Chapter 003

His bride?

Luca had left the room without giving me much of a choice. What other choice did I have anyway?

My stomach churned with sadness and disbelief. I cursed Chief Slade mentally.

I had been reduced from a deserving FBI agent to a criminal's bride, all for the sake of my career and my mother's health. If he wasn't so perverted, I would never be in this mess.

I wondered how my mother was doing. She was never in support of my career as an agent. She always thought it to be a dangerous job. I was suddenly seeing her point.

Was my dream of being a top senior agent just a fantasy?

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. One of the men in the room freed me from the chair of death that I sat in, but I was too weak to stand.

The urge to run out of there lingered, but the rational part of me cautioned me against it. I had irrationally gone after the voice outside the club, and it had led me to this mess.

Surprisingly, it had also led me straight to my target. As much as I hated the situation I was in, I guessed it was a vantage position.

I would prove myself worthy of Luca's loyalty and dig out all the dirt he had buried. I wiped my tears, sniffling, a new resolve forming within me.

For Luca to not have recognised me as an agent, then whatever he read in that document must have been my changed identity as I had requested of Chief.

"Get up," the man snapped.

I weakly stood to my wobbling feet. My clothes stuck to me like a second skin, revealing outlines of my body. I felt exposed.

The men, however, did not give me a second look. One of them passed me a jacket, which I was grateful for.

As we walked out of the terrible room, my heart only sunk further and further in dread as we walked past what looked like dungeons. The smell of dried blood hung in the air, and the stench of dismembered human skin made me want to puke.

I heard the groaning of some people who were trapped behind the impenetrable iron bars of the cell, probably awaiting their judgement day.

A shriek escaped my lips involuntarily at the sight of a dismembered hand missing three fingers in front of me. Unable to hide my disgust anymore, I emptied the scanty content of my stomach right there on the floor.

The man leading me out of there was unmoved. He held my hair back quietly and continued to lead me out when I was done.

When we finally came out from the stairways, I wished I could unsee all the terrible things my eyes had seen in the basement.

"Where are we going?" I suddenly asked the man, but he remained silent, marching like a soldier out of the warehouse.

A limousine suddenly pulled up to me, and the man opened the door.

I felt reluctant to go in. What if this was all a trap? How could Luca believe me? What was in the document he had read earlier?

"Get in," the man who had refused to speak to me ordered again. I bit my tongue to avoid saying anything to anger the man who looked like he could beat me to a pulp.

Just as I settled into the limousine, it took off, leading me to the unknown.

*

The limousine pulled up to a luxurious estate.

The tall, wrought-iron gates stood open, revealing lawns that were perfectly dotted with statues and elegant fountains.

My jaw fell open at the grandeur of this place. The mansion before me was nothing short of a palace.

The door was swung open by the man whose face remained as blank as it had been from the beginning of our journey.

I stepped out, my bare feet slightly trembling as they hit the marble tiles.

As the man, whose name I'd come to know as Clinton, led me to my room, my legs ached. There were so many stairs and hallways.

"Don says this will be your room," he stated, his Spanish accent thick as he spoke.

I simply nodded. The size of the room took me by surprise. It was many times bigger than the house I shared with my mum back in New York.

The sound of the locks turning drew me back to my defensive state. I rushed to the door, yanking the handles didn't budge.

Mentally exhausted from the whole ordeal, I rested my back on the door and slid down until I was seated on the floor. I would never in a million years have imagined this happening to me.

From my position on the ground, the warm hands of sleep took me.

*

One hour later, after a wake-up call from a maid, I walked into the dining room. I felt more refreshed after my nap.

I sat in the dining room, my arms folded across my chest as I stared into space, wondering about my next step, barely noticing his presence in the room.

Luca didn't look like a person who could be easily deceived. I had to calculate every step and every risk.

As I thought, a small nudge to my side made me jump in my seat. A servant was setting a dish on the table.

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the servant when I saw a little slip of paper on my laps. My brows knitted. I turned to look at the servant, but the person had their back to me.

"Leave me and my fiancée alone," Luca ordered suddenly, and the servants were dismissed.

I stared up at him, suddenly, noticing his presence.

"What's this all about?" I questioned, my arms folded across my chest. The sweet aroma of the meal wasn't enticing to me. "Why do you even want to marry me? You don't even know me!"

He watched me with a crooked smile. "I ask the questions here, mi querida. You'll tell me what I need to know or I'll make you wish you had."

My stomach flipped under his intense stare, his threat shaking me slightly.

"I've told you all I know," I plainly denied.

He kept his eyes trained on me. "There's more to you than that document told me. My instincts don't lie, reina hermosa. Don't make me find it out myself."

The agency had already played their part of changing my identity like I had requested. I held my head high, holding his gaze effortlessly. I couldn't afford to back down now. I couldn't give up now.

"There'll be nothing for you to find out," I confidently assured him.

He smirked before standing up, not touching his food. "I hope so. Because if I find something, you'll curse the day you were born."

I let put a breath I didn't know I was holding when he disappeared. My eyes fell to a white piece of paper on my lap.

'Be on your guard, agent. You're not alone here,' it read.

My eyes grew moist with tears of relief. The weight of my situation lightened from my neck slightly. Trevor was here. The agency was still behind me!