Page 20

Katie

“Leo, I want to speak to you about the wedding.”

He puts down his knife and fork and straightens in his chair.

“Hear me out, please. Just let me say what I need to before you say anything.”

“I’m listening.”

“Could we postpone the wedding for a while?”

He grunts.

“We can stay engaged and just get to know each other more. I’ve always had feelings for you, Leo, and there’s something amazing growing between us.

Forcing all this will only ruin us. Why can’t we have a relationship like normal people?

Let me introduce you to my family; let them get to know you before we get married? ”

I can see his brain ticking over what I’m saying, so I keep going. “And that contract, do we really need that?”

He rubs his chin as if considering what I’ve just said. Before he can answer, Marco bursts through the door.

“Tuo padre.” Your father.

Leo stands up, and they both quickly leave the room.

“Katherine, you’re coming too!” Leo shouts from the hallway.

I guess I’m going as well.

On the way to the hospital, Leo looks extremely worried. I don’t know what to expect when we get there, and I’m too afraid to ask. His hand is on the seat beside me. I put my hand over his and give him a little squeeze. He doesn’t respond, just continues looking straight ahead.

When we get to the hospital, we are shown to a room where his mother waits outside. Her face is red and puffy.

“Leo.” His mother hugs him. “Katherine, thank you for coming.” She hugs me too.

“How is he?”

“Not good; come sit with him.” Maria opens the door.

“Do you want to come in, Katherine?”

“No, thank you, Maria. You two go ahead. I’ll get us some coffee. ”

Leo nods at Marco, instructing him to come with me.

I roll my eyes. I didn’t notice on the way in, but the hallway leading up to the room is well-guarded by Guerra men.

They all look as mean as each other. Each one nods at me as I walk past them.

When I get to the café to get the coffee, my phone rings; it’s my dad.

“Hi, Dad!” It's so great to hear his voice.

“Hi, Love, how are you? Are you enjoying your holiday?”

“I’m great, Dad, yeah. Hey, you remember years ago when I met that boy on holiday with Mum?”

“Oh yeah—Leo, was it? The one whose name you had all over your schoolbooks. You had me searching the internet for him at the library at one point.” He laughs.

That’s true; I’d forgotten about that.

“Well, you’ll never guess who I’ve bumped into while here.”

“No! You’ve finally found him, have you?”

More like he found me.

“Yes, I have.”

“Well, I’m pleased for you, love; I know you always wondered what happened to him. You were quite taken by him, weren’t you.”

“I was,” I agree .

“What is he like? Is he still a teenage heartthrob, or is he fat and bald now?” Dad laughs at his own joke.

“He’s definitely not fat and bald, but he’s a bit different than I imagined.”

“Oh yeah? How so?” Dad asks, concerned.

“Oh, you know, just different; he’s the boss of a big business now—a lot different from the teenage boy I remember.” That’s an understatement.

“I’m sure. Well, you just enjoy yourself, love. When do you come home? I don’t remember you saying when your flight was?”

“I’ve not booked one yet.”

“Oh, it’s all right for some, having long holidays. Well, don’t stay there too long; I miss that face of yours. Take care, love. Speak soon.”

“Yeah, speak soon, Dad; love you.”

“Love you, too, Katie.”

I slump down in a chair and put my head in my hands.

I miss my dad. I hated lying to him then, but if I have to go through with this wedding, I need him there.

It will still be a shock with how quickly it is happening, but at least I have planted the seed now.

Taking a deep breath, I get up and join the queue for the drinks.

When we return to the waiting room, I hand Marco a coffee, take mine from the tray, and leave Leo’s and Maria’s beside me.

“Leo, you don’t need to do this,” Maria disagrees, as she and Leo re-join us.

“There’s no discussion. We will bring the wedding forward to this weekend.”

What? Wait, did I just hear him right?

I grab the coffees off the table and hand them out, trying to make sense of the situation. Maria takes hers with thanks, but Leo just stares at the cup, not taking it from my hand.

“What’s going on? How is your dad?” I ask.

The face of the man in front of me is not my Leo but the face of the leader of the Guerras. It is expressionless.

“The wedding is to be moved forward to this weekend.”

“No, please, Leo—that’s only days away.”

“My decision is final. Marco, make the necessary arrangements.”

