by Sophia Gray
I cried out and buried my face in my hands.
“Alexander, shut up,” James said – but he wasn’t angry. He was smiling at me as he said it, and I got the feeling that he was enjoying this drama almost as much as his son.
The room fell silent when Dad walked inside. The silence had a feel to it – thick and heavy as velvet. Dad walked across the carpet and slowly lowered himself into his big executive chair before turning to face me.
“Melinda,” Dad said slowly. “I have something to tell you.”
Something snapped inside of my chest and I leaped out of the chair, pointing my finger at my father. “I know already!” I said loudly. I glared at him. “I know. You want me to marry Alexander.”
Dad nodded. The bigger guard stepped forward and put his hands on my shoulders, forcing me back down into the chair. I cried out in pain as my ass slammed against the leather.
“Please, lower your voice, Melinda,” Dad said solemnly. He took a long swallow of champagne. “This is a party. We’re celebrating. This is happy news.”
“Well, fuck that,” I said, leaning back in the chair and crossing my arms over my chest. My dress had slipped down and the lacy top of my bra was showing, but I didn’t care. The only thing I could feel was hot, pure anger. It was tearing through my body like wildfire, and I balled my hands into tiny fists, ready to strike.
“Melinda, do not use that tone with me,” Dad said. He took a cigar from the tiny humidor on his desk and lit it, puffing until the air was filled with sour blue smoke.
“I don’t care,” I said defiantly. The guard’s hands were still clapped down on my shoulders, but I didn’t have to be soft for long.
“This is how this business works,” Dad said slowly. He puffed on the cigar, blowing smoke towards my face. “This is how Wilmington runs, my dear daughter.”
I laughed humorlessly. “Well, too bad,” I said. “I’m not doing it.” Turning in my chair, I glared at Alexander’s smug face. “I hate you,” I said loudly. “And I’d rather be alone for the rest of my life than marry you.”
Dad’s face was ashen. “Melinda, don’t speak to your future husband that way.”
“I’ll speak to that piece of shit however the fuck I want!” I yelled.
The guard’s slap hit me like a ton of bricks. My vision went blurry, and I cried out in pain as I felt my tongue slice open on my bottom row of teeth.
“Shut up,” Dad said. He smiled unpleasantly. “This is not your choice. The plans have been set. James and I worked out these details a long time ago, and you don’t have a say in the matter.”
I glared at my father. “Well, I won’t say yes,” I yelled. “I’m going to refuse. The priest can’t force me to marry if I say no!”
Dad shook his head. “Melinda, Melinda,” he said. “I wish you wouldn’t be like this. There isn’t going to be a priest – there’s no need for one. The paperwork has already been filed, and the marriage license has been forged.”
Dad held up a leather portfolio and flipped it open, showing a marriage certificate. The sight of my name and Alexander’s, linked together in ornate black font, made me want to vomit.
“I hate you,” I cried loudly. The guard was still holding me down in the chair, but I kicked and thrashed around as much as I could. “I hate you so much!” My eyes were filled with tears and my face was flushed, but I didn’t care. I knew I looked like a wild animal.
Dad snapped his fingers and the guard slapped me again and again until I couldn’t resist any more. The pain radiated through my body, and I melted against the leather chair, sobbing hoarsely.
“Melinda, this is your duty as a daughter of the Cantonneli family,” Dad said slowly. “This is what you were raised to do. Don’t you want to fulfill your duty to me, and make your ancestors proud?”
“I hate you,” I said dully. My cheeks ached from the force of the guard’s slaps and my throat was sore from crying. “I hate you so much. I wish I’d never been born.”
“I’m quite glad you were born,” Dad said icily. “You’ve given me the means to restore peace. Your marriage with Alexander will bring a new friendship to the Cantonneli and Rex families, a friendship that never would have happened otherwise. Don’t you understand how important this is, Melinda?”
“I understand,” I snapped. “But I don’t care!”
Dad laughed shortly. “Oh, you do,” he said. “You’ve benefitted from having the Cantonneli name your whole life. And now it’s time you did your duty and repay the family.”
The tears came back and I started crying again, rocking back and forth until I was dizzy.
“She makes a lot of noise,” Alexander whined. “Can’t you make her shut up?”
James snickered. “She’s a live wire, son,” he said. “You sure you can handle her?”
Alexander stared lewdly at me, licking his lips and smacking them in a way that made me nauseous. “Oh,” he said. “I can handle her. Trust me, Dad. I’m gonna make Melinda a real good husband.”
His words made me shudder, and a fresh wave of sobs broke over me.
“You’re going to spend tonight at home,” Dad said. “In your room. Alone. And tomorrow, you’ll be Alexander’s wife. You will have his children. You will be obedient. You will be beautiful and gracious and host parties for our colleagues. You will lick his boots if that’s what he asks of you. Do you understand?”
