Total pages in book: 190
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Wildly shaking her head in denial, Mimi fixed him with a cold, direct glare. “You can’t be married. No way.”
He didn’t correct her. He merely stared at her, his gaze unreadable.
“It isn’t true.” She dug the heel of her hand into her breastbone. “You wouldn’t do that. Wouldn’t get married. You wouldn’t.”
Uh, why not? Was she under some impression that he’d never commit fully to another woman after having lost her sister? She’d be right to an extent. I had no emotional commitment from him.
“This is”—she sharply swept out her arm—“I don’t know … Some kind of sick joke.”
Why would it be sick, even if it was a joke? I was missing something here.
She clenched her fists. “Tell me it isn’t true.”
“If I did that,” Dax began, cool and composed, “I’d be lying.”
An angry flush reddened her face. “You are fucking unreal,” she hissed, her fists clenched, the definition of spitting mad.
He sighed. “Mimi—”
“I cannot believe you’d do this. What in the hell is going on with you?” she demanded, her voice becoming louder and shriller. “Why would you take a dump all over Gracie’s memory this way?”
A slight frown briefly pulled at his brow. “I don’t view it as disrespecting her memory in any sense of the word. I’m not certain why you do.” He winged up a brow. “Wasn’t it you who said she’d want me to get on with my life, not grow old alone?”
Mimi pressed her lips tight together and jabbed a trembling finger at him. “You said you didn’t want to bind yourself to another woman!”
“No, I didn’t,” he argued, still calm. “You decided that I must feel that way when my relationships kept failing. You accused me of sabotaging them on purpose. I told you that you were wrong. You waved that away, so sure you were right. You weren’t.”
Her expression crumpling, she took another step back. The distress plastered all over her face would have made me feel bad for her if it wasn’t for one thing: There wasn’t simply shock and anger in her eyes. There was something I wouldn’t have expected to see.
Jealousy.
A hot, bitter-edged jealousy.
Well, shit. She had a thing for the guy who her deceased twin had loved. And I would bet my life Dax was well-aware of it. What a mindfuck that must be for him. And for her, actually.
I stilled as a question slapped me: Had they slept together?
It didn’t seem like something Dax would do, but people often sought comfort in the form of sex when grieving. He could have done it while his head was a mess.
Hell, they could even have slept together more than once. It would explain why Mimi had turned up here with an overnight bag, so sure of her welcome. It would also account for why she was in such a state—she’d had some hope that he’d commit to her one day.
The lines of upset in Mimi’s face smoothed out as her expression morphed into something ugly and sour. “How long?” she bit out, glaring at him. “How long have you been married?” She spat the latter word like it was a curse.
“Five weeks,” he replied.
She squeezed her eyes shut. “Fuck.” Her breathing growing fast and noisy, she inched up her chin and snapped her eyes open. “Well, now I know why you’ve been dodging my calls for the last week.”
Wait, she’d been calling him? And he’d said nothing of it to me?
“You didn’t want me to know,” she accused. “You didn’t want to admit to me what you’d done because you’re ashamed.”
Dax’s brow pinched. “I feel not one bit of shame. I have no reason to. And I refuse to stand here and justify marrying Addison. If you don’t like it, it isn’t my problem.”
She dragged in a pained breath. “God, you’re a bastard.” She slammed her blazing eyes on me. “I feel sorry for you. I don’t know what sweet little words he gave you, but he’ll only ever love one woman,” she taunted, her tone derisive. “My sister. You’re second best. Always will be.”
Wasn’t she a sweetheart?
Much as I wasn’t fond of her snark—or of her evident crush on my husband—I felt a pang of sympathy for her. You couldn’t control who you loved. And I doubted someone would choose to fall for their dead sister’s boyfriend. “How about you sit down and I’ll—”
“How about you fuck off!” she blasted.
Well. My sympathy vanished in an instant.
“Enough,” Dax cut in, the single word a cold demand.
She sneered at him. “This is bullshit. You betrayed Gracie, you—”
“Did what she would have wanted,” he finished. “I moved forward.”
A bark of humorless laughter came from her. “Moved forward?” she scoffed. “You’ll never let Gracie go. You don’t know how. And I don’t think you even want to.” Again, her gaze sliced to me. “Seriously, are you fucking stupid marrying someone who’s hung up on a ghost?”