Acceptance
It was 2 days after Matthew had been kidnapped and there was no news of him. After 24 hours her Dad couldn't find him, so he put a reward of a million dollars for anyone who could find him , but it's been another 24 hours and no one had called to say anything. Usually it took finders less than a day to find whoever, but somehow no one had an inkling where her brother was.Without Matthew life was not worth living, and knowing she could have stopped it killed her inside.
There was so much tension in the house,she sat in the living room hoping her brother would come through the door and hug her. Her uncles and aunties were here, it was funny how her family only gathered when ba things happened. The last time she saw any member of her extended family,she was 11 and it was her grandfather's burial. No one even bothered to look her way.it didn't bother her though, because it had always been like that, they all looked at her like furniture,a trophy and a bargaining chip.
She went to her Mom's room to ask if there was any update," Mom what are they saying about Matthew? Has any of the finders called yet?".
" No sweetie, nothing yet. The Gonzales gave their word that they had nothing to do with his kidnap. Your Dad made them swear on their seal and got the same answer. You know a seal is same the head of their family,so it's definitely not them".
Lisa was confused" then who is it? Who took him?".
"Sweetie your father has a lot of enemies, it could be any one of them. Anyone in this town could want your brother dead. No one even knows if he's alive right now, he might be dead" Mrs Adams was already in tears .
Lisa tried to comfort her mother, "He's not dead Mom, I'm sure he's not. We'll get him back very soon ". Those words comforted her too.
Mrs Adam's needed something to get her distracted, she remembered she had a wedding to plan. "It's 3 days to your wedding, you've not done your fittings yet. We've all been so disorganized. Should we go into town today instead of having them come here? I need a change of air. I don't even want to be in the same space with your uncles right now ".
*********
Texas was always beautiful to Lisa. She was always so glad to leave the compound but today was different, she was just temporarily running away from her problems. She followed her Mom because she didn't even have a plan anymore, an escape was out of the picture until her brother was found and no one knew when that would be. They now had 4 bodyguards instead of the usual 2 because her Dad felt whoever took Matthew might try something funny again.
As she sat in the car, she remembered how difficult college was, she had one bodyguard all through her 3years in college, everyone thought he was her boyfriend. Ray looked so sweet that no one would even believe he was in the Mafia, he followed her everywhere and played boyfriend so perfectly that at one point she might have started to develop feelings for him. Schooling in the UK was the only time Her Dad let her have her way,she didn't want to be in the us,she wanted another experience. When he agreed she was overwhelmed with joy, but he always had a way of controlling all she did and with Ray, he made sure she had no boyfriend and did nothing to defy him while she was thousands of miles away from him. She never spent a single break away from home,she had no friends. All she had was Ray. It was annoying how her Dad had a very twisted and wicked mind".
"Sweetie we're here*, her mom tapped her slightly.
"I know Mom", they were parked in front of Glitters, it was the only one her family used for over 15 years.
One of the sales reps took them into their dressing room and when she saw how beautiful the dresses were,she was sad "how can something so beautiful be used for something ugly" she muttered to herself.
"Do you like that one?.
"No Mom, I want the ugliest dress. There's no reason to be dolled up, it's not a celebration, it's just a trade". She didn't want to be in the dressing room for another minute, it made the marriage see real and that was the last thing she wanted. All she needed was Matthew home and safe.
She was thirsty and the sales rep only brought wine, she left to get water because she had never taken alcohol. She always felt she wouldn't be able to control herself,so she used other healthier ways to destress. She was walking to the dispenser when her eyes met his. He mouthed "babygirl".
She walked up to him in anger" what the hell are you doing here? Are you following me?".
Lucian just laughed " following you? That's beneath me babygirl,there are men for that".
" Then why are you here?".
Just as he was about to answer a pretty, tall blonde came from behind him, she called him baby, she wanted to know is she should pick a pink or red dress. He said pink and she went back in.
"We're supposed to be married in 3 days, but you're whoring around. You're so funny " she laughed quietly.
"I'm not, I just have needs that have to be satisfied, she's just a thing but you're going to be my wife,my queen ".
It was the way he spoke so calmly to her that pissed her off, she knew he was just pretending, she knew would stop immediately they were married ,she wasn't so naive to actually believe he would treat her right.
" I should take my cue from you and go whore around", as the words left her mouth, she saw a glint of anger in his eyes but it was gone as fast as it appeared.
Lucian stoop,walked to her and whispered "pick a very beautiful long white dress and go home babygirl, don't even dare me, I promise you won't like the outcome". He turned and walked into the dressing leaving her.