“That’s a good idea,” Alexander said nastily. “I like that. Yeah, Melinda, get ready to lick my boots.”
I shivered.
“You may go,” Dad said. “There are some final details I need to finish arranging with James. You are to stay in your room.”
A flicker of hope welled up in my chest; was he going to leave me alone? Would I have a chance to sneak out?
The guards grabbed my arms and started frog-marching me up the stairs. The flicker of hope died like a single flame blown out in a tornado.
I knew then my life was over for good.
Chapter 19
Melinda
The guards marched me upstairs and into my room.
I knew I had to try something – anything! – to get them off my back. I didn’t know if it would work, but even a failed try would be better than nothing.
“Are you planning to stay in here with me?” I asked, making my voice as sweet and syrupy as sugar. “Don’t you know that girls like a little privacy?”
The two guards exchanged looks. They were both big, hulking men…but they looked so incredibly stupid. I wondered if they had a combined vocabulary of more than twenty words.
“Boss’s orders,” the bigger one said. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “You gonna tell me your father lied?”
“Of course not,” I said quickly. “But don’t you know, he trusts me enough to give me a lock on the door.” I pointed. “See?”
The guards exchanged another look.
“Well, maybe just one of us can stay,” the bigger one said. Just as I thought he was about to leave, he walked over to my bed and sat down. “I’ll go first. You go back downstairs,” he told the other guard. “I’ve got this from here.”
Inwardly, I groaned. That hadn’t worked at all!
When the smaller guard had left, I plugged in my phone. “I need to call my best friend, Cassandra, is that okay?”
The guard glanced at me skeptically. “Show me the phone,” he said.
I pulled up Cassandra’s contact page. Her picture was a thumbnail shot of the two of us enjoying a day at the shore back in happier times. Looking at our happy smiles made tears come to my eyes once again.
“Okay,” the guard grumbled. “But I’m not leaving.”
I rolled my eyes behind his back. “That’s fine,” I said sweetly. “I shouldn’t be too long on the phone.”
The guard grunted. For a moment, I thought about calling Antonio instead. But the room was so quiet, I knew the guard would probably be able to hear the voice from the other end.
Please pi
ck up, I prayed as I held the phone to my ear. Please, Cassandra, please!
“Oh my god, where have you been?” Cassandra demanded. “You left the club hours ago! We were so worried about you! Alexander was there, too, did you see?”
I couldn’t believe I’d been out with Cassandra and Gloria hours ago. It already felt like days had passed since my confrontation with Alexander at Hurricanes.
“Um, yeah, I’m okay,” I said shakily. Tears came to my eyes and I wiped them way.
“Melinda, oh my god, you are so not okay!” Cassandra said. “What happened, did Antonio—“
“Um, about that,” I said quickly. “It’s happening tonight. I mean, tomorrow. Tonight is my last night at home.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Cassandra asked. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I said after a pause. “Um, I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine,” Cassandra said slowly. “You wanna tell me what’s going on?”
I shot a quick glance over at the guard. Thankfully, he was fully immersed in flipping through one of the fashion magazines piled up next to my bed.
“I’m not going to be allowed to go out anymore,” I said carefully. “My father is angry with me, and I know he won’t let me leave.”
“What about Antonio?”
I sighed. “Um, that, too,” I said. “Alexander and I are getting married.”
“What?” There was a loud clunking sound and then static, like Cassandra had dropped the phone. When she came back, her voice was loud and angry. “What the hell did you just say?”
“That’s right,” I said brightly. “You could try to sound happy for me, you know.” My palms began to sweat with anxiety as I kept one eye on the guard and one ear listening to the phone.
“Melinda, I’m confused,” Cassandra said slowly. “Alexander is scum. He’s worse than scum – you hate him!”
“Well, I’m marrying him,” I said in a false, bright voice.
A pause. “Do you want to marry him?”
I glanced at the guard. He was still enraptured by the magazine.
“No,” I said quickly.
“Oh my god, Melinda, what the hell happened?”
“I’m going to marry Alexander tomorrow,” I repeated. “Right now, I have to stay at home. Dad isn’t letting me go out.”
“You want me to call Antonio?”
Sweat broke out on my forehead and I shivered. “Please,” I said. “I’d love that. Thanks, Cassandra! You’re such a good friend to be so excited for me.”
When Cassandra and I hung up, a nervous chill ran through my body. I tried going back over our conversation in my head – how else was I supposed to remember if I’d told her everything she needed to know? But I was so anxious and distressed that it was already a distant memory in my head.
“Excuse me,” I said to the guard, clearing my throat.
