Page 50 of Beauty and the Beach

She stops moving at once, her body relaxing as she falls silent.

The door to the room lurches open.

And even though every instinct in me is screaming that I need to protect her, protect myself—I do nothing. I remain motionless, my arm snaked around her waist, my breathing slow. I do nothing as I listen to the nearly silent footsteps; I do nothing when I realize that that can’t possibly be Mavis, based on how quick and quiet they are.

Who onearthis in this bedroom, where me and my new wife are presumably sleeping?

The answer comes seconds later when I hear a dull thud, followed by a hiss of pain.

Lawrence—that’s my cousin Lawrence, likely here on behalf of both himself and his father.

I hope his toe is broken.

While I recognize my cousin’s pained exhale, however, Holland doesn’t; she’s doing her best to remain still, but I can feel her body beginning to tremble, and I put myself in her shoes.

She’s listening to a strange man enter her bedroom. Of course she’s terrified.

Something hot and angry rises in my chest—anger at myfamily for being like this, and anger at myself for dragging her into it. I tighten my arm around her and breathe into her ear: “My cousin.”

Her shaking doesn’t subside, but she somehow burrows closer to me, and although I’m surprised, I don’t push her away. When a beam of light falls on us, we both shift, but I keep my arm around her.

The light wanders for just a few seconds, and then it’s dark again; after another moment, the door to the suite closes.

He’s gone.

But we don’t move.

“Your entire family is psycho,” Holland finally says, her voice faint like she can’t quite believe it. “You’re the most normal one. How is that even possible? How did I marry into this?” She’s shaking still, and when the shaking becomes more pronounced, I tighten my arm around her.

“Listen to me—Holland,listen.” So strange, calling her by her name like this, but…we’re already spooning. Plus there’s something odd about this darkness; it feels like another plane, where our normal rules don’t apply. I can’t see her, she can’t see me, it’s the middle of the night and we’re in bed together; I know, instinctively, that whatever I say here tonight will stay here. Both of us will pretend this never occurred.

So I call her by her name, because I need her to pay attention. I need her to understand. “I will not let anything happen to you. Okay?”

She doesn’t answer; I speak again.

“I swear,” I say into the darkness. Her hair tickles my face, but I don’t try to move. “Nothing will happen to you while you’re married to me.” Then, my voice gentler, I add, “Trust me, please.”

“Impossible,” she says, and I can hear the bravado she’s trying to muster, but the words just come out shaky. “I don’t trust you at all.”

I sigh. I guess we’re going to talk about the things we never talk about—more things we’ll leave in this marriage bed when we get up in the morning. Because it’s hitting me, all at once, the truth of what Wyatt said: that whatever Holland and I are, we’re close ones. I didn’t believe him, or maybe I didn’t want to admit it, but…he was right.

I need her to see that. Because she’s shaking in my arms, and it bothers me in a way I can’t explain.

“You trust me,” I say. “You do, or you wouldn’t have married me. And I trust you, or I wouldn’t have asked. We wouldn’t be sharing this bed if we didn’t trust each other, and you know it. Name one other man you would sleep next to like this.”

“You wouldn’t either,” she says, sounding defensive.

When I hesitate, she pushes.

“Admit it,” she says.

“Yes,” I say finally, my voice grudging. “There’s no one else. Only you.”

And I’m just admitting that she’s the only one I could sleep next to like this, but itfeelslike I’m saying more than that. So I take a deep breath and move on.

“I promised Trev I would take care of you. And after he died…” I swallow, clear my throat. “Anyway, I want to do something good with this company. I need to do good things. And to do that, I have to inherit. So we just need to hold out long enough for Mavis to officially name me her heir. But during that time, you’ll be safe.”

Holland is silent for a second. “It wasn’t your fault,” she says then. “The crash, I mean.”

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