Arranged Marriage, Wanted Wife

by Mary Goldberger

  “Please,” Pricilla laughed outright tossing her hair back over her shoulder.

  Waren lifted a callused hand to Jassi’s red cheek before uttering in a low hard voice. “Get the hell out of our apartment.”

  Pricilla frown her eyes flickering with unease. “Waren…”

  Waren turned to her sliding an arm around Jassi’s waist in the process. “I do believe that we’ve already had this conversation,” a tight smile coming to his face thinking about how those words sounded familiar, “and yet for some reason, you seem to have forgotten it.”

  Pricilla rolled her eyes. “I figured you were just mad and needed some time to yourself. I gave you almost two months and when I heard that you were getting your house built then I thought you were ready to forgive me.”

  Waren stared at Pricilla in disbelief while Jassi wondered what madness took over the woman as she leaned against Waren.

  “Pricilla, what made you think that I was having the house built for you,” Waren asked her directly. “That house is for Jassi and I, and our family.”

  Pricilla went to scoff again until his words sunk in and she paled repeating, “Family?”

  Waren settled a hand on Jassi’s abdomen feeling her smaller hand settle over his on top of where their child laid nestled comfortably.

  “Yes, our family,” Waren stressed watching Pricilla’s mouth drop open.

  “Waren, are you sure…” Pricilla began flicking a scornful look at Jassi who met her eyes squarely.

  “It’s my child, of that I have no doubt,” Waren told her confidently turning to kiss Jassi’s temple.

  “I think,” Jassi uttered in a slow voice, “it’s time for you to go, Pricilla. It’s been a long evening and I would like to take a shower and get comfortable preferably with my husband which I’m sure you can appreciate.”

  Pricilla stared at them in bewilderment before her lips tightened and her face took on an ugly red hue. “To think I wasted my time on you,” she threw out snidely staring at Waren with daggers. “Who would’ve thought that you wouldn’t be smart enough to tell the difference between a diamond and a cubic zirconia?”

  “Oh, I know the difference,” Waren remarked with a slow wicked smile at Jassi.

  Pricilla sneered at them before she gathered her things together and started out of the apartment just as her phone rung and she smiled when she read the caller id.

  She glanced up at Waren with a smug look. “Just so you know you got lucky because if you had accepted me back it wouldn’t be for long.”

  With that statement, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked out of the apartment slamming the door behind her.

  “That was interesting,” Jassi commented closing her eyes lightly when dizziness overtook her suddenly.

  Waren noticing it lifted Jassi off her feet to lay her own the couch.

  “Are you okay,” he asked worry evident in his tone.

  Jassi smiled opening her eyes to stare at him raising a hand to his cheek. “I’m fine, Waren, but what was that all about?”

  Waren let out a low expletive scooting Jassi over to sit down next to her hip allowing one hand to settle on her abdomen and lightly graze it with his fingers.

  “Pricilla came by the office a few days after you left and I made her aware of what my feelings were,” Waren admitted lifting his head to stare into Jassi’s eyes seeing the light in them. “Were you worried that I was with you because of our child and if I saw Pricilla again, I would…”

  Seeing the angry look that started to cross his face, Jassi allowed her hand to slide to the back of his neck and pulling him down to kiss his lips softly.

  “Just a little,” she breathlessly admitted when she allowed Waren to pull back slightly. “I guess in the back of my mind I believed you still had feelings for Pricilla.”

  Waren gave her a mocking stern look but it was ruined when Jassi smiled brightly causing him to groan leaning down to kiss her roughly.

  “Now, listen closely, I love you,” Waren stressed each word the hand grazing her abdomen stopped lifting to her face cradling its smoothness. “And just so you don’t forget, I will tell you every day.”

  “Every day,” Jassi groaned loudly flinging herself back on the couch.

  Waren glared at her lifting up lightly so one knee rested on the cushion and he leaned his weight over Jassi who was starting to laugh.

  “Do you have a problem with that, Mrs. Glenson,” Waren muttered in a low voice crowding her on the couch.

