The Marriage Sacrifice

One good thing about having a large handbag was she could hide her sneakers inside. Her mother would be having a fit right about now as she slid them on her feet. She lost a good couple of inches and had to look up to Dom now, but at least she had comfort. That was all that mattered.

She had known Dom for so long now, since they were kids. He was older than she was, and most of the time he couldn’t stand to be around her. She’d been a tomboy, and he’d been … a loner.

“You carry a change of shoes?”

“I’m not one of these magical women that can stand to wear such high shoes. Wow, they feel so good.”

“They’re not even designer.”

“Dom, I’ll let you in on a little secret, I don’t give a fuck about designer or brands or anything that my parents want me to. In fact, I have no interest in going shopping. I’ve got plenty of clothes and shoes to last me a lifetime. Shopping is boring.”

“What are you going to do then?”

“That is none of your business.”

“If you’re off to see a lover boy, it is my business.”

She stopped and turned toward him. “Excuse me? How the hell do you figure that?”

“That’s my ring on your finger. It makes it my business.”

“Oh, I don’t want to talk to you right now.” She started to walk away. They hadn’t said more than two words to each other since she was forced to put his ring on her finger. There was no way she was going to listen to him right now.

“You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

“Shame.”

“Come on, Sage, you’re not still pissed at me, are you?” he asked.

She spun on her heel and glared at him. “We had a deal, you and I. You promised me years ago when we first found out that we were destined to be man and wife that you’d fix it. You’re the man, and my father will only listen to you. Believe me, I’d have fixed it if I could.”

“I will.”

“How? Getting engaged is not going to fix anything. I trusted you, and now we’re here. My mom has a wedding planner. There is no way out of this. Not with my mom involved.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t want to do anything with this.” She held onto her bag tighter as she crossed the road. There were no cars, but she didn’t want to take her time and risk getting knocked over by a car.

“I tried,” Dom said, still following her.

“Not hard enough because I wouldn’t be part of any wedding planning or anything else.” She didn’t want him following her all the way to the homeless shelter. This was what she did for herself, not for him or her family to invade what she loved to do. They would only spoil it. “Please stop following me. I don’t know what it is that you want, but I’m really not interested. I get that we’re supposed to be married in a couple of months, but I really don’t want to play the doting fiancée. So please, stop.”

She stared at him and took a step back. Then another and another, until he didn’t follow her and she was able to get to the shelter without thinking about Dom, her parents, or the wedding that was being dubbed one of the best of the year, complete with celebrities and all the other crap it entailed. Once she had put her bag in the locker in the back of the shelter, she rushed toward the kitchen where Billy was already mixing up the soup. She loved to cook, no surprise there, but feeding the homeless was also enjoyable. Helping others was what she lived for.

It certainly wasn’t shopping, buying more bags than she’d ever use, or spending her parents’ money. She earned her living, much to her parents’ disgust. She didn’t need a husband, and she certainly didn’t need Dominick Duke in her life.

He was one man she would gladly do without.

****

Dom stared out of his office window. As always, he was on the top floor, looking over the city. He didn’t know how many people did this, just took the time to see the world. Not that he had the time. Not with Sage refusing to take his calls, or making this wedding any easier.

He’d discovered his parents’ merger via marriage when she was sixteen years old. He’d been able to put them off until now. They wanted this merger. His father’s company was in a financial crisis, and his father said that he’d waited long enough. He had to be married to the Boyle girl before the end of the year.

The only problem was he and Sage had never seen eye to eye. Where he’d embraced the playboy lifestyle, loving lavish parties, and jet-setting around the world with a new woman on his arm every single night, Sage was the complete opposite. For one, she made her own income without her parents’ backing. She’d become an author of some really sexy, sensual books.