Chapter 2: Meeting Day

Maria's POV

So today is the day. The day where I'll be meeting my apparent fiancé: The infamous Luke Sanchez. Well, at least that's what my parents said his name was.

Footsteps sound from the staircase from outside my bedroom and I scramble to get my dress on. It's a simple short, poofy blue dress. It isn't too short, though. It's only at my knee. There's no way in hell I'll be trying to get any first-time action today from Luke, or forever for that matter.

"Hey, Hun." My mom peaks her head in through the door and smiles when she sees me standing here in the dress I picked out. "You look beautiful as always, my girl. Luke is very lucky to have you."

I don't even bother say thank you or even return the smile. I simply stand there with quite obvious anger plastered on my face. "When are they arriving?" I ask her, turning my back to her to go and look out of my bedroom window.

She sighs. "Any minute now. Why don't we go down stairs into the dining hall, hm?" I turn and see her standing close to me with her arm extended out for me to hold it. I walk past her and continue my way down to the main level without her even beside me.

As I sit there in the living, my mother comes scurrying in after me. "Honey, you can talk to me. How are you feeling?" she questions me, making it so much more difficult to withstand her. But I don't this time, I crack into pieces right in front of her.

Angrily, I stand from my chair. "WELL WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK MOM? BECAUSE I AM FAR FROM BEING EVEN REMOTLEY HAPPY ABOUT ANY OF THIS. I'M FURIOUS. SO. FUCKING. ANGRY!" My arms flail in all directions so aggressively, it's as though I'm trying to talk with my arms instead of my actual voice.

"What in the hell is going on here?!" my father's voice suddenly booms throughout the room.

Dammit. Of course, they just had to show up when I was having my panic attack and screaming at my own mother.

"Feisty non è lei? Andrà bene a letto, però." another low but sexy, accented voice murmurs to another person. I turn and see two Italian men standing there. One has light tanned skin with greyish blue eyes and soft, almost dirty blonde hair; he looks a bit older. And the other standing beside him has caramel tanned skin, bright blue eyes and the same hair of who seems to be his father. They must be Christian and Luke.

The older man chuckles as my parents and I both give him our best confused faces. "Excuse my son Luke, please. He isn't so great at first impressions," Christian tells us, his voice slightly annoyed with whatever Luke just said to us.

Luke steps forward and extends his big hand towards me. "Nice to meet you, Maria," he says, a grin drawn over that beautiful face of his. I swear, this man must be a Greek god or something. No, and Italian god!

I smile nervously and the two of our hands connect, feeling the warmness of him along with all those annoying butterflies whirling in my stomach. "You as well," I reply with thankfully the same amount of smoothness and I don't end up embarrassing myself even more.

When we turn to meet our parents' faces, the three of them look overly happy at the fact we merely shook hands and introduced ourselves.

"We'll be in the dining room discussing some matters alright?" my father says to us. But we have no say as the three of them saunter off happily into the connecting room and shut the door.

Of course, this was going to happen. I guess I just hadn't prepared myself yet for being left alone with a man I just met- a strange in my eyes. Oh my god, what if he takes advantage of me?

"Do you want to sit down?" Luke asks me and I'm woken out of my thoughts. I peer over and see him staring at me with the most content facial expression any boy has ever given me.

I nod hesitantly, but I'm not dumb so I decide to take a seat on the couch a little way away from him or his reach. The two of us make small talk, asking each other about who one another's days are going and confessing how nerve-racking this is. Having to marry someone you don't know is hard on both people sometimes.

Eventually our parents re-enter the room; they're looking a little too happy for my liking. But why would they be happy? Is it just because we were talking to each other? Please.

"So," Cristian begins, his hands clasped together tightly to contain his excitement. "The three of us have decided that today will be move-in day! Tonight, you'll both arrive at your home- the home you will live the rest of your lives together as Husband and Wife."

"Then you're to be wed the very next day!" My mother finishes a smile so wide on that evil face of hers I swear she's splitting in to two.

