Til Debt Do Us Part (Married At Midnight #4)

Chapter 11

Eleven

Talia

I sigh to myself as I stack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on top of a faded beige melamine cafeteria tray. The tray sits on a metal sheet pan that holds twelve such trays, all identical down to the shiny red apples and the servings of baby carrots. Lunch time at Hope House is almost always the same.

Longing for some work that will keep my hands busy, I volunteered for making sandwiches and doling out baby carrots. The tiny kitchen is downright depressing. It clearly used to be a closet of some kind, a room without windows. Somebody stuck a large photo of an aerial view of a Hawaiian island and the surrounding ocean up with thumbtacks. Trying, I guess, to imitate the feeling of having a view to gaze upon.

It’s a lucky thing that I’m so distracted by my own thoughts. I hum along with the ancient radio, which has been stuck on the disco oldies station since my very first volunteer shift.

“Mmm. Baby, baby,” I sing absently. “Where did our da dah…”

I trail off, unable to focus on the song. In truth, all I can think of is Dare.

My mind keeps turning the events of yesterday evening over and over as if tumbling them in a rock polisher.

Dare brushing his too-hot fingers over the hollow of my throat after he fastened the clasp of the icy diamond necklace around my neck. His fingers digging into the sides of my kneecap as he sat, thigh pressed against mine.

The way his eyes sparked electric blue at me when he gripped my wrist. A tendril of desire snaked around my body and wound itself tight, its thorns embedding in my delicate flesh.

I shiver as I remember the hot, flushed feeling coursing through my veins. That is the problem with Dare: his body is so desirable. But in the very next second, he opens his mouth and poison leaks out.

Sighing heavily, I push my hair out of my face. I have to pull myself together. At least if I am going to be useless, I might as well be able to help with the mind-numbing activity of finishing these lunches.

Fishing another slice of bread out of the half-full loaf bag, I grab my knife and slather a blob of peanut butter onto it. The kitchen door opens and I turn, my hand reaching for the strawberry jelly jar.

Aunt Minnie sticks her head in, beaming at me. Her hair is the same untamed mass of grays sticking out from her head almost like a halo. And she’s wearing some sort of forest green velvet robe with several strands of thin silver chains around her neck.

“Ah! There you are, Talia.”

I drop the knife in the jam jar and plow into her, not knowing until this moment how much I’ve missed her. Her arms wrap around me as I bury my face in the soft fabric gathered at her shoulder and squeeze her.

“I’ve missed you,” I whisper.

She chuckles. “I can see that. I’ve missed you, too, for what it’s worth.”

When I pull back, Minnie sees the ring on my right hand. She gasps and grabs my fingers, twisting my hand around so the giant gemstone glitters.

“What is this? It’s so huge!” she asks. “Surely that’s not your engagement ring.”

My face grows hot. “Ah. It’s not a big deal.”

“The hell it isn’t. Most peoples’ houses don’t cost as much as what you are just casually wearing.”

I suck in a breath. Her words were not meant as a slight, but they landed like an arrow right in my heart.

“I didn’t buy it. Dare just sort of handed it to me.”

As if that somehow makes it better.

Minnie finally lets my hand go. I fiddle with my ring, unsure how to tell her that I am married. Only technically … but still. Minnie moves back a couple of steps, looking me up and down.

We stay like that for what seems like forever but is only probably a quarter of a minute. Then Aunt Minnie steps back, her expression regretful.

“I have to go to the bookstore. I hired a girl to replace you, but her hours are very strictly limited. I promised her that I wouldn’t be late today.”

A preteen girl pushes open the kitchen door, interrupting Aunt Minnie.

“Talia? There is a visitor downstairs who wants to talk to you. I can finish up here if you want to go see what he wants.”

“Hm. Okay.” I don’t know who it could be. I’m not expecting anyone. “Thanks, Molly.”

Molly shrugs a shoulder and starts making the sandwich I never finished. We head outside and to the dark staircase. Aunt Minnie smiles at me and squeezes my hand, slipping away up the stairs toward the street. I head down, the stairs creaking and protesting with every step.

