Coerced

Chapter 13

Shannon POV

“Your liking is my liking from now on. I will wear whatever dress pleases you. By the way you are very romantic though it is not openly expressed. You want your parents to like me and this dress... jewelry everything is the effort to achieve that. Am I right?” She asks with a sweet smile.

“The ruby necklace compliments your dress excellently. I forgot to give you this.” I tug the bracelet to her wrist. “Yes, your guess is partly right. But the thing you should know is I will marry you even if they do not approve of you. And that necklace and that dress is not for pleasing them but because I wanted to see you wearing them.” I wink looking at her.

The dinner with my parents was cheerful and enriching. My parents liked Mara and it felt like a huge weight being lifted off my heart. After so many months I could hear the ebullient smiles of my mother and the happiness glistening in my dad's eyes when he was listening to the conversation between Mara and mom. I can't wait for the day when I will be marrying this wonderful woman. She arrives in my life like a blessing.

"This is a necklace, our family heirloom, to be given to our daughter-in-law." Mom speaks in delight, placing the blue velvet box in Mara's hands. Mara looked at me baffled, a speck of hesitation shown in her eyes.  I squeeze her hand in comfort, gesturing to her to accept the gift given heartfeltly. “That belongs to you.”  Bending slightly I whisper in her ears giving her assurance.

An hour later, I stopped the car in front of her house.  It was well past ten at night. The habitat was pleasant and dark except for the moon shining so beautifully in the center of the dark blue sky. The occasional clouds passing through the satellite presented a marvelous picture. It was settling romantic feelings in the nub of my heart. I look down at the beautiful doll wrapped in my arms with her eyes closed.  She felt like an enthralling vision that I would store in my soul for many long years.

"Cup cakes, won't you wish to go home?" My voice goes slick like the chord of a melody.  ‘Just say the word baby, and I will be the groom on his first night to take you right now. I will revere every ounce of your innocence and cherish you like my most prized for the rest of my life.’ - my heart screamed.

As if she could hear my inner voice, she slowly opens her gorgeous grays that penetrate deep in my chocolate browns. A thump went through my zest, electrifying every nerve of my body.

I capture her chin between my thumb and fingers and slowly lower my mouth to meet hers. She opened her lips to allow me the axis.  I placidly lick the seam of her mouth seeking from her the permission to enter inside. The kiss turns from a gentle caress to all consuming and powerful as we explore each other in sensual hunger.

"Won't you come inside?" She asks me after the beautiful moment. Her voice felt so small leaning to me as she ran her hand on my stubble caressing it. I place my hand at the small of her waist, hugging her to me so that she doesn't feel the coldness of the breeze and walk inside her house. The house was small, but felt cozy and warm. "Good evening young man." I extend my hand to her brother who emerges out of his bedroom to check upon his sister. 

Though he was much younger to her, hardly around 13-14 years of age, I could see possessiveness in Vance’s eyes for his sister that unconsciously warmed my heart. "Good evening to you too. Thank you for bringing my sister home safely." He speaks to me cordially. I pat his back. "That is no problem, when I take her with me, it is my responsibility to safely drop her home." I assure him.

“Mara, I am going to sleep." He calls for his sister and nods to me courteously taking his leave. My eyes scan the walls of the front room which were covered with many pictures of her family while she prepares coffee for me. As I scroll my eyes from one picture to another my view halts on one. A deep unsettling feeling resolves at the pit of my stomach. "That's the picture of my mom and dad taken on their last anniversary." She speaks in jouissance standing a foot behind holding a mug of coffee for me.

Words seem to seize falling out of my lips after looking at the fiendish photo. My throat suddenly feels dry.  I gulp the coffee in a hurry and leave the house in haste like it held some kind of evil spirit. 

Something about the picture was ringing warning bells in my head. I have seen those people somewhere, in a place unpleasant, where I am not able to put the exact words. I drive back to my house in a convulsion of bizarre thoughts not saying a boo to Mara. 

Next morning I wake up to a phone call from the mafia hub, a place where I carry out all my underground operations. The ring was about the girl I asked the troop to do away with but I had not even the faintest idea that it was the call that was going to shake my life to a ghostly gyration.  

"Sir, this is Mr Steve Monroe the mafia chief speaking to you. The girl you asked us to put an end to, actually works in your own office. So I wanted to have your final approval before the completion of the deed.”

Pulling out the comforter covering me I push my feet to the ground coming to an abrupt alert. "What is the name of the girl?" I ask him in a whisper suppressing an alarm that was ringing a distress signal at the back of my brain about the suspected truth. 

"Sir, her name is Mara Benjamin from your company's accounts department." 

My body goes motionless after convulsing spectral reflections and the phone in my hands falls to the ground following an earth shattering silence except for the sound of my heart thumping against its rib cage which is absolutely deafening. 

"Sir, are you there on the call?" Monroe asks me skeptically after moments of quietness. I pick the phone from the ground with shivering hands. My throat gets constricted. "Yes Monroe, I am listening." I manage to speak after clearing my throat and my tone goes back professional, dominant. "Keep the task on an abeyance for a few days. I will let you know when it is inevitable. For the present I will try to manage the girl with some counseling." 

Pressing the end button of the phone I threw it to some corner of the room and dunk my head in between the pillows breaking to a violent roar.

Why is it always me, to bear the brunt of my family weaknesses?

Of all the girls in the world, why have I fallen in love only with her?

I scream, pulling my hair, directing my head towards the sky.