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Dominic had to know that I’d never in a million years willingly marry anyone who wasn’t him, especially Trevor O’Connor. How could he not know at least that? After all this time, my love for him should be the one thing he never questioned.
But then again, I’d been keeping secrets and lying to him since the day I’d been forced to break up with him without reason all those months ago. The promises that had meant the most to him—for me to never lie or leave him—were shot to hell. Trevor would stop at nothing to hurt Dominic, and using me was the perfect way to do it.
Trevor had always wanted me, ever since high school. He’d told me a million times over the years, joking at first—before hisjokesturned more serious. I never thought there was a world in which someone taking me from Dominic could happen. I was off-limits. Unattainable. Not up for grabs. And anyone who didn’t realize that usually got a rude awakening to that fact real quick. I belonged to Dominic DeLuca and always would regardless of our relationship status at the time.
Dominic and I convinced ourselves that Trevor’s obsession with me didn’t matter, that he would eventually get bored and find someone new to focus on. Over the years, he dated other women, but they always had one thing in common—they looked a little too much like me. We should have known better… been smarter. Men like Trevor didn’t like to lose and would go to extreme measures to get what they wanted. No lengths were too far as long as their ego was satiated. I’d been wounding Trevor’s pride for long enough.
Which was why I knew that Dominic would eventually forgive me once he learned the truth. Forgiving each other would be easy. Because the idea of not doing it was unthinkable. Things had gotten so out of control between us, so fast. I had been forced to break up with Dominic, and the next thing I knew, I was on the arm of a man I hated, pretending to be his proud and doting girlfriend as he announced his run for office. Every face I saw wore the same expression as I stood there with Trevor—utter confusion.
I had been given a choice all those months ago, but there really hadn’t been one. I’d do anything to keep my dad safe, and Trevor and Dominic’s father both knew it. Yes, Dominic’s father was in on this as well. Something about me being the perfect politician’s wife. He’d said it to me before in the past, but I’d thought he always meant as long as I was with Dominic. Apparently, the husband part was interchangeable. I, however, was not.
When I’d first texted Dominic and asked him to meet me in the middle of an empty field, far from prying eyes, I hadn’t intended on asking anything of him, especially not something so reckless. I just wanted to see him even if I couldn’t give him an explanation or any of the answers that he deserved. I’d been dying inside without him. We’d never gone more than twenty-four hours without speaking before, and now, I’d been ignoring his texts and calls for months. It was the only way I could ever go through with this.
“I need you to object,” had tumbled out of my mouth without warning, and my entire body froze.
I hadn’t meant to say it.
I hadn’t meant to say anything.
Staying quiet while he’d hurled accusations at me was damn near impossible, but I’d done it until he pushed too hard, forcing my composure to crumble.
Then, I went back to the original ask. I’d started to convince myself it was a brilliant idea even though I should have known better.
Dominic objecting during the ceremony felt like some sort of reasonable loophole. Trevor couldn’t get mad at me because I wouldn’t have done anything wrong. I’d have shown up like he’d asked—dressed in all white with a smile on my face. I couldn’t have foreseen what Dominic would do. He could be rash, angry, and unstable. Especially when I was involved.
I’d tell Trevor that I only ran outside with Dominic to calm him down, to force him to leave, and to convince him that I didn’t want him anymore.
I rolled it all around in my head as I headed back into town, knowing damn well that there was no way in hell that Trevor would believe any of it. He’d had a front row seat to our relationship for far too many years. He knew the way Dominic and I worked.
I’d been an idiot to ask Dominic something so stupid without thinking about it from every angle first. It wasn’t like me to be so rash, especially when my dad’s future was on the line. My only excuse was that seeing Dominic had rendered me unable to think clearly. And now, the damage had been done.
I’d planted a seed in Dominic’s head that I needed to get out. But how the hell was I going to accomplish that without telling him everything?
I needed to think of something—and fast. I was running out of time.
I DON’T UNDERSTAND
DOMINIC
I’d been rattled ever since I’d met with Dove earlier this morning. So, now, in my favorite diner, I was sitting on an aging booth with cracks in the leather backrest. Across from me was my best friend, Michael. He had solidified his place as my only friend outside of Dove in our junior year of high school when he informed me that Trevor was scheming to take my girl from me. I laughed at the time, knowing that there was nothing anyone on this fucking planet could do to take her from my arms, but the fact that Trevor was going behind my back to truly attempt something like that? The betrayal had me seeing red.
Michael didn’t know the specifics, only that Trevor was willing to stop at nothing to have her. He’d overheard him talking in the locker room with some guys. Trevor had always been obsessed with Dove, but I chalked it up to just another one of those things that I had that Trevor coveted. I’d been used to it by then. Him wanting Dove didn’t surprise me one bit. Every guy at our school wished they were me. But no one was stupid enough to do anything about it.
It wasn’t until I replayed a conversation between myself and my father that it all started to make sense. My father loved Dove. And I mean, he saw her as the perfect woman to have on my arm as I ran for city mayor before eventually running for bigger and better positions within our fair state. Two things I never intended on doing, no matter how hard he pushed and plotted.
Dove was the daughter of a well-respected pillar of our community. Her father was the chief of police andhaving a man like that on our side was crucial to being successful and navigating certain waters of our town and the perimeter. The union couldn’t have been more perfect if it had been arranged by our forefathers.That was what he had told me one uncharacteristically hot and sunny afternoon in December. That I’d done well for myself, securing Dove, and he’d been proud of my choice.
Looking back, I thought that was the last time my dad had said those words to me. That he had been proud.
“Are you listening, man?” Michael snapped his fingers in front of my face, and I swatted them away.
“Sorry. Out of it,” I admitted, and he groaned.
“Are you going to tell me what happened with Dove, or are you going to just sit here all day long, looking like someone kicked your dog?”
Glancing around the crowded diner, I leaned toward Michael and away from any potentially prying ears. People in Hopetown were always listening. Especially now.
“She asked me to stop the wedding,” I all but whispered.
