I Tried To Kill Him, Now I'm His Wife

Four

Chapter Four

Luciano

I watched from my observation window as the car carrying Lada arrived, a few minutes late, but not enough for me to comment on it. Marvin was driving anyway. Since his uncle died, I'd come to realize just how useless the boy was, which had been hidden behind the illustrious figure of his Uncle, Vito.

There was a knock on the door followed promptly by the entrance of Marco, my right hand man.

"She has arrived," he announced before noticing that I had been watching. "...which you are aware of."

I nodded. "About time."

"You know..." Marco dropped the formal tone which a subordinate addressed his superior with and picked up a friendlier, more familiar one. "You haven't told me what exactly your plan is. You're really just going to marry her?"

I grinned and nodded. Marco was the only person who could ask me such direct questions, he was also the only one I could afford to smile around.

"Why?"

"I told you, Marco. She's the key to our expansion."

"I don't see how." He said musingly.

"If you could, it wouldn't be such a great plan, would it?" I tapped his shoulder, signaling both some level of affection and the conclusion of the conversation. "Send em up."

He chuckled. "Really playing this one close to the chest, huh?" He nodded and straightened his posture; we had returned to official conduct.

As I watched him leave, I pondered over my own plan. While Lada could be beneficial to me and my empire, it was not necessarily true that this was why I was marrying her. My reason for doing so was a lot more personal, and it dated back sixteen years, long before I was the reputable godfather that I was now.

I walked out with two glasses of wine in both hands.

"Cut her loose." I ordered and Marvin hastily undid her blindfold, as well as unlocked the handcuffs. Usually, people's eyes react to light after being closed or blindfolded for a long time like she was but there was nothing from her. No squinting, no rapid blinking, it was as though she could see all along. Once the blindfold came off, her eyes settled on me, on mine and in them there was a cold intensity.

I walked straight to her and held out a glass. Slowly, coolly, she took it from my hand without breaking eye contact for even a second. I raised my glass slightly and took a sip. She watched me, then followed suit.

Once the glass touched her lips, I said, "The wedding is tomorrow."

She paused, then finished her drink. Most people would have choked, but she was different.

"Hasty." She said, holding out the glass for someone to relieve her of it. Marvin was that someone. I observed this dynamic silently. "Are you running from something?"

I ignored this rhetorical question and stretched out my hand for Marco to hand me a file. "You must be thirsty." I said, a remark about how quickly she finished her drink. "Get her another glass," I said to Marvin. "And then get out."

"More wine?" She chuckled. "Your plan is to intoxicate me into agreement?"

"Make no mistake..." I said. "You live because I allow it, you are doing this because I said so, because this is your life now. When I say jump, you say 'how high'. Now get over here and sign this."

With less reluctance than I expected, she walked over to where I stood. Marco watched us from a few feet away.

"Wow, you had this all planned out." She said when she saw the legal marriage documents on the table before me. "Should I be worried? Are you some type of obsessive stalker who has been plotting on me?"

Marvin returned with the glass and I took it from him. "Now leave."

He looked at Lada for a split second before he exited quickly. Marco's gaze followed him.

"He's really nice, you don't have to be so mean to him." She said. I was beginning to suspect that the one glass she had was already having an effect on her.

"You talk too much." I said and gave her a pen. Then I walked over to a sink and poured the contents of the glass away.

"Hey, that was mine." She said. Yep, she was definitely tipsy, at least slightly... Or was she playing a game?

"Sign the damn papers." I said, slightly irritated at how long this was taking, and how doubts were creeping into my own mind.

She chuckled and shrugged. "Sure." She bent forward and regarded the documents briefly. For a drunk person, she seemed to be mentally present enough to at least glance over the paper, but just when I thought she was about to really start reading, she scribbled away. I walked closer and saw... she signed them. I won, but this victory left me with unease. There was no resistance from her and this was a little unsettling. It felt like walking into a warehouse expecting lots of bullets in your direction, only to be met with silence. Was it a trap? Maybe it was just the wine.

It didn't matter now. I had gotten what I wanted. The game had been played in exact accordance to my dictates, and it should be blue skies from here. Discreetly, I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat.

I bent forward to put my own name down while Lada watched. Her demeanor suggested inebriation but her eyes maintained their measured, sharp coolness. She chuckled again and looked me dead in the eye.

"This might be the worst decision you’ve ever made."

The room felt quieter than it should have.