  Jassi bit back her laughter before mumbling, “Am I going to get punished?”

  Waren nodded his head slowly as he started to make himself comfortable on the couch with Jassi before he kissed her hearing her whispered words.

  “Oh well, I guess I should take my punishment bravely.”

  Their laughter floated around the room before it was cutoff and both of them forgot all about Siria’s call.

  Siria paced back and forward which made her husband frown.

  “Honey, calm down,” Brody uttered getting up to usher her over to the couch and pushing her down. “I’m sure that everything is okay.”

  “I heard Pricilla,” Siria shot back trying to get off the couch.

  “Siria,” Brody sighed shaking his head once. “Waren has gone through a lot this month just to be with Jassi so I don’t think he will mess it up because that woman shows her face again. Remember, my brother isn’t completely stupid.”

  At his words, Siria started to smile. “Not completely stupid, huh?”

  “Wrong choice of words, son,” Bowen remarked coming into the room with a grin.

  Brody’s face fell when he glanced at his father and then back at his wife seeing the look in her eyes, and he groaned aloud.

  “Siria, please don’t repeat that in front of Waren,” he pleaded. “He will take my head off.”

  Siria scrunched her noise up at him. “I’ll think about it.”

  Brody dropped his head shaking his head while Bowen started laughing and Siria grinned wickedly sitting back on the couch and crossing her legs.

  Siria knew that her husband wasn’t afraid of his brother, and yet they also knew that Waren wasn’t someone to mess with when he was pissed off.

  “Oh don’t worry,” Siria finally stated letting him off the hook. “I agree with your statement, so I won’t tell Waren what you said. He almost messed up, didn’t he, honey?”

  Brody lifted his head and settled down next to her on the couch sliding an arm around her waist. “Pricilla did a number on him when she left five years ago and yet that night I called him, it was the first time since then that I heard something in his voice. When he hung up on me, I knew that he must’ve met a woman but I didn’t ask him about it afterwards since I thought it was just another one of his flings, but I should’ve known.”

  “How,” Siria asked tilting her head at his confident statement.

  “Waren never hangs up on me,” Brody stated simply.

  Siria shook her head glancing over at Bowen who was nodding his head.

  “He only started doing it since Jassi came into his life,” Bowen seemed a little shock when he uttered this statement glancing over at Brody and Siria. “He reminds of another one who started to act differently when a certain woman came into his life.”

  Brody grinned roguishly squeezing Siria lightly. “We are like you, dad, we know when the right woman comes into our life. It just took Waren longer to admit it to himself since he was hinder by some plan by you and…”

  Bowen sighed heavily cutting him off. “I will admit my agreeing to the terms almost screwed it up for him, but I just wanted to get rid of the debt and Jassi’s family out of our life. I didn’t think that it would cause so much trouble…”

  “Or have such a happy ending,” Siria joked watching Brody and Bowen shoot her sharp looks.

  “This isn’t a fairytale, honey,” Brody reminded her. “They are still going to have their problems just like us.”

  “And yet, our mar
riage has survived, hasn’t it,” Siria smiled at him her eyes shining with her love.

  “I have no complaints even if sometimes you drive me mad and not always in the good way either,” Brody stated earning a glare from Siria while his father started to laugh.

  Siria elbowed him lightly in the stomach and he grunted although his arm never loosened from around her waist.

  “Dad, we have something to tell you,” Brody suddenly stated winking at Siria who stopped squirming and began to blush.

  Bowen studied them with laughing eyes. “So is this good news?”

  “Well,” Brody stressed causing Siria turn to him with wide eyes and laughed giving her a hug. “Yes, I think it’s the best news except for the day that Siria agreed to marry me.”

  Giving her a kiss on the cheek, Brody beamed with pleasure and Siria giggled nestling against him, and Bowen watched them waiting patiently for whatever they were going to tell him.

  He had a suspicion, and if it was what he suspected, then he was brimming with happiness briefly wondered if his oldest son would have some good news for him too.

