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Chapter 15
Presley
As I look at myself in the full-length mirror that has been placed in here for the sole purpose of me getting ready for my wedding, I feel numb. I never imagined it would be like this, to a man who purchased me for millions of dollars and locked me in a room overnight until I behaved. I never imagined that I wouldn't have most of my friends and family here or that I would be getting married in another country to a citizen of that country. But it doesn't really matter because I have never imagined my wedding at all or even knew if I was going to get married, and if so, it would have been far into my future.
It has been a week now since Stefan told me I was going to become Presley Dalca, his wife. Actually, according to him, I am already his wife legally. This wedding is nothing more than a setup to satisfy some associates of his and to give the finger to my parents. Not to mention the fact that this will make it look real. And I'm going to find a way to enjoy it, considering, for the past week ,as we have disagreed with one another, Stefan has made it clear that this is going to be my one and only wedding. No matter the fact that it's a sham, he plans, and it is lasting forever, though he still has not given me much information as to why.
I smile at my reflection because I am in my power color, red. This dress is not the dress I would have picked out for myself had it been for a wedding I had planned. But then again, that would be because my family and friends would not have allowed for anything more than traditional, and this dress is nothing traditional at all. In fact, it isn't even a dress. It has two pieces; a lacy crimson top which only comes down to my navel and shows off the best parts of me. Then there is a gap where some of my stomach shows; a red ribbon my tiny waist begins the skirt which flares down into white tulle peppered in several designs that look like red rose petals. It is gorgeous and 100% me even though he knows nothing about me, or at least, I assume he doesn't.
In truth, I really don't know if he knows more about who I am than he is letting on. There is some reason the he has chosen me to be his wife, and I don't think it was random, but haven't gotten him to confess to what the reason is yet. But I'm sure it will become clear once I say I do, and the reason I am so sure is because I have already decided I am not going to be his prize or his trophy wife. As soon as the crowd clears, I am going to lay down the law and make sure he knows that I’m not some little pushover. I don't care that he has rules and that he has punishments. Even if he knows everything that has ever been said about me in the public eye, he doesn't know what I'm bringing in private. That I have a determination - that I'm downright stubborn. I can be just as much of an ass as any man no matter how much money he thinks he has the will buy me things. I’ve got plenty of money back home, honey, and he can't buy me.
I am determined that I'm going to be freer as a wife than I was as a daughter, and he's going to have to put up with that or be so fed up with me that he'll let me go. And then there will be no harm done.
I smack my matching red lips against each other, smiling one more time. I know I have to go and get my shoes on my pick up my bouquet and walk down the aisle to a man I hardly know. I’ll be the belle of the ball; he has made sure of that, and whether this wedding is my choice or not, I don't think that I would have allowed it to happen any other way.
As I strap my heels on, I wonder who is going to be here to support me. Stefan did at least have the courtesy to ask if there was anyone, I wanted to invite other than my parents and my siblings. I was sure to give him the information about my three best friends. Even if my relationship with Heather was on the rocks, I want her to be here to see this. Maybe I am being vindictive by having her watch me get married to this rich man because I know she will be jealous, or maybe she will be happy for me and happy that I will be out of her hair now that I won't be living in Texas. Sky will, of course, go with the flow, and as far as I know, Paulo still in town with his family and seeing that guy from the bar.
He is the most important, in my opinion, to be here, though I'm sure he's going to be shocked.
I take a deep breath, hearing what’s going on outside this room. It may be a large house, but when you shove a bunch of people inside of it, you are you going to be able to hear them. It's loud. And out of them all, I hear familiar voice.
Daddy.
I know I'm not supposed to be seen until the telling music starts that I am meant to walk down the aisle to, but I crack open the door a little so I can hear better what's going on.
I knew that when they suddenly got that invitation to come to Brazil for my wedding that they would be furious. They didn't even want me coming to Brazil in the first place, and I promised them that it was going to be me laying low and just taking a short vacation. I was supposed to be back long ago, and by now they would also know that I took a break from college without telling them. So now, their wild daughter, the college dropout, is becoming a citizen in another country because she is marrying a complete stranger. They didn’t even know I was dating, which, of course ,I wasn't, but I don't know exactly what story Stefan is going to tell them.
I can hear from here my father insisting that I'm going to go home with them, but I don't think that Stefan is going to take too well to that, and I've always got the feeling that he is kind of a dangerous guy. I just hope he can keep his temper under control while he deals with them.
And then I can't help but snicker as I listen to my soon-to-be husband telling them off to the point that they are speechless. My parents areactuallyspeechless.
I shut the door and give a little giggle before it’s time and I hear the music.
“Okay, Presley, this is it; it's your wedding day. It's time to put on a show."
A knock comes at the door, and there is the butler who it's telling me that it's time for me to reveal myself. I'm taking in my hands the simple but beautiful bouquet that had been brought to me earlier, I and step out of the room into the hallway. A silk runner with white and red stripes down the hallway is under me and meets up with another one as I have to turn left to make it into the main room. I keep going down the unusually long aisle, and then, I see him at the end with a grin on his face. Despite the circumstances, it is very similar to that look that they give men and movies who are marrying the woman of their dreams.
It should creep me out because he's not supposed to know me, and I'm not supposed to know him. I still know almost nothing about him or the reason he has chosen me, and yet, for reasons I cannot quite explain, I am calm.
Well, I don't particularly trust him; I certainly don't believe that he has the kind of ill intentions for me that many of those people at the auction did. I don't know what is to come of tonight or if he's even going to ask for anything to come in tonight see him trying to force that either after what I've been through. In fact, when I bring it up, it seems to anger him that that was done to me. And I am luckily unharmed and as over it as I can be. Mostly, I feel lucky that I am not someone who got it worse or had to stay there for so many weeks like the women I had met. And maybe one day I can use his knowledge to help get some of those women out of that situation.
In the back row, I do pass Sky, Heather, and Paulo who sits with the guy from the bar that I recognize. It makes me happy to know that it turned out to be more than just a one-night stand. Paulo reaches out to me with his hand is mine for a moment on the way by, but I get a strange vibe from Heather, that stink eye I’ve gotten from her lately stronger than ever. I just keep going and ignore it; my choice or not, this is my wedding day, and I'm going to make it memorable.
As I pass the front row, my parents are there, and I smile just a little bit wider as I know that they are gaping at me. Probably looking for any sign that either I am in distress or that this is a joke. I don't know that I ever would have done anything so extreme as a joke, but it is funny that they think that's possible.
The vows are traditional, and I am thankful for the fact that the priest is sweet and to the point. The ring is gorgeous as I knew it would be; a ruby surrounded by several perfectly clear diamonds. I wouldn't be surprised if he has some team in Africa getting diamonds just for him since his lavishness knows no bounds.
"And now you may kiss the bride." I almost don't catch the words because I am in my head this whole time thinking about that kiss. We haven't kissed yet – I haven’t wanted to kiss him yet, but if this is going to be real, I have to kiss him in front of all these people. No way am I going for a full-on make-out here, but no one is going to buy that I'm going to give my new husband a little peck. And so, when Stefan leans in, I go for it, my lips parting just a little as he nips at my bottom lip. I can't say that I don't enjoy that part because I do, but I certainly am not all for leaping into bed with him and consummating this thing right away either.
I am literally ripped away from my thoughts, though, as the crowd begins to scream, and I find myself staring down the barrel of a gun pointed right at me. From the time that the priest told us to kiss to the time the screaming happened, Heather managed to make her way around and up to the front and pull a gun on me. I have clearly been misreading her hatred towards me this whole time as growing apart.
I guess she wants me dead.
