“Mr Deluca. If you could just listen to me” I quickly follow him up the stairs, “I can assure you, I’m not wife material, and I am in no way interested in getting into some sort of marriage with you,” I say, his back turned to me
He pauses, turning around, his bright blue eyes meeting with mine, my breath hitch as he moves closer, the intoxicating smell of exotic perfume filtering into my nose, “Again, Miss Isabella,” he pauses, a smirk popping up on his face, “I am in no way interested in being in a marriage with you either, it’s a simple contract between two families” he pauses, placing his hands in the pocket of his trouser, swinging on his heels, “it’s a marriage of convenience, coming from your background I’m sure you didn’t expect to marry for love did you?” he raises a brow at me, a know it all expression on his face I ignore him, “We want to spread the payments, I want you to give us three years and we will pay you back in full” I nod confident, we just have to work thrice as hard, “how much could the money possibly be?” I say out loud without realizing A deep laugh echoes, but it doesn’t seem funny, more like he’s mocking me, “okay, Miss Isabella, he moves to a work table by the side, pulling the drawer open, he pulls out a few pieces of paper, handing them over to me, “your father, owes me three hundred and fifty million dollars, with payments spread across three years, it will come up to a total bill of four hundred million dollars, do you think you can make such amount of money in three years?” he raises a brow at my shocked face “I_I don’t know what to say, I stare down at the paper in shock, my father's signature signed boldly at the bottom, it would take decades to pay back. “It's a marriage of convenience Isabella, we get married, you act like you are absolutely in love with me at social gatherings, and in front of cameras and family, and of course bear me heirs and you can do whatever you want, you'll have any amount of money you want at your beck and call, you’ll have a home wherever you want and most importantly for you” he pauses “your family will remain debt free as I’ll pay off the loans your father owes” he finishes in one breath. “Heirs_ my voice cracks, I take a step back, that would involve being intimate with you?” shock on my face, I’m sure my facial expression is one of absolute fear, It's not like I’m some virgin but the concept of being intimate with a person I just met and with no emotional connection Is a weird concept for me “You’ll be my wife, yes? Do you plan on letting me sleep with women outside of our marriage? Turn our marriage into gossip? I don’t appreciate being on the news and I’m not interested in being on gossip blogs for cheating scandals, he rolls his eyes walking towards the brown couch at the side of the room, and relaxing like he owns the world, like he already owns me. “you will have responsibilities, being Mrs. Deluca, and yes one of those responsibilities is being intimate with me, his eyes run through me from top to bottom, biting the side of his lips, making me shiver, I take a step back as he continues, “Three kids, that’s all I want, you will be in charge of my entire home, family, my family’s charity organizations, social gatherings, and what not, my mother would explain better, all you have to do is say yes,” he shrugs his shoulder “like I have a choice” I mumble under my breath “What was that? He raises a brow at me picking up a magazine from the coffee table opposite him “Nothing, I roll my eyes, I have my own rules I bit my lip. He turns to me dropping the magazine, “Do you think you're In the position to make rules? You do what I say and that’s it” he raises the magazine to his face completely blocking me out Standing In silence and confused, I decide to leave, “I need to think this through,” I bit my lip_ “I just can’t get married to a man I know nothing about” I say raising my hands in exhaustion. My assistant will send you a file with all the details you need to know about me, and you have till tomorrow to give me an answer,” he turns to his watch looking at the time, he sighs looking up at me, he slowly gets up, walking towards me getting up close and personal. He stares down at me, a mischievous look in his eyes, I almost want to back away but I prove stubborn looking him in the eye “I would have stayed with you longer Mrs. Deluca, but I have a meeting, you’re free to stay as long as you want,” he says referring to the penthouse, “I’ll need an answer tomorrow before 2 pm, do understand that? He raises a brow at me, stepping back to the couch and picking up his jacket “I’m not Mrs Deluca,” I say the words coming out harshly as I grit my teeth at him “Not yet Baby girl” he winks walking past me and down the stairs My eyes pop open in shock at the sudden endearment He turns around at the bottom of the staircase, staring up at me, “And next time you want to see me, you don’t need to go through the long procedure, just come in,” he frowns slightly, “I’ll tell my security detail to let you through” he pulls on his jacket simply waking away and cutting me off What an egoistic