How can anyone with any empathy for their child be happy about this? I'm not a wife I'm supposed to be Dr. Maria Andre. Now- now that'll never happen and I'll be the oblivious wife who takes care of the kids she never planned on having and looking after the house all while following each and every order of her husband.

"Fuck this." The words come flying out of my mouth accidently, but I don't even care. I run towards the stairs and continue up them and to my bedroom without even glancing back. There was no need to anyways, I could just feel their angry eyes burning through the back of my head.

When I reach my room finally, I slam the door and pull out all my suitcases and begin prying things off of the hooks and stuffing them into the bags.

How am I supposed to compete with him and all the other girls that'll want him? I'm just Maria, not some hunk of an Italian god with probably like an eight-pack and- well... Just all around perfect! He's way out of my league and I already know he can see it. It's likely he's already planning how to keep me busy so he can go fuck some prettier, better women.

An hour later...

On the way to the new house.

The rumble of my bags in the back of the car are the only thing I can hear the entire way there. It's not such a soothing noise as it is annoying, but it does help with the not curling up and crying in the back of your parents car with only silence there to comfort you. Sometimes silence can be good in tough situations, but it definitely is not helping now.

Rocks crunch underneath our tires as we pull up to the house. It's a very large house too. There's a garage larger than my own house which can likely fit up to god knows how many vehicles, a drive way so large and long with the grass growing to the greenest colour on the side is so perfect it looks fake. And the actual house is beautiful: it's made of some sort of stone or masonry; it's a faded brown colour and it's so massive it could serve as a wall for protection against the enemy.

"Here we are," my father announces, his voice so monotone it sounds like a threat. "Grab your bags and go. We've got other stuff to do before the wedding tomorrow, alright?"

"Alright," I grumble and push my way out of the car. The trunk pops open, revealing all three large suitcases I used for packing up my wardrobe. I hurry and toss each one of them out before closing the trunk and watching my parents drive off as though they didn't just give away their only daughter to a man we barley know.

With enough pushing, pulling and overall struggling, I manage to get into the house. Upon entering, a man who's dressed like some sort of guard, retrieves my bags and orders me to follow him. So I do.

"This is the master bedroom where you and Boss will sleep, alright?" he gently places the bags down and leaves without even getting a response from me. Then I'm left all alone in this giant room; giant house.

I take a 360 and take in the immense amount of space I was given for a bedroom. My parents have always done well at their jobs and I am so great full, but just seeing how some people live is making me begin to wonder where all this money came from in the first place.

The bed looks customized to some extent, the bed spread looks like heaven on Earth, the wood floors are without a doubt brand new from the way they're shining. Everything is just so WOW!

Then I notice there's a door, two doors to be exact. I peer through the first one which reveals a large bathroom with everything you could possibly want: a jacuzzi tub, fancy toilet, a uh... two-person shower?

I take a step out and close the door and go into the next room. And with all the luck I have, I end up running into someone. Someone big enough that I am knocked cold to the ground and I completely forget where I am for a second. "What the hell..." I groan, cradling my arms and testing my wrists to see if they're still intact.

A strong hand takes a gentle grip on my arm and pulls me up slowly. "Are you alright?" I look up and meet Luke's face. Luke's hot hot face.

I practically melt right then and there. "Y-yeah." I speak those words like it's the first words I've ever said out loud.

He traces a finger down my jaw, lifting up my chin and smiling. "Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are, Miss Andre?" He asks, his eyes sparkling with desire.

I shake my head, still staring into those big blue eyes of his. "No. No one has ever said they even liked me."

This makes him smile. "Is that so?" his lips are close to mine now, ever so slightly brushing against each other as he speaks in that hushed tone of his to me. "Well you are a magnificent creation, Amore. It's time you realize that." His thumb breaks my lips apart and he sinks into me with his lips now on mine making it my first kiss. It's such a small tender kiss, too. No pulling at each other, just a simple kiss.