“Maybe you should tell daddy dearest to stay out of your love life?” she says flippantly. “Just a thought, honey.”
She comes over and joins me on my bed, lying face down beside me with her head turned to look at me. There's nothing but love and compassion in her eyes. She knows what I'm dealing with. What I'm up against. But, I know that in her mind, the fact that I married Brayden is a good thing. To her, this gets me out from under my father's thumb.
It does anything but that. My dad is going to explode with rage when he finds out what happened. I’m positive he’s going to say a thousand terrible, degrading things to me. He'll demean me-make me feel selfish and small. He'll tell me that I betrayed our family by only thinking about myself, as usual. I can hear it all in my head and I'm still hundreds of miles away from what will be the epicenter of the upcoming dad-quake.
I have no doubt he will demand that I annul the marriage to Brayden and marry this Armando guy to keep his own ass out of the fire. And although I have every intention of annulling this stupid, impulsive marriage to Brayden – what in the hell was I thinking? – I certainly don’t want to marry that guy.
“Seriously, Holly,” Gabby says. “Your dad has no right to force you to marry anyone. Do you know how fucked up that is? I mean, really?”
I sigh. I know that it is fucked-up beyond belief. It honestly seems like something straight out of the Middle Ages. But at the same time, no one knows my family the way I do. Not even my best friend. My father has always been slightly controlling – okay, really controlling – and he has made up his mind on what he wants from me. He thinks he has the perfect blueprint of what my life should be, despite what I want and where my heart and my passion lies. And, for the most part, I haven’t done as he's asked. I've disappointed him time and time again.
This time though, he has really made me feel bad about being a disappointment to the Gallagher family name. He always makes me feel like I owe him something. Like I owe him my life.
Gabby continues. “Maybe this whole marriage to Brayden is a good thing,” she says.
I roll my eyes. “A good thing?”
She nods eagerly. “A blessing in disguise,” she says. “Maybe now that you're a married woman and officially off the market, your asshole dad can't force or coerce you into marrying this slime ball, Alejandro –”
“Armando,” I say.
“Whatever. He's a creep,” she says. “Hell, I'm surprised you know his name. You haven't even met the guy, and your dad expects you to spend the rest of your life with him? All because he made some really bad decisions?”
“I hardly know Brayden either though –”
“At least you've hung out with him and liked him. And he’s spent the last few days treating you like a damn princess,” she says. “Do you know what I would do for a guy who treats me half as well as Brayden's treated you? And hell, for all you know, this douchebag Armando has buck teeth, a beer belly, and a penchant for beating women.”
As she spoke, Gabby did her best impression of someone with buck teeth by jutting the top of her mouth out and crossing her eyes. Of course, this made me giggle. I playfully slap her on the shoulder and try to stifle my laughter.
“Stop,” I say. “This is serious.”
But neither of us are taking it very seriously at the moment. Gabby breaks down chuckling, rolling over on her back as I erupt into a giggling fit of my own. Eventually, the laughter fades and we're laying there, staring at one another. A mischievous smile crosses her face as she looks at me.
“It's very serious. Deadly serious. I mean, you went and got hitched and didn't even let me throw you a bachelorette party or perform my very much expected Maid of Honor duties,” she says, in an over-the-top serious tone. “I'm not sure I can forgive that. You have wounded me deeply, my dear girl.”
“Don't worry,” I say and pat her on the arm. “You'll be a big part of my next marriage, I promise.”
At the mention of marriage though, it brought back the deal my father has proposed to me. Or rather, the deal he insisted I take, and all the laughter and happiness inside of me suddenly vanishes. Like a puff of smoke on the breeze. The smile fades from my face at the thought of having to marry Armando.
All my life, I pictured my wedding day to be a happy time – with a man that I love standing at the end of the aisle, waiting there for me with love in his eyes. Not a stranger.
My phone rings again. “Jesus, dad,” I mutter, burying my head into the pillow. “Give it a damn rest, already.”
Gabby takes my phone, denies the call, and puts it back on silent, but I shake my head and reach for it. I grab it, but she doesn't let it go, and I sigh, my eyes already welling with tears.
“The only way to put a stop to the calls is to answer it,” I say. “It’s time to bite the bullet.”
Gabby raises an eyebrow and hesitates, holding my phone in her hands. I sit up and snatch it from her, just as my father calls again.
I connect the call, my voice coming out a bit huffy. “Yes?”
“Holly, where are you?” he demands. “Jesus Christ, I've been trying to reach you forever. Why haven't you been answering your phone or returning my texts?”
“Geez, sorry dad, my phone was on silent,” I say. “I'm with Gabby, we've been – out.”
I don't feel the need to tell him we are all the way in Vegas – or that I met a man and got married. My dad would freak the hell out, and God knows I don't need that. I've had enough of that over the years to last several lifetimes.
“We need to talk, Holly.”
“I know.”
“Can you come by and see me, today?”
I sigh and close my eyes. Honestly, I need to get the hell out of Vegas to avoid running into Brayden anyway. I don't want to deal with that situation right now. I don't want to face my dad either. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I can only handle one thing at a time and I think it might be better to deal with the devil I know than the devil I don't.
“Please, Holly?” he asks. “We really need to have a conversation.”
My father's voice softens a bit, and I hope I can talk some sense into him. I'll never be able to do that over the phone, though. If I'm going to get through to him and make him really understand what he's asking of me and why I don't want to do it, it has to be in person. He has to look me in the eyes and see just how badly this hurts me.
Given our track record, I'm not entirely hopeful that I can get through to him. He's always been overcontrolling, but if the guy he did business with is as bad as I think he is – meaning my dad’s life is in danger – I can imagine that the manipulation and guilt-tripping this round will be worse than ever. But, he's got to understand that selling me to this man's son to satisfy his debt is not the answer. It's not something that I can live with. And I need to impress upon him that it's not something he should be able to do with a clean conscience.
“Yes,” I say sharply. “I'll be there as soon as I can.”
I disconnect the call and Gabby is staring at me with disbelief on her face, but a well of sadness and pity in her eyes.
“Really? You're going to be over as soon as you can?” she says. “We're not even in the same state.”
“Looks like we're cutting the trip a bit short,” I say. “Unless you want to stay here.”
“Pfft, alone?” she asks. “What fun would that be?”
“Please, you would have a guy on your arm in no time,” I say and laugh, attempting to lighten the mood.
“It's not always about guys, silly,” she says, clearly not wanting to change the subject. Gabby leans her head on her arm and stares at me. “I want to be there for my best friend. I'm going to be there for my best friend. No matter what happens. I'm going to be with you every step of the way, Hol. Whatever happens, we'll get through it together.”
“Thanks, Gabby,” I say and give her shoulder a firm squeeze. “I'm going to shower, then let's get out of here.”