Page 10 of Obsessive Love (The King #1)

Chapter Nine

Sophia

" D arling, here's another one for you to try!" my mother shouts as she slings another white puffy dress towards the shop assistant who's organising all of my mother's choices on the clothes rail by the dressing rooms. The assistant hurriedly places the wedding dress with the array of others as my mother wanders off to find some more.

Jess squeezes my hand and leans back on the comfy sofa we're sitting on, huffing when she hears my mother's squeal from the other side of the bridal store.

"You want me to distract her whilst you throw out half of those dresses on that rail?" she asks, turning her face to look at me. I eye the dresses and sigh, shaking my head.

"Let her do it. She's happy that she's getting to do this with me, even if it is for a wedding that I don't want. I don't want to take that away from her. Also, she has decently good taste, so I'm sure I'll find at least one dress in that pile I'll happily wear when I walk down the aisle to meet my death."

Jess snorts as she laughs at my comment.

"Here we go again with the dramatics, Soph."

"In my defence, I'm marrying the man next in line to be the head of the Rossi family, and this wedding will be combine their family with ours. My life is going to be filled with so much drama, I just know it. There's bound to be some sort of attempt on my life or my future husband's life once the Americans get wind of this upcoming wedding. They'll either think that it's real and come after me in the hopes that he'll care, or they'll see it for the sham that it is and try to do something to him once he's officially labelled as the head of the Rossi clan," I tell her, sighing as my mother drags another couple dresses over.

"Such a negative Nancy," Jess whispers, standing up and walking over to the rail, sliding through the options.

"Right, I'm done," my mother announces, adding the last two dresses to her growing collection. "Now, darling, let's put some music on and have a little boogie whilst you try these on!"

I can't stop the giggle that passes my lips as she shimmies over to me and pulls me up from the sofa, pushing me toward the dressing room.

After spending at least two hours trying on every wedding dress my mother picked out, we all agreed on a simple, lace-detailed dress for me to have on my wedding day. Although I'm not excited about this wedding, I must admit I'm excited to dress up and be pampered for the day.

Now, I'm sitting in the kitchen at my parent's house stress-eating whilst I wait for my future husband and his father to turn up for this meeting we're meant to be having today.

Greta silently enters the kitchen, subtly glancing my way before she makes her way over to the dishwasher and begins to unload it.

I scoot off of my chair and walk over to her, checking the foyer as I pass the entryway to the kitchen and making sure no one else is nearby.

"Greta," I whisper, making her jump and almost drop a plate. I immediately apologise and place a placating hand on her arm. "I really didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to ask you a question."

She turns to face me with narrowed, questioning eyes as she places a glass back into the dishwasher.

"I would usually say that I'll happily answer anything you ask me, Miss Sophia, but the fact that you're whispering has me hesitant."

"It's nothing to worry about," I tell her, glancing over my shoulder to confirm we're still alone. "I just wanted to ask you about some Italian words. I was hoping you could translate them for me, you know because you're Italian."

She looks around nervously but nods her head.

"What does dolcezza mean?"

Her eyes light up and her lips lift at the corners.

"Has someone been calling you sweetness? Oh, Miss Sophia, this is adorable!"

Sweetness? He was calling me sweetness?

Jesus. That man really doesn't know me if that's the nickname he's chosen for me..

"Yeah, sure, that's really cute," I sigh, rolling my eyes. "Anyway, the next one is amore mio, can you tell me what that means?"

Her brows raise and surprise washes over her face. She steps back and picks up the glass from the dishwasher that she put back a moment ago.

"Miss Sophia, I don't mean to intrude, but I do hope that it is your future husband who has been calling you these things," she whispers. Before she can continue, the doorbell rings loudly through the house, bouncing off the walls and echoing through the room.

We both stand in silence, staring at each other as we hear footsteps coming down the stairs. As I hear the footsteps move towards the kitchen, I turn around and see Jaylen walking in.

"I've been looking for you, Soph! Thought you'd done a runner! We need to go to your dad's office, come on. It's time to meet your future husband."

I scowl at him and shake my head before turning back to Greta and quietly thanking her for help.

As we walk down the lavish hallway towards my father's office, dread settles in my stomach. No doubt, there are going to be a lot of things said that I'm not happy with, especially considering Alessandro has told my father he wants to put some rules in place for my and Jericho's wedding and future relationship.

I'm going to have to keep my mouth shut, but that shouldn't be too hard. I've had to act a certain way for most of my life as the daughter of Michael King, the head of the King organisation – one of London's two most powerful crime families. So I know how to people please, and I know to only speak when spoken to when I'm dealing with certain types of men. One thing I haven't learned to control though is my facial expressions. If there's something I disagree with or something that aggravates me, it's quite obvious to tell how I feel just by taking a glimpse at my face.

Jaylen reaches the closed door before I do and knocks three times before entering. I take a deep breath and then follow after him, forcing a sweet smile onto my face. My father approaches me, kissing my cheek and wrapping an arm around my shoulders as he steers me towards his desk where two men are standing.

"Sophia, this is Alessandro Rossi," he tells me, nudging me towards the older man. Alessandro's cold, hardened eyes, scan me from head to toe before he reaches his hand out. I glance at my father and when he nods, I step forward and shake Alessandro's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr Rossi."

He tips his head in acknowledgement and applies pressure to my hand as he pulls me closer to him. He stares down at me, his empty gaze burning into mine.

"Likewise," he grunts, finally letting go of my hand before turning around and sitting down in one of the leather chairs seated in the office. My brows furrow as I stare at the back of his head in confusion at his coldness towards me.

