Six: Big Day

Alesandra's POV

The amount of sunlight streaming in through the window was so bright, I woke up earlier than usual. My eyelids fluttered open, straining to focus through the sunlight. A large mahogany dresser came into view, then floor to ceiling windows that took up a whole wall. Where am I? The weight of something was around my waist.

I sat up abruptly as realization dawned, causing the white as snow covers to shift around me. That was when I noticed Lucian, sleeping next to me. He was sleeping stomach down, his arm that was previously wrapped around my waist was now splayed out on the bed, his snores enough to have woken the dead.

Oh, shit. I slept in his house last night. Malea's probably already up and making breakfast...MALEA. Oh my God. Lucian forgot to call her last night. She probably thinks he abducted me.

I jumped out of the bed, and scurried around on the cold, dark wood floors, in search of my clothes. I finally located them in a tangled heap under the bed.

I shoved the dress on and the zipper of the dress got caught in my hair. Hurriedly, I yanked my hair loose from the dress and suppressed a yelp of pain that threatened to come out. 
Angrily, I tried to lace up the strappy heels as best as I could but messed up and put on on the opposite feet. Great! Now I have to take both shoes off and switch them! Damn these shi-

"Where are you going?" I froze. His voice was a husky rasp, low and deep. He shuffled around on  the bed, gave a big sigh and then hopped off, slowly making his way to where I stood.

"I—er—was just leaving. We forgot to text Malea. She's probably freaking—" I whispered, my breath caught in my throat as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me and leaned into my neck, inhaling deeply. I couldn't forget the fact that he was shirtless, the ridges and planes of his abs pressing into my back. His touch was cool and raised goose bumps on my skin.

"I texted her when you fell asleep. She understands what happened." His voice was muffled as he spoke on my neck, his words a warm puff of air each time he spoke. A weight that I hadn't realized I'd been holding fell off my shoulders.

"Good. I was starting to freak out myself." I slumped into his arms and let him bring me closer to him.

"How about," He nipped at my ear. "You take a shower," His lips trailed down to my neck. A shiver ran through my spine. "And we head downstairs for some breakfast, hmm?" He placed a soft kiss in the crook of my neck.

I giggled, high on his persuasiveness. "Sure. I don't mind that one bit. What's your maid cooking for breakfast?" I spun around and placed a quick kiss onto his lips.

He pulled away from me, his breaths coming out heavily. "I dont have a chef. I have no need for one."

I lifted an eyebrow, a small smirk lifting the edges of my lips. "So you cook?" I placed my hands on his chest. 

He grinned. "Of course I do." He kissed me once more and shooed me towards the bathroom.

(Alesandra's POV)

Lucian gave me one of his slouchier items to wear: An NYU sweatshirt that was way larger than me and a pair of sweatpants—those were large as well, to the point where I had to roll up the pants 3 times.

I turned off the water and stepped out of the glass showers, then wrapped a towel around myself. I washed my hair with shampoo that smelt like buttercream and coconut—yum.

The water heated up to an unbelievable temperature and the shower had a radio, different colored lights that changed the color of the water, 20 jets that sprayed from all sides of the shower, and a robotically programmed panel that allowed me to change the pressure, size and shape of the jets. 

With a satisfied sigh, I crossed his immense room and threw on the sweatshirt and sweatpants. I could get used to this kind of treatment.

That was when I noticed how little personalization he put towards his room. He had a huge dresser that had an attached mirror, 2 more dark brown dressers for personal items, a bedside table, a four poster California king sized bed, a 70 inch TV, a 28" iMac—the latest one—, and a red chaise in the corner. No pictures, no paintings, the room was spotless.

I could smell the aroma of blueberry pancakes and syrup as I headed down one of the two spiral staircases.

I turn a corner and down two steps is the largest kitchen I've ever seen. It had all the amenities, even a 50 inch flat screen TV. Lucian stood in the middle of the kitchen, sweatpants loosely fitted, and shirtless. He faced the stove where he was plating the pancakes for each of us.

Quietly, I snuck up behind him and placed a kiss onto his cheek and grabbed a plate of pancakes. The kiss was something I thought he'd expect me to do. "Thanks, this is really kind of you to do."

He grinned and grabbed his own plate while ushering me to the breakfast nook.

The pancakes were the best thing I've ever tasted: it melted in your mouth and the different variety of syrups to choose from was overwhelming.

Lucian finished his before I did, kissed me on the cheek and went upstairs to shower and get ready for work.

It was always work every second of the day. But that didn't matter, neither did his love—whether he even had any for me. The only thing that mattered was the inheritance that came from his name. Once I officially become Alesandra Marie Rodriquez King, the money and the riches that come with the name will all be mine. And no one could stop that from happening. Not even Lucian himself.

________(One Week Later) Lucian's POV

Today was the big day. With one week left in the ultimatum, today was the day where I proposed to Alesandra. I'd taken my time to prepare a Gala which would be hosted in my mansion. Everyone who was important would be there, I had personally invited over 250 guests and slipped the location "accidentally" to the press. We needed this documented.

I had a custom ring made for Ales: it was made of pure gold, Swarovski diamonds covered the whole surface of the ring, and in the very center was a large crystal the size of a rock—a practical rock. It cost more than an average person's house, but barely made a dent in my bank account.

