Maybe that would help shave off some of his anger. I didn’t think he’d hurt her, not physically, but sometimes, Clive didn’t realize how much damage he could do with his words.
“There’s a man looking for her all right, her former lover. She was his mistress. And before that, she was a whore. She stole from him, assaulted him, and ran.”
I stared at Clive.
Shit.
That… explained a lot, actually. At least about how she did things like easily suck our whole cocks down her throat, and why she didn’t want to talk about her past. Had she been scared we’d reject her if we’d known? Clive and I weren’t virgins, far from it, but there were different standards for men. It wouldn’t have bothered me.
Was it bothering Clive?
“I don’t care what she did before she came to us, she’s our wife now.” I wasn’t going back on that. If Clive intended to, we might have to part ways. The thought made me sick to my stomach, but I wasn’t going to leave Sassy unprotected because of her past. Staying with Clive because he had some puritanical notion lodged in his head and leaving her in danger wouldn’t just make me sick, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
“You don’t care that she lied?” Clive stared at me, flabbergasted.
“What does it matter what she did in the past? She’s ours now, and she’s a damn good wife,” I shot back at him.
“But she lied. We don’t know a thing about her, not really. She could be setting us up, just like she did him.”
“Setting us up for what, Clive?” I swept my arm out, gesturing at the ranch. We had cows, horses she couldn’t ride, a vegetable garden, chickens... “What do we have that she can physically steal? And where would she go with it? You aren’t making a lick of sense.”
He was starting to turn red in the face. Jabbing a finger at me, he scowled.
“No, you aren’t making a lick of sense. She lied to us, and you don’t even care. Or is it that you don’t want to admit you were wrong about that damn ad?”
“I wasn’t wrong!” Damnit. I shook my head. “That’s not why, though, Clive. The ad doesn’t matter. Her past doesn’t matter. You aren’t thinking straight.”
“No, you aren’t thinking straight. You’ve got her built up in your head to be something she’s not, and you aren’t willing to admit she’s not perfect because that would ruin the happy little dream you’ve concocted. I knew something was wrong from the start, but I kept stepping back, trying to give you what you wanted—”
“Oh, sure, giving me what I wanted,” I cut off his tirade, shaking my head. My fists flexed. That was pure Clive. Now that he thought marrying Sassy was a mistake, it was all my fault. Not that I agreed with him about it being a mistake, but my temper was soaring. “Because sharing a wife was some great sacrifice on your part, you’ve been suffering terribly—”
“It doesn’t matter.” He slashed his hand through the air as if that would be the end of the argument. “I’m going in to ask her some questions, and this time, she is going to answer.” He stepped forward, but I didn’t move. I braced myself, feet apart, muscles tensed, and head lowered.
“Like hell. You want to question our wife, you’ll have to go through me first.”
?
??Don’t do this, William,” Clive warned, taking another step toward me, his dark eyes glinting with barely repressed violence. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Arrogant bastard. Of course, he assumed he’d win in a fight.
“Then turn around and walk away until you come to your senses,” I snapped back.
“Why the hell are you still defending that lying whore?” he snarled.
That did it. Lunging forward, I slammed my fist into his chin.
11
Sassy
* * *
Why the hell are you still defending that lying whore?
I stood frozen on the side of the house, heart pounding and tears welling, Clive’s vicious question echoing in my head. I’d been in the garden and had come back to the house when I’d heard raised voices. When I got to the back of the house, I’d recognized Clive’s and William’s voices and heard what they were saying.
Knew they knew.