So really he had someone follow her, If not how would he had known she came for her fittings. She sighed and went back in to meet her Mom she saw a very beautiful white dress on the mannequin, apparently her Mom had gone through the hassle of picking her a dress,it had a lot of stones just the way Matthew had said her wedding dress would look. Growing up, Matthew was more like the sister she never had, he played dress up with her, they both wasted their Mom's make up and mimicked their Dad's deep harsh voice and expressions. One day when she was 6 and Matthew 8, he drew a white dress and took it to show everyone including the guards how beautiful his sister would look on her wedding day, everyone called him a little girl and made fun of him but to her it was one of her best memories. To this day it was one of the sweetest things anyone had done for her.
She held the dress and walked around it, it was just how Matthew drew it all those years ago. She was going to tell her Mom but she beat her to it.
"Matthew drew the exact dress all those years ago, he would have been so happy to see this".Her Mom's eyes were teary again, Lisa couldn't accommodate the thought of Matthew no longer being in the picture, he had to come back,he had to.
"Let's go Mom, I'll take what you picked, don't cry again, we're going to find him". They called in the sales rep, paid an left. She tried searching for Lucian with her eyes but couldn't find him, "he probably left" she thought.
The ride home was very quiet, she could still hear quiet sobs from her Mom but she didn't try to stop her, which mother wouldn't cry if her only son was missing.
It was the next day and yet Matthew wasn't back, it was like he was off the surface of the earth, no trace of him anywhere. He just vanished into thin air. It was already 3 days and yet no sign of him, no request from the kidnappers, just silence. She was going downstairs for the family meeting. Her uncles had called a family meeting the night before and it kept her awake all through the night. In her family if the head or successor was missing for 72-96hours, someone had to be named to replace him. Her brother wasn't dead, why would he be replaced.
Everyone was sitting except her Dad, he looked very sad,she could only imagine what he was going through, he was his only son, he always showed Matthew more love than her since they were kids,he was heir to the throne and now the prince's seat was empty.
Everyone in the room was saying something and it quickly became very noisy, everyone wanted the throne,my father was already getting old and whoever was named successor wouldn't need to wait much longer before being head of the family and if that happened she and her Mom would have to move to another state or even leave the country because they would still be a threat to whoever was then king.
"Quiet everyone". Her Dad shouted and the room was still." Can we please take a vote so I can go find my son?".
The rules were simple, you could vote anyone in the meeting except for yourself. A lot of thoughts were going through Lisa's mind, if this vote happens, all her uncles would be reluctant on finding her brother, he would be as good as dead. Something had to be done and she knew just who could help,so she stood to adjourn the meeting, she couldn't let them vote.
"Dad,we still have 24hours to find him, there's no reason to take a vote until then. There were murmurs everywhere but she didn't care,she was right and they all knew it". Her Dad was about to rebuke her when she walked to him and whispered in his ears "Take me to see Lucian". He looked at her as if asking if she was sure and she nodded.
She couldn't watch it happen,she couldn't watch her family tear apart. Her brother was alive,she could feel it in her bones and though no one had been able to find him,if there was anyone who could at this point,it was Lucian. They had exhausted all their options and if she had to marry him to get her brother back,then she would.
"This meeting has been adjourned, if Matthew is not back in 24hours,then we will vote". Her Dad held her hands and they both walked out. Her Mom followed and when she told her she was going to see Lucian she looked so grateful it broke Lisa's heart.
***********
His house was beautiful, it had thick long gates. It was so big it looked like a mighty palace. Her Dad had called him on the drive there to say she insisted on seeing him and he gave them a password to enter the gates. She looked at the house that might soon be hers and although it was beautiful,she hated it because he would be in it.
A man in his early 30's came an ushered them into the house, he took her Dad to the living room and took her to the study. She had to wait for 30 minutes because he was in a meeting. She looked around and his study was filled with books of war, of course all he cared about was power and violence If not why couldn't she find a book that was normal after searching for 30 mins.
She had met him twice but deep down she was still scared of meeting him, her fear increased when she heard voices shouting some rooms away from the study,he was obviously angry. What if he refused to help her? What if he he didn't speak calmly to her? She didn't want to be shushed down before she made her request.
After another 20minutes he opened the door and she was mortified, now he looked like the devil everyone said he was, she wondered what could have made him so angry and most importantly how she would be able to make her request when he was this angry.
He looked at her and a small smile formed on his face," babygirl, you asked to see me, do you have something to say?" He asked.
She still couldn't speak,she was visibly scared.
"If you're here to tell me you don't want to marry me,then save yourself the trouble. If you don't want to, you don't have to".
She was surprised, he just said he wasn't interested, he just set her free. But now she didn't want her freedom,she didn't want love,she wanted her brother.
"Find my brother and tomorrow I will be your bride, I'll be wearing the most beautiful white dress you've ever seen".
He looked at her beautiful face, this little one just made a deal with him, didn't she know no one should willingly sell their soul to the devil?
Plenty thoughts ran through his mind but for the first time in his life, he couldn't say anything, he was quiet,he had no words.