Ales didn't even know that I was proposing today. I had told her that this party was one to celebrate the new contract signed by one of the biggest companies in China. Even if this proposal was all a publicity stunt and a way to finally take over all of King Enterprises, I needed Ales's emotions to seem genuine to the paparazzi. All Ales was, was just another pawn in my game.

Ales had asked me to invite Malea to the Gala and without hesitation I had already called up Malea and bought her the necessities she needed for the Gala. She was the only one I really wanted to see today, her green eyes and lower pitched, seducitvely raspy voice engraved in my head.

Buying the dress Ales needed to wear tonight was the easiest part of the party planning. It was easily the best gown she's ever worn and the most expensive too.

I quickly threw on a black Ermenegildo Zenga suede suit jacket and looked at the mirror. My jet black hair was gelled back and I'd cleaned up the stubble that lined my chin. 

Ales walked out of the bathroom, her dress already on and her shoes sitting in the corner. I'd asked a personal makeup artist to get her hair and makeup ready for the Gala. With a smile she walked towards me, the slit in her dress showing off her long legs.

"Here." She picked up the white tie on the dresser. "Let me help you with this." She leaned closer into me and helped fix the tie.

With a kiss, I thanked her and situated my Ferragamo watch onto my wrist.

"Babe?"

"Hmm?" I asked, looking  at my reflection one last time.

"Could you please put this on for me?" She handed me the heavy pearl necklace I'd bought for her last week.

"Sure." Sweeping her buttery soft hair to the side, I clipped the necklace together and placed a kiss onto her neck. She smelt wonderful. "You look ravishing." My hands found their way to her waist as we looked at each other through the mirror. Man and soon to be-bride.

The sound of the door bell ringing was enough to remind me about the fact that we were running behind time. Quincy, the butler would answer that.

Then a knock at the door sounded. Reluctantly, I pulled away from Ales and opened the door to find one of my many maids, standing there.

She curtsied. "Mr. King, all the guests have arrived and more people continue to come in. They are all dancing and waiting for yours and Miss Alesandra's appearance."

"Thanks, Jess. We'll be downstairs in a few minutes. Make sure the hors d'oeuvres are abundant and that everyone gets a glass of champagne."

She curtsied again. "My name is Tess by the way." She replied—with a lot more nerve than I would've liked—before hurrying on her way. 

Showtime.

_______(Malea's POV) 
This place was insane. The ceilings were  probably over 50 feet tall, and the columns in the mansion made the ceilings look 10 times higher. A caterer in a black vest, black dress pants, and a bow tie approached me, a glass tray of shrimp cocktails sitting on top.

"Would you care for a shrimp cocktail, Miss?" He asked politely.

With a shrug, I grabbed a shrimp cocktail and thanked him. What's the harm? Everywhere was absolutely jam-packed. Men in lavish suits and women in magnificent dresses filled the hall, champagne flutes or hors d'oeuvres in their hands. Lucian had hired a live band who were amazing.

Ales had arranged for Lucian to splurge a bit on me and he'd bought me a new gown and jewelry. Honestly, I hated the idea that she had asked him to get them for me because I was more than capable of buying my own dress and shoes. But if Ales wanted to be helpful, then of course I'd support her in any way possible.

Suddenly I was pushed forward, stumbling on my dress but before I could fall, a hand gripped my arm and corrected me. Damn this stupid dress. If it wasn't so tight, maybe I'd actually be able to breathe and walk.

"I'm so sorry, Miss." He had a loose Italian accent.  I turned around to see a man with an incredibly good looking face. He had blonde hair and an unbelievably amazing jawline. He had a woman on his arm. She had red hair and she was absolutely stunning. She looked familiar. Oh of course! She's Winter Banks and the man is Uriah Tenison.

"Oh it's fine." I replied, giving them a once over. They're a perfect tv couple.

"I believe we haven't met before." He and Winter stuck out their hands in a greeting. "I'm Uriah Tenison and this is Winter Banks, my fiancé."

Winter smiled stiffly and indiscreetly wiped her hand on her dress after shaking my hand. Well isn't she lovely?

"I'm Malea Hayes. A friend of Lucian and Alesandra." I smiled.

Uriah grinned widely, recognition dawning onto him. "Ah, Miss Malea. A shame Alesandra hadn't mentioned you before."

So Alesandra's already met Uriah. She'd been so secretive about her whereabouts these past few weeks. But how could Alesandra, my best friend of so many years cut me out of her life so easily. We shared everything with each other.

I cleared my throat. "Of course. A shame Ales never mentioned you two, but then again she's too busy enjoying the limelight to introduce me. I swear though, she's a great friend."

Uriah laughed. "And Malea's funny too. What don't you have? You're jaw-droppingly gorgeous, you seem like a well-educated woman, and you've got connections."

Winter coughed.

"What I don't have is a fiancé. You know I've actually never even had a boyfriend." I blurted randomly. Way to go dumbass.  How about you just bore him to death with your depressingly nonexistent love life.

Uriah laughed and so did Winter. Winter's laugh was even faker than Kim Kardashian's ass. "It was nice talking to you, but we have others to greet. Take care, Alea."

Winter practically dragged Uriah away. "It's MAH-LEE-UH!" I shouted after them.

Then all the music stopped. Every conversation stopped and all the attention was focused on the double spiral staircase. Where Alesandra and Lucian walked down, shining as if they were made for each other. As if they were a match made from heaven. But Lucian's eyes were scanning the room, his smile tight and obviously forced. His eyes finally settled on something—or more like someone. Me.