Page 27 of Don’t You Dare Marry Me (Love in Massachusetts #3)

twenty-one

Nicola swirled the glass of wine as she stood in the kitchen and cut up pieces of cheese for the charcuterie board she was making them. Abagail had disappeared mid-morning to get some work done in the den, and Nicola had entertained herself puttering around in the kitchen.

Their relationship had shifted.

The heat and fire and passion that they approached every conversation and interaction with before had shattered into a calm comfort that Nicola was finding quite settling. And settled wasn’t something that she typically felt. She took a sip of her wine and froze.

Abagail’s voice reached her ears, but so did a man’s.

A family man’s voice.

Warren .

Nicola closed her eyes and leaned against the counter, her knuckles turning white against the counter as she gripped it. Her entire body pulsated hard with fear, with disdain, with the lovely little world that she and Abagail had built crashing down around her.

Because what the fuck was Warren doing there?

She was frozen on the spot, not sure whether to walk out there and pretend like everything was normal or to hide away in the kitchen and pretend like she didn’t exist. Surely Abagail wouldn’t be able to get rid of him for the night so they’d all be stuck there together, and she wouldn’t be able to hide.

Her stomach twisted from the turmoil of decisions.

She hadn’t wanted the reality of this situation to come crashing down on her.

She was fucking her ex-fiancé’s aunt. And it had all started because she’d wanted revenge on him for dumping her in the manner that he had, for cheating on her for the entirety of their relationship, for being the pitiful woman who had put up with it and turned a blind eye for years.

Nicola tapped her fingers against the countertop and stared out toward the living area where they all no doubt were. What was Abagail saying? Nicola couldn’t quite make it out, but surely she wasn’t admitting to the fact that Nicola was there, was she?

That’d put them both in the direct line of fire.

Nicola had no idea what to do. If Abagail was here, she’d know what to do.

She’d know the exact moves that would need to be taken.

Nicola picked up the knife and then set it back down.

Then she reached for the wine glass, but she couldn’t make her fingers clasp it.

Fuck, she needed to get out of this stupor.

Immediately.

“Nicola?”

She jerked with a start as Warren stepped into the kitchen, followed closely by Abagail and Chaya.

Nicola’s heart sank at seeing the woman who had replaced her, the one who was going to take everything that she had dreamed of having, everything that she wanted and more. But it wasn’t her dreams. Not really.

Warren had been a means to an end, and she’d put up with him for so long because she’d needed him—well, needed what he could provide for her. And she hadn’t even been brave enough to be the one to end it.

No, she’d waited for Warren to?—

“What are you doing here?” Warren’s accusation flung through the kitchen was a bucket of ice water on Nicola’s head.

She looked up at him, wide eyed, back to being that emotional girl who he’d dumped and told she wasn’t worth his time and effort any longer, that she wouldn’t ever measure up to his Aunt Abagail, and that she’d never be the one to earn approval to be his wife.

Perhaps she would have if she’d had someone to support her.

Someone like Abagail.

“Do you work for her now?” Warren pointed at his aunt with wide eyes. “Jesus, Nicola, you couldn’t even get a proper job in all this time, and now you’re cooking your poison food for my aunt? Are you trying to send her to an early grave?”

“Warren,” Abagail said, stepping between them. “Nicola doesn’t cook for me.”

That was very much the truth. Nicola couldn’t remember one meal that she’d made for Abagail aside from this one, because Abagail had a private chef who made all of her meals ahead of time.

Nicola had seen the benefit of that, even though she still preferred a bowl of sugar-filled cereal in the mornings.

“I was making us a late afternoon snack.”

Why had she said that? She’d cringe if she thought it would do her any good, but she knew it wouldn’t. Warren was on the war path based on his tone, and she was going to bear the brunt of everything he did and said in the next few minutes. Nicola had no doubts of that.

“Why are you here?” Nicola asked, trying to keep her tone as innocent as possible.

“I thought this was Abs… Aunt Abagail’s house.

” God, how that correction had hurt to make.

Nicola flicked her gaze to Abagail, hoping that it had gone unnoticed, but the hard stare back at her and the stern look told her it hadn’t.

She didn’t know what to say or do in this situation.

They hadn’t talked about this. They hadn’t planned for it.