Leo takes hold of my hand, holding tightly at my wrist. “Kat-er-een , we are going home.” He pulls me out of the room and through the hospital. We get in the car and are soon joined by Marco, who climbs into the front seat and starts the engine.

“What is happening, Leo? Is your father dying? ”

He shuts me down. “Do not disrespect me, Katherine.”

I am furious. He is so used to people backing down and doing everything he says; well, not this time.

I will not be his puppet. I ignore him all the way back to the house.

As soon as we stop, I am out of the car, not waiting for anyone to open my door.

Storming through the house, I get a few stares from the house workers.

Leo is calling me in the distance, asking me to wait, but I disobey him.

After going into my room and locking the door behind me, I get my phone out and ring Damien.

He answers on the first ring. “Katie, how are you?”

“Going crazy. Listen, Damien, Leo wants to bring the wedding forward to this weekend. You have to help me.”

“It’s almost done. There’s no way he can force you into this; we have him in so many ways.

The main one being that you no longer use the name Katherine.

You go by Katie; your bank accounts all have Katie as the name, and so does your driving licence.

The letter you wrote, saying you would marry him was signed with the name Katherine.

That is no longer you. Legally you can walk away; I just need to ensure there are no comebacks.

Once we get you to England, there’s nothing he can do.

Hang tight; we have a plan. You will be home by the weekend. ”

“Oh, I hope so, Damien.”

“Stay safe; I will see you soon.”

Just as I end the call, Leo bangs on the door.

“Katherine, Let me in now!”

“No. Go away.”

Crash. Leo kicks the door, breaking the lock, and it swings open. I sit on the bed with my back to him, pretending to be unfazed.

“Why are you ignoring me?”

I stand up and go to walk out of the door.

He grabs my elbow as I pass. “Do not walk away from me.”

My eyes snap to his, a dare for him to challenge me. A smirk rises on his lips.

“Oh, dear Katherine. Do not tempt me.”

“Urgh.” I shrug out of his hold, trying to cover up the reaction of my body to his words. He’s quicker than I am. He makes it to the door first, slamming the broken latch back into the door frame.

I reach for the handle to pull it open, but he spins me around so my back is against the door. With his body pressed against mine, one hand takes my jaw, and the other leans on the door above my head.

“I don’t like to be disobeyed. You need to learn to respect the Guerras.”

“In that case, you need to respect me.”

His eyebrow rises.

“If I am to be a Guerra, you need to show me some more respect.”

“I will not have you arguing with me in front of people on my payroll.”

“Fine, I will save it for here. Respect is earned, Leo. You have earned none from me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are forcing me into a marriage. Threatening me with goodness knows what if I don’t.”

“I have only brought forward the inevitable. What is the point of waiting? We have wasted enough time apart already.” He trails kisses along my jaw, making my frustration disperse.

Is what he says true? If I had a choice, would I marry him in time anyway?

It is what my teenage dreams were always made of.

Leo and I married, spending the rest of our lives together, living in a vineyard in Italy.

It is my dream come true, only with a few major additions.

Ireally should have been more specific.

“But it isn’t what I want.”

“Oh, it is. Look at how your body reacts to me.” He strokes his fingers down my arms. Goosebumps cover my skin in their wake. “You belong to me, Katherine. You just need to let your mind listen to your body. It knows what it wants. Me.”

His mouth crashes into mine. Mine automatically opens up to him. He’s right; my body is controlled by him. It has no mind of its own.

“No.” I break the kiss and push him away, much to the disappointment of my body.

Leo takes a step back. His eyes are dark, with a small smirk on one side of his lips. “Stop fighting this, Katherine. You need to listen to your body.”

Stepping forward again, leaning his body into mine, he grabs both my wrists and holds them above my head with one hand. He does it so quickly that I gasp. With his other hand, he undoes his tie. He then wraps the tie around my wrists, locking them together.

“Just relax. Trust your body, your instincts.”

You’d think my instincts would be telling me to fight, to run.

I’ve just been restrained, but my body is hot and tingling in anticipation of his next move.

He then pulls on the tie, making my arms stretch up.

It's not uncomfortable, but it has really restricted my movements.

He fastens the tie to a hook on the back of the door.

“Perfect.” Standing back, he takes in my whole body, which is now warm and needy .