Chapter 4 The invitations

"We have to get married tomorrow" she says hastily, as he takes the document from her observe it, they lightly sighs and responds to her, "marriage doesn't work like that , there needs to be a ceremony", then he walks over to Mr Benson and looks at him with a fury , pulling out his gun and points it at him.

"No Armani I hate him with every inch of me but now is the time to act and this isn't the act" she says, looking at him , then takes a deep breath and exhales, " alright then how do you propose we do it" he asks, staring into her eyes, " we would go to the registry and get wed, the legal matrimony is all we need to thwart this then we can have the ceremony later" she responds, "let's go back to Monte Carlo and make the preparations'', she pleads with him waiting for a response ,but he hesitates for a moment thinking it through," you have agreed on the marriage it doesn't matter when we marry" she says worriedly, as she places her finger on her forehead. " Fine, let's go," he says, putting his gun back and she draws a deep breath in relief as they all leave the house.

The next day at the registry , the words " Do you take him as your husband" rings through her ears. She couldn't believe she was about to seal it all "yes I do" she replies to the question , they both sign the marriage documents and kiss each other on the lips briefly.

As she leaves the room, she balances on the wall and takes a deep breath "finally" she says to herself not long after he follows up with her and asks "Are you alright?" She looks up at him and shakes her head "Yeah I'm fine, only married" she chuckles, "we need to mail the marriage document to the lawyers so they can name me successor and then you can have your 49%" she suggests to him then he looks at her and lifts up her chin, " we will wife" he says as they get into the car.

It is the day after the wedding and she paces about her room waiting on the results from the lawyers, to see if she got the succession or if the liquidation was completed. She stares at her laptop over and over but nothing. Some minutes later her phone rings out loud and she runs over to answer quickly hoping it is from the lawyer but it is a call from Armani, her voice softens as she answers "Hi" She struggles to call him by his first name it is all so strange, "Ana We need to meet later this evening, we need to properly get married this weekend" he says "alright I would be at your place" she replies and hangs up the phone.

She walks up to her dresser, pulls out her heels and palazzo pants and slips into it, then packs her hair up,

taking a deep breath. She arrives at his mansion and descends from the vehicle, as she gets to the door, she is gestured into his living room and he immediately walks in and greets her with a kiss at the back of her palm while striking a very ferocious but seductive glare at her.

" Welcome Ana, this is the wedding planner, we have to go over how we want the ceremony to be," he tells her, gesturing Ana to her side "It's nice to meet you I'm Ana Marson," she introduces herself as she shakes her hand.

" So what theme for the wedding would you prefer Ms Marson?" She asked Ana and she looked at Armani for a suggestion "Whatever you prefer Ana" he replies to her glance, then she looks back at the planner and smiles at her,

"Hum I've always had a thing for garden weddings" Ana replies to her question,

" Alright so we could pick a venue together, choose the seating arrangement, test the dress and all but don't be overwhelmed, I would be right here with you" she assures her as she gives a polite smile to Ana.

Ana starts to feel overwhelmed by it, she would have loved to plan for her wedding but since it isn't the marriage of her dreams, there is little or no excitement to plan for it, she looks back at the planner and reciprocates her gentle smile and says

"not to be unhelpful for the arrangements but is there a way I couldn't be part of all this, we could hire extra help if you need but I would like you to handle it all by yourself, I would be okay with whatever seating arrangement you go for, as for the dress I would be available for that, can I trust you with this?" She places her hands on the planner's as a polite gesture for bailing.

"Well..." the planner stutters as she looks over to Armani hoping he would say something but he only shoots a glance of disinterest, and then she turns back to Ana to finish her statement, " I guess it's fine, I would do my best to make it efficient Ms. Marson", "that would be great thank you" Ana smiles at her and stands up to gesture her out " we would forward every detail you need to your office" Ana says to her "alright do have a good day " she replies to Ana as she takes her leave.

She walks back into the room Armani narrows his eyes at her, " you aren't excited for the wedding that you fought to secure?" he asks out of his observation, "It's the marriage I wanted not necessarily the wedding, you are a cable man but wasn't my first choice" she responds and he nods in understanding,

" Would that be all for today?" she asks him shying away from him and looking at her toes, " You are getting married to the head of this family, we need to pass invitations personally to the other cartels" He replies as he shuffles through his things, " Do they really need to be there also isn't that part of the wedding planner's job?" she asks curiously, placing her hands on her hips, "Oh little dove you didn't know what you were getting into, you're marrying mafia, recognition is necessary, come on let's go," he says as he takes her by the wrist gently to leave for it at once.

While in the car, Ana wears the face of a worried mouse, it is very pronounced that Armani has to inquire " Are you okay, it's not a big deal just smile and shake hands, it's all just tradition" She shakes her head in disagreement "it's not that, I haven't heard from the lawyers yet about the inheritance? What if something happened?", she says placing her palms over her face in sadness, he looks over at her, and seeing her in that state brings about a touch of affection from him, " I don't believe anything did, it's always that way with property and even if something did as you said, we are in this together now, that 49% is something would very much like to hold on to" he assures her, a sense of comfort washes over her by his kind words and a little smile creeps in, " speaking of invitation, in guessing we are paying her family a visit too" she inquires as she tilts her head in his direction, he sighs lightly "Yes" he responds and shoots a glance at her "Her family and mine go way back, she might not like it but this is about strengthening my family" he says to her and she nods in understanding, even though she didn't like it the idea of inviting his Ex-girlfriend.

After several visits, they arrive at Sofia's family, Ana wears her mean-girl face as they step out of the car, They are greeted and gestured into the villa. " That's good news, Armani," loud laughter bursts out between them as Sofia's father says, clinking their glasses together, Ana just sits quietly amongst them, sipping her wine," I know I and your daughter were dating and I know you would have preferred me for her but it didn't happen that way" Armani tells her father and Sofia shoots a glance at him bitterly,

"It's okay there are plenty of suitable husbands for her if it's what she desires" he responds to him looking over at Sofia. Sofia stands quietly and glances at Ana with bitterness, it is so pronounced that Ana could feel the heat of her fury some feet away from her, but she ignores Sofia nevertheless.

After a proper invitation and drinks they head to the car and she holds his hand to pause him for a moment, "Sofia wasn't pleased, you didn't tell her we are already married?" she asks him, " you don't have to worry about Sofia, I didn't tell her intentionally, it wasn't her business, we already had that discussion" he replies to her and continues making his way to the car, Ana sighs and continues with her questions on their way,

" you also didn't explain that you aren't getting married for love but for a share of my company," she asks as she looks at him curiously,

"I'm sure they will figure it out, I'm not obliged to tell them my reasons for marriage" he replies, gesturing to her into the car to take their leave.

The day before the wedding, Ana goes to test her dress with the wedding planner, " how is this" Ana inquires from the planner as she tilts around, "beautiful" she responds smiling at the dress, " it is an excellent choice" ,

"you think? I like the lace on it and I prefer something simple but grips the hips. What about my hair, what's your preference?" she asks the planner,

"An updo hair should be fine" She replies to her question as she lifts up her hair to check out in the mirror, " Nah I would like hair down or something simple" Ana says to her.

As they start to finish up with payment and packaging, a loud gunshot goes up in the air and fills her ear with a sharp sound, "ah" Ana screams and places her palms over her ears, and everyone gets down to the floor.

Ana crawls out of the store to rush into the car when she notices graffiti on the wall of the store, she gasps and her eyes widen in shock as she reads out the warning on the wall "This is not over Ana Marson!"