  Chapter 15

  The next evening, Waren and Jassi showed up at his father’s house with smiles on their faces until Siria pounced on Jassi the moment they walked into the living room.

  “You never called me back last night,” she accused folding her arms over her chest and glaring at Jassi who flushed her blue-violet eyes slanting to Waren who grinned shamelessly.

  “I got distracted and forgot,” Jassi turned back to her with an embarrass smile. “I’m sorry, Siria.”

  “You forgot,” Siria repeated in stunned disbelief. “How could you forget to call me back when I heard Pricilla in the background and…”

  Brody spun her around kissing her passionately while Waren laughed and Jassi shook her head.

  “You can tell you two are brothers,” Jassi muttered causing Waren to pull her tightly against him.

  He leaned down and kissed the curve of her exposed neck since she had put her hair up in a loose ponytail. “You should’ve seen how dad was with our mom,” he breathed against her skin feeling her shiver in his arms.

  “Now I understand,” Jassi stated huskily glancing over at Siria frowning up at her husband who was grinning at her.

  “So do I,” Siria admitted sending Jassi a knowing look that caused Jassi to chuckle even as her face flushed again.

  Bowen watching his sons and their wives smiled thinking about his own wife who had passed away more than ten years ago and he still missed her to this day even though he hadn’t been celibate all these years.

  He turned his gaze to his eldest son watching him flirt with his wife laughing down at her while Jassi giggled up at him and he noted the hand that rested lightly on the curve of her hip fingers lightly grazing her abdomen.

  Waren glanced up seeing his father standing in the doorway and sent him a smile.

  “Hi, dad, I brought your daughter-in-law as requested,” Waren called out getting a frown from Jassi at his words.

  Bowen walked over to Jassi and took her hands into his getting a wide eyed look from her while Waren stood behind her slipping his arms loosely around her waist.

  “I want to apologize, Jassi, for the way I treated you from the very beginning,” Bowen stated shaking his head. “I know it’s not an excuse, but I had grudges against your grandmother and I took them out on…”

  Jassi shook her head cutting off his words giving him a cautious smile. “I know and under the circumstances, I can’t truly blame you for thinking that I was like my grandmother and the others.”

  Bowen gave her a quizzical look while Siria asked slowly, “You heard us, didn’t you, that night when Dad was telling…?”

  Jassi flinched slightly but nodded her head. “I had come back down for something and heard Bowen telling you that my grandmother was the one who asked for the marriage. When she first approached me about it, she made it seem that it was a condition that Bowen had set for repaying our debt.”

  Waren’s face went hard with fury while his arms tightened around Jassi getting a slight gasp from her and he immediately loosened his grip.

  “I am sorry, though,” Bowen stated giving her a smile. “And I want to get to know my daughter-in-law this time without any prejudices.”

  Jassi stared at him with wary eyes before she nodded her head at him in agreement. “I would like that,” she agreed in a low voice.

  Bowen smiled gripping her hands tighter before he said in a loud, boisterous voice. “This calls for some drinks.”

  Waren immediately stopped him. “Not for Jassi. She can have juice.”

  Jassi sighed leaning back against his chest peaking up at him and smiling when she saw the flash of male pride and satisfaction on his face.

  “I figured you would’ve told them,” she remarked closing her eyes and resting fully against him.

  “I haven’t had time,” Waren remarked absently seeing the wariness on her face. “Are you tired?”

  “A little,” Jassi murmured sleepily.

  Waren lifted Jassi in his arms suddenly and Jassi’s eyes flew open as she flung her arms around his neck.

  “Dad, you don’t mind if we crash here tonight,” Waren asked although he was already striding out of the living room.

  “Is Jassi all right?” Siria asked concern in her voice.

  Waren stopped in the doorway and turned to smile at her before giving her a brief wink. “She’s fine, Siria, but being pregnant can do that to a woman, or so I’ve heard.”

  “Pregnant,” Siria repeated in a shocked voice yet there was a twinge of excitement that caught both Jassi and Waren’s attention.

