Page 7 of Inevitable

The car ride seems to drag on forever, but I think that is just how anytime spent with Andrew feels. He talks during the ride enough for the both of us so I am able to daydream about how different my life will be in a year from now.

-

Despite my hesitance to come out tonight, it hasn’t been too bad, I guess. He has been the perfect gentlemen throughout the evening, opening doors for me and pulling out my seat at dinner so I guess I could be in worse company. We ended up at a little Italian restaurant that Andrew heard is, ‘just divine.’

As dinner drones on, I find myself draining wine glass after glass just to get me through. I swear to god, I am fairly certain he just spent the last 25 minutes talking about his day at work today alone. When I am ready to ask if the cook would mind me putting my head in the oven, Andrew says my name and I realize that I have effectively tuned out what he has been saying for at least the last 5 minutes.

“Sorry, what?” I ask, not really feeling that sorry.

“I said, I like you. I think we have phenomenal chemistry, don’t you?” He asks as his eyes drink me in. I begin to tell him that no I do not, but being ever the chatterbox, he has moved on like his question was rhetorical. “We are well matched and both very attractive. Our children would have great lineage and be beautiful.”

Wait, did he just say children? I didn’t know this restaurant was in the loony bin district. I don’t even want to date this guy, let alone have kids with him!

“Andrew I-”

“Ashlynn, I think we both know that this has been coming for a while.”

He reaches into his pocket and places a little black box on the table. Oh shit. No, no, no. This cannot be happening. I am frantically thinking of how I can effectively fake food poisoning and get the hell out of dodge when a man in his late 20’s begins to walk towards our table. He is dressed in a nice black suit and with matching inky black hair, perfectly trimmed just like his facial hair. His silver eyes catch my attention, mainly because they are firmly locked onto me. As he moves through the room, he carries an air of authority with him, he must be the manager or something.

“Excuse me, Ashlynn Adams?” He asks when he is standing right next to me.

“Yes?” I respond, confusion coloring my words.

“I need you to come with me,” he says as he grabs my arm firmly and pulls me out of my seat.

“Excuse me, what is the meaning of this?” Andrew demands. I think his tone was supposed to come out intimidating, but he just sounds like a petulant child getting his toy taken away.

The man grasping my arm rolls his eyes and I can’t bite back my snort of annoyance in time before he notices. The man gifts me with the ghost of a smile before he escorts me out of the building. He ushers me into a black SUV with 2 other men already in the front seat.

The man slides in next to me and the car takes off not a second later. I know that I should be freaking out, I mean I am fairly certain I am being kidnapped right now. But these guys just saved me from a very awkward proposal that I would have rejected, followed by a huge scene caused by Andrew’s outrage. So, I am oddly grateful. If there was ever a time to be kidnapped it was definitely right now.

“Who are you? Where are we going?” I finally ask.

The man next to me turns slightly. “I am Giovanni. We are taking you to your father.”

“Do you work for my father or something? Did something happen?”

The driver scoffs and shakes his head but that is the only response I receive. My mind instantly starts running wild with different scenarios. My father is respected by most but liked by almost none. It wouldn’t surprise me if something happened to him. You can only make so many enemies before someone comes for you.

We pull up to my house and I see several men dressed similarly to the ones in the car, standing out front. There are also 2 other black SUV’s identical to the one we are in. We park and the men in the front open their doors while Giovanni helps me out.

As we walk in the door, I immediately hear my father’s raised voice billowing throughout the house. I follow the noise to his office and see more suited men standing around the room. The air is thick with tension and I dart my eyes around frantically trying to piece together what exactly is going on.

One of the men is standing with his back to me while he is speaking to my father. My father’s face is beet red and his posture rigid. I haven’t seen him this livid in over 7 years.

“Father? What is going on?” I ask as I make my way to his desk.

My steps falter when the man he is speaking to turns around and looks at me. I would know those honey eyes anywhere. My legs give out and I start to fall before Giovanni is at my side, preventing me from hitting the ground.

Luca. It’s my Luca, he is here. After all this time, how?

He glances at me for a moment before he gives me a disinterested look and turns back to my father. Does he not recognize me? How could he not? I recognized him immediately. He begins speaking to my father again.

“The choice is yours William.”

His voice is deeper now, harsher. He looks like he grew another 4 inches and gained another 25lbs of pure muscle if that were even possible.

Gone are the dark curls that use to fall across his eyes when he was a teenager. His hair is now neatly cut and short. He has a light dusting of stubble across his face that is currently covering a hardened scowl. This isn’t the boy I spent most nights with by the pond, sharing my dreams and heart with. This man is cold, calculating and foreign to me.

---