Chapter 3 LORETTA

He was thirty minutes late. I would have walked out of here if his secretary hadn't messaged me, and apologized for his lateness, saying he was caught up in a meeting. Like I didn't have other things to do with my time. I've lost my company, lost all my accounts, I was lucky that mum had a secret account that she created under her maiden name right before she died. It was her last gift to me, all she could give me after lying about her health all those years. Did she know what my father was doing? Is that why she did it?

I stared up at my watch again and let out a frustrated sigh. Was this the man I was going to get married to? Someone who couldn't even keep up with being on time.

"Fuck this." I muttered under my breath, and moved to stand up, when I felt someone's hands on my shoulder gently pushing me back to my seat.

"Miss Morales." A deep yet soft voice said behind me. "Tell me you weren't planning on leaving when I just got here."

I opened my mouth to give him a snarky response, but lost all form of speech when he took the seat opposite me. Damian Reinhart was...beautiful. I mean, I had done my research on him right before this date, and I must say the pictures do him no justice at all. His jet black hair was jelled to the back which made him look like some mafia boss in his all black tailored suit. He was neatly shaved, had a smile that immediately sent my thighs clenching together, and I didn't even want to talk about his eyes; they were remarkable shade of grey which added even more depth to his entire appearance.

I cleared my throat, putting my cold mask right back in place. "You're thirty minutes late. You know Mr Reinhart, if you want someone to take you seriously, then you should really avoid making them sit idly in some restaurant for so long. It just only leaves room for second thoughts."

He leaned in, a smirk on his lips. "What exactly were your thoughts while you were waiting for me, Miss Morales."

I chuckled, leaning back on my chair. "What is this? Your little hook? Are you trying to act all seductive to throw me off? Because I've done my research Mr Reinhart, and you being a man whore isn't on that list. Infact, maybe I would have preferred that, so I'd get to know your real attitude. Right now, as much as I hate to admit defeat, you're a mysterious man."

He let out a little laugh, and picked up the glass of water, taking a gulp. When he was done, his entire demeanor changed immediately. His once relaxed playful face was now serious and calculative. In this world, we all have masks.

"Do you want to get married to me, Miss Morales?" He asked, his voice low yet high enough for me to hear it.

"Funny question." I scoffed. "Do you want to get married to me?"

He arched his brow. "I guess it's a mutual thing then. But we both don't have a choice in this, so let me just as least try to make it bearable."

I crossed my hands on my chest. "How exactly do you plan to do that?"

"We'll make a set of rules. These rules will avoid certain things that could mess up this arranged marriage as well as stress us personally. Look Miss Morales, I'm not a man who enjoys bickering, or fighting. Infact, I detest it, and this isn't going to be some kind of movie where we are enemies of some kind. It's going to be a mutual agreement where we stay out of each other's way." He pulled out an envelope from the inside of his suit jacket. "Once two years passes, then we can get a divorce."

I took the envelope and smiled. "You know, I was actually thinking the same thing. I guess we really are on the same page."

He nudged his head at the envelope. "Open it."

I opened it and pulled out a paper. The content inside sent me glancing up at him once more. It was a list of do's and don'ts within the marriage, and right below was a place where we'd both sign.

"Is this some kind of contract?" I asked as I scanned through the contents again.

He shrugged. "I see it as a way we can we can make each other accountable. I guess you can call it a contract."

I scoffed, and shook my head. "You really are thorough, Mr Reinhart. No scandal,No external relationships, hmm, No sex between us, No sabotage, and the last one that catches my attention, I'm not allowed to fall in love with you." I glanced up at him again, my brow arched. "You really are a cocky piece of work. Why does this only apply to me?"

"Because Miss Morales, I know how to keep my feelings in check. Besides," his eyes scanned my face. "You're not exactly my type."

"So what is? Kidnapped girls?" I scoffed

He looked startled. "What?"

I cursed under my breath, realizing that he wouldn't get the Mafia reference, and I just made him look like some kind of predator.

"I apologize for that, I don't know why that slipped out." I placed the paper on the table and sighed. "You're not the only one that gets a say in this relationship, I do too. You can't just swarm up a bunch of rules and expect me to follow it like a little kid."

My phone buzzed, and one look at it told me I needed to leave right now.

"What do you suggest, Miss Morales?" He said, and I couldn't help but think about l the way my name rolled off his tongue. I wonder how my actual name would sound like from his lips, or how his lips could....

Oh my God! I can't believe I'm fantasizing about doing this with a man I just met, and lest I forget I deemed him a quiet weirdo. This is what happens when I haven't gotten laid in a long time, and my entire life is spiraling in front of me.

My phone buzzed again, and I knew I had to leave now, or I could get into big trouble.

"We will both review these bunch of rules and turn it into something that would be convinient for the both of us. Since we're both busy people, we can just handle it through texts or something." I stood up from the chair and smoothened my silk dress. "I want to say it's a pleasure meeting you, but we both know that's not true. I have a couple of very important errands to run, so I have to go right now."

"You're leaving?"

"You made me wait for 30 minutes." I said as I shrugged. "We could have used that time to discuss this and the wedding plans. Right now, I have really important things to do."

I gave him a quick smile, and turned around to leave.

"You do know we're getting married in a month." He called out.

"I heard." I said, and turned back to look at him. "This isn't peaches and roses for me either, Mr Reinhart, and guessing from the type of person that you are, you are definitely getting something out of this too."

I scoffed when I noticed his silence. "Exactly what I thought. Now if there's nothing left to discuss, I'll see you on our wedding day."