Page 15 of Malicious Marriage

Bobby smirks at me. “Foxy because he’s older, silver fox with the grey in his beard, but Frankie’s convinced he’s hung like a horse with how he stands in all his pictures.”

“Bobby!”

“Hey!” He laughs as my cheeks flare. “Play your cards right and you’ll find out for yourself.”

“It’s not going to be like that!”

“I know, I know. We’re playing toward his charitable side so we can get money to find your sister. But that doesn’t mean you can’texplore.”

“Should I call him then?”

“No,” Dean and Frankie reply in unison.

“You don’t want to come across as eager,” Dean adds. “Give him some breathing room. Besides, dickhead isn’t back until the end of the month. You’ve got time.”

It’s hard to feel like I have time after that letter from my loan shark, but Bobby’s right. I can’t be too forward.

Not that I have to wait long. Halfway through breakfast, Dean contacts me.

He has a proposal for me.

7

DEAN

“This is ridiculous.” Jack stands over me with his hands poised to catch the bar if my arms give out. “You barely know her.”

“And?”

“Dean, this is insane. You can’t propose to astranger.”

“There’s no law against it.” I grunt, straining as I push the bar up for the last rep and set it back onto the hooks. My arms burn from the workout, but it’s a pleasant sensation that throbs through my limbs as I flop down on the bench, panting. “Besides, we don’t know if she’ll even say yes.”

“You shouldn’t be asking her in the first place.” Jack tosses a blue towel in my face and grabs his own from the nearby rack. “God knows what kind of person she really is. She could be a psychopath or an axe murderer, and that’s why her house was so empty. Her basement is full of bodies.”

It’s difficult to laugh while panting, but I manage. “Jack, you sound ridiculous.”

“It’s my job to look out for you.”

“I know. I know.” His complaints are rooted in concern, and out of everyone else in this mansion, he’s the only one I can relyon to give it to me straight. Leaning up, my abdominal muscles pull and complain, forcing my breaths to be shorter. “Listen, I know this is insane.”

“Bat shit,” Jack mutters between hungry mouthfuls of cold water.

“Sure, but I’m so fucking tired of everything. The monotony of it all. Meeting after meeting afterbloodymeeting, focusing all my time and energy on everyone else, the running of the business, the protection of the family, the safety of my men, the safety of my investments, and through it all?” I tiredly snap my fingers near my face like a mocking mouth. “When are you getting married? You’re getting old. You need to secure the family, the bloodline. A family without an heir is one set for extinction. Everyone values the respect of your family name and we can’t afford to shake things.”

“If only Trisha weren’t a raging cunt, huh?” Jack snorts as he wanders closer.

“Exactly.” Just the thought of her sours my mood. “Clover seems really sweet.”

“And young.” He points at me with his water bottle. “Aren’t you worried this will come across as a little creepy?”

“I’m worried.” Staring up at him, I have to squint against the glare of the light behind his head. “I’m nearly forty and asking a woman that young to marry me will turn heads.”

“But?”

“But she needs help. And so do I. Think of it as a business arrangement like any other. I just need some breathing room, man. I’m tired.”

Jack grunts as if he’s about to say more, but he resists and sits down on the bench beside me. “I understand. I just want you to be careful. Trisha kind of fucked you up and mostly, I don’t want to see that again.”