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

Chapter 6

Six

Talia

“Y ou’re doing the right thing,” I say, trying to keep my tone light.

Dare grimaces as he turns away from Burn, who is resting on the dusty bed in the dingy cabin. Dare flings a bloodied piece of gauze into a small pile of pads he’s used to wipe blood from his brother’s face after I talked him into half-carrying Burn inside.

“You seem so sure about that.”

“I am.”

I pluck an iodine filled swab from the first aid kit from the speedboat and hand it to Dare. He stares at it for a second before shaking his head and accepting it.

“We should have left him,” he grumbles. “Bastard deserves whatever he gets for laying his hands on you.”

The baby kicks me sharply and I make a face, rubbing a hand over my belly.

“I just don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret. Even though I think your brother is a prick and deserves to be punished… I don’t want to be the reason that you lose sleep.”

“Hah!” Dare rumbles. “No one’s losing any sleep over him.”

I watch as Dare leans in to tend to his brother’s wounds, his movements gentle yet efficient. It’s hard to reconcile this side of him with the man who forced me into marriage and who I still don’t fully trust. But seeing him care for his brother, the same brother who had hurt me, makes me see him in a new light. It reminds me that there’s more to him than just the ruthless billionaire who takes what he wants.

Dare’s jaw tightens as Burn stirs. The injured man has a coughing fit, moving his battered hand up to his ribs. I wouldn't be surprised if Dare had broken a few of Burn's ribs during their vicious fight.

Burn's eyes open and he immediately winces.

"Jesus," he breathes. His eyes focus and he looks between Dare and me, confused. "What are you still doing here?"

Dare leans forward, bristling.

"Talia wouldn't let me leave you where you fell. She also wouldn't let me kill you. You can fall to your knees and kiss her feet any fucking time you want."

If Burn blushes or looks ashamed, his puffy eyes and bruised cheeks make it hard to tell. He just grunts, leans over the side of the bed, and spits bloody phlegm to the floor.

Dare apparently feels like an apology is owed, because he grabs Burn by the collar of his dirty shirt and gives him an eyeball-rattling shake.

"You're lucky I didn't kill you," Dare growls. "But don't mistake my mercy for weakness. If you ever lay a hand on Talia or try to hurt our baby again, there won't be a next time."

I watch with a mixture of fear and awe as Dare releases his brother and straightens up. Burn rubs his neck and spits again. He glares at Dare as he spits, but there's a flash of fear in his eyes. That look reminds me that while Dare might be a lot of things, he's not a man to be fucked with.

“I’m sorry,” Burn mumbles, his voice weak and raspy. “I was just trying to save you from yourself, Dare. Maybe I went about it the wrong way...”

He trails off mid-sentence, closing his eyes with a groan.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dare demands to know. "Who are you even apologizing to?"

Burn's eyes open a crack. He's really beat to hell.

"I just want to protect you," he whispers. "I've always tried to honor our mother's wishes and lift you up whenever I could."

Dare scoffs.

"Protect me? You've done nothing but cause trouble since the moment Talia stepped into our lives."

Burn winces at the harsh words, and for a moment I see a flicker of sadness in his eyes before it's replaced with defiance. With great difficulty, he clambers to his feet. I reach my hand out to Burn, but Dare shoots me a glare so withering that I drop my hand.

He’s right. I shouldn’t feel bad for his twin, but my heart aches when I look at him. I think I must see Dare when I look at Burn. That’s the only explanation for why I keep forgiving his atrocious behavior.

If only they didn’t have the same troubled eyes…

Burn stands and faces Dare. "I did what I did because I knew that Talia hadn't told you the truth about who fathered her child."

Dare looks stunned. "How many times do I need to tell you? How many ways? Talia came to me after she found out she was pregnant, thinking I was you. And I talked her into marrying me instead of telling you that she was pregnant. This entire scheme was my idea, not Talia's. Get it through your fucking head!"

Burn gapes for a second, looking likehe's been slapped.

Tears fill his eyes as he fists his hands and takes a step towards Dare. "No! You're lying," Burn whispers furiously, shaking his head. "I know you're lying. This was all Talia's idea."

"No," Dare says, shaking his head. "It was mine. I saw the opportunity to use Talia's baby as a pawn in the ploy to fool Remy into thinking that I was following his demands. Only that plan worked out differently than I thought."

He grasps my hand, squeezing it. My heart skips a beat as Dare looks at me. "I fell in love."

I kiss the back of his hand, feeling my heart squeeze.Burn’s face twists at my display of affection and he spits on the ground.

"Love," he says, as if it were a curse word. "It's not real."

Dare moves to shove his twin back down, but I pull gently at Dare's hand. He resists for a moment and then relaxes.

As he staggers toward the door, I clear my throat. "Where are you going?"

Burn grunts and yanks the door open. "To my mom's grave."

He lurches outside and starts toward the dock again. I'm winded just watching him weave and wobble his way across the bare dirt ground. I look to Dare, my eyes wide. Dare's eyes are narrowed as he glares at Burn's disappearing figure.

"Bastard."

I sink my teeth into my lip. "I think we should follow him."

Dare is already getting to his feet. "Damn right I'm going to follow him. There are still a lot of things between us that are unresolved. We can't live with all this unspoken hatred anymore. We're going to hash it out right the fuck now."

"Can I come too?"

He offers a big hand to pull me to my feet. "Darling girl, you can go anywhere you want to go. All you have to do is say the word and I'll carry you, if that's what you want."

I slide my arms around him and give him a quick, deep kiss. Leaning close to his ear, I whisper, "Thank you for finding me."

"I will always find you, Talia. Always ."

I press my forehead against his. “Did you mean it when you told Burn that you were in love with me?”

He toys with a piece of my hair and smiles. “Yes. I’m in love with you, Talia.”

Tears well up in my eyes. “You mean it?”

“I do. I don’t think I ever had any choice but to fall in love with you. It seems like we were meant for each other.”

I rise up on my tiptoes, slide my arms around his neck, and press my lips to his. Dare’s hands settle at my waist, pulling me against the hardness of his body. Tears slip from my eyes as I pull back breathlessly.

“I love you, too,” I whisper, looking deeply in his eyes. “I think I always have, from the very first moment we touched.”

Dare brushes my hair back behind my ear. “I thought that marrying you was just a ruse to fool my family and win my inheritance. But now…” He pulls back a little and rests his hand on my pregnant belly. “You’ve changed me, Talia. You’ve given me so much more than I ever thought possible.”

“Oh, Dare.” I give him a tight, hard hug. “You are infuriating sometimes, but I really am just completely crazy about you.”

After we share another kiss, Dare sighs. “We should go after Burn.”

I nod, hugging him a final time. He lets me go reluctantly and takes my hand, pulling me out the door.