AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I let out a dry, cruel laugh. “Did you force him to do it?”
“He didn’t have anything else to offer!” His tone is growing more and more defensive.
“Okay, so the obvious choice was to trade his sister for a shit ton of money.” I shake my head in disbelief. “This is so messed up.You’remessed up. I can’t believe you agreed to something like that.”
“In this world, marriage is a common way to form alliances. Your brother is a good man and a skilled leader. But I wasn’t certain of that when we first started this arrangement. I needed some reassurance that he was more than just talk,” he confesses, but I can still hear the remorse in his words. The regret.
“So you told him you’d marry his sister?” My voice drips with bitterness. I’ll give him something he can regret.
“Something like that.” Arnie’s shoulders slump.
I can barely think straight; a thousand thoughts run riot through my head. “I can’t even look at you,” I whisper, turning away from him.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not! If you were, you would have never slept with me.” I begin to tremble with hurt and anger.
My words feel like they’re reverberating around the room. Arnie retreats another step.
“I told you we shouldn’t have done it,” he whispers softly. He’s already getting that faraway look in his eye. “I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I never expected you would be… I thought it would be a marriage of convenience!”
I cross my arms tight against my chest. “You wanted a trophy wife?”
“No! I wanted… well, a friend, maybe?” he says, beginning to look flustered. “My parents had an arranged marriage; I never thought it had to be something romantic.”
“So it’s a loveless marriage you’re after?”
Arnie grits his teeth and closes his eyes. “I wasn’t after anything. These were the cards on the table, and I played my hand. I never thought that Roisin Maguire would be… well, this.”
He gestures to me. All of me. Despite the heat of the argument, there’s a flustered girl inside of me, begging me to close the distance between us. All I ever wanted was a beautiful white wedding.
Just not like this.
“Flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere with me, asshole,” I snap.
Arnie throws his hands up in despair. “What do you want from me then?”
“I want you to take me to my brother.”
“What?”
“You heard me!”
“Roisin, that’s not safe,” Arnie pleads, softening as he steps forward. “There are people out there who want to hurt you.”
“Who is going to hurt me when my brother is there?” I challenge, knowing full well he won’t tell me. For every truth he’s told me, he’s omitted two more. “We both know the only reason you’re not taking me to my brother is because you’re too scared of what he might do if he finds out you already took my virginity.”
Arnie turns a satisfying shade of white
“You—you were…”
“No, asshole!” I shove him in his very hard pecs. “But it’s not nice being lied to, is it?”
“Jesus, Roisin!” He exhales as he staggers back. “I’m not scared of your brother. I just didn’t think you were ready to see him.”
I’m already marching toward the door. “Oh, I’m more than ready.”
Hot on my heels, Arnie catches up in seconds. “Maybe we should wait and think this through. Confronting your brother right now might not be the best idea.”
