Page 100 of Malicious Marriage
Pain explodes like fire in my shoulder as my back hits the door, but despite my stumble, the moment Malcom makes contact with, Clover I’m on him like wildfire.
I heard enough through the door to know exactly how much of a monster this man really is and I never should have let Clover push me from her home. Clover screams as Malcom and I topple to the ground and latch together in a vicious fight like two feral beasts trying to tear one another apart. I punch him repeatedly until my fist aches louder than the fire in my shoulder. He tries to fight back but I’m unstoppable.
This man took my brother and sister from me, and he almost took the woman I love. There is no chance for him to get out of this alive. He tries, though. One swift elbow to my wounded shoulder and I’m back on the ground with Malcom over the top of me. I wrestle with him until Clover lunges forward and grabs his hair with one hand. He yells in pain, and once distracted, I punch him so hard in the jaw that I feel bone break against my fingers.
He’s back on the floor and I’m on top, punching him again and again. “You motherfucker! You killed them! You fucking killed them! Never again, you hear me! Never fucking again!”
His face becomes a bloodied mess of unrecognizable blood, flesh, and gore, but I don’t stop. I can’t stop. All the rage inside pours out like a blazing inferno and I can’t stop until he’s motionless. Only then do I climb to my feet, panting, and stare down at him in utter disgust.
Then I take the gun from Clover’s trembling fingers and shoot him three times in the chest.
Silence falls, broken almost immediately by Clover’s distressed sobbing. “Oh, my God, I shot you! I’m so sorry, I don’t understand what happened! I’m so sorry, oh, my God, Dean!”
Over and over, she repeats her frantic apology while tears flood down her beautiful face. Looking at her, despite her distress, brings me the utmost calm and to calm her, there’s only one thing I can think to do.
Shock.
Cupping her quivering cheek, I pull her in for a sudden kiss and her apologies blur against my lips until she falls silent and weakly kisses me back. Then she pulls away and stares at me with wide eyes.
“Why are you even here?”
“I’m your husband,” I reply softly, panting. “There’s nowhere else I should be.”
The woundto my shoulder is superficial, just a flesh wound and of no consequence. At the hospital, Don is there before me and he’s on hand to deal with all the questions I don’t care about, including when the doctor mentions reporting the gunshotwound to the police. I leave Don to deal with it all because there’s only one person on my mind.
Clover.
We were separated when we arrived, but I quickly find her in a room by herself, clutching a plastic bottle of water. Her tear-stained face lights up the moment she sees me, but there’s a wariness to her movements as she sits up.
“Dean. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to shoot you, I wasn’t trying to hurt you or anything. I barely even know how to handle a gun and I was just scared it was Malcom’s guard coming back! I didn’t want to hurt you. I'm so sorry!”
She apologizes until she’s blue in the face and I stand there and let her. Telling her everything is fine won’t sink in until she’s worked through what she’s feeling, so I let her pour it all out until she’s slightly breathless and teary. Finally, she slumps back against the bed and slightly crushes the bottle between her hands.
“I know you probably hate me,” she says hoarsely. “But thank you. Hailey told me you saved her from the guard. So thank you.”
“Clover.” I close the space between us and take her hand in mine. She almost pulls away but I’m glad she remains in contact. “First, I’m fine. The bullet only grazed me. And second? I don’t hate you.”
“You don’t have to spare my feelings,” she whispers.
“Clover. Listen to me, please. I don’t hate you. I love you. And I have for a long time, even before Greece. I don’t know when I came to the conclusion. I didn’t have a eureka moment or anything. I just knew one day that I had grown to love you, and that hasn’t changed. Now, to be clear… I am hurt that you lied to me and it pains me to think about it, but I understand everything now and I know why you did. Bobby explained a lot to me.”
Her head lifts and her shining eyes lock onto me. “You spoke to Bobby?”
“After you threw me out, Jack wanted to check on him so we came here and he spilled everything. He’s also how I found you because he’d linked his phone to yours and tracing you was easy.”
“I…” She shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”
“I can be hurt and understanding at the same time,” I explain gently, caressing her knuckles with my thumb. “It doesn’t take away from all the good times we had, or how you made me feel like a real person, how you made me feel seen and heard after a decade of just being an ornament for others. And what you did to protect your sister? Bobby also told me what you did for him when you first met. Time and time again, you’ve put yourself out there to help others even when no one was in your corner.”
Clover barely holds back a sob.
“But I’m here. I’m in your corner. I love you and I am here for you if you still want me.”
She shakes her head and pulls her hand away. “How do you not hate me?”
“Do you need me to explain it again?” Smiling softly, I follow her as she leans back. “Because I can and I will. Feeling hurt by your actions doesn’t take away from the love I feel. Actions can be understood and worked through. That’s what we do for the people we love.”
She finally looks up at me again with tear-filled eyes and her lips parted. “But my family has always hurt yours. Malcom told me that he started that fire.”