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I learned in that moment what it was like to be competed with—for my father’s attention, for accolades, for jobs, and for girls. Trevor wanted everything that I had, and with the exception of Dove, I happily handed it all over to him. Nothing, except her, meant anything to me.
He followed in my father’s footsteps, learning the ins and outs of the political circuit. Trevor fed off of the manipulation and power—two things I’d always steered clear of, much to both of my parents’ ire. I had no desire to be the type of man my father was or to follow in the family business. I came from a long line of politicians, where nothing was off the table when it came to getting what you wanted.
Dove was the one thing that I kept for myself. She was never a bargaining chip, never an option on anyone’s agenda. She had been mine, end of story, and everyone had fucking known it. But now, somehow, she was his, and nothing made sense anymore.
So, yeah, it was tempting as fuck to want to steal her from right under his nose on what was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. But I had to think straight. And while the idea that Dove had planted in my head was a good one, it wasn’t necessarily smart.
My jaw ticced as I looked at her, forcing my hands to stay put and not reach for her like they were so used to doing. She was waiting for my response.
“If I did that…” I swallowed hard, searching my mind for a time I’d ever turned her down. I couldn’t think of one. “If I stopped the wedding and you left him at the altar, Trevor would be the victim. Everyone would feel sorry for him. Hell, it would probably get him more votes and reach, not less. He’d be some sort of hero to the everyday people. His next campaign slogan or some shit. And we’d be the villains, Dove. In that scenario, you and I? We’d be the bad guys. The entire town would hate us. Everything we’d worked for would go under, likethat.” I snapped my fingers to signal how quickly we’d lose it all. “No one would support our businesses; they wouldn’t be allowed to without scandal following them at every turn. People would be forced to choose a side, and they wouldn’t choose ours.”
Not that I honestly gave a shit about my development company. I could always start over online or somewhere else. And it wasn’t that I needed the money. I had plenty from my success over the years, saved up and accruing nicely regardless of the economy. And I knew that Dove had her finances in check too. She’d bought Hopetown Real Estate and turned it into the most successful residential company in the county, not just the city limits. It had taken her years to turn the business around and make it into what it was today. I couldn’t imagine her walking away from it like it wouldn’t break her heart to do it.
If the town turned on us, I knew it would devastate her. She loved it here in Hopetown as much as I hated it. I never planned on leaving though because Dove never wanted to. Even though corruption ran through the neighborhoods like telephone wires, Hopetown would always be home. It was where she wanted to raise our family, and I never planned on denying her that.
I hadn’t expected her face to look so crestfallen with my words, but that was exactly what happened. She looked like she was about to break. The tears I’d wanted to see a few minutes ago now appeared. I didn’t want them now. I’d wanted them then. Now, they made me feel like an asshole. Now, they made me question more than ever what the hell was really going on that she wasn’t telling me.
“Can you really stand the thought of me being someone else’s wife? Of beinghiswife? I thought we were soul mates, Dominic. I thought you loved me.”
My cheek stung with the force of her words like she had slapped me with them. And watching her walk away had almost been as bad as being struck.
“How could you do this? You owe me an explanation, Dove!” I shouted, and she stopped moving. “Why the hell did you say yes to him?”
“You’re joking, right?” was the answer she gave me, and I wanted to tear my fucking hair out piece by piece as she climbed into her all-white Range Rover.
That wasn’t a fucking answer.
Dove drove off anyway, the loose gravel from the road spitting up behind her tires and flying toward me. A piece hit the sunglasses on top of my head, leaving a mark. It seemed fitting that something else besides me would carry the scars from today’s meeting.
I kicked the gravel with my boot, sending dirt and debris into the air.
She thought I loved her. I thought she loved me. Even when she acted like she hated me, I knew she still loved me. But marrying someone else wasn’t love. It was punishment. It was torture. It was downright fucking cruel. Yet she was doing it.
My heart split in half inside my chest. It hurt almost as bad as it had the day I found out that she was engaged tohim. The day my world stopped turning and life hit the pause button.
Moving forward, without her, seemed impossible.
I stopped talking to my family the minute I caught wind of the news. There was no way they hadn’t been in on this soul-level deception, and I knew it without even having to ask. I wondered how long they had been plotting it, how long this treachery had been in the works behind my back.
My father knew exactly how badly losing Dove would gut me. He knew she was my Achilles heel, the person I couldn’t function without. That was the thing about the people closest to you—the moment they knew your weaknesses, they wouldn’t hesitate to exploit them when necessary. My father would do whatever it took to get whatever he needed even if I had no earthly idea what that was. Apparently, he’d needed me out of the way and Dove by Trevor’s side.
But why?I wondered as more questions than answers filled my head.
All to climb the political ladder?It didn’t make sense.
And how had they gotten Dove to agree?She loathed Trevor as much as I did. Her loyalty had never strayed from me. Until now.
I had a choice to make. But when it came to Dove, there was never truly a choice. I’d do anything that woman asked, and we both knew it.
But objecting at a wedding she’d willingly agreed to be a part of?
That was definitely crossing a line, yet she’d asked for it anyway. I replayed her words in my head, and that was when I caught her slipup. A rarity for Dove. Unless it was done on purpose, which was more than likely the case.
What was she trying to tell me that she couldn’t come right out and say?
“I need you to object,” she had told me.
Need.
