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

Chapter 20

Twenty

Talia

T he next morning, Dare sleeps in quite late. I wake early and spend the morning with a cup of steaming mint tea and a slice of locally made bread with a dab of sweetened butter. I don’t know quite what to do with myself on this vacation. Usually when I am not busy with Dare, I have Hope House to occupy my time. And beyond that, I have Aunt Minnie and Olivia. They both entertain me and keep my hands busy with work.

But now I am at a loss for what to do with myself. I look out the window of the kitchen and try reading the copies of the latest issues of Vogue and Vanity Fair that are laid out near the window. I fidget and sit in a comfortable chair, then move to an expensive leather couch. At half past ten, I decide to check out the beach.

Dare is still asleep so I quickly change into a pale pink bikini and a pair of gray linen pants topped with a loose dark tank top and a chunky knit sweater. Then I put on a pair of tennis shoes and poke my head out into the room where the security guards are stationed. While I’m here, Frick and Frack are on vacation. But I smile at the armed guards, recognizing one of them.

“Can we help you?” The guard that I don’t know asks.

I look at the guards that I recognize. “It’s Bill, right?”

He straightens in his chair and nods. “Yes, ma’am. Can I help you with something?”

“I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind accompanying me out onto the beach. Dare is still asleep, otherwise I would just ask him. I don’t want to have any run-ins with his brother. I don’t know if you know that Dare saw his brother and his brother's fiancé here yesterday… I’m not expecting any trouble, but better safe than sorry.” I trail off.

Bill is already standing up. “Of course, ma’am. Let me grab my sunglasses.”

He takes a second to find his glasses on the nearby table and also holsters his gun onto his belt. Then he jerks his chin towards the door.

“Lead the way,” he says. “I’ll follow at a distance. Just go about your regular day.”

I give him a halfhearted smile then head outside, putting my own sunglasses on when I step into the sun. I walk by the swimming pool and head toward the beach, my eyes traveling down the shore. God, it’s beautiful. I can see villas dotting the landscape here and there, but for the most part this is a very exclusive and secluded area of land.

As soon as I make it down onto the beach in earnest, I trudge through the sand and straight down to the water line. The water rolls in, lapping over the sand within inches of my feet. I glance out at the dark waters, noting that they are calm today. The ocean continues washing in and out like a woman’s sighing. I stretch my arms up overhead and reach out, throwing my head back. The breeze whips all around me, ripping at my clothes. This is the first time in what feels like forever that I have been alone. Well, alone except for the bodyguard trailing behind me. I suck in a breath and decide that I am going to walk down the beach for a while. I push up my sweater sleeves and start walking, the only gauge of distance is the gentle arc of land. I can see a far-off point where the land slips out from the island.

Strolling down the beach at a leisurely pace, I watch the seagulls as they land on the smooth beach before me.

Before I get very far in my walk, an all too familiar voice calls out to me. “Hey! Wait!”

Daisy’s voice is as welcome to me as a bucket of ice water over my head. I grit my teeth and refuse to look around for her. Maybe if I just ignore her, she will simply disappear.

Before I have the chance to decide whether to actually speak to her or not, I hear her squawk. “Hey! Let go of me! Do you have any idea who I am?”

God, she is absolutely insufferable.

I turn around, finding Daisy struggling against Bill. Bill’s looking at her with an intense glare and gripping her arm. “Ma’am, I need you to just step back.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s okay, Bill. You can let her by. She’s not the one that I am worried about.”

Daisy rips her arm from Bill’s grip and glares at him. “I should have you fired,” she threatens.

“Don’t talk to him. He’s doing his job.” I run a hand through my hair and turn, shaking my head as I trudge on. Daisy hurries to catch up to me and then walks beside me. Although it’s no more than eighty five degrees out, she’s wearing a hot pink string bikini and a loose white knit cover-up that is ankle-length and completely unbolted. She wears nothing on her feet and has no sunglasses on. I don’t know if that means that she just saw me on the beach and decided to come talk to me or what.

She walks beside me for a few steps, pursing her lips as she peers at me. I stare straight ahead and try my best to ignore her.

She sweeps back her hair and makes a face. “So that was something yesterday, huh?”

I stare off across the sea, intentionally not looking at her.

I realize now that my pulse is racing and it isn’t because of my stroll down the beach.

