Chapter 6. The Wedding Charade

Natalia's pov

After struggling for over 30minutes trying to zip up the white dress I picked from the enormous wardrobe in the room. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and couldn't help but frown the more over how pretty I looked with my disheveled hair and partially smudged makeup.

Damnit! I'm supposed to look ugly! Not pretty!

Thoughts of escaping reeled into my head, but where could I possibly escape to that Leandro won't find me? How far will I even be able to run? What about my dad?

And to worsen it, he has my phone too. As disappointing as it is, it took me hours later after he had left to remember that I had my phone before he dragged me into his car.

I sighed and fell back on the bed, feeling totally hopeless.

A rattling from the corner of the bed made my heart stumble violently. Last I checked I was the only occupant in this room, so what's that noise I'm hearing?

It sounded like someone was cutting off the wires in a signal fetcher. Suddenly a familiar voice cut through the air

“5 more minutes, principessa. Don't keep me and my guests waiting,”

Leandro again? And what guests is he talking about?

I jerked from the bed immediately and dashed out of the room. No sooner had I stepped out when I recalled it was my first time in this bloody mansion, how dumb of him to dish out instructions without precision.

With arms crossed, I sauntered backwards and forward, totally clueless as to where the said wedding will be held.

“Should I turn left or right?” I wondered out loud.

Leandro’s voice came on again. “Left”

I scoffed and with faltering steps, turned left as commanded. A striking scent of freshly plucked flowers greeted my nostrils immediately I reached the end of the passageway in the left wing.

In front of me was a hall filled to the brim with unfamiliar faces, all dressed in black, there wasn't a single soul who had a brightly colored attire on,

No matter how many times I scanned the whole hall with my curious eyes. I was the only one on white, making it obvious I was the bride of the day. I'm quite certain this is all Leandro's doing, no one can tell me otherwise.

Suddenly, sturdy hands interlinked with mine followed by a derisive scowl, so faint that I almost missed it.

I swerved my head to see Leandro all dressed in a black suit like the rest of the men inside the hall, only that he had an astonishing blonde hair cut that made him stand out.

“Smile, you're not a damn robot” he hissed at me.

I shot him a deadly glare and tried to pull away from him but he dragged me back, gripping the hem of my dress in the process.

“One more step and I'll make sure you walk down the aisle without any piece of fabric clinging onto your skin”

My eyes nearly bulged out in terror at the sight of the dark intensity in his eyes. He looked dead serious!

I inhaled deeply and darted my eyes away from his, there was no way I was letting him see me sweat.

“Good girl,” he said before letting go of the dress.

I wanted to scream just to spite him but I knew better than to scream. He smirked and led me inside the hall. Licking my lips, I fought to control my rapid breathing.

It was about to happen, my worst nightmare and here I was letting myself being led right into it.

My chest tightened as I thought of how my Dad will feel when he finds out about this. It's bad already that he has no idea about me stripping but this? This will break him. I'm sure of that.

I gulped hard and straightened my shoulders, Leonardo glanced at me briefly, our eyes locked for a second before he looked away, his grip on me now less tighter.

“Leonardo! Long time no see” A voice called from behind the two of us. I whirled around to see a man dressed rather too sophisticated and odd for the event. He was putting on black too, but his wasn't a suit!

He had a black shirt on with a matching black pleated skirt! His appearance was like that of one, magically transported from the 90’s into the 21st century.

Leonardo rolled his eyes before detangling his arms from mine.

“Leandro, not Leonardo, you haven't changed one bit, Callahan” he replied dryly, strolling away from me. “What do you want?”

The strange man cackled, showing a set of incomplete and disorganized teeth. “Oh c'mon, loosen up a bit, I'm not here to demand for my weapons silly,” he paused and fist pumped Leonardo's chest. “I'm here to celebrate with you!”

Leonardo glanced at me and when he saw that I was staring at the two of them, he shot me a dismissive look but I didn't budge.

As far as I'm concerned, whoever's showing up to this wedding could be a potential escape route.

After I had marked the man's face, I stalked off to the front part of the hall where a man dressed in a priestly attire stood, for all I cared he could be one of Leanardo’s men forced or paid to be a priest.

Engrossed in my thoughts, I was totally oblivious to the fact that Leonardo was tagging behind me all along and was now beside me.

It was when the priest muttered out. “Shall we begin, Mr Leonardo?” that I was alerted to his presence.

He glared at me and nodded. When the priest started reading out the vows, a feeling of revulsion churned in my guts, knowing very well that it was all a facade.

But just how many people know this? Cause everyone seems to think and act of this wedding as a normal one. A happy one at that.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see some of the ladies, if not all, shooting me a look that implored ‘you’ve stolen him from me, bitch’ – If only they knew how fucked I am.

When the priest got to the part where I'm supposed to scream, yell, or whisper out the two words that I suddenly dreaded overnight.

My voice suddenly turned low and squeaky in my throat. I averted my gaze to Leonardo and then back to the priest before muttering out. “I do”

Leandro had a blank expression on his face while the priest was full of smiles, giggling like he just won a trophy or something good.

During Leonardo's turn, he also said the “I do” with a tone that nearly made my knees tremble.

It sounded like a confirmation to every single threat he uttered on the day he dragged me out of Voyeur.

Minutes later, the marriage ended and I was just about to retreat into my abode to start mapping out my escape strategies when Leonardo dragged me back.

“Wait here, and don't move an inch” he deadpanned. I said nothing and simply stared at him with arms crossed.

“And do not say a word to anyone,” he added, my brows furrowed instantly, wondering what he meant by that?

“That's a warning princess,” he said with a dark smile before stalking off to a group of men chatting.

I rolled my eyes and plunged myself into the nearest seat I found, my eyes scanned the hall like a hawk, taking down mental images of faces and also eavesdropping on every conversation that hovered around me.

Until I got distracted by a light tap on my shoulders.

“Natalia right?” A deep baritone voice uttered behind me.

I spun around and my eyes locked with that of a man who looked handsome as hell! Just like Leandro he had a blonde cut too, but his had a small red love symbol at the side.

Leandro's stern warning flew out of my head instantly and I cared less.

“Yes…is there a problem?” I croaked out.

He smiled. “Not yet, can I sit beside you?” He asked, pointing at a free chair I hadn't realized was beside me up until that moment.

I simply nodded and he smiled again before settling into the chair.

But then I recalled not telling anyone my name, I honestly doubt if Leandro does either, cause he's never called me by my name. He keeps referring to me as principessa with that snorty Italian accent of his.

“How do you know my name?” I asked, brows furrowed.

He pointed towards where Leandro stood. “He's talked about you a couple of times, the brave stripper who stole a million dollar that was meant to get weapons for his cartel”

“What?!”

I felt a sudden coldness hit at the core of me, it took a lot of will power to control myself from falling to the floor.

“Your reaction is exactly as I thought, but not to worry, you're safe. The Leandro I know would have killed you the day he found you….I guess he has more plans for you then”

For some reason his statement on the day he found me breezed into my head, just as I was about to respond, I felt a smack on my head followed by a guttural roar.

My eyes quickly spun around and collided with that of a seething Leandro, I knew there and then that I was in for something far from pleasant.