Chapter 2

Aurelia's POV

Lucia's hair moved like whiplash, as she turned to look at Father, Father's smile fell and he looked alarmed.

"Now, Judah, two weeks is too small to plan a wedding. My daughter will need to go shopping for her dress, she would need to have a bachelorette party, and you'll both need an engagement party. We'll need to call caters and florists, we need to book a hall. All these can't happen in two weeks." Dad said, wiping his sweaty forehead, although the room was fully air-conditioned, he was sweating.

"The wedding will hold in two weeks and not a day more. I don't care about any of the things you mentioned. I have money, you have money, get it done." Judah's voice was stern and final.

Father's face ticked with anger but he didn't say a word, just chugged down his wine and poured himself another glassful. Owen pushed his chair back and walked away in anger. Lucia broke down in tears and left the table as well, I just sat there playing with my food unsure of what to do.

Judah sat across from me acting like he hadn't just broken my family. He ate his dinner with a wave of calmness that I had never seen before, he chewed and drink his wine like he was modeling for Vogue. He must have felt my eyes on him because he smirked and raised an eyebrow at me.

I cleared my throat and suddenly remembered Owen's abrupt disappearance. I pushed back my chair and stood.

"May I be excused?" I asked quietly, yes I was twenty-six years old and asking my father for permission to leave the dining table.

Father's eyes widened, surprised to see that I was still at the table, he nodded dismissively. I thanked him and hightailed out of the room and up the stairs.

I passed by Lucia's room on my way to mine and saw her door was open, I looked in and found Lucia in Owen's arms, he hugged her tightly as they sat on her bed. I stopped in my tracks, my mind came up with a lot of scenarios but I shook them off and entered the room..

"What's going on here?" They jumped apart at my voice. Lucia arranged her dress properly and Owen stood up and approached me.

"Lucia was feeling bad about the engagement and I was consoling her. She can't believe that she's getting married in two weeks." Of course, he was consoling her. Owen was such a good man.

"Yeah sis, Owen was just being a good friend. I couldn't stop crying and he was trying to get me to stop." Lucia defended him.

" Of course. Owen, thank you for helping Lucia." I said and kissed him. Owen broke the kiss and stepped back.

"Lucia, I'm going to go downstairs and see what I can do to change Judah's mind, don't worry everything will be okay." Owen gazed at her with affection, Lucia nodded and he left the room.

I sat down next to Lucia and pulled her in for a hug, we might be best friends but she was my sister, being rushed into a marriage wasn't a good thing, it was only right that I comfort her.

"Lucia, I'm so sorry that is making you marry a man you barely know. I'm so angry with him. Lucia, I wish there was something I could do to make things better for you." Lucia broke the hug, patted my hand, and smiled sadly.

"It's fine, you being here is enough, and don't worry, everything is going to work out. Just wait and see." She sounded so convinced, I looked into her eyes and saw nothing but conviction and determination.

"What are you planning?" I asked curiously.

Lucia shook her head, " Don't worry yourself about it, you'll find out soon." I wondered what she had planned, I just hoped it wouldn't backfire on her.

I left Lucia and went to my room, I barely sat on my bed before Father screamed my name. I hurried down the stairs and met Father and Judah at the foot of the staircase.

"You called, Father?" I crossed my arms behind my back.

" Aurelia, Judah's car seems to have some mechanical issues so he'll be spending the night here, show him to one of our exquisite guest rooms." Father nodded at me, exquisite guest room was code for the best guest room we had.

"Yes, Father." I nodded and turned, heading up the stairs without bothering to check if Judah was following me.

"Judah, when you're settled in, Aurelia will show you to my office, we still have much to discuss," Father said. Judah said nothing and followed me, I led him to the last room on the third floor, it was the best room in the house, even better than mine.

I opened the door and let him in, the cold gust of breeze from the air conditioner hit my face. The queen size bed was neatly made with dark-blue bedsheets and a duvet to match. The plush carpet was clean and so was the entire room.

