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Gianna stared incredulously at the man and wondered what he was talking about. It was either he got the wrong person or he was genuinely mad despite looking like a self made man. She tried to sidestep him and be on her way because she had a best friend to rescue but the man seemed to have other plans. He blocked her path and grinned at her and it had her in edge. He didn't look like a bad person but then you never knew with these type of people who dressed to the posh and still committed atrocious crimes. "I think you've gotten the wrong person Mr," she tried to sound neutral and not give away the fact that she was starting to panic. She needed to get away from this man. He only smiled further at what she said and it creeped her the hell out. "I don't think I have miss Gianna Michaels," he had a triumphant smirk on his face and Gianna's horrified face mirrored his own expression quite oppositely. She was stunned, speechless and absolutely confused as to why this man knew her name. Was he stalking her. Had he been following her all this time and she hadn't been aware? She took in a deep breath to steady her breathing and think logically. There was no way this man was going to do anything to her at the moment. It was broad daylight and if it was any consolidation to herself and her safety she had pepper spray tucked on the side of her bag. If need be she could discreetly pull it out and give him a dose of it. And for crying out loud where was her bodyguard when she needed him the most. That man was insufferable. Right now she was left with no choice but to deal with the situation herself. "Listen Mr, I don't know what kind of game you're playing but this isn't funny. I have a very important place to be and currently you're preventing me from going so if you could be a gentleman about it and leave my path I would pretend this never happened and we can all go our merry way," Gianna tried to reason with the man and all the response she got in return after that 'mother Theresa' talk was a laugh. That man was laughing; out loud. Wait, did he find this funny? Did he think she was cracking jokes for him to laugh? That's it, she had had enough of this cat and mouse chase. She turned around to return back to school when his next words had her stop dead in her tracks. "I'm Xavier Castillo's brother. Jeremy," he held out his hand, with a half smile playing on his lips and Gia looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time since the beginning. She narrowed her eyes at him, not knowing whether he was telling the truth or lying to get to her. But why would Xavier's brother seek her out in the first place. She didn't want to have that kindle of hope but did Xavier send him? Possibly, but why? She wanted to see him so why didn't he come himself and sent someone instead. She continued staring at Jeremy's outstretched hand in disappointment. She didn't want to touch him. He wasn't the person she wanted to touch. Her eyes travelled to his face and she saw him tilt his head. "Why are you looking for me?" If Xavier had really sent him then she wanted to hear what he had to say but then again nobody knew she had already gone to visit him in his office about the marriage. He couldn't possibly have told his brother could he? And how the hell did she not know he had a brother. There was a semblance of resemblance here and there she was starting to see. He had light grey eyes instead of those deep electric blue blue eyes that seeped through her entire being anytime he had looked at her in that office of his. Instead of Xavier's thick black hair that fell on his forehead for the duration she had spent in his presence, it wasn't the same as Jeremy's almost blonde hair that was styled. She wasn't saying Jeremy wasn't handsome but compared to his brother he was below average at attractiveness. Hold up! Was she comparing them? Damn it that wasn't very nice of her. She tried to avoid those thoughts and focus on something else. "This isn't a place to discuss this but I'll make it very brief for you," he still had that smile and it didn't make her heart race the way someone's half smile had made her. What was wrong with her today. Was she out of her mind for thinking about Xavier more times than she could count? "I'm sure you have been informed by your parents about a marriage alliance between your family and mine. Maybe I should have waited for you to be introduced to me first without making any move but you see I couldn't sit still and wait when I was told you were going to be my wife and so I decided to seek you out instead and let it be easier for the both of us," he explained his mission and Gianna couldn't believe the words that spilt out of his mouth. He was either bluffing or trying to pull her leg after finding out she was going to marry his brother. Maybe it was some sort of test to see if she was serious about his brother. It was very sweet of him to look out for his brother but Gia wasn't having it with the nonsense he was spewing. "I don't understand," she said simply out of the thousand and one things she wanted to say to the man. "My brother doesn't want to get married and since we can't let that affect this alliance, my grandfather decided it wasn't anything different if I married you instead," the information had Gia reeling from shock and heartbreak. Sure she had wanted this marriage cancelled and she sure as hell was happy knowing that he had managed to convince his people against it but had he agreed for her to get married to his brother? She couldn't accept that. Her brain refused to accept that. She didn't know what she meant to him after they met but...but it still hurt to know he was giving her away to his brother on a whim; just like that. She gulped the lump in her throat and tried to sound as unaffected as possible. "I do not want to get married and I do not want to get married to you or your brother," she spoke firmly, the weight of her words heavy on her shoulders as she pushed down the voices trying to warn her of her mother's anger. She was sick and tired of all of it anyway. Might as well do something guaranteeing of her constant lashing out for once. "Easy there, I think you forgot the part where we don't have a say in any decision the elders make," Jeremy was impressed but also a little disappointed by this woman. Impressed because it was the first time a woman wasn't eager to get to his 'perfection' of a brother. The second one because she was refusing to marry him. Him! In ways that those foolish girls failed to see he was actually better than that cold block ice man. They were all blind to that and the first girl who wasn't blind to that was also not accepting him either. She had intrigued him and now there was no way he was going to let her get away from him. "I never asked anyone's opinion in your family about my marriage affairs so please leave me alone," Gianna had had it with everyone around her trying to control her life and puppeteer her into a version of herself they liked. She was done being anyone's baby doll. "Do your parents know how strongly you are against this marriage? I bet they don't considering the fact that they haven't cancelled this alliance yet," Jeremy put his hands in his pockets and stood up straight from his car, towering over her with