Page 96 of Wed to the Devil

Olive can’t contain her excitement, already pointing out several items she liked. "This one! And this one too!"

As we are changing in the elegant changing rooms, Olive can't seem to keep her curiosity contained any longer.

"Where did you say Dare is again?" she asks me suddenly after trying on several dresses without success.

I know Olive; she's been thinking about her question for a while.

I try to brush off the question, but I can feel my face heating up with embarrassment. "He's... busy," I mutter, not wanting to go into any more detail.

But Olive doesn't let it go. "Busy with what, Talia?" she presses, a mischievous glint in her eye.

I sigh, knowing that there's no way I can avoid answering her. "He was called away for work," I say finally, trying to keep my tone neutral.

Olive narrows her eyes at me, clearly sensing that I'm not being entirely truthful. "Working or not, he should be here with his pregnant wife," she says pointedly, and I can feel myself getting defensive.

"He has a lot of responsibilities, Olive," I say, suddenly feeling defensive. "He can't just drop everything because I want him to."

Olive sticks her head out of her booth and holds her hands up in a gesture of defeat.

"I’m not trying to start any shit," she claims. She offers me a smile. "I just worry about you, you know? You're going through a lot right now."

I feel a lump forming in my throat at her words. They're true, of course. I'm pregnant with another man's baby, and I'm married to Dare - a man who, despite my best efforts to make him trust me, still clearly thinks I'm a gold-digging con artist. And that's not even to mention the fact that his twin brother, Burn, was my first one-night stand... and now he's the father of the baby growing inside.

Thinking of Burn in that context is actually super gross. I straight up don't like the guy. So maybe I should think of him as my sperm donor.

I sigh. "Money is the only thing that Dare understands. So if I rack up a huge bill, maybe it will give him pause. Maybe make him think twice about calling me a bastard."

Olive looks at me, her eyes wide. "He called you that?"

I shrug. "He implied that I lacked basic manners because Igrew up not knowing who my father is. So... yeah, basically."

"Wow. I know I pushed you to accept Dare's proposal, but that's unacceptable. No one gets to talk to my best friend like that."

"Thanks." I give her a tiny smile. "Now help me find the perfect outfit for tonight."

I start picking out things that catch my eye - dresses, shoes, accessories - until my arms are full of bags. Olive follows behind me with wide eyes as I pay with my glossy black AmEx card. Soon we hurry out of the store, giggling and excitedly gushing about our new purchases.

It feels good to splurge like this. I can finally let loose now that Dare isn't around to judge me. It's also the first time that I'm not really questioning and thinking twice about every penny I spend. For once in my life, it's nice to be able to do something without worrying about what anyone else thinks.

"So what happened last night?" Olive asks as we walk down the street, our arms laden with shopping bags.

I ball my fists up, unable to look at her. "Dare and I had a really great day," I say softly. "He was playing with the kids and it was so... nice." My cheeks are hot as I force myself to go on. "Then, like a fool, I told him I loved him." Her eyes widen in shock. "But he couldn't say it back," I finish, my voice barely more than a whisper. "He actually got really angry and accused me of putting words in his mouth. It got ugly very quickly."

Olive's eyes are wide, she says nothing for a moment. Her eyebrows knit together in concern.

"That's a big deal, Talia," she says seriously. "It sounds like he has some pretty deep-seated trust issues that he needs to work through before he can move forward in your relationship."

“I agree with you, sadly,” I sigh. “I thought that maybe if I said those three little words he'd finally start trusting me, but clearly I was wrong. Now what do I do? Do I keep pushing him? Or do I just let it go?”

"I honestly don't know," Olive says. "I didn't even know that Dare had such a nasty side."

I close my eyes and take a deep, steadying breath. The thoughts of Dare, and his near-constant inability to open himself up to me flood my mind.

"He never seems to stop talking about my past. Yet his cruel words have done enough damage already. If he doesn't stop it, we will be over before we even start."

My eyes well up with tears and my throat begins to close. Dare has hit me where it hurts the most: I am an orphan, alone in this world. He has no idea how much pain his words cause me. Even though he doesn't mean to, it still cuts me a thousand times like a thousand knives.

“Oh, Talia,” Olive whispers softly, drawing me into her embrace. She holds me while I weep, letting my tears soak her shirt as I attempt to take back control of myself.