Helena's Plight

Chapter 2

Armando

The last two weeks have been hell to say the least, working and reworking the same contracts, trying to make sure everything was ironclad and that I did not leave any loopholes that Carlo Rossi could take advantage of later.

Left to me I would have handled this matter entirely differently but grandfather had made sure this was how it was to be done.

That piece of Rossi land was essential to my expansion plans and Carlo was going to milk everything he could before giving it away.

I had hoped money would be enough and I had been prepared to bully him into taking my generous offer if necessary but grandfather had to go muddle everything up and talk about how our families had been allies for generations and I had to treat them with respect.

The moment he sensed my hands were tied, he pounced and introduced the clause of marrying his daughter, but I was smarter, I changed it into marrying a female member of his family. Of course he missed that and did not think I would chose his niece, not many people knew the girl was family anyway.

There was no way I was going to be directly related to Carlo Rossi, much less his wife. Carlo was a weak and desperate man and his wife was much worse.

She was a testament to the kind of woman you should stay far away from and I could not imagine her daughter being any different.

There was no way in hell I was having that woman as a mother in-law, especially not after her cornering me at the Rickett banquet last year and having the guts to run her hands down my pants.

She was an attractive female no doubt, but desperation in a woman was a turn off for me. The only one blind to all her escapades seemed to be her husband, but that was not my concern.

Still this prospect of marriage was not one I was happy about, especially because I did not have much to work with when it came to my wife to-be.

The only information about her was what was widely known; her parents died when she was a child, she lived in an orphanage for two years before her uncle took her in. I at least could be happy she seemed intelligent according to her school records. She even had a master’s degree in communication. At least she wasn’t stupid, a recluse maybe, but not stupid. No friends, no boyfriends, no known social activity. That was why I chose her, because from all I could tell, she was as different from her aunt and her cousin as could be and that was a mercy for me.

I lifted my head from my musings as Victor walked into my home office.

"How is the happy groom? I was half afraid you might have run off with cold feet."

I raised my brows at the suggestion that something could make him afraid and stood up, with my hands stuffed in my pants.

"You know that kind of talk would get most people a beat down at the very least."

"Well, I’m not most people." He shrugged.

That much was true, Victor and I had met in college, he didn’t come from money like I did, he had worked hard and gotten a scholarship at Oxford, but he was not like all the other students.

I had learned long ago that for me, people could usually be divided into two groups, the type who hated rich people and blamed them for everything wrong with the world, and the type who tried to use them to get what they wanted.

Victor was neither, he never viewed himself as less or better than anyone, myself included, he was honest, hardworking but cunning as hell and he fooled most people, except for me, anyways.

"But seriously man, are you sure you want to go ahead with this? A marriage is not just some business contract, this involves real human feelings." Victor asked, concerned.

Victor’s question brought me out of my musing.

"You know how long we’ve been ironing this thing out, I can’t back out now, besides, the project is already underway and you know how important this is, not just to me but to Grandfather."

"That bit of land was the only thing delaying the construction project."

"Anyway, it doesn’t matter, I offered money for the project." I continued, "her uncle insisted on marriage and clearly she agreed, there’s nothing I can do about it. I will uphold my end of the bargain and we will live our lives as best as we can."

A knock at the door interrupted our discussion. "Come in!" It was Carmen, my housekeeper.

"The priest has arrived and your bride and her family have also arrived." She said. Even though she did not approve of how we had gone about it, Carmen was still overjoyed that I was getting married, for she had feared that I never would.

This was a win in her book and ever the romantic, she believed, we would come to love each other, who was I to kill an old woman’s dream.

Carmen had been with my family since before I was born, she practically raised me and I looked at her like my mother.

"Alright Carmen, we will be down in a minute." I said. Just then my grandfather walked in, looking just as proud as when I was a young boy.

His approval had always meant the world to me and the only reason I was doing this was because of him. Victor and Carmen quietly left the room.

"I met your future wife just now." He winked, and continued, "lovely girl, a bit timid, but I believe once she is out of reach of that ghastly woman Patricia, she might come alive, I can’t imagine anyone living peaceably with that woman."

"I’m glad you approve, grandfather." I said. He looked at me and gave me a hug.

My grandfather was a kind man and he never skimmed on showing how much he loved me but he was not one for public displays of affection and so I was a little worried.

I pulled back slightly to look at him, "is everything alright?"

He smiled and replied, "yes my boy, just extremely proud of you. Come on let’s get you married, we have guests waiting."

We both walked out of the room together.