Who would be here to talk to me? The question makes my heart beat a little faster.

When I walk into the playroom, I immediately see Dare. He’s sitting on a couch, looking extremely uncomfortable. Solana is on his lap, her dark hair shining, her face hidden as she presses it into Dare’s expensive light blue Oxford. He sees me and gestures down at the little girl, a puzzled look on his face.

I smother a laugh as I approach. “I see your biggest fan found you.”

His sharp glance could pierce right through me.

“Do you want to take her?” Dare asks.

Shrugging a shoulder, I try to appear as though I’m not about to burst into howls of laughter. “It looks like you’ve got it covered.”

A young boy runs up to me, his dark eyes assessing me. I take in his thrift store clothes and the inflatable beach ball clutched under his arm. I see his gaze trip over my giant wedding ring and then see his eyes narrow as he passes judgment on me.

For the first time, I feel like maybe I am overdressed in my black suit jacket and strappy black maxi dress. I should have taken my ring off at the very least.

“Who are you?” the little boy asks.

“Talia.” I kneel down, putting myself at eye level with the boy. “I work here sometimes. What about you? What’s your name?”

His jaw juts out and his mouth puckers up. “Will.”

“That’s a great name. And you have a beach ball under your arm… I love playing with beach balls. I like how they float in the air for a second when you toss them.”

Will frowns. “Yeah.”

“Do you want to play? You could stand over there and toss the beach ball up. Maybe we could keep it from hitting the ground. See how long we can do it for.” I slide Dare a look. “How many times do you think we can pass it?”

Dare clears his throat, prying Solana from his chest. “I don’t know. Maybe… four? What do you think, Solana?”

“A billion!” Will shouts, running to the spot I pointed out. “We can do a billion-trillion times, I bet.”

He hits the beach ball with a soft pfft, arching it into the air. I rush to hit it before it touches the floor, tapping it on the bottom a few times to boost the ball into the air. I pass it back to Will, who laughs and hits it to the side.

Dare sets Solana on the floor and stands up, reaching over to catch the ball. He taps it up a few times, then passes it very gently to Solana.

She looks nonplussed but hits the ball very hard in my direction. Luckily, the ball shoots up and then falls slowly. I hit it back to Will.

We manage to keep it going until Molly comes tromping down the stairs, cupping her hands to her mouth. “Lunch is ready! Come upstairs!”

Will catches the ball and then hits it to me. He runs to the staircase, looking back breathlessly. “Hold the ball while I eat. Okay?”

I catch it, holding the ball up. “Definitely. It will be right here when you get back.”

He pauses, looking at Solana. “Aren’t you coming?”

The little girl shrugs, her gaze darting to Dare. “I don’t know.”

“You should go eat, Solana. Dare isn’t going anywhere. Right, Dare?”

Dare glares at me and smiles thinly. “That’s right. I’ll be here.”

Will runs over to Solana, grabs her little hand, and hauls her upstairs. As soon as they are gone, Dare folds his arms across his chest.

“You are going to break that little girl’s heart.”

I smile at him, walking over and collapsing on the couch.

“Are you going somewhere in the next half an hour?” I ask.

He glares at me. “No.”

“Then what’s the harm?”

“I don’t want to…” He pauses, then releases a melodramatic sigh. “I don’t want to make the little girl promises that I can’t keep. And I don’t want Solana thinking that I will be here for the entire day. I don’t want her to expect a lot from me.”

“Because that would set her up for disappointment.”

“Yes!” Dare hisses.

“I see.” I pat the spot next to me on the couch. “Come sit here with me.”

He looks at me, narrowing his eyes. But when I don’t add anything else to my statement, he does head over to me, his big frame taking up most of the remaining space. He spreads out, his expression a little tart.

“Happy?”

I touch his knee, looking into his eyes. “Yes.”

Dare’s brow knits. There is momentary confusion in his blue eyes. He seems to be expecting me to add more, to say something else.