bastard” I scream to myself as soon as he leaves the penthouse, how do I marry such a man? “So much pride” I mumble out loud rolling my eyesISABELLA POV “Marriage? To the DeLuca”s, NO Daddy, I don’t think I can”, I step back in shock, my heart pounding in my chest, all the adrenaline of getting him to the hospital, the fear, and the anxiety leaving my body, I turn around ready to run through the doors when my mother stops me, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Isabella darling, please, this is the only way to save this family, your father, your brother,” she says her voice shaking in fear. I turn around looking at my father, his eyes swollen, bandages crossed over his body, his eyes red from blood pooling in his eyes from the beating he received, right in our ancestral home, I turn to my mother, her eyes filled with tears, my socialite mother, always happy and cheerful, but all I can see in her eyes right now is fear of the unknown, the future, what more could they possibly do to us? Let’s rewind to this morning…… “Isabella, Bianca is on the phone for you” I hear my mother scream from my room door, my feet move across
Isabella POV “Drop off Matteo,” my dad tells me as we all walk out of the house, after all the birthday celebrations, crying my eyes out at all the presents I received, my dad buying me a pair of diamond earrings that I wanted so badly when we went on a trip to Paris earlier this year, my brother surprised me with a new pair of shoes for work and my mom being my mom and a fashion icon, got me a fresh custom made suit for my first day at work tomorrow. “But Daddy, I’m already late,” I frown, giving Matteo a dirty look, “he always finds a way to annoy me when I drive him to school” “Again why I can’t I get a car? I mean I’m old enough,” he grumbles running his hand through his hair. “My babies,” my mom responds pulling on our cheeks, “Siblings are meant to love each other and be there for each other, now drop him off, he has a test,” she says smiling at us. “And Isabella,” my dad says as his driver brings his car around, “I want to see you at the office later today, we need to go o
Isabella POV He is stabilized when we get to the hospital, I sit in the waiting room of the hospital, tears streaks dried on my face, covered in blood and mud, the note in my hand, I stare down at it for what I believe is minutes but hours go by and I’m still confused, Debts? “how much money will require for debtors to go this far? And my family owes money to someone? An organization?” It seems like the most far-fetched idea, “what did Daddy involve himself in?” I’m pulled out of my thoughts by the Doctor and my driver walking towards me. “How is he?” I stand up, anxiety running through my veins. “He will be fine, he had a few injuries on his wrist, his legs, and his face, and a bit of bleeding in his eyes but it will tamper down soon, we put him on fluids and pain medications, are you the only family member he has,” the doctor says looking at me with concern on his face. “Her mother will be here soon Doctor,” the driver says “Thank you,” I say gratefully to the Driver, I don’t
Isabella POV “Marriage? To the DeLuca”s, NO Daddy, I don’t think I can”, I step back in shock, my heart pounding in my chest, all the adrenaline of getting him to the hospital, the fear, the anxiety leaving my body, I turn around ready to run through the doors when my mother stops me, placing her hand on my shoulder, “Isabella darling, please, this is the only way to save this family, your father, your brother,” she says her voice shaking in fear. I turn around looking at my father, his eyes swollen, bandages crossed over his body, his eyes red from blood pooling in his eyes from the beating he received, right in our ancestral home, I turn to my mother, her eyes filled with tears, my socialite mother, always happy and cheerful, but all I can see in her eyes right now is fear of the unknown, the future, what more could they possibly do to us? “I’ll think about it, but I have to go,” I whisper into the silent room. The drive back to the house is silent, the sky is now dark, the city
Isabella POV “Good evening mam, would you like a room?” She smiles at me widely “No I send her a smile, I want to see, Mr. Dominic DeLuca,” I say nervously, will they let me speak to him just like that? I mean if he wants to marry me then he should know my name, he should know I’ll come and find him. “Do you have an appointment?” She blinks at me I nod, lying through my teeth, “Yes I do” “What's your name please?” she picks up her phone dialing a number. “Isabella Mariano,” I say biting my lip. Hoping it will work “Good evening sir, Mr DeLuca has a visitor, Miss Isabella Mariano. Hmm, okay sir”, I'll do that immediately” she responds nodding her head, she grabs a piece of paper writing out a room number, room 400 (penthouse suite) it reads out, and she adds her signature at the bottom followed by a stamp, ending the call and turning to me with a smile. “Here you go Mam, give this to the security at the elevator and in front of his door” “You mean, I should go up to his hotel