Yes, she’d initially wanted Warren to find out all about what was going on and feel the pain of that situation, but Nicola was pretty damn sure that he wouldn’t feel a thing knowing that Nicola and Abagail had amazing sex almost every single night and rarely ever thought of him.

“Chaya and I decided to come to the Cape for the weekend.”

Of course they did. Nicola had never been allowed in this house before even though Warren had taken many trips here over the years. Maybe this was where he was doing the majority of his cheating—at least the long term cheating, the one that involved Chaya. Nicola’s stomach sank again.

“To my house,” Abagail stepped into the conversation finally.

Nicola had wondered if she would.

“Without my permission.”

Warren’s jaw clenched, and Nicola knew that he was working hard to keep his anger in check. Surely Abagail could see that too. All the people in this room knew him well enough to know what he was like when he was mad.

“It’s the family home.”

“No.” Abagail shook her head, putting her hand out in front of her as if that would help her make her point. “This is my home. And I’ve let you and your family stay here on occasion in the past, but I never intended for you to have full access to it without permission.”

Warren stuttered. “I-I-It’s our family home.”

“No, it isn’t,” Abagail stated again. She pointed to Chaya. “And we wouldn’t have the problem of both of us showing up here if you would have simply asked if the house was full this week. But it’s my home, so I don’t have to seek permission to stay in my own home.”

Nicola’s cheeks burned. When was the question going to come up? When was Warren going to figure out that they were fucking? Surely he wasn’t that dense, was he?

“Fine, we can both stay here,” Warren fired back.

“Absolutely not.” Abagail put her hand out in front of him like a crossing guard with a stop sign. “You will head back tonight.”

Warren squinted, flicking his gaze from Abagail to Nicola and back again several times over before he paled. “What the fuck? Are you two fucking?”

Bile swirled in Nicola’s stomach. Here it was. She knew she wouldn’t be so lucky as to escape this, and now she just had to figure out how bad the drama was going to be and how much Warren was going to yell at her.

“You’ll do anything for a few bucks, won’t you?” Warren stepped forward, getting closer to Nicola’s space.

She’d barely said anything since he’d walked into the room, knowing full well what direction this argument was going to go, and she knew that it was going to turn into an absolute disaster. And here it was, fears becoming reality.

“This isn’t for the money.” Nicola’s voice was weak, the words barely breaking through the frenzy of emotions and the rush of static to her ears. She was ready to cry, to burrow her way into a hole, or to drown herself in the ocean.

Because this was for the money.

At least that’s how it had progressed, and if asked, she couldn’t lie to him. She could never lie to Warren. Not like he could lie to her.

“Love then?” Warren guffawed loudly. “Don’t feed me a line of bullshit. I can smell it a mile away. You’ve always been desperate for cash so you can funnel it to Alanna. And Aunt Abagail is full of cash. You found an easy target, and you took advantage of it.”

“I’m not a weak woman who is easily taken advantage of.” Abagail literally stepped between them.

Nicola looked up, finding Abagail’s back to her and Warren glaring at her over the top of Abagail’s graying head.

“And neither is Nicola. You underestimated her for years while you two were in a relationship together, and that’s to your own disadvantage. She would have made an amazing wife, and she certainly would have been a better fit for this family than you are.”

“Aunt Abagail!” Warren squeaked, not used to the admonishment.

“No. I’m not stopping there.” Abagail squared her shoulders even more.

“This is my house, and Nicola is a guest here. You’re not.

And neither is Chaya.” Nicola could hear the sneer in Abagail’s tone as she called the woman by her name.

If she wasn’t here, what would she have called her?

“So you will respect Nicola. In fact, you’ll respect her even outside of this house.

It’s time for you to grow up, Warren. You’ve spent your entire life coddled, and you’ve grown so entitled that you couldn’t even tie your own shoes if you wanted to. Enough is enough.”

“A-are you cutting me off?” Warren stammered.

Abagail scoffed. “I probably should. But not yet, anyway. I’ll think about it going forward, but I expect you to get a job in the next four weeks.

I expect you to start paying your own bills, and I expect you—like we discussed before—to actually tell Chaya’s father about everything in your relationship. ”

What did that mean?

Did Abagail know about the cheating? Did she know just how long Chaya and Warren had actually been together? That Nicola had been little more than an arm piece for those last few months until Warren had lost his patience and broken up with her because she wouldn’t do it for him?

