Page 21 of Malicious Marriage

“In your eyes, but to me, you’re helping me out of a situation I thought I was permanently stuck in.”

“Really?” She looks at me with wide eyes.

“Really. Although, can I ask what happened?”

Her head tilts with a silent question.

“Your finances. What was the vice?”

“Oh.” Her adorable nose scrunches up and her attention drops to her glass. “My father was a gambler. A lot of the debt was hidden until he passed and after that, every penny went to the insane amounts he owed. But the interest on those things…” She shakes her head.

Gambling. Makes sense given her family’s change from drugs to casinos. Must have been too much temptation. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.” Clover flashes me a smile. “Just some bad luck. When he passed and my sister and I learned about the debt, we knew it was over. It was just a matter of time.”

She has a sister? Why haven’t I seen her? “Your family’s business wasn’t earning enough to cover the debt?”

Clover shakes her head but she doesn’t elaborate. It must be a sore spot, so I turn to her sister. “You have a sister?”

Her eyes light up. “Hailey. Yes. I haven’t seen her in a while, though.”

“That’s a shame. Siblings are important. Your engagement news should bring her around, surely?”

Clover chuckles and drains her glass, then she rises and moves toward the jug on the far counter. “Maybe. Is it… hard for you, having lost your siblings?”

I watch her pour herself more tea and as she tops up my own glass, I nod.

“Yes. I was fourteen when they died and it was so sudden. My sister died quickly, I’m told. My brother died from smoke inhalation. It was such a terrible disaster. I tried to help them, I really did, but I… I couldn’t. ” And I carry the scars across my entire body for that failure. The thought of them makes my shoulder and back twinge, so I focus on Clover instead. “But I remember them fondly, and that’s what’s most important.”

“I can’t imagine a loss like that.” Clover retakes her seat and places her hand over mine. “I’m sorry.”

“What about you? Losing your father can’t have been easy.”

Her smile wavers and she retracts her hand. I immediately miss her warmth. “It’s hard,” she says quietly. “So much has happened since, and it still doesn’t feel real.”

I reach for her, aching to comfort her in some way as the sadness cracks through her voice, but before I make contact, my phone blares to life.

“Sorry.” Pulling it from my pocket, my heart sinks to see Don calling. “One sec.”

“Take your time.”

“Hello?” I slide from the stool and turn away. “What’s wrong?”

“Dean, where the fuck are you?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s Trisha. She’s been rushed to the hospital. There’s something wrong with the baby!”

10

CLOVER

Dean’s sudden absence makes the house feel eerily empty. How can a man I’ve just met have such a presence that I’m immediately missing him with the urge to text him resting heavily in my fingers?

There’s something wrong with me.

“Is he really gone?” Bobby’s head pokes through the kitchen door.