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Back The Marriage Trap: A completely addictive psychological thriller Save as PDF
Chapters (60)
  1. Cover
  2. Books by Sheryl Browne
  3. Dedication
  4. KARLA
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Twenty-Four
  29. Twenty-Five
  30. Twenty-Six
  31. Twenty-Seven
  32. Twenty-Eight
  33. Twenty-Nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-One
  36. Thirty-Two
  37. Thirty-Three
  38. Thirty-Four
  39. Thirty-Five
  40. Thirty-Six
  41. Thirty-Seven
  42. Thirty-Eight
  43. Thirty-Nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-One
  46. Forty-Two
  47. Forty-Three
  48. Forty-Four
  49. Forty-Five
  50. Forty-Six
  51. Forty-Seven
  52. Forty-Eight
  53. Epilogue
  54. The Affair
  55. Hear more from Sheryl
  56. Books by Sheryl Browne
  57. A Letter from Sheryl
  58. The Babysitter
  59. The Second Wife
  60. Acknowledgements

‘I know,’ I answer. I want to tell him it’s okay, but I can’t. Things feel far from okay right now. I feel as if the sand is shifting beneath us. As if we’re drifting apart, rather than reaching out to each other at a time when we need each other most. We’ve argued in the past. With two children, both now heading alarmingly quickly towards the dreaded teens, there’s an argument on average once a day in this household. But we’ve never been distant like this.

Jason doesn’t speak for a minute, and then I feel the mattress move under his weight as he turns towards me. ‘I really am sorry, Karla. I’ll fix this,’ he promises, sliding an arm around my midriff, easing me closer. ‘I just have to work smarter.’

I place a hand over his. He has nice hands; strong, with long fingers and clean fingernails. I wish he wouldn’t try to be so strong sometimes. Wouldn’t try to do everything himself, as if he has something to prove. I smile ironically at the idiocy of that thought. Of course he has something to prove. In his eyes, he’s in competition with my father. He always has been. But he needs to succeed on his own terms. To provide for his family. I get where that comes from, that it’s some inbuilt caveman instinct – though I daren’t say that to him – but it doesn’t make me feel any better. I’m scared. Scared I might lose him. That my father will eventually win the battle he has waged against him.

‘Bear with me,’ he whispers, pressing a soft kiss to my shoulder, another to the base of my neck. His hand strays lower, moving around to trace the curve of my hip, and my heart flutters, like a frantic butterfly in my chest.

I can’t do this. I try to quell a ridiculous rush of panic. Jason’s a good lover – a tender, caring, adventurous lover. There’s nothing I want more than the connection between us, the closeness it would bring, but now all I can see is my father. Worse, I can hear him, snoring as he lies by the side of my sister. And Sarah, I can’t hear her at all. My panic rises, twisting my heart in my chest. Guilt, too; expanding unbearably in my throat. You should have told.

I couldn’t. I catch Jason’s hand as it slides over my pelvis, dipping below the waistline of my shorts. ‘Don’t, Jase,’ I say, a shiver running through me. ‘I’m so tired…’