Page 6

6

Brianna

F or the first time in years, Brianna had hope.

Her new husband didn’t appear to be a complete asshole. He’d taken her to the hospital to get a diagnosis. She had a treatment plan. She’d been given medication to take. She had a bodyguard she liked. And, most importantly, she had her father’s contact details.

“I thought your father was out of the picture.” Roman’s voice interrupted the abject relief that had settled over her shoulders.

“He is.” Brianna clasped the paper close to her chest, as though the words would fade away if she wasn’t careful. “But a couple years ago I found a letter from him in the attic. It was addressed to me.”

Roman combed through the last section of her hair. “Saying what?”

Wherever you are, you have a father that loves you—even if I can’t be at your side.

Against her instincts, she glanced up to see Aldous staring at her. His brow was furrowed, as it had been nearly every time she’d seen him. Rather than angry, however, he looked… intense.

She didn’t think Aldous would harm her, but she didn’t trust him. Not yet.

“Not much,” she said carefully. “But Mom agreed that after the wedding she would give me his contact details. That’s all.”

“To be perfectly honest,” Roman’s voice came, “I thought Vivian ate her lovers like a tarantula, so I’m shocked he’s still alive.”

“What?” she spluttered, turning to face him.

Fuck, his devilish grin sent her chest a-fluttering. Apparently it didn’t get the whole you’re married now memo. “Come on. She’s giving tarantula and you know it.”

Brianna bit down on her traitorous bottom lip to hide her grin. Aldous was her mother’s business partner. He might have taken her to the hospital after a seizure, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t turn around and report on her conversations. Similarly, there was no telling whether Roman wouldn’t also stab her in the back—he was her bodyguard, but his paycheque still came from Mom. “Do female tarantulas really eat the males after mating?”

“Sometimes.” Roman nodded, as Aldous took a seat on the couch opposite them. “Talk about going out with a bang. So what’s your dad’s name? I notice there’s only an address on your mum’s note.”

“You really want to know everything, huh?” Her smile was tight.

“I’m your bodyguard, cutie patootie. That’s literally my job.”

Sighing, Brianna watched Jasmine inch closer to Aldous on the couch, clearly hoping he was going to take the bait and pet her. “I don’t know his name,” she admitted quietly. “Mom always refused to tell me anything about him. That’s why I made it a condition of me agreeing to the marriage.”

Tension pulled at Aldous’s face, until his frown turned into a fully-fledged scowl. “Agreeing to the marriage? So you didn’t want to marry me?”

Oh fuck. “Of course I did,” she bleated, the colour evacuating her cheeks. “I—I just meant agreeing to such a big wedding for all of Mom’s—”

Her words disappeared between Roman’s snort. “So Vivian cornered you both into the marriage. Nice. Definitely giving tarantula.”

Her head snapped to the side, until she met Roman’s easy amusement. “What?” she whispered, her focus flicking between him and Aldous. Cornered us both?

“Oh yeah, he didn’t want to marry you either.” Roman nodded at Aldous—steadfastly ignoring Jasmine as she lay her head on his knee, her gaze pleading for attention.

Brianna locked eyes with her unwilling husband. “Is that true, Aldous?”

His broad chest grew as he drew in a deep exhale. “What does it matter now?”

“It matters to me .”

For a few moments, the only sound in the room was Roman methodically running the lice comb through her hair, but then Aldous spoke. “It’s true.”

The shackles locked around her chest loosened with relief.

She didn’t like hearing that Aldous had been forced to marry her, but it meant he wasn’t on Mom’s side. And somehow that made all the difference.

“How did she corner you into the marriage?” she asked.

Aldous’s gaze drifted to Roman, but Brianna couldn’t decipher the look that passed between them. There was none of Aldous’s usual hatred towards Roman, nor Roman’s glee in irritating Aldous.