He looked up, startled. “What?”
“I need to get some things from under my bed,” I said, pointing to the clear plastic storage drawers that contained summer clothes and purses. “I need to pack, right? I’m going away with Alexander.”
The guard nodded. “Big honeymoon plans?”
I fought the urge to tell him to fuck off. “I don’t know,” I said wearily, getting down on my hands and knees. “Whatever Alexander has planned.”
The guard walked across my room and leaned against my door, crossing his arms over his chest. He seemed to remember that he was here to make sure I didn’t try anything funny – not to lie on my bed and read fashion articles from an old magazine.
I made a big show of pulling out my rollerboard suitcases and dumping clothes inside. I wasn’t even looking at what I was throwing in – it didn’t matter. Assuming that Antonio would be here soon, I knew I had to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
“Excuse me,” I said sweetly. “Would you mind turning around? I’ve got to change.”
The guard grumped and rolled his eyes.
“My father and James wouldn’t like it,” I added quickly. “Neither would Alexander. He wants to make sure he’s the only man to ever see me naked.”
The guard’s cheeks colored but he turned around, facing the wall. When I was sure he wasn’t looking, I pulled off my dress and changed into my favorite pair of distressed jeans and a white blouse.
“Okay,” I said. “Thank you.”
The guard frowned. “You don’t have a dress?”
“What?”
“A wedding dress,” he said, stretching his words out. “You need a dress.”
“Trust me,” I said darkly. “I don’t.”
As the night wore on, I started feeling more and more anxious. I hadn’t heard from Cassandra again – not even after I’d texted her to be sure to wish Alexander and me a happy marriage tomorrow. I wondered if she’d had trouble finding Antonio.
I wondered if Antonio hadn’t been able to come up with a plan. He’d seemed so distraught earlier, so panicked. A horrible thought rose inside of me like vomit: what if Antonio chickened out? What if he was so afraid of my father that he decided to just skip town and abandon me?
What was going to happen to me if Antonio didn’t show up?
The guard yawned.
“Do you want me to go get you some coffee?” I chirped. “I could use some myself.”
The guard narrowed his eyes. “Long day,” he muttered. “And, no, I ain’t letting you out of here.”
I sighed and flopped down on the bed. I was exhausted, but I knew that even if I turned out the lights and took a pill, I wouldn’t be able to sleep. This was all too much, too fast – and time was running out.
My phone read three in the morning by the time I finished packing. My eyes were red and stinging for want of sleep, but my limbs were restless, like I’d drunk four cups of coffee in a row.
I couldn’t stop the horrible intrusive thoughts from slamming into my brain like a car crashing into a brick wall. Where the hell was Antonio? Had Cassandra misunderstood me? Was she angry with me?
God, what was keeping him?
“Stop pacing around,” the guard snapped. “I’m getting tired. Just relax for a little while. It’s almost light outside.”
His words sent a fresh bolt of panic through my chest and I shuddered.
“You cold?”
“No,” I said. “Just excited, you know.” I tried to smile.
Just as the guard was about to open his mouth, there was a knock on the door. My heart froze. This is it, I realized. This is the end of everything. It’s too late. Antonio didn’t make it, and now I’m going to my doom.
The guard opened the door.
Antonio was standing there, grinning.
I covered my mouth with my hands so I wouldn’t squeal. Thankfully, the guard didn’t notice. He narrowed his eyes at Antonio.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Antonio chuckled. “I’m her bodyguard,” he said. “Sorry I’m late. I know I was supposed to relieve you an hour ago.”
The big guard narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Antonio strolled into the room, pointedly refusing to meet my eyes. “I’m here. You can go home.”
The guard frowned. “Mr. Rodrigo said I can’t leave until he comes back.”
Antonio shrugged. “Rodrigo makes mistakes sometimes,” he said casually. “Come on, I’ve been guarding her for weeks. You really think I’d fuck with you like that?”
“Well, I don’t know,” the guard said slowly. I almost laughed when I saw his face – he was obviously concentrating so hard that he was about to burst a blood vessel in his eye.
“We can call Rodrigo up here and ask him,” Antonio said, “but he’s gonna be pretty angry at the interruption.”
The guard nodded. “Right,” he said. “Okay.” He yawned. “I’m off, then.” He glanced at me. “Good luck.”
I forced a smile.
The guard walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. A mome
nt later, I heard his heavy thudding down the staircase.
Rushing over to Antonio, I threw my arms around him. Tears came to my eyes and before I could blink them away, Antonio was holding me close and kissing me passionately. Antonio’s fingers wiped my cheeks and he kissed me so deeply that I felt my soul come alive once more.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” I whispered loudly. “I was getting so scared, Antonio!”