Signed and Sealed

I could still perceive his strong masculine perfume and wondered perhaps I had inhaled too much of him at the office earlier. I could still hear his voice in my head. His raspy deep voice rambling in my head, calling me his wife! I am not your wife, damn it! I unknowingly yelled out my thoughts as I walked into the sitting soon, kicking my shoes to a corner and switching on the light! There he was! My tormentor! 

“Tada!” He said, but there was nothing pleasant about that!

I was still in shock and at a loss for words; I first looked around for my aunt.

“Where is my aunt?” I asked, my fist clenched!

He noticed.

“Easy with the first honey; your aunt is in safe hands.”

“What do you mean?” I asked before scampering around, calling out to my aunt. But no response or vision of her in sight.

I panicked. I began to wish I had listened to her when she asked us to run away. I prayed this monster had not done anything to her because I wouldn’t know what I would do.

“What did you do to her?” I asked, my voice sharp and direct.

“Simple. I moved her to your new house and told her you will join her there!”

“You did what?”

“Exactly what you heard”

I fell weak to my before crawling to the couch. Nothing made sense.

“Who the hell do you think you are to barge in here and evacuate my aunt without her consent?”

“She was on my property, and moving to the new apartment was the only option on the menu or would you have preferred I let her out on the streets?”

I was taken aback. “Your property?”

“You heard right.” He said, tucking his hands into his suit pocket. “I tried to be cordial but I realised a stubborn woman like you understands only one thing—force.”

He pulled out what looked like an official document and threw it at me.

I caught it and quickly opened it.

I could not believe my eyes.

“So, Miss… sorry Mrs Lorenzo, you are standing on my property.” He dryly said. I could see the smirk on his face even though my eyes were focused on the paper.

He had actually purchased the house; the world around me seemed to spin as I struggled to find balance.

“I am a practical man, and I hate to be tested. You only have a few hours to either join your aunt at my house or be forced into the streets.”

“You can’t do this!”

“Sorry? I just did.”

“I don’t know who you are, but you really just don’t get it! You don’t just walk into our lives out of the blue and own it!”

“I currently own you; I own your life. I have only been decent enough to let you enjoy the natural gift of free will, but you are my wife, and the sooner you accept accordingly, the better for you and your dearly beloved aunt,” he said, adjusting his suit.

Different emotions washed over me in the seconds that followed. Confusion and disillusionment stretched through the lengths and breadths of my being. I tried to mask the anger brewing inside of me when I spoke up.

“Don’t you have a life? Or is your life so clouded with darkness that you enjoy sniffling the light out of people?” I asked, my eyes looking straight into his cold, unassuming eyes.

“I love to take what’s mine,” he said, stepping close to me.

I stepped back.

“I have not been inside a woman for some time, and even though I can afford to have any woman in my bed, I have intentionally decided to stop seeing other women as I now have a wife.” He approached closer, his hands reaching for me but I slapped them off.

“I will give you 24 hours to make up your mind. It’s either you join your aunt and resume your duty as my wife or stay locked out in the streets, but even that choice is still mine to make as your husband,” he said, his jaw clenching as he forcefully scooped me into his arms, squeezing my bum with the precision of a sex-starved bull.

Slap!

I slapped him and regretted doing so a few minutes later because it triggered him further.

He held my hands above my head, against the door, and then kissed me with relish. I tried to fight him, but I was too weak and no match for him.

“Stay still,” I heard him whisper softly. 

“If you keep running away from me and refusing to get in line, I will be forced to take you by virtue of force, and best believe, it will never be pleasant. As much as I love the innocence you exude, I will appreciate a little bit of submissiveness from that sharp tongue of yours.

All I could do was stare as I searched my mind for words.

Just in a space of how many days this man had appeared from nowhere, bought the company I work at, and now he bought the one thing that reminded me of my humble beginnings.”.

His eyes burnt with so much desire. That’s how I knew he wanted my body too. And it made me angrier.

“I would rather sleep on the streets.”

“And have these street rogues take turns fucking you and enriching you with their seed?”

The graphic images flashed through my mind. I gagged.

"I would rather be fed to the dogs on the streets and be ravished by rogues than become your wife."

"It's very easy to say until they touch you" He saif softly, his fingers scratching my arm, "But best believe their touch will not be as soft or as gentle, neither will their strokes be coordinated or dignified, so you are willing to give all of these to the dogs on the streets?"

His finger traced the curves on my face. I did not reply to him.

"I have never met a woman so strong-willed, but best believe your stubbornness will be met with even more stubbornness."

"I beg you to please let my aunt go, let the poor lady be, she would be worried sick about me."

"And that will be all your fault."

"How? You are basically trying to marry me against my will."

"Point of correction, we are already married; you just need to get a few things and come live with me as my wife officially!"

"First you bought the company."

"Yes, I did, so you dont have to work under another man."

"Now the house?"

"So you don't have to live like a peasant."

"I am comfortable here; I dont live like a peasant here."

"Not to my taste. You have lived a life of suffering for most of your life. Allow me to give you a taste of the good life."

"And I have clearly stated that I do not want anything from you, mister! Stay away from me!"

'Sadly I can't, and you will have to deal with me for as long as I please," he said, pulling at me and cupping my face in his palm.

"You have to do as I say; right now you are on my property, trespassing. I will excuse it because you're my woman but like I said earlier, you have less than 24 hours to join your aunt at your quarters or be compelled to do so anyhow I deem fit."

'I will appreciate if you speak to me from a distance" I said, slipping away from his grasp.

"Your body is so soft; you must be very fertile," He said.

"Gross!" I yelled. 'In your dreams! Get out!!'

I held the door open for him. I have never felt so disgusted in a while. who does he think he is to speak to me that way?

"The clock is ticking!!"Go back to the hell you crawled from and pray not even a strand of hair on her head should be hurt."

"I get to call the shots around here; you obey."

"Now you listen to me!"

"No you listen to me!" He interrupted, "Notice how I am not one for small talk? I just go ahead and do what's on my mind. Exactly, if you dont make up your mind to be my lawfully wedded wife, your aunt will pay the price for your insolence"

I slammed the door behind him as soon as he stepped out.

I needed some time to process all that had happened, but at the same time, I needed to speak to my aunt. I have thought of the countless ways we can escape this man, but he seems to be so highly connected that we can't escape him.

My eyes settled on the black box on the locker with a note.

It was an order.

"Put the ring on"