My father clears his throat behind me making me turn my attention to him. He subtly shakes his head, likely disagreeing with my expression and then he waves his arm in the other man's direction.

"This is Alessandro's son, Jericho. Your husband-to-be."

I refrain from rolling my eyes at his comment and plaster my smile back on my face before turning to Jericho. He watches me with the same cold expression his father had, although his lips tilt up the slightest amount as he reaches forward to shake my hand.

I take a moment to assess him, noting that his hardened gaze may be the same as his father's, but his eyes are different. Not only are they bright blue instead of green like Alessandro's, but they seem haunted too. It's not surprising considering he's a part of a criminal family. There's no doubt he's seen and done a lot of terrible things.

"Let's get this meeting started then shall we," he says in a gruff tone, extracting his hand from mine and sitting beside his father.

I brush off the coldness from them both and round the desk with my father, standing beside him as he takes a seat at his desk, facing the Rossi's.

Alessandro pulls out a thick wad of papers and places them on the wooden desk in front of us.

"Here is the marriage contract. I've had my solicitor add in all of the rules and regulations. All you need to do is read through them and sign where necessary. Feel free to voice your opinion if you dislike any of the things I have put in place and, depending on what they are, we can come to a new agreement and draw up a new contract to sign."

My father sighs and drags the contract closer to us as he begins to flip through it. I watch over his shoulder as he bypasses the first few pages until he gets to the one with all of Alessandro's specifications.

We begin to read through them together and after scanning over the first two, I know I'm not going to like the remainder of them.

Jericho will become the head of both the King and the Rossi family and be in charge of all operations.

Every person in each organisation must report to Jericho, including Dominic.

Every decision must be cleared by Jericho.

Sophia and Jericho must make a public appearance at least once a month.

Sophia will accept Kaleb as a bodyguard whilst she is living with and married to Jericho.

Sophia must produce an heir for the Rossi family within the first two years of marriage.

I force myself to stop reading the remaining three points listed and instead stare at my brother, Dominic, who's standing beside Jaylen across the room. The dread on my face must be evident because he frowns and glances between me and my father.

"What are the rules and regulations?" he asks, stepping away from the wall and walking towards the desk.

"The rules and regulations have nothing to do with you, son, so you best go back to where you were standing and let your father decide if he's happy with what I've put in place," Alessandro shouts, causing everyone in the room to turn to him in shock.

"Shouldn't it be Sophia that's agreeing to what's put in place as well, considering it is her life that she's throwing away," Dominic spits back.

A tremor runs through my body as I watch Alessandro stand from his chair and pull a gun from his waistband. Everyone seems to move at the same time; Jericho shoots out of his chair and pushes his father's arm down as he begins to raise it, Jaylen jumps on Dominic and drags him down onto the floor, and my father draws his own gun and points it at Alessandro.

"Put the gun down, Rossi," my father bellows, keeping his eyes trained on Alessandro's hand containing the gun.

Alessandro slowly turns his head until he glares at my father and I can practically see the anger radiating off him.

"How dare you point your weapon at me after allowing your son to disrespect me!"

My father tuts beside me and flicks the safety off of his gun, keeping it firmly pointed at Alessandro's chest.

"He was making a valid point, Rossi. He meant no disrespect. Besides, if you expect Dominic to take a back seat and allow your spawn to be the head of both families, you should expect a little bit of backlash from him," my father says.

I roll my eyes as I see Dominic push Jaylen off of him and rise from the floor with a hurt but menacing expression.

"What did you just say?" he asks, directing his question to our father.

My father shakes his head, not taking his eyes off Alessandro, and then orders Jaylen to take Dominic out of the room, telling him he will speak to him later.

I watch my brother put up a fight and curse like a sailor as Jaylen drags him out of the room. Once the door is closed behind them, Alessandro yanks his arm out of Jericho's hold and puts his gun away before turning to my father and cocking a brow as he stares down the barrel of his gun.

"Put it away, King. No need for us to cause any issues before the wedding."

My father scowls at him and waits a few moments before lowering his gun and retaking his seat. I glance at Jericho to gauge his reaction to the situation, but his face remains blank and unreadable.

Great. I'm marrying an unemotional psychopath.

"About that," my father says, picking up the paperwork in front of him. "You seriously expect me to allow Jericho to take control of both families?"

When Alessandro firmly nods his head, my father snickers in disbelief.

"I'd understand that being a term in this contract if I only had a daughter, but I don't. It's Dominic's birthright to take over this organisation after me. I can't just pass it off to your son and expect mine to take a back seat."

Alessandro stands from his chair and leans his fists on the desk, glowering at my father.

"If you want this marriage to happen, for the benefit of not only us but both of our organisations and our city, you will agree to those terms. If he wishes, Dominic can still be in charge of the South and the East of London, but Jericho will be his superior. Jericho will have to approve everything that Dominic wants to do, and Dominic must report back to Jericho. That has to be understood."

Both fathers stare at each other for a few moments before mine sighs and nods his head.

"Now, is there an issue with any other terms, or are you both happy to sign the contract and get on with this sham of a marriage?"

My father turns to me with apologetic eyes, silently asking me to agree to Alessandro's wishes. I glance over at Jericho, taking in his appearance. The dark, cropped, wavy hair. The blue swirling eyes. The frown that seems to be permanently settled on his lips.

Jess was right when she said he was attractive, but no one mentioned how cold he was.

I take a deep breath and let my eyes fall away from him as I look back at my father.

"There's no other issues," I tell him, trying my hardest to put a smile on my face. "I agree to the terms of the contract and I will sign it so that we can go ahead with the wedding."