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“Don’t do anything that you’ll regret,” Arabelle murmured.
“And don’t think you’re alone. We’re family now. We’re here for you.”
A thick lump in her throat robbed her of any words.
They had no idea how much she needed this. Despite whatever they said meaning the exact opposite in her situation. being around these girls gave her a sense of happiness. Brief but not false.
“Does anyone know Deidre Phillips?” she asked, before filling her mouth with a piece of cake and sighing in pleasure. This. This cake was by far the best thing she had ever eaten and she said as much. It would also be the best thing she would ever eat in all her life from now onward.
Everleigh and Arabelle laughed.
“Don’t worry about her. We both have our own Deidres each. And seriously you have nothing to worry about at all. And if you stick around long enough you are bound to hear this: Why can’t you be more like, Angelica, in my case.”
“Or why can’t you be more like Brooklyn in my case,” Arabelle chimed in.
“Why? Because those women, like Deidre, do whatever they ask without question, day or night no matter what’s being asked.”
“But we’re the ones whose beds they come back to.”
Again except for her. Theirs were happy marriages. Hers just meant that Elliot could and probably did fuck Deidre in this apartment. Her tummy turned and a bolt of annoyance wrecked her. She would never admit she was jealous. She was annoyed, that was all.
“Speaking of beds…”
Both of them looked at Vivian and it took a minute to understand their meaning.
“No. This marriage is not consummated. And won’t be consummated. I belong to another man,” she said softly.
Chapter Twelve
Vivian must have fallen asleep on the sofa while she had been waiting for Elliot to get back home.
When she opened her eyes, the apartment was in complete darkness. In the next instant, the door opened and Elliot stepped in.
He switched on a light as she rose from the sofa.
A blanket of heat flowed over her. It felt as if she were seeing him for the first time and being mesmerized by his looks all over again.
Her heart did something funny in her chest. She immediately squashed that feeling. She would be way too foolish to believe that what had happened to Everleigh and Arabelle would happen to her.
Those kinds of things were not in her future and she’d create unnecessary sorrow for herself if she started thinking that way.
She meant nothing to Elliot Knight. Not when he saw her for the first time. Not now. Not any time in the future.
Her life was already over anyway, but she needed to fight for her cousin and her uncle’s lives.
“I’m done. I refuse to be a pawn in your grand show of revenge. You aren’t god. You can’t move me around like a dispensable puzzle piece that you don’t really need but just want because you can. Nothing has changed from this morning except that I’m more logical this time.
“I refuse to be in this apartment as your wife where it’s so blatantly obvious that this is where you bring your women to fuck. Go tell Deidre what to do. I’m not your slave. I’m not doing this. Now let me go.” She didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t throw a tantrum or anything else for that matter. She said what she wanted and now he could let her go.
“Are you done?”
She opened her mouth to speak again. Then closed it. She was so tired. She didn’t know if her cousin and uncle were okay. The less attention she drew to them the better so she couldn’t even ask Elliot if she could check up on her family. They probably thought she had already married Tobias, but here she was married to Elliot Knight instead.
“Elliot, please let me go. I’m begging you,” she sobbed. “I can’t be married to you. Please, I’ll do whatever else you want, but I need this marriage to end. I need to marry Tobias. I—”
The dimness of the lighting didn’t hide the way he clenched his jaw.
He said nothing as he strode past her, poured himself a drink then turned around and faced her.