When I don’t, he sits back, his shoulders dropping a fraction.

I squeeze his knee. “You know, for someone that talks a big game about marriage lasting forever, you don't seem particularly comfortable with me. How can we ever be an old married couple if we aren't comfortable with each other?”

Dare pushes his cheek out with his tongue. “Do you think that is our biggest concern right now?”

I shrug. “It's not small enough to be unnoticeable, either. It's something worth thinking about.”

He represses a sigh and wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer. I'm ready for an invasion, for him to kiss my lips and distract me. But to my surprise, Dare merely places a kiss on my head and attempts to sit silently with me. My breath hitches but I force my body to relax, folding my head against his chest. My position feels awkward but I'm not about to protest. After all, Dare is merely trying to comply with my demands.

I close my eyes for a few moments and inhale deeply, appreciating his masculine scents in my nose. Dare is a radiator, heat pouring off his body. I move infinitesimally closer to his body, letting my body warm up, soaking the warmth into my bones. He sighs again, his hand cupping my shoulder, his fingers tracing figure eights into the skin of my upper arm.

I remind myself that this is the stillness that I have been demanding for so long. I should just be able to enjoy it.

A muffled shout outside the window makes me seize up. Dare moves me off his lap, standing up with a tense look on his face.

“What is that?” he mutters.

He moves over to the window and pushes aside the tattered lace curtain, looking out. Unable to help myself, I scramble to my feet and join him.

My eyes immediately land on a woman’s curvy frame and thinning black hair. My immediate instinct is that this woman needs help.

Peering out the window, I see her standing about ten feet away, sandwiched between two larger figures. Two men, one in a faded red track suit and one in a dark green hoodie and jeans. They each have one of the woman’s arms and are shouting at each other as they yank on her. She wears a thin wool duster over a skintight black dress and shivers against the icy air as she looks back and forth from one man to the other. Her eyes are wide and her fear is palpable.

“She’s coming with me,” one of the men bellows. “I’m telling you, she’s my girl.”

“I’ll kill you both first,” the other man growls back. He rips her away, the force of his yank making the woman stumble.

My heart beats fast. I head to the basement door, thinking only that the woman must be saved.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Dare hisses. “Don’t you dare open that door.”

His words give me pause. I stop, looking back at him with alarm.

“I have to save her, Dare.”

Our argument draws the attention of the trio of people.

“The fuck, man,” one of them says. “I don’t need this.”

He lopes off, leaving the other man to drag the woman away, muttering as he goes. I run back to the window and watch as they go, flattening my palm against the glass.

“I can’t believe you didn’t let me help her. She clearly needed it.”

Dare grits his teeth. “You are four months pregnant, Talia. There is no way in hell that I was letting you walk into a situation like that. Someone could have pulled a knife or a gun. You could’ve been really hurt… or worse.”

My face feels hot. I pull away from the window, crossing my arms and feeling quite petulant.

“It would have been fine. I have been coming here to volunteer at this very house for half my life. I’ve managed perfectly well until now.”

Dare’s hands drop to his sides and he clenches his fists. “You are carrying my baby, Talia. That child is worth a billion dollars. Don’t forget that.”

“I haven’t forgotten!” I snap. “Even if I wanted to, you haven’t given me the chance. I can barely breathe, let alone forget.”

His expression turns murderous. “That’s it. Get your coat.”

“Why?”

He leans toward me, his words precise and cutting to the quick. “Because we are leaving.”

“We can’t leave!” I protest. “I’m in the middle of working a shift!”

Dare pulls out his phone, texting for half a minute. Then he looks up at me, his tone brooking no arguments.

“There are three nannies on their way here right now to work for the entire weekend. Now go get your fucking coat. We are going away for a while.”

I blink. “What? Where?”

Dare’s face gets so red that I shrink back from his touch when he grabs my wrist. “No more questions.”

My pulse hits the roof. I swallow and nod, hurrying to get my coat. Before I can do anything else or even let the other adults know I’m leaving, Dare hauls me out of the house and pushes me toward the waiting SUV.