Marriage by Blackmail - Book 1

Chapter Ten

Damian

After two solid hours of searching for those two menacing women I had decided to quit for the evening. They were in the house and that was my only concern, I would find them eventually. I was no longer in a rush, it's not like I knew what I'd say or do when I did find them anyway. If two days of isolation didn't cure Lia's defiant streak then I was going to have to try a different tactic and I had no clue what that would be.

I walked down the now quiet hallway to my bedroom and turned the knob only to find it locked. Of course they were in my room, I don't know why I didn't think to look there earlier. I headed down to my study and entered my bedroom from the concealed stairway that let out into my closet. I fully intended to give those two the scolding of a life time. I entered the room and found two very peaceful looking young women sound asleep on my bed. The steam went right out of me, I couldn't figure out how they could look so angelic when the two hooligans were anything but. I considered waking them up but quickly decided that I didn't have the energy to go head to head with them both while I was still tired. Instead I brought one of the chairs in from the balcony and sat it directly in front of the bed. I then returned to the balcony and tossed down their trash to one of my guards that I had posted down stairs to intercept them if they tried to leave. I sat down afterwards and prepared to patiently wait for them to wake up.

Lia

"Lia."

I grumbled sleepily at whoever was calling me and turned over.

The person decided to kick it up a notch and tried to shake me awake. I growled and swatted away the intrusive hands.

"Ow!" The person yelled.

I heard an angry huff right before I was brutally punched in the shoulder.

"Amelia Serafina Costa, if you don't wake up right now I will spit in your ear!" Naia's voice was distinct in my mind as her threat got me wide awake.

"What is wrong with you?!" I whined sleepily, as I cracked an eye open to look at her.

"Well excuse me if you don't want to know that your sexy man beast is sitting at the foot of the bed watching us." She glared at me.

"I don't want to kn- wait whaaaat?!" I screeched, sitting up immediately.

My eyes landed on his lithe sexy form reclining comfortably in one of the balcony chairs. How did he even get in here!? Did he climb up from the balcony? What a creeper! We held eye contact for a full minute until I could no longer bear the intensity of his gaze.

"I must say I'm quite impressed by your cunning, Amelia." He said my name in a way that made my spine stiffen in apprehension.

"What are you going to do to me this time?" I asked warily, unsure whether or not impressing him was such a good thing.

"We're going to discuss the terms of our marriage, right here right now." He said sitting forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

I darted a quick glance at Naia who looked just as wary as I did and a lot more curious. I sighed and turned my attention back to him. He took this as a signal to begin.

"This as you know is going to be a marriage of convenience and necessity on both ends, as I'm sure your aware-"

"Well actually I have no idea how this going to benefit you." I stated bluntly, interrupting him.

"Which is pretty unfair," Naia piped up helpfully.

He sat quietly looking at us for a moment, probably trying to decide if it was wise to trust us with vital information. He exhaled and ran his hand through his hair. My traitorous eyes couldn't help but follow the motion and imagine it was my own hand carrying out the act. I looked away for a moment to clear my thoughts.

"I've unknowingly been living in this country without proper authorization, one of my business rivals came across the information while doing background work hoping to find something to give him an edge over me. Luckily, he likes to brag and one of my associates happened to be within the circle of persons he was sharing his plans with. I withdrew my bid on the stock we were battling over at the time hoping to shake him off but unfortunately this didn't satisfy him as he intends to have me deported from the US, which would render all my claims void and enable him to snatch up my clients and holdings. Fortunately, I travel frequently between here and Italy which is why I haven't been thrown out totally but seeing that my businesses were started under my American citizenship which we've established I don't have, I need to gain that citizenship in the quickest possible way. This, Amelia, is where you come in.Your parents came here legally and are now citizens but more importantly you were born and raised here. I intend to transfer all my holdings to your name until our marriage secures my citizenship here. However, this marriage must be as realistic as possible because my rival will always be looking for new ways to take me down and if at any point it can be proven that our marriage was not a genuine union, it's highly likely we'll both be thrown in prison."

By now my eyes were wide and my mouth hanging open. Naia looked constipated from the information overload. It took me a full two minutes to gather my wits about me. Damian on the other hand looked perfectly calm as if he'd just told me he cut the grass yesterday and not that I'd be prosecuted for a high crime if I didn't pull of this charade.

I breathed steadily, " Okaaaaaay, and what exactly do we need to do to ensure I DON'T go to jail?"

"We need to be husband and wife in every sense of the word as we will be under surveillance by not only the government but also my rival who will be waiting for me to let my guard down. Most importantly, a divorce is not an option."

At this point I sputtered and choked on my own spit. Naia harshly patted in between my shoulder blades to prevent me from meeting a most embarrassing and untimely death. I had to stay married to him?! Here I was thinking I'd just play the wife for a year at most and then be on my merry way. I couldn't think clearly, I was still having trouble breathing overall. There was no way I could play that role for the rest of my life. A distressed wail filled the room shocking everyone, I was even more shocked to realize the sound had come from me. I needed to lie down, some cake and a gun to shoot him would be great too. I settled for numbly lowering my body to the bed and closing my eyes.

"Is she alright?" He asked with actual concern.

"She will be, she's probably just going to take a power nap to get things into perspective." Naia, who knew me so well, assured him.

I then proceeded to slip away into the deepest recesses of my mind to come to terms with my fate.