life tied to at least?”
Rhylan had mentioned that there were only two cowboys he trusted enough to set up with Tiffany; one more than the other. Trent, I believe, was his name. The same man who ran the show the night we went to Kerosene.
“I mean… You get to meet him before you make your life-altering decision. Is that enough of a compromise?” I looked at her with pleading eyes as I fell onto the spot beside her on the couch.
This past week had taken a toll on my mental state, and I felt as if I were about to crash out from all the stress.
“You’re really not going to make this easy for me, are you?” Tiffany sighed, taking my clammy hand in hers before giving it a light squeeze. It was good to see that the longer we talked, the more she listened, rather than shutting me out altogether.
“If I could, I would, but I’m doing this out of love, for you, not me. I can’t, in good conscience, shut you out after everything we’ve already been through. Not unless that’s what you want. If that’ll make your life easier.”
We sat in shared silence, and while I gave her all the time and space to think, I reminisced about our childhood; all the dumb shit we’d get into as kids and teens.
But no matter how much trouble we found ourselves in, as long as we stuck by each other’s side, we always came out stronger, and that’s what I wanted here.
“You’ve really signed us up for something crazy and fucked up, haven’t you?” Tiffany let out a low groan as she rubbed her eyes with the pads of her thumb and index finger, still processing but less resistant.
“C'est la vie?”
“You know, back in your college days, I knew we were in for a wild ride, but this takes the whole fucking keg.” Tiffany gave a small chuckle as she dropped her hand to mine, rotating the ring on my left hand as she inspected the intricate details.
He offered to get me one that was flashy and extravagant—nothing but the best for his bride. But I wanted something unique, different from all the massive rocks that desperate housewives in Nashville liked to show off.
I wanted something meaningful. So, I let him choose the design.
“I’m going to take that response as a soft ‘yes’ for now and will check with Rhy as to when we can set up an introduction for you and your future husband.”
“Potential future husband. And he better be a damn show stopper like yours, or I’m turning my ass right the fuck around.” She dramatically gestured with her index finger in a U shape.
“I can already guarantee you’ll like him.
” I saw her eying Trent the night we partied at Kerosene.
She may have been trying to play innocent, only taking brief glances when she thought I wasn’t looking, but I caught her staring just a little too long more than a few times.
Enough to know he had a decent shot at winning my sister over.
“You’re a horrible influence. Do you know that? Big sisters are supposed to prevent their siblings from doing stupid shit; not walk hand in hand into the dumpster fire with them.”
“If we burn, we burn together.”
“For your sake, I hope so…”
She might not have been outwardly showing it, but I could see the terror in my sister’s big blue eyes. She may have been sitting there, grabbing my hand with loving support, but this time, I was holding hers as we stepped into a whole new chapter together.
She’d have to take a test too… and I was confident that Tiffany would be capable of ending a life for love—or the promise of it.