Irrefutable (The Apprehensive Duet Book 2) by Kimberly Bracco Read Free Book Online

dick.
    The day I don’t have to deal with this man can’t come quickly enough. I just have to figure out how to get to that day. I still don’t think going through with this wedding is the best thing for anyone, but it still seems like my only option.

 
    STARING AT THE tear in the leather mitt on my trainer’s right hand, I imagine it’s everything currently wrong in my life. It’s my father. It’s losing Jordan’s dad. It’s the stupid predicament I’ve found myself in. It’s wanting to be a good person and not let anyone down. It’s continually letting myself and everyone else down. I heave every ounce of anger and frustration I can muster into each punch that lands on that mitt.
    How much can one person take before they break? Because I’m pretty sure that I’m on the brink of a total collapse. So much pressure. So much stress. So much hurt. My life has become this ugly loop of devastation that seems to run on repeat. Nothing is ever as it seems for me anymore. Keeping up this act is slowly killing me inside.
    A reel of images keeps running through my mind. None of them fit together or even belong near each other. Alex’s face telling me he just wants me to be happy. Jordan’s endless support over the last six months. The joy in Diana and Martin’s eyes as Jordan and I told them we were getting married. My father’s disgusting display of his true colors as he threatened me with jail time. The look on his face as he reminded me that Martin’s death didn’t get me out of the wedding.
    How do I choose who to hurt? I don’t want to hurt anyone other than my piece of shit father. Jordan and Diana just lost so much; how do I add to that? I don’t want to. They welcomed me into their circle and treated me as if I’d been family forever. I’ve never been a part of a family dynamic such as theirs. I’ve never truly been a top priority to anyone, not the way I am to them. I sat there at the funeral with Jordan on one side and Diana on the other, both of them gripping my hands as if I alone were their only salvation. I’ve never been needed like that before and haven’t ever felt that important to anyone.
    I’ve been doing my best to hold them together for the last few weeks. Everything I went through with Ashley after her accident and losing her baby helped me know exactly what I needed to do for them. I had experience in planning a funeral, but this time everything I did was actually appreciated. It was nice to be needed and valued. So how do I tell them I can’t go through with the wedding?
    Besides the loss of his father, Jordan is under a lot of stress, making me even more apprehensive of piling more onto him. He’s already got so much going on. He’s been keeping longer hours at work the last few weeks and he’s dealing with big changes at his company. It wasn’t a secret that Jordan was taking over, but I don’t think anyone expected it this soon. It looked like Martin was going to go into remission, but then the opposite happened and the cancer started to progress again, at twice the rate. We didn’t know. He didn’t tell us. So everyone was completely shocked when boom, gone. Of course one of the best men I’ve ever met had to get one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Fuck cancer!
    My knee connects with Billy’s side, and the anger I feel toward the universe taking Martin fuels the second and third hits.
    Diana’s words echo through my head. “I’m so happy Martin got the see Jordan and you together before he passed.” Those aren’t the only words swirling around in there, though. My father’s threats, Alex’s pleas, Ashley’s words from months ago telling me I’m a hypocrite, Blair telling me the same thing, Jordan thanking me for giving his father what he wanted before he was gone. It just cycles over and over, an endless loop of guilt and grief and fear. I can’t handle it. I can’t take all the conflicting thoughts and feelings rushing through me like a tsunami of