Chapter 1 An arranged marriage

"Wait! What's going on?". Tallulah asked in confusion as she approached the front porch of her father's house.

She just stood in shook staring at the luggages which all belonged to her. And more where being brought out?!?!

"Ken!....Ty!". She called the names of her father's right hand men and went to hold down the luggages from them at the door.

"What's going on?". She asked looking from Ken and then to Ty.

"Sorry ma'am, your father's orders". Ken replied.

"To have me thrown out of the house?".

"Just doing our job ma'am". Ty defended with his head slightly bent.

Ken and Ty were the only men that stayed loyal to Jett Lennox after all his businesses failed and he almost went bankrupt.

The rest resigned and went their separate ways.

"I have to speak with my father". She said sounding a little bit annoyed then moved past them into the house.

"Dad? Dad! Daddy!!!". She yelled as she stormed the stairs and headed towards her father's home office.

She flung the door open and walked in leaving it open.

Jett who was staring out the window turned.

"I see you're back Tallulah my dear".

He said and walked to her placing a kiss on her forehead.

Tallulah stepped away.

"Why are my belongings out front as par your orders?" She paused. "Am I being thrown out?"

"No dear". Jett replied his daughter as he walked to his desk.

Tallulah sighed in relief with a hand on her chest.

"Are we going on a vacation then?". She asked grinning from ear to ear.

"Not a vacation Lula. You'll stay with someone until daddy can sought himself out".

He roamed the heap of files on his mahogany desk for a while.

"Ah-ha!" He exclaimed when he seemed to have found what he was looking for.

"Dad, who's the person and why do I have to stay with her?".

"It's a him". Jett corrected and walked back towards her. He handed the file to her when he reached.

"What's in here?" She asked with a small smile. "Some kind of deed?".

She opened it and the first thing she saw made her smile drop.

"A flight ticket to Spain, you're joking right?" She asked looking at him but his facial expression said otherwise.

She turned over the page and her heart shattered into a million pieces.

"It's an......".

"Arranged marriage". Tallulah completed for him. "I don't understand ".

She was utterly confused and stood frozen.

"I was going to say agreement Lula". Jett chipped in.

"An agreement to sell me off into another country I don't know to a man I don't know?". Tallulah yelled.

"I couldn't tell you".

"You could but didn't want to because you knew I'd refuse".

Jett placed his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off and slowly sat on the leather sofa placing the file beside her.

Her eyes stung with tears and they came out effortlessly.

"An arranged marriage to the Mafia".

She whispered and laughed.

She hugged herself and shook violently as more tears fell.

Jett sat beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Tallulah dear".

She shivered slightly.

"I want t..to be alone d..ad". She said in a shaky voice.

Jett stood up reluctantly and walked out of the office leaving Tallulah alone.

She slid from the sofa unto the tiled floor and held her head tightly using both hands.

"I can't believe daddy would do this. I'm being sold off in place of a loan".

She screamed painfully and fell to the floor soaking herself into the pool of sorrowful tears beneath her.

Tallulah didn't speak to her father nor anyone for that matter while leaving the house.

She sat quietly on the plane to Spain and the flight seemed shorter than she'd expected.

Once she'd arrived, a driver and bodyguard came to pick her up in a Ferrari. Oh how badly she wanted to escape but didn't know where to go.

The drive to the house was also a quiet one as Tallulah stared out the car window at the numerous trees they passed by.

"We're here ma'am".

The bodyguard said to her when the car came to a holt in front of the mansion.

Tallulah looked out the window at the huge mansion which was now supposedly her new home.

She felt her eyes sting again with tears and was glad the sun shades she had on did well to hide her red and swollen eyes.

The driver had gone down and already brought out her luggage from the car.

"Ma'am?". The bodyguard who had introduced himself earlier as Enzo called and looked behind at Tallulah.

"I heard you Enzo". She said and Enzo came out of the front seat and opened the back door of the car for her.

Tallulah stepped out and paused looking around. The mansion looked her an ancient palace and had quite a few armed men guarding it.

Her heart raced a little as she followed Enzo inside. The interior was on a whole new level.

It was like stepping into a totally different world.

The aura was suffocating. Everything was black.

"Ma'am, would you meet the....."

"I wish to rest Enzo, please take me to my room". She interrupted and he nodded.

Then walked her towards the stairs when an elderly women in an apron walked out of the kitchen and approached them.

"This is Camille, the house keeper". Enzo introduced and Camille smiled. Tallulah offered a small smile back.

"I'm mostly in charge of the kitchen ma'lady, do you have any special request for dinner?".

"Thank you Camille but I'm not hungry ". Tallulah refused politely and walked away climbing onto the flight of stairs.

"Mr. Hernando requests your presence at dinner tonight. A welcome dinner for his new.....". Camille paused and cleared her throat. "New wife".

Tallulah stopped in her tracks at the mention of new wife. She tightly shut her eyes and made her hand into a fist.

What was that man thinking? That she would happily embrace him as her husband?

There was no way in hell that was gonna happen.

"Tell Mr. Hernando that I....am not.... interested". She said in-between gritted teeth although trying to keep her cool.

Camille's eyes widened. Did this young lady know what she was getting herself into by refusing the master's invite?

"But ma'lady...."

"That's final Camille". Tallulah replied gently trying not to sound rude.

She opened her eyes and followed Enzo upstairs.

They both walked in silence until they finally stopped in front of Tallulah's room.

"Ma'am, I advice that you......"

Tallulah held her hand up stopping Enzo from speaking any further.

"What are supposed to do for me?".

"I don't quite understand you ma'am". Enzo asked confused.

"What did you master tell you to do for me?".

"To protect you ma'am". He replied.

"Good! Hence I do not need you as my personal adviser that's my job to do not yours".

"Understood ma'am". Enzo said with his head slightly bent.

He then turned and walked away.

Tallulah entered the room and locked the door behind her.

She walked to the mirror stand and placed her hand on the chair.

She removed her sun shades and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her eyes were swollen and red and so was her face.

Her mind drifted back to everything that went down. She screamed and threw everything from the table to the floor.

They crashed onto the floor. She went around throwing things down and breaking things then she went to the bed and dragged off the bed linens.

The linens came off making her stagger backwards and she stepped on the broken pieces of glass.

She cried out in pain but the pain she felt was nothing compared to the way she felt about the whole arranged marriage thing.

A knock came at the door.

"Ma'am, are you alright?".

She heard Enzo ask from outside.

The knock became violent when Tallulah did not respond.

"Ma'am, I have no option but to break down this door. Please do not hurt yourself ".

The next thing Tallulah knew, Enzo was hitting the door hard with something....or his shoulder maybe?

The door suddenly flung open and Enzo rushed in with some men behind him.

He stood and searched round the room for Tallulah.

He suddenly heard Tallulah's scream from the bathroom followed by the clink of glass unto the tiled floor.