It’s early enough that the sky is still orange with sunrise as I step into my office.
My heart leaps in fright when Simon is sitting in the corner of the sofa by the window.
“Marlen,” he says, standing up.
“Holy shit, man, what are you doing here?” I snap, my heart racing. I walk toward my desk, set my car keys and phone down, then head to the coffee machine to turn it on.
“We need to talk,” Simon says, sounding agitated.
He walks over to me with his hands in his pockets.
“Now? It’s not even five thirty. How long have you been here?” I ask.
“Half an hour, you mentioned yesterday, you were coming in early, so I decided to wait here. I wanted to talk to you in private, before the day got busy,” he says.
“Ok, coffee?”
He shakes his head. “Marlen, this is serious, I… I stopped at your house yesterday,” he says tightly. My heart sinks into my stomach, and I turn away from the coffee machine to look at my brother.
His eyes are stern, his lips set in a tight line.
There’s no point asking him if he happened to bump into her or not. I can see it on his face.
“Right,” I sigh.
“Right,” he sighs too.
“She didn’t tell me she’d seen you,” I mutter, realizing Stef and I had a lovely evening last night, and she had plenty of opportunity to mention it. What does it mean that she kept it a secret?
“Marlen, you kidnapped her and forced her to marry you. What the hell were you thinking, man?” Simon huffs.
“I had a plan, alright. I didn’t want to implicate you in it,” I snap back defensively.
“Does anyone else know?”
“Bardil, but he won’t say anything,” I reply.
The coffee machine stops streaming dark caffeine into my mug, and I pick up the shot of espresso and down it. Damn. It’s too early to deal with this shit.
“Marlen, her family is going crazy looking for her. Oursisterhas been worried sick. How could you do this?” Simon is pissed off.
“Are you going to tell them?” I groan, pushing my hand through my hair and closing my eyes for a moment.
Simon stands still, contemplating my questions. The silence stretches on for too long, and I start to get anxious.
But finally, he turns to me and shakes his head. “No, I’m not going to tell them, but you’re going to stop holding her prisoner in that house,” he declares.
“What do you mean?” I ask, my eyes narrowed.
“Bring her to tonight’s family dinner. You forced her to marry you. It’s only right you treat her like a wife and not a prisoner.”
“I can’t bring her to the dinner…”
“Yes, you can. And if you don’t… well, I might not be so willing to keep your secrets from Talia anymore.”
My jaw clenches tightly. I know Simon well enough to trust that he won’t put me in danger. But he is a man of high morals, like me, and he will do what he feels is right for everyone. Even if it means pulling Stef away from me.
He doesn’t know what she’s come to mean to me.
