Page 22 of Bound in Paradise
Dani let out a shaky breath, her mind whirling. What did he want to say? What could possibly explain everything that had happened? The way he’d behaved? The things he’d said? Or was he going to admit it was all a lie? The chances of him having any kind of excuse she’d find acceptable was slim. Better just get this over with; it was bound to just reinforce her contempt for his actions. And she damn well needed that right now, before he fooled her again.
Drying off quickly, Dani pulled on a pair of comfortable cropped yoga pants and a tank top, her hands trembling slightly as she dressed.
When she opened the door, Zack was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes met hers, and the intensity in them made her breath catch.
"Sit," he said, gesturing to the lounge chairs on her veranda. It wasn't a request.
Dani hesitated for a moment, then complied, perching on the edge of her seat. Zack remained standing, pacing back and forth in the small space in front of her.
"I need you to listen to me," he began, his voice low and urgent. "Really listen. No interruptions, no assumptions. Can you do that?"
She nodded, her throat too tight to speak anyway. She didn’t like the implications.
Zack took a deep breath. "I was…ammarried.”
Dani sucked in a painful breath, bands constricting around her chest as she fought the urge to run. To rage.
“Hear me out!” Zack demanded as if he knew. Hell, it was probably written all over her face. “It’s complicated.”
"How complicated can it be?" Dani snapped, her patience fraying. "You're either married or you're not."
Jesus! She was having a Deja vu moment. They’d already had this conversation.
How could she have been so stupid? He’d told her he was married. Zack was many things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. She’d simply justified his words however she could, to mitigate her own guilt.
And now she’d had sex with a married man… again!
Zack ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every line of his body. "It's not that simple. I was fifteen when it occurred.Fifteen,Dani. I didn't even know what was happening."
Dani's eyes widened, her anger momentarily forgotten, brought to an abrupt halt as she remembered Kris’s report. But the reality of it was… astounding. "What are you talking about?"
"My father…" Zack spat the word like it was poison. "Arranged a marriage for me when I was fifteen. To a twelve-year-old girl I'd never met. He made some deal with her mother I don’t even understand to this day.”
He paused in his pacing, throwing his head back, dislodging his glasses as he jammed the heels of his hands into his eyes, his whole body quivering with rage.
“The girl, her name was - is - Emylyah, I didn’t even find that out until years later. Even then it was by accident… something my father’s lawyer brought up after his death when he asked if I had a prenuptial agreement to protect my assets.”
He clenched his fists so his knuckles turned white, his anger palpable. “We saw each other for fifteen minutes in a judge's chambers, and that was it. I haven't seen her since."
Dani sat back, stunned. "But... how is that even legal?"
“Believe it or not, even today minors can be married in California. It simply needs judicial and parental agreement.”
Dani shook her head in disbelief. “But surely no judge…”
"Money," Zack interrupted bitterly. "Wave enough money in front of the right judge, and it’s a done deal. Hell, some just consider it a valid point of law!”
Dani’s mind was reeling. "But why?"
Zack's jaw clenched and he shook his head, defeat evident in every line of his body. “I don’t even know. My father died without ever mentioning it, in life or in any paperwork. It was only because the lawyer holding my father’s will was the same one who’d overseen the original agreement that the subject even arose, otherwise I’d still be clueless. Can you believe that?”
Dani took several deep breaths and rubbed her hands over her face. “I don’t understand…”
Zack laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Join the club,” he replied, drily.
“How could you not know? Surely you must have questioned why you were there?”
Zack turned to stare out onto the tropical vista of sea and sky and scented flora, but his eyes looked back into the past.