“She threatened the people I love.” Aldous’s head tilted. “Is that what you wanted to know?”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. It wouldn’t change anything, but she didn’t want him to think she was like her mother. “But I can’t say I’m surprised.”

The lice comb made another pass through her hair, transformed into a smooth ribbon of black silk by the coconut oil. Her head was tender where the electrodes had been attached, but Roman was far gentler than she thought he’d be.

Bri’s voice was quiet. “Thank you for taking me to the hospital.”

“I may not have wanted to be your husband, but I’m not a complete bastard,” Aldous said quietly, compassion lingering in his voice.

“I’m relieved to hear it,” she said, wondering who would be footing the bill for her hospital visit. She was still under Mom’s insurance—and Mom would be furious to discover she’d been admitted.

Bri was relieved to have a diagnosis for herself, but she was terrified of Mom’s reaction. As far as her mother was concerned, a diagnosis was a record of weakness. An embarrassment.

She supposed she should be grateful it hadn’t happened at the altar in front of everyone. Thankfully, the only audience she’d had was Roman and Aldous, and all she had to show for her seizure was residual exhaustion and a truckload of bruises on her ankles from the fall.

And perhaps it was the exhaustion from the seizure, but it was only then that she wondered what her husband’s life had looked like before Mom had got involved.

“When you say Mom threatened the people you love,” she said, treading carefully. “Does that mean you have a partner?”

“No.” Aldous frowned, and Bri was surprised by just how relieved that news made her.

Bri chuffed out a breath of amusement as Jasmine began to whine, her head still resting on Aldous’s knee. “I think Jasmine wants something.”

Aldous glanced down at her silently. “No.”

“Do you not like dogs or something?” Bri frowned. If Jasmine looked at her like that, there was no way she could resist those dark brown puppy dog eyes.

“I like dogs just fine. I just don’t want them near me.”

“Were you, like, bitten by one when you were younger?” Bri patted the sofa next to her, attempting to pry Jasmine away from Aldous.

Tail wagging, Jasmine stood, giving Aldous’s chin a quick lick before settling down next to Brianna with a huff. “Hey Jasmine. You are so stinking cute, huh?” Bri asked softly, smoothing her palm over the Dalmatian’s spotted fur. “I think you might be fighting a losing battle with him.”

Now that she thought about it, hadn’t he shrunk away from her touch in the hospital as well? She’d been so out of it she might be mistaken, but the more she explored her memories, the more it made sense. Every memory of Aldous had been him hovering on the other side of the room, watching her like a hawk with those glittering amber eyes.

Brianna absent-mindedly stroked Jasmine’s soft fur, the simple act doing more to calm her than all the mindfulness apps in the world. The past 24 hours had been more eventful than she ever could have imagined.

She did, however, have some questions for the two men. “You know each other, don’t you?” They’d behaved like a well-oiled machine in the ward, with Roman speaking on her behalf whilst Aldous handled everything from requesting extra tests to organising private rooms.

Her quiet question hovered in the air for several long moments before Aldous broke the silence.

“We’ve met before.”

Bri wanted more information, scratching behind Jasmine’s ear until her black-and-white leg began to judder. “In what capacity?”

“He’s a friend of a friend,” Roman said, sliding the lice comb through her hair. “Or a relative of a friend, more specifically.”

“Koa?” Roman seemed to be pretty friendly with him.

“Not quite. Just an old friend I used to know from work.” Roman gave the lice comb a final wipe on the towel before giving her a grin. “All done.”

She probably looked ridiculous with her hair oiled up to within an inch of its life, but it was a relief to have the glue from the EEG test gone. If she’d been left to her own devices, she didn’t know when she’d have the energy to tackle it. “Thank you,” she said, getting to her feet. Her legs ached after sitting down for so long, and she was keen to stretch them. “Both of you. For everything, especially after Mom threatened the people you love.”

Aldous might distance himself from her physically, but in the last 24 hours her new husband had helped her more than her own mother ever had.

And that had to be worth something.