“Fine,” she says. “If you want to continue this barbaric game, you can. But I’m going to stand in for you, Andrew. When you lose, I’ll take the whipping for you.”
She stands up and drops the dice cup onto the coffee table before kneeling down on the floor. Andrew scowls and grabs her arm, pulling her to her feet.
“That’s ridiculous,” he says. “You’re a woman, and you’re pregnant. A whipping could make you miscarry for god’s sake!”
Waylen stares at her with a furious look. His eyes burn with rage, and he jumps to his feet. He kicks the table over, and the dice cup falls to the ground, spilling dice in all directions. She smiles to herself. Even though Waylen doesn’t care about me, he still cares about the baby, she thinks. I knew he wouldn’t let me take the whipping.
Rebecca runs into the room, and her face freezes in shock when she sees the ruined coffee table. She races to Waylen’s side and whispers something into his ear before leading him out of the room. His back is stiff and cold as he passes Leilani on his way out. She stares at him as he goes.
The rain starts to fall harder again, and the drops sound like little bullets against the glass. Andrew grabs Leilani’s wrist and stares deep into her eyes. Her face is expressionless, but he’s learned to read the subtleties in her expressions. Now there’s a slight crease above her eyebrow, and her jaw is clenched—she’s worried.
He sighs. He knows she caught him cheating, and he knows she only stopped the game because she couldn’t bear to watch Waylen get hurt. His heart twists painfully in his chest, and he grips her delicate wrist tighter.
“Are you happy, Mrs. Clifford?” he asks. “The game is over, and Waylen is safe from me. That’s what you wanted all along, isn’t it? You took the cup so I would lose and then when I still won some rounds, you volunteered to take the whippings. You forced us to stop the game.”
Her eyes flash, and she tries to pull her wrist away, but he refuses to let go. He can feel her pulse through the soft skin of her wrist, and it increases. Her heart must be hammering in her chest.
“You started the game,” she hisses. “You have no right to be angry about the consequences.”
“No right to be angry?” Andrew asks, unable to believe what he’s hearing. “I traded my life for a chance with you, but you continue to flirt with your ex right in front of me. Do you think I’m an idiot?”
Leilani shakes her head and says, “Andrew, you forced me to give you my body and my heart, and I’m doing it. Apparently, I’m marrying you in a month. Why don’t you just leave him alone and let the past stay in the past?”
Andrew groans and closes his eyes. Even when she’s with him physically, it seems like her heart is always with Waylen. No matter what he does for her, she never seems to see him—at least not as a serious option.
“You don’t even try to hide your feelings for him,” he says. “Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? Do you think I like watching my fiancé stare at another man? Do you think I’m okay with you sneaking around to meet him? My God, Leilani—this is killing me.”
“Why do you have Charles’ heart?” she asks. “Of all the hearts in the world, why do you have his?”
He drops her wrist, feeling his muscles tense and freeze. This isn’t the response he was expecting at all, and he’s not prepared to answer her question. He swallows and takes a deep breath.
She rolls her eyes and continues, “You know, I don’t owe either of you anything. If you were a decent person, you’d give Charles his heart back, but it shouldn’t have anything to do with me. I’m sick of you using his heart as leverage to try to get what you want from me.”
“I’ve been very patient with you,” Andrew whispers. “I’ve never asked for more than we agreed upon, and you’ve barely even given me that. You flinch when I touch you, and you try to get away from me whenever you can. Do you regret this deal?”
“I never regret any decision I make,” Leilani says, squaring her shoulders. “But, you deserve everything you’ve gotten and more.”
She brushes past him and walks toward the door with long, graceful strides. He turns on his heel and grabs her wrist, pulling her back into the living room. She stumbles, and her body collides with his chest.
“I deserve what I get?” he asks. “Do you have any idea what you’re talking about? I woke up from surgery with a new heart beating in my chest, and on the first day, I was allowed to leave the hospital I ran into a strange woman in a bathroom. She made my heart pound so hard, I thought it might kill me. When she left, I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“I tried everything to get her off my mind, but nothing and no one could replace her. I’m not some naïve schoolboy, Leilani—I’ve been with other women. But none of them have made me feel even a quarter of what I feel for you.
“Now imagine how I felt when I found out that you hated me all because I had Charles’ heart? I’m willing to die to make you happy, Leilani. Why can’t you just give me these six months? Sometimes I wish they’d end. Surely when the doctors cut the heart out of my chest, they’ll find your name scarred into it.”
Leilani shivers against him and turns her head away. He can hear her breathing come in ragged little puffs, and he hopes he’s finally made her understand the depth of his feeling. But then her breathing slows, and she pulls away.
“We should go to bed,” she says. “And we need to tend to your wounds—I’m sure they’re really bad.”
Andrew glances at an owl-shaped clock on the wall: it’s 2:00 in the morning, and the rain is falling in sheets. He has no idea if there’s still a traffic jam or police blockade, but the pain in his back is unbearable. He nods and walks out of the living room, letting her chase after him.
Leilani looks around the guest room that she’s supposed to share with Andrew. She wonders if Rebecca and Waylen are also sharing a room. Her heart twists as she imagines Rebecca tending to Waylen’s injured back. She’s probably a great nurse too, Leilani thinks.
There’s a knock at the door, and a man wearing a stethoscope around his neck comes in. He looks slightly wrinkled and stressed. Leilani stares at him in confusion until she hears an angry roar come from down the hall. The doctor must have come to tend to Waylen, she thinks. Clearly, Waylen is unhappy about that.
“Robert Tinder said I should come here, too,” the doctor says. “He said there was a man in this room who’s badly injured.”
Leilani nods and steps aside, allowing him to pass into the room. The doctor asks Andrew to undress and lie on the bed. Leilani thinks about the bloody mess on his back on the cruise ship and decides to go downstairs for some water while the doctor examines Andrew. She doesn’t want to feel sick again.
“Excuse me, Miss Peters,” Robert says.
Leilani finishes filling her glass at the tap and asks, “What is it?”
“Well, Mr. Bamford’s back is hurt, but he won’t let the doctor apply the ointment.”
“What does that have to do with me?” Leilani asks. “If you think I can help you’re barking up the wrong tree. Go find Rebecca.”
Robert clears his throat and says, “He won’t let her near him either. The doctor said the wounds would get infected if he doesn’t apply the ointment.”
“He asked you to come here?” Leilani asks, hating the hope that rises in her chest.
“Not exactly,” Robert says. “I just thought I’d take the liberty of asking you to help because you’ve always been able to talk sense into him.”
“That was in the past,” she says. “Times have changed.”
She walks past Robert and carries the water upstairs. By the time she gets to the room, the doctor is cleaning Andrew’s back and applying ointment. She sips her water and watches the rain drip down the windowpane. By the time she’s finished, the doctor is bandaging Andrew’s back.
“You rest here, and I’ll take the room next door,” she says.
“Mrs. Clifford, that’s very inhumane of you,” Andrew flirts. “I’ve suffered so much already, and now you want to make me suffer the loss of your presence?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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