Page 81 of Malicious Marriage

Dean sends another message to Jack and then follows the man as we’re led through the bar and into a small room at the back. There’s an iron stove in one corner next to some chopped wood logs, a sofa that’s draped in a wool blanket to hide the worn seating underneath, and a stuffed bear near the back door that looms ominously over us as he directs us to sit.

“We don’t have long,” Dean says casually. “Our friends are on their way and don’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Aye,” is all the bartender says and then he leaves.

I clutch Dean’s hand and he soothes me with a soft rumble in his throat. “We’ve got this,” he says quietly. “I’ve got you.”

“What if?—”

“Don’t,” he cautions. “Don’t do that to yourself. Deep breaths.”

He keeps us waiting for almost an hour. With each long minute that ticks past, my heart races faster and faster until it’s just a blur. I can barely sit still and it gets to the point where I feel like I’m about to burst out of my own skin.

And then the door finally opens. A tall woman walks in with rosy cheeks, hair the same color as mine, scooped into a ponytail, and a very angry look on her face.

Dean stands while I remain frozen to the spot, staring into the face of my sister.

“Clara?” Dean asks.

“Clover,” Hailey barks out furiously. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

35

CLOVER

Okay, not the reaction I was expecting.

For a few seconds, everything feels like it’s moving in slow motion as Hailey storms toward me with anger blazing in her eyes. She looks… good. She looks healthy and alive, nothing like I feared. I’d imagined her captive all these years, struggling against whoever Malcom sold her to or even trying to fight her way to freedom. I’d also pictured her looking rough and the attempts to access her account were a cry for help.

But she looks completely fine. Glowing, in fact. It doesn’t make sense. I blink quickly as if it will remove whatever magical filter is making Hailey look like she just walked out of a spa treatment. But nothing changes. She looks exactly the same.

What the fuck is going on?

“Hailey? Oh, my God… look at you!” I reach for her with my arms outstretched but the warm, loving reunion I’ve dreamed about ever since I woke up to Hailey’s bed empty is immediately derailed when she slaps my arms away.

“I said, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean? How can I be any fucking clearer?”

“I—I don’t understand.” My knotted stomach coils tighter, but thankfully, there’s nothing left inside me to throw up. I study her face, unable to look away, as if the answer to my confusion lies in her pores. “Hailey… are you okay? Are you hurt? We came—I came to rescue you! We’ve come to take you home?”

“Oh, my fucking God.” Hailey paces away from me while dragging both her hands through her hair, messing up her smooth, sweeping bangs in the process. “I can’t believe you’ve done this. Clover, do you ever stop and think, huh?” She spins back to face me while grinding her knuckle against her temple. “Is there ever any kind of thought happening up here?”

“Hey.” Dean suddenly steps in between us, his eyes narrowed. “You might be her sister but you’re moving onto someverythin ice here, so I’d be careful about what you say next.”

“And who the fuck is this guy?”

“My name is Dean. Dean Savoy. And Clover is right, we’re here to help you in whatever way you might need help.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Hailey throws her hands up in despair. “Why are you fucking here?”

“Because you vanished!” I surge past Dean with a yell. “What did you think I was going to do? Just sit back and let you vanish out of my life so soon after Dad died? I had no idea what happened to you, Hailey! I woke up and you were gone! Just gone! I thought you’d died or that Uncle Malcom hadkilledyou and I have spent the past four years dragging myself over hot coals to try and find you and rescue you! And now you’re… you’re standing there like nothing has happened!”

I’m too hot. Every vein inside me bubbles like lava and sweat clings to the apple of my cheeks as I stare down my sister, trying to wrap my head around why she looks like she’s never had a worry in her life.

“Are you serious?” Hailey begins pacing in front of me. “I should have known you couldn’t let it go. You were always likethis, Clover. You just couldn’t fucking let things go. Always like a rodent getting into shit that had nothing to do with you, never knowing when you weren’t wanted.”