LORETHA ROMANOV
I don't know what's been happening in the past few hours. The world seems to have turned upside down, all because of this wedding. I didn't know that marrying my son to Fiorella Ferraz would cause so much trouble.
Argo is angry, I imagine he has a lot of problems to solve, and Jared doesn't make it any easier. If only my son took the family's interests more seriously. Argo complains a lot about Jared and I don't know what to do anymore. Maybe my husband is right about everything. Marrying Jared will calm him down and make him take the business seriously. Adalberto Ferraz seems to have done a good job with his children. Jonah is a good lad and helps his father's business with honor, the daughter seems sweet and loving. They both lost their mother at a young age, yet, Adalberto managed to raise them well. I wonder where I went wrong with Jared.
I go back to the party hall and look for him. I'm afraid he might be up to something and his father sees it. Last year, Argo almost sent our son to a boarding school.
When I see Jared and Fiorella sitting at a corner table, I feel relieved. They seem to be getting along well. And the girl is truly beautiful, a rare beauty that attracts everyone's attention.
After seeing that my son is behaving as he should, trying to win over his future wife. I go to the garden to get some fresh air. Parties are really exhausting. The couple still needs to exchange rings and...
"Hi, Mrs. Romanov," I'm surprised to hear a man's voice behind me. "May I sit?" he asks, but sits down next to me without waiting for my permission.
"Hello! Jonah Ferraz. Enjoying your daughter's engagement party?"
"The party is beautiful. So are you... I mean, very elegant," I find it cheeky how he sat next to me without even waiting for my response. It's not right for a young man to compliment a married woman, especially when we're alone. I don't respond to his compliments and feel visibly uncomfortable with this situation. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Loretha. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. It was just a sincere compliment," this boy has been very well raised by his father, despite his boldness.
"I heard that you take care of a good portion of Adalberto's business," when I ask, Jonah smiles. He's a handsome boy, with a stubble, green eyes like his sister's, and light hair. I feel bothered by our closeness, it's been years since such a young and impudent boy looked at me like that.
"My father trusts me, I've always liked and been interested in these businesses. I think I'm doing well, the old man seems satisfied."
"I would give anything for Jared to be at least ten percent of what you are," Jonah smiles when he hears me praise him. "Well, my son and your sister still need to exchange their engagement rings," I get up to leave, but Jonah holds onto my hand. I confess, I'm very afraid that someone might see this scene.
"Jared is young, when I was his age, I didn't care much about my father's business either."
"You talk as if you were old, Jonah. You're still a boy."
He stands up and stands by my side, Jonah is quite tall, I have to look up to meet his eyes.
"I'm 25 years old and have a lot of responsibility, Mrs. Loretha," I snap back to reality when I realize his hand squeezing mine.
"Pardon me, Jonah Ferraz."
FIORELLA FERRAZ
As Jared strokes my face and showers me with compliments, I notice his father's angry gaze on us. I start to feel the urge to confront him. The most he can do is kill me. Since he has a gun on his waist, that would be easy for him, and it would do me a favor, because I'd rather die than become a prisoner of the Romanovs. Argo talks to some shady men and disappears into the crowd.
"Jared, I need to go to the restroom, I'll be right back," I leave without waiting for him to say anything.
I'm digging my own grave. But I need to know what he has against me. And to understand what's happening to me. Because I'm feeling so attracted to him and, at the same time, so full of hatred in my heart.
"Come here." Loretha grabs my arm, she seems strange. "You need to exchange the rings." Loretha's face is reddened, her cheeks flushed.
I feel frustrated, wanting to follow Argo. Loretha goes up on stage, pulling me along, and calls for her son to join her. My eyes search for Romanov, but I don't see him.
"Jared, say a few words." Loretha, a little nervous, hands the microphone to her son.
"I wanted to say that I was against this marriage."
"Boy!" his mother whispers beside him.
"But when I laid eyes on this girl, Fiorella, I saw that she was special." I want to bury my face in the ground. "I hope that my bride will give me a chance to win her over, she seems very aloof." everyone laughs at Jared, except me; I didn't find it funny. "Will you give me a chance to win you over?" Jared asks me.
In the background, I see some restless men. A guy in a black suit and a hat on his head holds an M13B rifle, I know about guns because Jonah is fascinated by them and I ended up learning too. The others have automatic pistols in their hands. Something is happening. Jared quickly goes down from the stage and disappears into the crowd. On the rooftop, I see a few armed men talking into a portable radio, a walkie-talkie.
