Chapter two

"His what?" I exclaimed, drawing the attention of the men around me. All of their faces losing the smile. My papa glanced my way, his eyes burning with anger enough to strangle me. But he wasn't the one who spoke. No, for the voice that rang out in the room was more terrifying than my fathers voice. Or maybe what it said is what terrified me more. It was very deep and smooth like velvet. He took his time to talk, and his words were those of a man who knew his power.

" Sign the paperwork and will be gone", he didn't argue, no. Just simply stated what he wanted and expected the rest to follow through with what he wanted. I hadn't seen his face yet, so I wasn't in a hurry too sign anything. Why did he hide his face anyway? Did he have so many scars on it that he wasn't proud of how he looked anymore? What ever his reasons, I wasn't going to sign any damn contract and marry myself to a total stranger.

"No", I said, feigning braveness which I sure didn't possess. The men gasped, which was very dramatic if you ask me. And then proceeded to look at me stunned, that I had the guts to defy their boss or whatever he was.

My father then chuckled nervously and pulled me towards the open doorway. "She doesn't mean that. Let me just have a quick word with her and everything will be settled".

~

Ever since I was a little girl, my big doll eye effect worked like magic. On my two older sister's Dede and Molly, my older brother Ricardo and surprisingly on my father too. But today as I try to master the art of manipulation like I did as a little girl, it just went in vain.

"Papa, please. I don't want to get married to him. There must be an alternative", I begged my father, trying my best to emotionally blackmail him but all my efforts just were in vain. Currently we are in the kitchen and to my surprise he hasn't raised his voice at me or threatened my mother's life yet. Which was really surprising for me. He must really respect the man in the nice shoes to spear us his shouting. And judging by the marriage proposal or whatever it is, then by his actions, he must really want me to marry this man; and my main question is why? Mama was in the living room acting as leverage In case they assumed we were planning on making a ran for it. Which I wish we were.

"I'm sorry Thea, but it's either my entire empire and life or getting you married to him. And that's far better than the latter", my papa pleaded with me his Spanish accent sounding even more prominent and making his words sound thick. That statement however made all my hope crumple.

"But I don't even know the man papa! You can't expect me to marry someone who hides their face from me". I tried to argue, standing my ground.

"Shhhhhhh....Thea he'll hear you I'm begging", he said, making me frown. Why is my father so scared of that man?

" Papa why are you afraid of him?" I asked him even though I didn't want to know his answer. He did mention the man was trying to kill him, but why not just run and hide? I so don't want to get married. And if it's someone my father's scared of then I must be terrified. Then me being the man's wife would mean I'm signing my death sentence. Nope I'm so not doing it.

"Ey.. Vadurgo! The boss wants to leave, is it a deal or not?" The man that was standing by the living room door was now in the kitchen door way. He was holding an AK-47 and I shuddered at the thought of being shot. Thinking about that, in spite of how much I disliked my father, did I really want him dead? And did I really have a choice before all this was made clear to me? The answer to both questions is definitely no. But one more question, where the hell had he gotten that gun from? I swear he wasn't holding it mare minutes ago. Choosing not to cause any more conflict I walked into the living room on my own accord.

The marriage documents were slammed on the coffee table in front of me the minute I sat down in my previous seat. I gulped down all the saliva I had in my mouth, living it feeling dry and uncomfortable. I would ask for water but that was just a waist of time. Shakily grabbing the papers, I pulled them towards me. Flipping slowly through the document and reading, I clicked the pen provided for me open and readied myself to sign with a trembling hand.

" It's a legal document, Miss", a skinny looking man said coming to stand by me. I just shook my head yes, not willing to speak. "Sign here", he said pointing at the space provided for signing. When I glaced at it and saw the name written there, her whole body went limp.

"Okay", I said, my voice laced with fear. I was marrying Herman Verlice how could I not be afraid. Most women would be thrilled but as for me I'm terrified as hell. They didn't know the things I knew about him. They didn't see the things I saw. I signed my name onto the paper and dropped the pen as soon as I did. My signature didn't look as confident and neat as his but I didn't care. Breathe Thea, it's done. Breathe.

"Well I must get going sir. I'll send the documents back to you once they are finalized". The skinny man said, packing the papers in his briefcase and walking out with two men flanking him like an entourage. I tore my gaze from the man and onto the one that was now my husband. He was already exiting the house giving us his back as he went. And man was he built like a frickin tower. His hair was black like mine, but form the way it shown in the florescent lights of the hallway, it was surely more taken care of than mine. I just up mine up in a bun mostly and forget about it. I don't like using my father's money so I'm a little sort on hair products. I was about to move out months ago but I had to repair my beat up old Honda and ended up using the money I had saved up. Diablo's hair looked so silky and neat that I wanted to feel it. And man his suit looked so fancy.

He walked with a cane too, which just only complimented his look. He was in his mid twenties or so. So it must be for fashion sake or he just simply liked walking with a cane. Okay, what the hell am I doing?

Admiring what you can see of your knew hubby bunny, my conscious stated annoyingly. Oh shut up.

A tag on my arm drew me out of my reverie. Two big goons were waiting for me, urging me to move. And that's where you found me. Hmmmmm..where was I ? Oh yes. The gunshot.

I covered my ears immediately after the trigger was pulled. The one who pulled it was my husband and he had his gun aimed in my direction. Wait no, why am I even calling him that? The one who pulled it was the devil himself and now the bane of my existence. He was now adorning a fancy hat on his head that concealed most of his upper facial features. What was with him and hiding his face? The only good thing this time was that I could see his lips and sharp angular jawline that look like it was sculpted from marble, and his juicy looking pink lips. They glistened in the light that was casted on him from the front porch and around the driveway. I let go of my ears slowly as I looked up at him surprised.

"Get in the car Thea", he commanded in the same way he spoke earlier. Though the way his tongue rolled out my name sent shivers down my spine. "Untie her and don't you ever touch her like that. She is your queen now. Respect her body". I looked down at my feet and saw that the gun hadn't just been fired but it was actually aimed at someone. The man that was tying my legs up earlier was on the ground, dead. Blood pooling out of him like a scarlet river on my father's multi million dollar drive way. I'm sure mama would be the one punished to clean it up later. I would've been the one to do it but I'm somebody else's problem now and I'm wishing he actually shot me instead of the guy that's now laying on the ground. I bet my eyes were full of envy as I watch them bag up the man's body. The two goons had let me go and also untied my feet so quickly I thought they were struck by lightning and were now related to the flash. I looked towards the devil again and noticed how tightly he was clenching his jaw.

"Thea?" He called, grabbing my attention.

"Yes", I said breathlessly, surprised at how quickly I had calmed down. Maybe I am in shock? I might be after watching someone die minutes after he was happily tying me up.

"Get in the car".

And I did. This time, without struggle.