God, Nicola was an idiot.

Of course Abagail knew.

This was her family. Not Nicola’s. And she seemed to have a very tight grasp and close understanding of exactly what—and who—her family did. Abagail was never ignorant. And Nicola needed to stop forgetting that.

Nicola grabbed the glass of wine and chugged what was left of it. Warren threw her another glare and shook his head slowly.

“Are you two sleeping together?” he asked, but it was far more an accusation than anything.

Nicola could hear the words he hadn’t said ringing through her brain. The ones she knew he wanted to say, but he was restraining himself because Abagail was in the room, and even though he wasn’t on her best side right now, he wasn’t an idiot enough to put his full asshole face forward.

Whore.

Slut.

Cunt.

He’d thrown those words at her before, whenever he wanted. Or when he was drunk and wanted to accuse her of cheating on him even when she wasn’t, and he was the one cheating. What had compelled her to stay in that relationship for so long? What had kept her there when she should have left?

Because she should have left.

So many times.

“Get out of my house.” Abagail’s voice was low, dangerous almost. She stayed standing between Nicola and Warren, keeping the line of protection in place and firm.

Did she understand what Nicola was feeling?

“I won’t stand for you insulting a guest of mine, or anyone for that matter. Learn some goddamned manners, Warren.”

“Aunt Abagail!”

“No. Get out.” She stepped forward, forcing Warren to take a step back.

Nicola watched with rapt attention as Abagail forced Warren to walk out of the house. She stayed right where she was, glued to the kitchen counter. It was her lifeline now, in a way she’d never expected it could be.

Closing in on herself, Nicola barely registered when the door was closed and the house stilled. She went back to chopping up the cheese and the meat for the board she was building, focusing on the one thing that she knew she could do and not screw up. At least she swore she could.

“I’m so sorry,” Abagail said as she stepped back into the kitchen. “I didn’t think…”

She trailed off, but Nicola refused to look up.

She continued to cut the meat and put all her energy into that.

It wasn’t until Abagail covered her hand on the knife that she stopped chopping.

She removed the knife and set it to the side, reaching up and turning Nicola’s face so that they were looking at each other.

Before Abagail even had a chance to say anything, Nicola jumped in. “I’m fine.”

“It’s obvious you’re not.” Abagail caressed Nicola’s cheekbone with her thumb. “He’s gone now.”

“I know.” Nicola looked down between their bodies, focusing on her bare toes. She took a steadying breath, realizing that she needed to calm herself down. She’d been so triggered in a way that she hadn’t expected. “I’m fine. I promise.”

“Nicola…” Abagail looked deep into her eyes this time. “You never told me it was that bad.”

Nicola rolled her eyes and shook her head. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Don’t lie to me, Nicola. We at least agreed on that, didn’t we?”

Pursing her lips, Nicola’s heart thumped wildly. But she nodded. She had agreed to that with Abagail, at least to an extent. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. I just need a few minutes to collect myself.”

But Abagail didn’t let go. She held onto Nicola’s hand and kept her close. “Talk to me, Nic.”

Nicola couldn’t. Even if she wanted to, which she wasn’t sure she did, she couldn’t make words leave her throat and form on her tongue.

Instead, she moved in, wrapping her arms around Abagail’s back and pulling her into a hug.

She buried her face in Abagail’s shoulder and neck, breathing in her scent and molding herself into the heat of Abagail’s skin.

She stayed there in the cradle of Abagail’s arms far longer than she’d anticipated. And when she stepped back, she steadied herself and plastered on the smile that she knew the world expected of her. “I’m going to go take a shower.”

“Are you sure?” Abagail asked.

“Yeah.” Nicola gave her a saucy wink. “Feel free to join me if you want.”

Sex would be such a welcome distraction, but something in the back of her mind told her that Abagail was going to give her the space that she was truly craving.

“Talk to me, when you’re ready.” Abagail squeezed her hand tightly. “I’ll be here.”

Saying nothing else, Nicola headed up the stairs to the bathroom.

She craved the white noise that the shower would create, the heat that would ease the tension in her muscles, and the time that it would give her to think.

If she actually wanted to do that. Until then, at least she knew that Abagail wasn’t going to let Warren railroad her.

If she stayed in Abagail’s presence, she’d be protected from him at least.

The rest of the world still remained a danger.