his height. "I'm nineteen. Barely out of college and I haven't even sorted out my life. My parents seem to forget that all the time and I think it's time to remind them again," she supplied with a firm resolve, her green eyes meeting his in a competitive stance. "I think what your parents are trying to give you is security of which you're too immature to understand. I think your age does play a significant role here," he snickered in sweet mockery and it had Gianna's eyes widening at his indirect insult. How dare him. "You don't know anything about me," she said through gritted teeth. "No I don't but I know you're going to be my future wife," the back and forth exchange of words had Jeremy amused. He thought the only reason he was going to live with this girl or eventually marry her was going to be because he wanted to win over his brother but now he was starting to enjoy her company. So far she was interesting and so far he was beginning to like her. She spoke her mind without being shy about it and most women like her would either act docile and shy or keep their lips sealed to act coy around men. Well not this wildflower in front of him. She was something to reckon with and he liked challenges. Gianna pursed her lips not knowing what to say to counter his words back. His grandfather! Yes, he was the one who arranged this marriage in the first place. Maybe if he knew she wasn't interested in any of his grandson's then he would finally let it go and everyone would go back to their happy lives. With a firm resolve and her decision made she calmly spoke. "Take me to your grandfather." Jeremy was surprised but at the same time wasn't surprised at this. This girl knew what she wanted and actually went after it. "My grandfather huh," he put a calculating finger under his chin as he studied the girl in front of him with interest. Gianna had wanted go look for Tiana but at the moment it could wait. She wasn't saying her best friend wasn unimportant but she needed to settle this once and for all and leave it buried six feet underground. She nodded at him, affirming her decision and Jeremy smirked and it brought shivers down her spine. If she didn't know better she would have bolted from there with how weird this man sometimes seemed with his expressions. At least he wasn't lying about being Xavier's brother since there was an iota of truth in that. "Alright then, try convincing that cunning old fox and you actually win after all," he smiled as if there was something he was hiding. It was as if he was trying to tell her she was going on a suicide mission or that the very idea should be aborted since he knew his grandfather best and also knew that man wasn't going to just hear her out and agree. However his grandfather was, she was still going to convince the old man who seemed to have made it his whole purpose in life to destroy hers at a very young age. And here she thought grandfathers were good hmph. Jeremy opened the car door for her and she narrowed her eyes at him. "I can follow you in my own car," she deadpanned, ignoring the chilvary going on with how he had eagerly opened the car. "We don't want good ol' grandfather throwing me out of the house for leaving you to drive to the main mansion now do we," it was a rhetorical question and Gianna didn't even have the energy to answer anymore questions so she kept her mouth shut and stared wearily at the car. Oh she was scared. Scared would be an understatement of how exactly she was feeling at the moment. Yeah sure he was Xavier's brother but before that he was a stranger and they had just met today. She couldn't possibly follow him around like a lost puppy. "I'm not a bad person," Jeremy spoke after seeing the hesitation in her eyes and although she wasn't convinced she didn't look as alert as she did at the beginning. She didn't know where her bodyguard had run off to anyway so she might as well take the chance of a lifetime and change her stupid destiny that decided to put her in this predicament in the first place. She took a tentative step forward, and another and then another and finally reached the car. Gia clutched the side of the bag where the pepper spray was and sat in the car. "Give me a second to call my brother," he said and moved away to make the phone call. Gianna clenched her dress tightly, her heartbeat intensifying as he watched Jeremy talk to his brother over the phone. She really didn't want to get married but why is it that marriage with Xavier didn't sound like she was going to be kept from her dreams. She had convinced herself that she was too young to get married and had a lot of dreams thereafter but...but what if she wanted to marry Xavier. What if he had put her at ease with his reassuring words that day at his office so much so that she felt to turn around and tell him she had changed her mind. Call her crazy but she hadn't been able to get him out of her mind since. She didn't like his brother, and that alliance she was ready to break and shred into a tiny pieces. She was eventually going to get married wasn't she, so what if by the time she had actually achieved everything she wanted and more she didn't end up with the right person. Marriage wasn't something to joke with either and since Xavier was the understanding type she could marry him instead of any other person who was going to snatch away her freedom for whatever reason whatsoever. Her parents wouldn't stop until she was out of that house and it was better to be with someone who could protect her and Xavier Castillo was it, believe it or not. For weeks on end she had finally arrived at a solid realization. She was going to marry Xavier, her age be damned. "My brother has given his blessings can you believe it," Jeremy said as soon as he sat behind the steering wheel. No she couldn't believe it. Gianna clenched her dress further at this and her heart slammed in her ribcage. It hurt. The same person she had resolved to marry was the same person pushing her into the arms of another man and no other person than his brother. Was she placing too much hope on him? She pushed those aside. For now she had to find a way to get out of this sticky alliance of marriage that had been going back and forth. She was growing tired of hearing the word marriage even. Jeremy started the ignition and drove out of the school's premises. It hadn't even taken five minutes on the road when another car sped at an intense speed toward them. Gianna's eyes widened at this staring at Jeremy who didn't look like he was going to back down either. She felt the adrenaline rushing in the longer the two cars neared each other and not wanting to be a witness to her gruesome death closed her eyes and sank further into her seat. She heard the car screech to a halt and felt her stomach dip at the impact. "Xavier?" She heard from beside her and she quickly opened her eyes and stared at the car in front of them expectantly. Gia saw the car door open and a leg came out and another and finally he stepped out of the car in all his glory and her heart skipped beats at how ethereal he looked at the moment. It felt like it had been years since she last saw him and she couldn't help the smile that grazed her lips at his presence. She had even forgotten she almost had a near death experience and the person responsible was the one she was smiling at.