Trust No One

Isadora.

"Him?" I screeched. 

"Impossible!" Viktor cried, "He's nothing but a thug."

"And you're nothing but a minion in a bespoke suit," Ivan said, eyes flickering dismissively over the other man. 

He bristled, "You think you can walk in here and try to weasel your way into become the head of the cartel? I won't let you take advantage of Mr. Gonzales and his granddaughter." 

The taller man's mouth quirked up at one corner, "Advantage? If there's anyone taking advantage of the other, it's them. I don't want to be married, and even if I wanted to, I don't want to be married to a kid_" 

"I'm not a kid, and I don't want to be married to you either," I spat, turning to face my grandfather, "There has to be someone else." 

He shook his head at me, "Santiago is a good man." 

"He's a mercenary," Viktor cried incredulously, "He lacks loyalty, doesn't believe in familial ties or roots and neither does he respect the agency of the Cartel." 

For once, Viktor and I were in perfect accordance. Everything about Ivan screamed danger and he was too cold and unpredictable. 

"Miss Gonzales will be better off with me than Santiago," Viktor growled, then turned to the man in question, "How much are they paying you for this?" 

Ivan's eyes chilled to icicles, "That's none of your business, Vikky." 

"Is there no one else?" I asked grandfather Pedro desperately. 

He stared at me with some emotion in his eyes that I could not place, "Santiago is your only choice." 

"Then I'll marry him," as soon as I said the words, my heart clenched painfully. 

"You don't know him!" Viktor warned me, "He's a monster. He's almost as bad as Dimitri Romanov. You're making a mistake, Miss Gonzales." 

"That's enough, Viktor!" My grandfather snapped, causing the man's jaw to tick, "Call the officiant, he's waiting outside." 

I glanced behind me and my eyes locked on Ivan's dark orbs. Was I really signing up to spend the rest of my life with him? Were we going to have to_ 

Heat rose up on my cheeks at the thought of being intimate with him. 

"It's not a real marriage," he suddenly said, "Once it's done, we don't have to see each other for longer than an hour or two each month." 

I asked the question I'd been wanting to ask since my grandfather had revealed that I would be marrying him, "What's in it for you?" 

"Isn't it every man's dream to marry a cartel princess and live off their bride's endless wealth for the rest of their lives?" He smirked. 

I opened my mouth to tell him that he wasn't fooling anyone, but Viktor stomped back in with a bald man wearing a priest's collar. 

"We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Ivan Santiago and Isadora Gonzales, if there's anyone here today who thinks these two should not be joined in holy matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." 

All heads turned to the suited man standing a few steps away. 

"Carry on," he grunted, voice dripping with annoyance. 

"Do you, Ivan Santiago take Isadora to be your lawful wedded wife?" The priest asked, and I was relieved when he didn't add the other conjunctions. 

I didn't want to have to say no to the question of being with a man I didn't know through sickness and health, and neither did I want to have to lie before God. 

"Yes." 

"Do you, Isadora Gonzales take Ivan to be your lawful wedded husband?" 

I gazed at the hard eyed, tattood man wondering if it wasn't too late to take the option of leaving this town and changing my name. 

"Y-yes," I stuttered. 

Ivan pulled out two plain gold bands from his pocket and fixed one of them into my finger, before putting on the other. 

"With the power vested upon me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may_" the priest began, but the look of horror I shot him made him snap his mouth shut. 

"Y-you c-can shake hands," he said hesitantly, glancing at the old man on the bed with raised brows. 

Chuckling, Ivan bent his head and brushed his mouth over mine in a featherlight kiss that barely lasted a second. My mouth tingled with electricity from that brief contact and his leather and spice smell assaulted my nose, filling my lungs and making my head spin. 

"Congratulations," my grandfather said, "I wish_" he coughed, "I wish it didn't have to be like this, Isa. I only wish your parents had been alive to witness your first marriage." 

My eyes suddenly felt hot and I blinked rapidly to push back the tears that threatened my vision, "Me too." 

"Come closer," he beckoned and I immediately obeyed, going to his side. 

His frail hands clutched mine tightly, " No matter what, child, you are a Gonzales. You come from a line of great people, and no matter what your life has been like in the past, it doesn't matter, because now, you have the power to_" 

The booming sound of a gunshot interrupted the rest of my grandfather's speech. I screamed, spinning around wide eyed to see the officiant staring at me blank eyed. It took me a second to realize that there was a hole in his head, and he had a gun in his hand. 

Ivan's body stood in front of me, shielding me, and he was calmly tucking his gun back into his waist band like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Oh my God," bile climbed up my throat, and I clutched my shaky stomach. 

"Isadora," my grandfather called, "look at me." 

I shifted my gaze away from the dead man on the floor to the pale old man on the bed. His hand suddenly lashed out and fisted the front of my dress, pulling me down till my ear was directly at his mouth. 

"Don't trust them," he whispered. 

"Why?" I asked. 

The only response was the beeping of the heart monitor behind me. The nurse flew up from her seat and raced toward us, but when I looked at his empty eyes, I knew that it was too late. 

He was dead, and one of the men standing in the room with me was responsible.