Daisy bites her lips and looks me up and down. I can feel her gaze catch on my baby bump. She squints at it but doesn’t say anything for a few seconds.

“I just came to say that I feel terrible. You probably hate me.”

This draws my attention back to her. I arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”

She pushes the hair out of her face and gives me a wry smile. “Well, I’m the reason that Dare is probably still completely screwed up. You probably already know that he and I were together in college. We even talked about getting married. But… Then I met Burn. And we just had such undeniable chemistry that I couldn’t lie to myself any longer. I broke up with Dare and Burn proposed to me the very same night.” She pulls a face. “So yeah, Dare is probably still completely hung up on me.”

I frown. “Dare said that you and Burn met before he actually met you. Is that not true?”

One glance at her suddenly red face tells me everything I want to know. She runs a hand down her stomach, poking out her cheek with her tongue.

“Well, sort of. I did know Burn when I met Dare. But I didn’t know him well.”

“And you got to know your boyfriend’s brother well, after you had been dating him for three years? Is that it?”

I see a flush of disgust on her face but it’s gone before I can comment on it. “You obviously don’t understand the timeline that I’m talking about here.” I shrug, “Maybe not. But I do know that you broke up with Dare after Burn proposed to you. Dare told me that you had that ring that’s on your finger right now when you showed up to his house late at night and essentially dumped him. So that’s two things that you have lied about in the space of a brief conversation.” I turn my head, looking at her. “I’m not sure why you came out here to talk to me. But if it was just to fill my ear with these falsehoods that are easy to check the veracity of, you can just leave now.” I pause, slowing my steps. “Or did Burn send you out to make peace with me? Is that what this is about?”

Daisy flushes scarlet red and her eyes tighten. “Are you calling me a liar?”

I roll my eyes. “If the name fits. Are we done here?”

“I just came out here to tell you that Dare still thinks about me all the time. There’s no question about it. He has tried to get me back several times since I left him for Burn. Including right before you two met. I’m absolutely certain that he still dreams about me at night.”

I whirl around, facing her. My pulse is high and I can feel my heart hammering against my chest.

“I don’t know who you think you are fooling. I love that you think you’re fooling everybody. I don’t know if you are just trying to lie to me because I am the newest member of this fucked up family. But whatever spell you think you’ve cast over my husband has long since been broken. I know for a fact he didn’t fall asleep thinking about you last night. Because we fucked until the early hours of the morning and he fell asleep satisfied after going all nightwith me. The fact that you seem to think that he has the brain space available to think of you is honestly pretty mind blowing.”

Her mouth twists into a hard little ball. “I know one thing for sure. Dare hasn’t told you he loved you. He said that to me so many times I lost count. But he told me he would never love any woman like he loves me. And I believe him.”

My heart falls to my stomach. I lift my chin and open my mouth, speaking before I even think to stop myself.

“Of course he has said he loves me,” I lie easily. “And I love him. We're married. And not only that, but I am pregnant. So whatever little schemes you have for the future, I would forget them. Focus on trying to love the fucked up man that you are engaged to. Because my husband and I are deeply in love and we’re going to have a baby.”

Her jaw drops. She looks down at my baby bump again and her eyes narrow viciously.

“Dare can’t have children. I am living proof of it. We were together for three years and never used a condom once.”

My heart is pounding so loudly in my ears that I am afraid that it will drown out the sound of my voice. “Maybe you should get yourself checked out then. Because Dare got me pregnant on purpose right away. Probably the first or second time that we tried to conceive.”

The lies just roll off my tongue, each one surprising me more than the next.

Daisy looks furious and she steps to me, pushing me hard. I stumble back a step and my hands form fists. But two seconds later, Bill intervenes.

“Hey! Hey!” He runs up, pushing her away from me. He spins and spreads his hands out wide, caging Daisy and making her back up. “Get back. Get back!”

“This isn’t over, bitch!” Daisy screams.

I turn away, my eyes welling up with unshed tears. I shove out a breath and dab at my eyes as Bill continues to back Daisy up.

“Ma’am? You need to start moving down the beach back toward the house. I radioed for help and Carl should be out here in a few seconds.”

“Don’t touch me!” Daisy snarls. “I swear to God, I will have your job for this. Don’t you dare touch me.”

Moving down the beach past Daisy, I start walking quickly toward the house and the safety of Dare’s arms.