Loving Damien

One

I was being sold and I knew it.

I knew it but could not fight it.

The wedding was perfect, down to the last detail.

The bride was stunning in her large white crystallized ball gown dress and the groom was dashing in his sharp black tux. But neither of us had our hearts or minds on what was truly happening.

I walked slowly down the aisle, the corset under my dress making it hard to breathe, the heels pinching my feet, the large wedding dress making it difficult to move and the makeup making it hard to keep a forced smile. But then he placed his hand over mine that clutched his bicep and I held it all in. For him. For my brother, Mason.

When Mom had first broke the news of my bethrotal to Mason, he had been livid for me. Angry at the fact that his sister was to be sold, carted off to serve the purpose of a figurine housewife. Mom had tried to explain. Business had been sinking after Dad died of cancer two years back and we all knew it. Mason had been trying to get to the bottom of the problem while taking over the reigns of the company but there wasn't much to salvage, it seemed. Mom had taken matters into her own hands and approached our largest debtors. The Calvetti's.

Without much to lose but plenty to gain, she had found a way to have me married off to their oldest son as soon as I was twenty two and they could also have half the shares of Dad's company through the marriage ties. They had agreed. And Mom had spent two years making sure I was prim and proper to the point I would only impress the Calvetti family when my time was up. Mason had only found out two months ago and it had been too late to do anything about it. Still, he had tried but the Calvetti family was powerful and well known and hardly anyone wanted to cross them. I knew Mason would never give up so I had talked with him. He had always been protective. He had always been there to play with me when Dad was busy or help me with schoolwork when Mom couldn't be bothered. He would tuck me into bed most days when Dad was working late and would stay up with me when I had nightmares. He was the best big brother anyone could ever ask for. But he needed to understand he couldn't protect me from everything. And this was one of those things.

The walk to the altar was the longest I had ever experienced in my life. I had only met Damien Calvetti once and had spoken to him never but we were expected to be happily married. I didn't know how to feel about that. No, wait. I did. I was angry, confused, pained and just brutally scared of what lay ahead of me. But if there was one thing I had always been, it was rational. And my rational side summarized that without the Calvetti's, my brother's life and the company Dad had worked so hard to build would crumble when I had the chance to do something.

So, as I marched up that altar to sign my fate, something else settled heavily on my chest. It was acceptance. I had accepted my future. I had accepted my fate to be Damien Calvetti's wife and I had accepted that I was doing this for my Dad and my brother.

***
The wedding hall was lavishly decorated, no doubt everything was paid for by the Calvetti's.

Damien hasn't said a word aside from repeating his wedding vows and I had no idea how to feel about that. One thing was for sure though. This marriage was sinking. Fast.

I had changed out of the inconveniently large dress into another wedding dress. This time, it was a mermaid style dress with lacings instead of crystals. My hair had been unpinned and a wreath of flowers now settled on my hair like a crown.

As soon as we'd arrived at the reception, Mom had whisked me away to introduce me to everyone in the hall. Many of them now knew me only as Mrs. Damien Calvetti. I hadn't even been married to the man half a day but I already caught the looks from many of the people Mom had introduced me to. The looks of lust from the men and the looks of envy from the women. I ignored it all with a perfect smile on my face, remembering my training.