The One

"Holy fucking shit!" Jocelyn exclaimed as she walked up to Rose. "You look like a fucking goddess! Like a queen!" she said with eyes and mouth open wide.

Rose chuckled and turned toward the mirror to look at herself. Her breath caught as her eyes landed on the beautiful dress she was wearing. It was off the shoulder, with long lace sleeves, slim all the way down, hugging her hourglass curves perfectly. The train was long and it had lace on top of the silk, making it look elegant. The back was pure lace, showing off her smooth skin and the curve of her bottom back. It looked sexy as fuck!

But, the most beautiful detail were the small diamonds that shone brightly under the light, covering the low neckline, the body of the dress and the train behind her. She looked like a twinkling fairy.

Katherine stood behind them, speechless as she watched the beauty in front of her. She couldn't deny Rose looked stunning in the dress. For a second, she felt jealous of her beauty. A mere human was this gorgeous. She hated to think how gorgeous Rose would look once Caleb turned her.

Jocelyn's eyes watered. "Oh my god Rose!" She covered her mouth as words escaped her. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful," Rose said with a smile.

"This is the matching veil. Would you like to try it on?" Beatrice asked as she held up the veil in her hands.

Rose continued to look at herself in the tall mirror, shocked by her own appearance. She couldn't believe she was in a wedding dress. Realization struck her at once. She was going to get married soon. To a man she didn't love. Her smile faded and she frowned and shook her head. "No need."

Would she be more excited if she was getting married to Jack instead of Caleb? She chuckled inwardly. That was a stupid question. She blinked her tears away and looked at Beatrice. "I'll take this one," she said resolute.

Beatrice's eyebrows lifted. "You don't want to try on the others?"

Rose shook her head. "No, this one is perfect. It's the one."

Jocelyn frowned. "Rose why?"

"I like this one," she answered her friend. And she was in no mood to try on more dresses. Not when they were for a wedding she didn't even want.

"Very well," Beatrice said.

Another woman showed up holding a few dresses in her hands. "I chose the most elegant ones I could find that would fit perfectly on the ladies," the woman said as she looked at Jocelyn and Katherine.

Katherine's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Uh no, just the one lady," she said as she pointed towards Jocelyn.

Rose smiled and turned to look at Katherine. "Come on don't be a downer. Just try on a couple you like. At least do it to make the trouble this woman went through worth her effort," she said as she pointed towards the woman with the dresses in her hands.

The woman nodded happily and handed a pile of dresses to Jocelyn and the other to Katherine.

Katherine sighed but gave in. Truth be told, she loved clothes, so this was a good opportunity to get some good dresses on Caleb's tab. She smiled brightly and nodded. "Alright I'll go try them on. Just don't expect me to model for you!" she said as she turned away and walked into a fitting room next the giant mirror.

Jocelyn smiled brightly and went into a fitting room on the other side of the mirror. "I will model for you!"

Rose nodded. "I'll go take this off so I can help you choose." She went behind the mirror and came back out a few minutes later to help Jocelyn choose a few dresses. They picked a few fancy dresses and the one she was going to wear to her wedding before finally walking out of the store.

"I'm so hungry!" Jocelyn said as she walked towards the car with a few bags in her hands. "Can we go eat something?"

Rose nodded. "I'm pretty hungry too." She looked over at Katherine. "Would you like to join us for lunch?"

Katherine shook her head. "No," she said flatly as she carried her own bags towards the waiting car. She waited for the driver to open the trunk and put her bags inside.

Jocelyn did the same thing. "Where can we go?" she asked excitedly.

"Um… where do you want to go?"

"Can we go to that fancy restaurant all the rich people go to? I can never get a reservation there! They're always booked months in advance!"

Rose chuckled. "What makes you think we're going to get a reservation now if they're always so booked?"

Jocelyn smiled sweetly as she opened the door and waited for Rose to get in before following her. "Your new status and the queen of the vampires? Come on! Just give it a try! I've wanted to eat there for so long!"

Rose sighed and looked over at Katherine who sat in the passenger seat. "Do you think we could get in?"

Katherine smiled. "Of course. Brother Caleb is the owner."

Rose and Jocelyn gasped in shock.

"Shit how many businesses does your future husband own? Does he own the whole fucking city?" Jocelyn asked jokingly.

"Just about," Katherine said with a proud gloating smile.

Jocelyn's smile fell and Rose went silent.

Was Katherine telling the truth? Did Caleb really own most of the city? It sounded ridiculous, no impossible. "Are you serious?" she asked the vampire who was still gloating.

"Yes, miss," Mark answered for Katherine. "Boss owns a lot of the city. He doesn't like to talk about it though. But, since you will be his wife soon, perhaps you should ask him about it?" he said with a smile. "All he has done for the past decade is work and make money. You'd be surprised how much he has accomplished."

Rose nodded and bit her bottom lip, suddenly nervous. So, Caleb was that powerful? Why did it feel like she was walking towards her doom? Would she ever be able to escape from him if she wanted to? How could she fight a man that owned a whole fucking city?

Jocelyn noticed Rose's mood and turned to look at her. "Stop brooding. This is a good thing. You won't have to worry about your family bullying you anymore because your husband can crush them like little ants," she said, trying to lighten the mood.

Rose chuckled. Well, there was that. At least her family would leave her alone now.

After a few minutes, they arrived at the famous restaurant Jocelyn had been talking about. Rose sighed and followed her friend inside the door. They were immediately greeted by a woman, who apparently already knew they were coming, and followed her to one of the private rooms upstairs.

"I feel so important," Jocelyn said as they entered the elegant room.

The woman who led them in waited for them to get seated before offering them menus and drinks.

"I'll take some wine," Jocelyn said. "Your most expensive bottle!"

Rose's eyes widened. "Joce!" She turned to the woman who simply nodded with a smile.

"Nothing but the best for our future queen and her friend. I'll be right back with your wine." She looked at Rose, her eyes looking her up and down. "Oh I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sarah. I'll be attending you today."

"Thank you Sarah," Rose said and the woman walked out.

"Did you see the way she was looking at you?" Jocelyn asked with a chuckle.

"It was kind of hard to miss. I've been getting that look a lot since I moved into Caleb's house."

Jocelyn chuckled. "They're admiring their queen's beauty."

"More like making sure I fit expectations," Rose said as she looked at the menu.

Sarah returned with the wine and took their orders before leaving. To their shock she came back a few minutes later with their food.

"Shit, I guess vampires can do everything in a few seconds," Jocelyn said in awe. The woman had greeted them only ten minutes ago and they were already eating their food. "Quality service for sure. I'll give them a great rating!"

Rose chuckled and wrapped her hand around the wine glass. She looked at Jocelyn as she ate happily. She swallowed the contents of the glass quickly before serving herself another glass. "Joce, have you…" she bit her bottom lip as she stared at her friend.

Jocelyn looked up and put her fork down. "What is it Rose? You can ask me anything."

Rose sighed. "You probably already know what I want to ask."

"You mean who you want to ask about," Jocelyn smiled. "What do you want to know?"

"Have you talked to him?" she asked nervously as she took a sip of wine. She had been asking herself so many questions about Jack. But, she was too scared to find out the answers. Jocelyn was the only one she trusted to keep her secret though, so she had to take this chance.