Chapter 99 The Bride They Were Never Ready For
POV Maya:
I might be curious, but that doesn’t mean I want to practice it—or do I? Shit, I’ve been spending way too much time around Taylor and her boyfriends; that’s what happens. David keeps analyzing me, as if all the exposure of my personal life weren’t punishment enough. I knew it. I knew that letting Taylor’s boyfriends into my life would lead to this. They’re gossipy, stubborn, curious, troublemakers—and did I already say gossipy?
“If you want to throw yourself into a relationship as sinful as ours…” David says, only to be kicked in the leg by my friend.
“Ow, babe, I’m kidding.”
“I don’t like it when people say that,” Tay pouts, and instantly her men surround her, kissing her forehead. “We love each other, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“No, friend, there isn’t,” I agree.
Taylor has gone through many difficult situations since she decided to move in with her boyfriends, and every day a new battle begins. Why do people have such a tendency to judge everything that has nothing to do with their own lives? Is it simply the pleasure of pointing fingers at others?
“I was joking, and I apologize for that,” David says, kissing my friend’s lips, and soon everyone is doing the same.
I pick Louis up in my arms and quietly leave the living room, giving them a few minutes of privacy. I know how much this subject saddens my friend. Unfortunately, it makes her remember everything she went through a few months ago. With Louis in my arms, I look up at the sky, seeing no stars. The night is cold, and it will start snowing again soon. After the exchange of gifts, maybe it’s best if I go home. Louis and I lying down, warm, watching a very romantic movie with a super happy ending—that’s all I want.
“There you are.” I look back and see David approaching. “I think I ruined Christmas.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. Tay loves you too much. She’s just sad because her mother didn’t accept the gift she sent,” I say, and I see a flash of sadness cross David’s eyes.
“Do you think one day she’ll accept that her daughter is loved and happy with four men?” His question is the same one Tay asked me on the day she cried nonstop in my arms.
“I think she’s already accepted it. She’s just not ready to deal with the same fingers that judge her daughter being pointed at her,” I say, repeating the same thing I told my friend.
David goes quiet, and I know how much this subject affects him just as it affects Hunter, Sean, and Gavin. They want to see Tay happy, and they know that my friend’s happiness will only be complete when her mother comes back into her life.
“Would you like a life like that?” I look back at David, who has his eyes fixed on me.
“Like what?”
“Living with more than one man, building a future together, loving and being loved in return?” he asks, and for a few seconds I think about my answer.
“I’ve always been alone, and when I met Peter, I thought things would be different.” I take a deep breath. “I dream of having a big family. I want to have everything I never had—trust, love, care.” I smile, shrugging. “A polyamorous relationship would give me all that, wouldn’t it?” I ask, and David nods. “Sometimes I look at you all and think that if something like that happened to me, I’d dive right in, just like I dive headfirst into everything I set out to do.”
“You’re special, Maya.” I feel like crying. Why did my parents never see me that way? “I shouldn’t be telling you this, especially knowing how much I hate them and they hate me back.” I frown, not understanding what David is referring to.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know that every fifteen days I travel to my parents’ farm to help them, right?”
“Yes, I know. Taylor and Sean get extremely depressed and needy,” I joke, but David doesn’t smile.
“Well, there are other farmers and other farms there,” he continues. I nod, still not understanding why he’s telling me all this. “The Moretti brothers are… how can I put it? Eccentric. They live their lives as simply as possible. They don’t like modernity. They don’t like anything that disrupts the tranquility they live in.”
“Uh, and what do I have to do with that?” I ask, genuinely curious to get to the point of this conversation.
“I found out a few days ago that they’re… looking for a bride.”
A bride? Like those old-fashioned arranged marriages?
“I don’t want to be a farmer’s bride, especially when you just told me that—”
“Farmers,” he interrupts me.
“I don’t understand.”
“The five Moretti brothers are looking for a bride. A bride who agrees to marry all five of them.”
“You’re telling me—”
“Yes. They’re looking for a woman who agrees to have a relationship with them… with all of them.”
For a moment, I’m left speechless, my thoughts scattered. Could I really dive headfirst into this madness of an arranged marriage? Me—Maya? Several doubts swirl through my mind, but the biggest one is why David is telling me this. Just seconds ago, he said he hates them and they hate him back, so why would he tell me?
“But you just told me you hate them,” I start my line of reasoning. “And that they hate you back. So why would you—”
“Be telling you this?” I nod. “Simple. I want them to… how can I put it?” He scratches his chin and then breaks into a huge smile. “I want them to go insane. I want hell to rain down on those arrogant heads.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I say, offended.
“Do you know the word karma?” I nod. “Well, Maya, you are karma incarnate. And those brothers are not ready for you.”
I narrow my eyes at the asshole who has the audacity to look me in the eyes and say I’m karma incarnate. How does David have the nerve—the sheer gall—to look at a being of light like me and say that… Wait a second. Did he just say those brothers aren’t ready for me? Does he really think I’d go to the end of the world to dive into an absurd adventure—
“Did I mention they’re rough, big, with egos inflated up to the sky?”
“Is that you trying to convince me?” I laugh in his face. “That’s not going to hap—” I’m about to finish the sentence when his phone screen appears right in front of my face, showing the image of five beautiful, hot, tall, strong men… Ugh. Their grip is definitely rough.
“These are the Moretti brothers.” I swallow hard as the arrogant smile spreads across David’s stupid face. “Tell me they’re not your type.” He wiggles his eyebrows, provoking me, encouraging me to go to the end of the world and dive headfirst into this madness.
I hate him.
“Who keeps a photo of five men on their phone if they hate them?” I try, uselessly, to change the subject.