  “Another grandbaby,” Bowen uttered with anticipation.

  “Another,” Waren asked in shock seeing Brody and Siria beam at him.

  “We were plan on telling you, but you’ve been busy trying to bring your wife home,” Brody admitted putting an arm around his wife. “We’ve learned that we are four months pregnant.”

  “Our children will about two months apart,” Jassi spoke in a quiet voice everyone turning their eyes to her.

  Jassi smiled brightly slanting shining eyes toward Siria. “Hopefully they will be good friends just like their mothers.”

  Siria nodded her head in agreement. “I hope so to,” she confirmed watching Jassi talk Waren into putting her down so they could have their drinks.

  “A toast,” Bowen stated sometime later glancing at his sons and their wives smiling. “To our family, may all of us be happy.”

  Everyone smiled raising their glasses, juice for the women and alcohol for the men as they each uttered the same words.

  Jassi glanced up at Waren who was staring at her and with a wink, he leaned down to kiss her without hesitation.

  “I don’t plan on letting you go again,” he whispered against her lips.

  “Good,” was all Jassi said her eyes speaking more than mere words, and Waren stared intently studying her.

  Jassi frowned. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

  Waren smiled slowly and Jassi shivered at the promise that reflected in his eyes. “I like looking at you.”

  Jassi’s eyes widened before she started to laugh which was interrupted by a yawn.

  “I think it’s time that we head home,” Waren said changing his mind about staying the night seeing his wife’s yawn. He put down his drink while turning to his dad. “Dad, we are heading home. We will see you tomorrow.”

  They all smiled giving each other knowing looks and Jassi glanced between them with a bewildering look.

  “Waren…” Jassi turned to him with a lingering look, but Waren only smiled and gave her another wink.

  “Let’s just say that I have a surprise for you tomorrow.”

  With those words, Waren ushered her out of the house with prolonged ‘goodbyes’ to his family.

  “Waren,” Jassi exclaimed when he put her in the car.

  Waren put a finger against her lips shaki
ng his head. “I will explain it all to you at home.”

  Jassi glared at him but accepted his word sitting back in her seat while Waren walked around the other side to slide into the driver’s seat.

  They stopped off at the store briefly since Jassi wanted ice cream and Waren picked up a few candles, which got a questioning look from Jassi.

  Entering their apartment a few minutes later, Jassi headed for the kitchen and scooped some ice cream into a bowl.

  “Would you like some?” She called back hearing Waren absently decline.

  Jassi scooped two big spoons before she put the rest in the freezer and going out into the living room where she stilled eyes widening at the candles that he placed around the room.

  Waren stood by the couch watching her and Jassi swallowed before walking toward him.

  “What’s going on,” she asked quietly watching the flickering light of the candles her ice cream forgotten.

  “Your ice cream is going to melt,” Waren warned her dodging her question.

  Jassi lifted the spoon to her mouth and took a bite but the look she gave Waren let him know that she wasn’t fooled by his obvious change of topic.

  “I was thinking,” Waren began taking Jassi lightly by the arm and seating them both down on the couch. “We never had a wedding.”

  Jassi started to shake her head only to stop when Waren sighed before telling her. “I’m talking about a real wedding instead of that…. thing your grandmother organized.”

  Jassi turned to look at him her bowl resting in her lap and Waren smiled lifting a hand to brush loose hair from her face.

  “So I’ve organized a wedding for us with Siria’s help,” Waren continued letting his fingers trace the curve of her cheek. “We deserve a real wedding and I promise at the end of this one I will only leave with my bride.”

  Jassi’s eyes filled with tears and Waren brushed them away with the pad of his thumb.

  “Is that why everyone was looking secretive,” Jassi asked her voice lightly catching.

  Waren nodded his head leaning down to kiss the corner of the mouth. “Tomorrow we will have another wedding.”

  Jassi put her bowl down on the table before throwing her arms around Waren knocking him back against the couch. Waren laughed encircling her with his lean but muscular arms making them both comfortable on the couch.