Their Forceful Marriage

To say Yes

As he walked out of his parents' house, Killian made his way to his Aston Martin DB11 as quickly as he possibly could. The sooner he gets out of there, the better. He's furious after all, he wouldn't know what he was capable of saying when he's in a state like this.

Truth be told, Killian couldn't tell what he was feeling. It was all a mix of emotions. He went from feeling confused to feeling furious. But most of all, to Killian, the worst feelings in the world was of disappointment and betrayal. Killian knew that his father was willing to do anything for the sake of the business but, he never thought that his father would do this to him. He thought his father wanted him to be happy. Turns out he was wrong.

As he continued driving to hell knows where, a call came up on his sound system. He picked up the call when he saw that it was Warren.

"What?!" he barked. He didn't mean for it to come out the way it did but he can't be blamed, he was upset.

"Woah, there! Simmer down, Kill! I was about to ask you what your dad wanted but, by the sound of things, I'm guessing it's pretty bad." Warren responded with caution. Through the years of their friendship, he knew better than to aggravate an upset Killian any further.

"What do you think?!" he snapped back, keeping his eyes on the road.

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it while I'm driving, I don't want for my car to get any more damage." he muttered. Apparently, the safety of his car mattered no matter how he feels.

"What're you talking about?" Warren asked confusingly.

"Look, it's a long story. You're not busy, right? I'm gonna come over." he stated.

"Miss me, already?" his best friend teased.

"Piss off, Warren!" he spat.

"Alright, alright! Geez! Come over whenever." he said nonchalantly.

"Later." he said before ending the call.

This day really had it in it for him. Starting off in a debacle with that woman, who irritated the hell out of him. Technically, it was his fault but, he wasn't going to admit that out loud. Then of course, that wasn't enough. The day had to get even worse when his father dropped the arranged marriage bomb on him without warning.

Killian just hopes that there are no more surprises.

Although, Killian knew better. His reasons won’t matter. His objection won't matter.

He knew that at the end of the day, he will have to say yes to this hell of a prison called “marriage”.

On the other side of the fence, Kennedy still couldn't believe it. Her father actually dealt her off to an arranged marriage. Even her brothers couldn't believe it.

Right now, she was lying on Reece's bed staring at the ceiling while Riccardo paced back and forth slowly and Reece was sitting on the bed with his back against the headboard, arms crossed, brooding over the thought of his sister getting married.

Earlier, after her father told her the news, Kennedy found herself going to Riccardo and told him what happened. Riccardo then suggested that they go to the penthouse and talk there.

And now, here they are.

After a shared silence, Riccardo decided to speak up.

"I don't get it. How could Dad possibly have done something like this? It's insane!" Riccardo cried.

"Settle down, Ricc. It was a deal they made a long time ago, what do you expect?... and for the record, it's an arranged marriage. At least we know it's a normal thing, not some voodoo ass s**t or anything of the sort." Reece deadpanned, trying to make light of the situation.

At this point, Riccardo had stopped pacing, staring at his brother tight-lipped.

"Is there something wrong with your head?" Riccardo asked plainly.

Reece simply shook his head no.

"Something wrong with your face?" he teased Riccardo.

"You little-"

Riccardo was about to charge at Reece but was cut off when they both hear Kennedy.

"What do I do?" she asked, still staring at the ceiling.

Her brothers glanced at each other quickly then turned their attention back to her.

Reece sighed.

"Honestly, Kenny, we can't really answer that question for you, you know that. Only you have the answer to that." he said straightforward.

Kennedy sighed and got up halfway, leaning her elbows on the bed.

"I told Dad that I didn't even know the guy and literally, he didn't care. He just went all cryptic and told me that we met before as kids. He even defended the guy and told me how "decent" he is of a man. Like, what's up with that? I don't see how any of that helps." she whined to her brothers.

"I've met him. You know, the guy Dad said you're gonna marry? I met him. Even had a meeting with him two or three times." Riccardo recalled.

Kennedy looked at him expectantly.

"And?" she urged.

"And… you can believe Dad when he said that the man was decent." he concluded.

"Careful, Riccardo. Your inner Richard Pierce is showing." she teased as she and Reece chuckled and Riccardo scoffed at them.

"Even if that were true, I still don't think that Dad was right to do this. I mean, he just basically served Kennedy on a silver platter to the Dukes."

"Hey! Don't I deserve to be on a golden platter?" Kennedy chided.

"Would you stop it, Kennedy? We're trying to think here." Riccardo nagged.

"What's your point, Ricc? It's not like we're enemies." Reece reasoned.

"I don't know! I just don't think arranged marriages should be done anymore. Especially to our sister." Riccardo complained.

"What would you have us do then? Arranged marriages are performed all the time. We all know that it's too difficult to say "no". The one thing that Dad always says is that if there comes a time where one of us get into an arranged marriage, we accept it. Not deny it. It's too much trouble for us." Reece defended as he stood up and walked toward his brother stopping in front of him within reasonable distance.

"Guys! Come on." Reece and Riccardo turned to her.

"I think you said it loud and clear. There's no way out of this." she concluded, getting onto a sitting position.

Her brothers waited for her to say something more. She only stood up and looked back at them.

"I'll say yes."