I don't like this, I realize it's been a while since I last saw daddy. I go downstairs and try to run inside to look for him.
"Batuhan threatened the organization, some men noticed his group lurking around the place." I overhear some guys talking as I pass by.
"Threatened? Lurking around? This isn't good!"
I quicken my pace and enter, searching for my father. I open all the doors and there's no one. My brother is gone too. I enter a large room and inside this room are two armed men. When they lay eyes on me, they exclaim:
"Get out of here, young lady!"
"I think we're going to be attacked." I speak.
"You're safe outside, no one gets into the hall."
There must be someone important in there, I doubt they're providing security for an empty room.
"Do you gentlemen know who I am?" I approach the two of them and ask.
"I've already told you to get out of here!" one of them commands. I hear Argo's voice inside the room, he's talking to someone. I try to enter, but the men grab my arm and push me back. "Are you deaf? Get out of here!" the man shouts.
"I want to speak with my future father-in-law." one of them approaches, trying to grab me. I slip under his arms and open the door all at once, an impressive move.
"Why are you here?" holding the phone to his ear, Argo looks at me with the angriest face in the world and snorts.
"Sir, the girl..."
"How did you two let a child enter here?"
He called me a child? That son of a bitch! One of the guys tries to grab my arm, I run into the room approaching the rabid pitbull.
"You're useless. Can't even hold back a damn girl. GET OUT OF HERE!" he screams, and the men quickly leave. "I'll call you soon." Argo hangs up the phone and looks at me. "What do you want here?"
"I came to look for my father."
"Do I look like your father? Do you see him around here?"
"He's not outside, I thought he might be in here."
"What did I do to deserve this?" he hits the table and stands up. "Listen, stay quiet, don't say a word."
"What's going on? Are they going to attack here?"
"Oh, for fuck's sake! Didn't I tell you to shut up?"
"Look here!" I shout. "What did I do to you? You're making me live a hell in this country."
He furiously stands up from the table and grabs my neck.
"You drive me crazy, girl. I'm not your father, I'll kill you if you raise your voice at me one more time. Then, you'll truly know hell."
I hold his arm and remove it from my neck. He holds on tightly, leaving me breathless for a few seconds.
"I want to know what's happening." I say, catching my breath.
"Sir." the security guard opens the door. "We need to leave here now!"
"What about the guests?"
"They've already evacuated the place."
Argo takes out his gun, grabs my wrist, and pulls me without explaining what's happening.
"Where's my father and Jonah?"
Argo Romanov doesn't respond and drags me to the exit. There's no one in the hall, everyone's gone. He holds my arm tight, opens the door of a car, tells me to get in, and sits next to me. An explosion happens inside.
"Damn it," Argo growls, the driver accelerates, and we speed away, tires screeching.
"We can't go to your house, they might be following us."
"They know where to go, I can't risk giving away my family's house to them," Argo looks at me. "Do you know what to do with Georgio and Stefano?"
"Sir? That's what we're thinking?"
"I want the job done by tomorrow, those insects couldn't handle a sassy girl."
"Are you going to kill them?" I ask, frightened.
"It's your fault, be happy about it."
"Are you going to kill them just because I walked into that room? They're fucking Australians!"
"Do you have tape?"
"Yes, sir," the man sitting in the driver's seat hands a wide gray tape to Argo. He pulls it all at once.
"What are you going to do?" I ask. He wraps the tape around my arms twice. Then he cuts a piece with his teeth and puts it in my mouth.
"It's better this way," the guys burst into laughter. "This is to make sure you don't remove the tape. If you kick the seat, I'll tape your legs too."
"Mmm," I complain, trying to scream. They completely ignore me.
The car keeps speeding and swerving, I don't know the country, so I have no idea where we're going.
"They're following us."
"At the next turn, stop the car in the middle of the road tilted to the right. Shoot non-stop, I want to see that car look like a sieve."
I look at them anxiously, turn my body around, and see a car chasing us.
"Doll, when I say duck, you duck, got it?"
"What?" I try to ask, but the tape silences me.
The car abruptly stops across the road. Argo and the two men get out of the car and start shooting without stopping.
"DUCK!" I lay down on the seat as he instructed.
*Help!* I scream in my mind when I see a bullet enter the car's window that I'm in. They shoot a lot in the direction of the enemy car.
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