Page 10 of Risking it All

My dad nodded. “I have no doubt about that.”

I focused on the servers coming in to fill our plates with food as the men continued their conversation and negotiations as if I weren’t right here. My own father talked about me like I was just another one of his assets. No one bothered to ask me any questions as the wedding date and time were finalized, even the minister who would conduct the ceremony.

I heard one of them mention that the forty something thousand-dollar tab that I’d run up was completely paid for by my dad. He wanted to make sure I got everything that I wanted. That way when it was time to sign my name on the dotted line, I wouldn’t have any excuses other than my basic morals and principles to not want to go through with the marriage. Every detail of my future was being planned as I dug into the medium well prime rib and buttery scalloped potatoes. As hopeless as I felt about my future, at least the food was good.

“You know you’re not supposed to have potatoes. You’re on a strict diet,” my father warned.

“Can I at least have something that I want?”

“I just paid fifty thousand dollars to give you everything you wanted, or have you forgotten!”

“That was what you wanted! I don’t want any of this,” I said, shoving the plate away.

“Come take a walk with me, Ms. Morgan,” Roderick suggested.

My head snapped back as I looked over at him. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You’ll do as you’re told,” my father barked.

I sighed, pushing back from the table and standing. Roderick shook his head slowly as he stood. He walked around to me and grabbed my hand. One of the security guards opened the double doors to let us out. I followed Roderick as he led the way outside to the courtyard garden. The flowers always smelled so good on a warm summer night. He kept his stride until he was next to the fountain, then turned around to face me.

“Ms. Morgan, you’ve disappointed a lot of people in the past few years. I won’t be added to that list. In thirty days, we will be husband and wife.”

I shrugged. “So, I’ve heard.”

“You don’t seem to be as accepting of the idea as I’d hoped.”

“What do you expect?”

“I expect you to accept this situation and try to make the best of it.”

“I wasn’t aware that my opinion mattered.”

That made him chuckle. “Oh, it doesn’t. I just need you to understand that I’m not a man you should test.”

“Noted.” I rolled my eyes.

He laughed. “I’m sure you know what happened to my cousin Heather when she failed her preliminary exam,” he mentioned. “Turns out she was fucking her driver of all people. I saw to it that she was taken care of. I loved her, but I will never let anyone betray this family. She had a beautiful funeral. I even shed a couple of tears over her cold, dead body. They probably won’t ever find all the parts of his body, though.”

“I hope you didn’t come out here thinking you were going to scare me. You do know who my father is, don’t you?”

“I do. My goal is never to scare anyone. I’m all about action. If you think I’m a toy, I will show you how to play. Respectfully, I will make sure you can have an open casket just like Heather.”

“Kiss my ass.”

“I actually can’t wait to do that. Contrary to what your father thinks, I love myself a big girl.”

“Good for you,” I said, finally turning on my heels to head back inside.

Within seconds, he was at my side with a death grip on my arm. “Don’t even think about trying to run, Zenia. No matter how far you run or how good you try to hide, I will find you.”

After making his point, he continued walking into the house. I stopped and dropped my head back, looking up into the night sky. What kind of man would confess about murdering his own cousin to his future wife? Oh yeah, the one my dad let buy me. My father had literally sold me to a family of monsters.

Roderick was not too different from my father. I knew that it was only a matter of time before I did something that he didn’t like. How long would it be before I met the same fate as his cousin? I knew one thing. I wasn’t going to stick around much longer waiting for someone to decide how I lived and died.

If I couldn’t be happy, there wasn’t much reason for me to stay in this world. I was leaving, and there was nothing anyone could do about it short of killing me. Since my mind was made up, there was no longer any reason for me to be afraid. First, I had to go see the person responsible for every one of my problems. If I was going to have some semblance of happiness before I left this earth, Reed Fuller had to die.

I knocked on the door to Emerson’s office before pushing it open and letting myself in. Knocking was always a formality. She’d told me a hundred times that it was unnecessary to knock, but I was so used to knocking before entering a room, due to my father’s demands. You never knew what kind of nefarious or unscrupulous activities he was doing on the other side of a closed door. Most of us had learned the hard way.