His Substitute Bride

Chapter Thirty Nine

                        A R A B E L L E

"How do you know them?" Was the first thing Nick asked as soon as he sat inside the car. 

I remained silent not wanting to talk and thankfully he didn't ask anymore questions.

Soon, we arrived at his guest house where Lou and Gino were waiting for us. Her baby bump has gotten bigger and I'm super excited and happy for her. 

She just found out the gender of the baby, it's a girl. And now she won't stop talking about how my son and her daughter will fall in love and get married one day. Yeah over Gino's death body, that's what he said, his words not mine. 

We took off for Mexico in Nick's private jet and he hasn't spoken a single word since that incident with Cavin. 

I wasn't ready to tell him about that part yet. It was kind of. . . . awkward? Weird? Yeah whatever it is, I'm not ready to tell him that. Maybe later but not now. 

I, myself I needed time to sort out what the actual fuck was going on in my life and I don't need another headache. 

"We're going to Istanbul to attend Mehmed's wedding." Nick said after a long, awkward silence. I nodded. 

"Alright. But why so suddenly?" I asked with my eyes narrowed at him. He looked at me with a blank expression before wrapping his arms around me, pulling me a little closer to him. I leaned my head on his chest and sighed. 

"1. Even though he's annoying as fuck, we are like brothers. Even though he fucked my girlfriend behind my back, back when we we're in high school." He said. 

Ahh. No wonder he's always ready to pounce on Mehmed whenever they see each other. Reasonable. 

"And 2, Some people broke into our new house last night. Don't worry we caught them but they need a little time to renovate the house and for security measures." He added and I nodded. 

"Why didn't you tell me yesterday?" I asked with a frown. "I don't have anything to wear there."

He chuckled before placing a light kiss on my frown. "You don't have to worry about that, mi amore. I've already taken care of it."

After that none of us talked. I fell asleep after a while and by the time I woke up, I was already inside the city of İstanbul. The city is best known for its assortment of mosques and their colorful tile work and dramatic architecture. I can't wait to explore the city. 

Soon, we reached the heavily guarded palace and Mehmed along with a bunch of people to welcome us. 

Nick got out first then he helped me out and we walked towards them with one arm on my back and the other holding my hand. 

Mehmed was the first to step forward with his arms wide open. I took it as my clue and dropped his arm. Mehmed hugged Nick and like always, Nick grumbled before pushing him away. 

"Kardeşim, nasılsınız?" Mehmed asked, chuckling. But before Nick could answer, a brunette woman who looked like she was in her early 50's, pushed Mehmed aside and literally jumped into Nick's arms. 

"Valide!" Mehmed let out a cry like a kid before he turned towards me and stretched out his hand and I took. "Arabelle, nice to see you again." He said before placing a kiss on my hand and I giggled before nodding at him. 

"You too, Prince Mehmed." I said, earning a chuckle from him. 

"We use the term Şehzade here for the prince but that's fine. Please just call me by my name." He added, without leaving my hand when Nick appeared out of nowhere and grabbed my hand from Mehmed's.