“That’s what we have to do, Gabriel. We have to get this undone, like it was never done.”
“That shouldn’t be hard since we haven’t consummated the marriage and it hasn’t been that long. Honestly, it was my intention to get the ball rolling in that direction, but then I got dragged in for questioning.
“But I can’t help thinking that if we go through with the annulment, it could make things worse. It could make it look like you don’t trust me, especially since you’ve already told them that you didn’t remember.”
“You don’t understand: I can’t tell a soul about this. If my father finds out, he’ll kill us both. You don’t understand what a terrible decision this was for me.”
“I’m sure it was as terrible as me marrying you. No offense, but I have a whole lot more to lose than you do. I have my company and my reputation, which has taken a harsher beating the past week than your father could or would ever dish out. So excuse me if I don’t give a shit about your daddy.”
I hated to be mean considering I’d been the one to
keep this from her, but I didn’t need her freaking out about things we couldn’t control.
She picked the certificate up and studied it like the thing could be a fake. “Oh, suddenly I’m not good enough?” That’s not at all what I’d meant, but it was also beside the point.
I took the set of rings out of the case and pushed hers toward her. “Does this ring a bell?” She picked the thing up and closed her eyes.
“Yeah, we got these out of a machine, didn’t we? God, I remember the room. The place smelled like cheap air freshener, and there were these two men there…and they were blind?”
“That was the Blues Brothers. They performed the ceremony. It was either them or a Pee-Wee Herman look-alike, and you were afraid of him.”
“Yeah, Pee-Wee has always given me the creeps.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe this. We’re married, and you didn’t tell me.”
I reached across to take the ring from her hand and slipped the small band on her ring finger. With horror in her eyes, she let me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Luna. Can’t you see why I was afraid to? You think I don’t know what a huge mess we’re in? I know it’s a fucking disaster, but I need you to play the part.” I moved around the table and sat next to her, keeping her hand in my grip. “Luna, please help me.”
“I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”
“Damned for me could mean prison, Luna. I don’t know what kind of evidence is mounting, where they are looking, if there are any signs pointing to someone else, but I know I didn’t do it. If you don’t help me, there’s a chance I could go away. Please, Luna. Say you’ll help me.”
“Do the police know?” She pulled her hand away, and I released a deep breath and covered my eyes.
“I don’t know. I’m assuming they will before too long. We’ll need to go down and make a statement and explain. We’ll have to figure out an excuse explaining why I didn’t tell them.”
“That’s going to make us look even worse.” Her tone was sharp, and I couldn’t blame her.
I leaned closer, my eyes pleading with her. “If you do this, Luna, I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
“What does that mean? You’ll pay me off? I don’t want your damned money; I want to know why this happened. What reason did I give for wanting to marry you?”
“After your lap dance, I applauded your performance and we talked about your acting class. Turns out we both played George Washington in our first school play and then you admitted that you had the hots for me, but you wouldn’t sleep with me unless I married you.”
“I didn’t play George Washington, I played Martha – and if we did this to sleep together, then why didn’t we?”
“Because you passed out, and I wasn’t going to take advantage of you.”
She searched my eyes and let out a deep breath. “Fine, I’ll play the part, but I want this reversed as soon as possible. And when all this is cleared up, I want to keep my job.”
“Trust me, Luna, I wouldn’t want anyone else in your position.”
Chapter Eleven
Luna
My entire day had seemed like a blur of emotions since Gabriel fessed up about the wedding.
After it sank in and I realized I’d agreed to play a part as his wife, I left the room and retreated to the bed again. What was I thinking? The best thing to do would be to end this mistake immediately, but apparently he’d been too distracted to tell his lawyer, too, so at least I wasn’t the last to know.