The Moon And The Stars

CHAPTER 3

"All I'm saying is, you could do a whole lot worse"

I roll my eyes at my stupid brother and throw my phone at him. He dodges it and looks at me indignantly. "Marco's right you know," I turn my head to see my older sister Valentina slouched on the couch of my office, running a hand through her hair.

"I thought you'd be on my side here. You said you'd sooner die than get married," I say in disbelief.

"Oh I meant every word of that, I'm just saying for you. You should get married to this pretty little French girl. I need more girls around the house."

"You marry her then." I say in a bored tone. Val smiles at me and tilts her head, her eyes filled with fake sympathy, "Oh dear brother, did you hear nothing I just said?"

I go to reply but I'm interrupted by my door being flung open. I roll my eyes as my best friend Carlos walks into my office. "Lukie! I heard you're getting married!" He says excitedly, throwing his motorbike helmet onto the couch beside me.

I flip him off as he dramatically drops onto the couch. "Don't call me that and no I'm not getting married,"

He shrugs and takes a chug of my water sitting on my desk. "Too bad, I need a sister-in-law to make fun of you with. Because she," he dramatically points at Val "is too mean."

Val laughs and stands up and throws another fake sympathetic smile at Carlos. "Well I'm gonna go dress shopping for the ball," her smile turns into a smirk as she directs her gaze onto me, "Speaking of, your little French girl will be at the ball, maybe you guys can tie the knot there?" She winks at me before turning and walking out the door.

"She's French?" Carlos asks "I bet she has the best accent"

I throw a pillow at him and he falls onto the floor, "She's probably also a daddy's girl who's spoilt rotten and has a bratty attitude" I deadpan

Carlos shrugs, "Don't judge a book by its cover" he says in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah" Marco pipes in, "She seemed nice when we met her yesterday, although she was weirdly quiet after she came back with lunch,"

"She was probably disturbed by you flirting with her, idiota" I say in an exasperated tone.

Marco throws his hands up in defence with a shocked look on his face, "I was not flirting!" I give him a 'seriously?' look and he puts on a smug expression, "I was just being nice to her, unlike you. You grumpy puttana."
[bitch]

"Fuck off" I roll my eyes again at my brother; "Wait" I direct my gaze to Carlos who's now eating a Snickers bar from his pocket.
He hums in response. "Who told you I was getting married?"

He swallows his mouthful, "Your dad. He told me he was considering the offer put forward by André Laurent, and when I asked what that was he said an arranged marriage." He looks up as if thinking of something, which is bullshit because there's nothing between his ears. "Her own father proposed an arranged marriage. That's gotta hurt," he winces. "And if this falls through, André is leaving the deal and most likely try and crack one with the Russians."

I don't have time to process any of this before he bites into his Snickers bar and continues talking "I feel sorry for the poor girl if she's passed on to the Russians. She's not gonna lead a very happy life with their leader. Sadistic asshole" he wipes his mouth and still doesn't shut up, "You should marry her just to save her from that life."

I hum and nod in agreement. Carlos pats my shoulder and stands up, "And on that cheery note I'm gonna leave now," he salutes to Marco, picks up his helmet and walks out the door. I hear Marco sigh before leaving too.