Page 81 of More than Paper

More hurt courses through me. “You got married not once but twice?”

He takes a deep breath. “Yes, and we will tell you why, doll.”

“Do not call me doll. I am not your doll,” I angrily fire at him.

He gives me another pained look. “Don’t say that.”

Disgust fills me.

Valeria says, “He married me when we were twenty, so I could stay in the United States and not have to marry one of my father’s men back in Colombia. We went to the courthouse. My father found out and made us have a big wedding in Colombia. Jamison only did it to save me from a life I could not bear to live.”

What? Is this a big act?

“I understand this is shocking. My father is a very dangerous man. He is involved in the criminal world. I did not know when Jamison married me what my father was involved in. I was fourteen when I came to the United States for school and never left. When we got married, my father visited us and set the rules down.”

“The rules?”

“Yes. The rules.”

Jamison comes and sits on the ottoman in front of me. “The rules were that we either got an immediate annulment, and Valeria went back to Colombia and married one of her father’s men, or we got married what he considered the right way.”

“The right way?”

He nods.

Valeria cuts in. “My father takes marriage seriously. He cheats on my mother and has seven illegitimate children, but he views marriage as a lifelong commitment.” Her voice is full of disgust.

Lifelong commitment. Jamison is in a lifelong commitment to Valeria Sánchez, his wife.

Her father has illegitimate children...like me.

My hand flies to my face as I swallow the bile that crawls up my esophagus.

Jamison quickly moves onto the couch next to me and pulls me into his chest as more tears fall down my face. “It’s just a piece of paper for Valeria and me. She loves Cindy, and I love you. This doesn’t change anything.”

I push out of his grasp. “This doesn’t change anything? How can you say that? Were you even going to tell me?”

He looks at Valeria. “V, can we have a minute?”

“Sure.” She pats my hand and leaves the room.

“As soon as you told me you would move to New York, I was going to tell you.”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“I wanted to make sure you were committed to me...to us.”

“Committed to you? I’ve never cheated on anyone—”

“That’s not what I mean, Quinn. This doesn’t just involve me. I’ve never told anyone I’ve dated this before. I was going to tell you, but I wanted to be positive you were sure about me first.”

“Sure about you? I’ve been trying to figure out all the things I needed to move here. It’s all I’ve thought about.You’reall I’ve thought about.”

“I screwed up. I’m sorry. I never would intentionally hurt you.”

“I came here to tell you I would move.”

He cups my face. “Good. Nothing has changed.”

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