"This is it, there's some spare clothes in the wardrobe, I'll wait outside while you change." I watched as he scrutinized the room and wrinkled his nose. What the hell was wrong with him, the room was perfect, It would be on the cover of Architectural Digest. Cocky asshole.

He grunted and stepped aside for me to pass. I waited impatiently for thirty minutes, how long did it take a grown man to change, I thought they could be dressed in five minutes.

I was about to knock on the door when he opened it, he cocked an eyebrow at my raised hand and I dropped it immediately and stepped back. He looked good, he had changed out of his suit into a t-shirt that was almost too small for him and a pair of shorts that clung to him tightly. I particularly liked the way they exposed his huge triceps and calves. This was a man that surely spent his days in the gym as opposed to me, a couch potato.

Judah cleared his throat, " You might not be aware but my eyes are up here."

I bit my inner cheek, " My father is waiting for you in his study, we should get going."

" Your father will wait for ten years if I want him to, he wants this union more than I do," Judah said in a dismissive tone which angered me. My father might not treat me right but that didn't mean I was going to let someone talk down about him.

I crossed my arms on my chest and glared at him.

"That's all you've been saying since you got here, if you don't want to marry my sister then you can leave, no one is forcing you to, you're a grown-ass man." My voice raised towards the end of my statement.

Judah's jaw ticked and his eyes darkened, he took a step forward and I took one backward, I kept moving back until my back hit the wall. A sardonic smirk graced Judah's lips as he caged me in. His hands rested on each side of my head, locking me in.

Judah drew closer to me and his lips hovered over mine, my breath hitched and I felt like I was going to faint from fear.

"You know for a girl who's this jumpy and scared, you have quite a mouth on you. Does your father know that his mousy daughter is also very feisty? Oh, how I wish I could see more of that feisty spirit, you'll be delightful to break." Judah moved his left hand and brushed his finger against my cheek, I sucked in more air and tried to move further into the wall.

His smirk grew wider, he moved back and put some distance between us, I almost dropped to my knees as air rushed back into my lungs.

"Now, take me to your father's study, we don't want to keep him waiting now, do we?" He flicked an invisible lint off his shirt. I shook my head hurriedly.

I started heading down the hallway towards the staircase,

"Aurelia?" Judah called out, I stilled and then turned to him.

"Yes?" I managed to say.

"Next time, never raise your voice at me, it won't end well for you. Do you understand?" His cold stare and voice made my hair stand.

"Yes, I do."

I lead Judah to my father's study and hurried away, I headed back to my room ready to soak myself in my bathtub. Lucia was waiting outside my door when I arrived, with a bottle of wine and two glasses in her hands.

I almost took a step back as I was wary of her, we didn't have the kind of relationship that warranted late-night drinks, hell we've never even had daytime drinks.

"Lucia, what's up?" I asked and opened my door. I entered and she did as well. O…okay, freaky.

"It's been a rough day and I want to drink but I don't want to drink alone, I know we've never done this before but it's never too late to start." She looked around my room and wrinkled her nose, I waited for her to make a condescending statement but she didn't, maybe her impending room, I mean marriage was making her realize that she needed to change.

The word, no, hung at the tip of my tongue but I knew it wouldn't be nice to reject her peace offering.

I put on my biggest fake smile," Sure, I'm in the mood for some wine as well." After the night I had with Judah, I needed something stronger than wine.

Lucia smiled and poured the wine, she handed me a glass and I chugged it down immediately while she savored hers, taking small sips. I pushed the glass toward her and she poured another, I drank that as well and almost immediately started feeling dizzy and hot.

"W…what t…the hell? W…why is e…every…where so h…hot?" I raised my shirt and started to fan myself with it.

Lucia dropped her wineglass and looked at me with concern, " Aurelia, what's wrong?" She asked. I shook my head and managed to stand up sluggishly.

"I d…don't know w…what's w…wrong with me. I…I feel so t…tired and diz…" The room spun once and everything turned black.