That weekend Jade had dinner together with Mark and her mother. All the way through dinner Mark was charming her mother, making the woman fall madly in love with him. She already liked him because of the millions on his bank account, but now she also thought he was the most kind-hearted and sincere guy on the planet. If she only knew.
"Anyone want another glass?" Jade asked reaching for the opened wine bottle and pouring herself yet another glass She needed the rich drink to sooth her. Letting her keep her words to herself so she wouldn't upset either Mark or her mother.
"No, I'm good." Her mother brushed her off.
Mark met her gaze, his smile not quite reaching his eyes, "I'm good too." His eyes travelled to the glass in her hand, "You have an early morning tomorrow." Mark reminded her.
They both knew she was a lightweight, easily knocked out by the alcohol. That didn't stop her from taking a leisurely sip, daring her fiancé to say anything else. He was smart enough to keep his words to himself though. He didn't say a word, but he didn't stop his subtle glaring either.
"You okay, Jade?" Her mother asked, tearing her gaze away from Mark for the first time.
"I'm good."
Camilla didn't seem to notice the lack of enthusiasm in her tone, she was too busy enjoying her food and drink. Jade couldn't blame her though, Betty had made an amazing meal. An one-pot pasta with the most spicy tomato sauce she ever tasted, but didn't mind having again. The pasta was good, but the hot brownie with vanilla ice-cream was what rescued her awful night.
"I need to ask Betty this recipe." Camilla gestured to her brownie, "It's amazing."
"It is." Jade smiled.
"Remind me to ask her about it the next time I see her." Camilla told her daughter.
"Sure."
Camilla reached for her daughter, placing her hand gently on her arm, "Your wedding is pretty soon. Just a few more months. Are you excited?"
"I'm good."
She looked strangely at her daughter, but brushed it off as she continued her talk about the preparations. Everything was going according to plan, all they had to do was show up and get married.
"You'll make a beautiful bride." Camilla told her daughter, she flickered her eyes to Mark, "Right?"
Mark's eyes softened, his lips curling up to an actual warm smile, "She'll make a beautiful bride." He agreed.
After desert Mark arranged a car for Camilla to take her home. He was walking her out while Jade cleaned up the table. Just like Mark told her, she was a lightweight. She was a bit dizzy, but she managed to clean up without breaking anything.
Jade was heading the bedroom when she heard Mark approach her. He grabbed her arm when she kept moving, making her stop in her tracks. She didn't turn around to face him, so he gently spun her around.
"You've been acting weird since your meeting with your father. Are you still worried about me?"
She wanted to say flat out no, but that would be a lie. She was worried about Mark, she was worried about a lot of things. Mostly about making decisions which would not only ruin her life, but also her mother's. Hearing her mother be so excited about their wedding hurt. Especially since Jade had doubts. She knew she couldn't back down, but she didn't promise him anything long-term either. If she didn't feel right about their marriage she could always file for a divorce after a few months. She forced a smile upon her face and shook her head.
"I'm just a bit tipsy." She told him which wasn't a lie, "We're fine."
"You sure?" Mark asked, his eyes searching hers, "I just feel like you're pulling away from me. A lot more than usual."
"I'm not." She pulled away from him and wrapped her arms around herself, "We just don't know each other well enough, I suppose. I've always been a bit of a loner."
"We're getting married, Jade. That's inevitable." It was like he could read her mind, but she was sure he was just good at reading people, "But you're right. We don't know each other well enough yet. So let me take the first step to make us work, I'll come home earlier the next few weeks and spend some time with you. Work on our relationship."
She was conflicted. She wanted that, but at the same time she didn't. If he was like her father said, the head of some criminal organization, she didn't want to get close to him. It would make things hard for her when it came to leaving him for it. But he was also right about them getting married being inevitable. They were going to be together for a while, it was good to know who she was living with.
"You don't have to do that." She trailed off.
"I don't have to, but I want to."
She wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or the fact that for the first time she felt like Mark cared about her, actually cared about her as her being his fiancée and soon to be wife. Standing on her toes she brushed her fingers over his cheeks and brushed her lips against his. It was quick and their lips barely touched, but when she pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes she could tell it meant something to him. The soft look in his eyes telling her that much.
"I'm not the enemy, Jade." He told her quietly, "I want us to work."
"I just don't understand why me." She stepped back, needing a bit of distance between them since she didn't trust herself to react upon her feelings again, "You had a serious relationship with someone. And she is still after you, wanting to have back what you had. You can say whatever you want, but you have history with her. And I'm sure you've history with a lot of women. Women who are dying to have your ring around their finger. So why do you insist on marrying me? Is this just to hurt my father? Because I can assure you, he is upset but he isn't so upset that his whole world crumbled down."
Something in his eyes changed. She couldn't put her finger on it, but he looked serious, maybe even a bit pissed.
"I thought I made myself clear when I told you that Tessa is in the past. I don't appreciate it you bringing her up all the time. I'd like her to stay in my past."
"You're avoiding the question."
He sighed, "I'll admit that when I offered the deal I played around with the fact to get back at your father. But he already got what he deserved. I don't need to marry his daughter to hurt him even more."
"So you're marrying me because you want to?"
He looked at her like she was from another planet, something foreign and hard to understand.
"Have I given you the impression I'm going through with our wedding because I'm forced to?"
He hadn't, he was trying to make an effort to make them work. But she had doubts, so many doubts. She wished she could turn off her brain, but that unfortunately was not possible.
"No."
He reached out to her, placing his hands on her arms and holding her tightly, "I know you won't believe me, but I'm marrying you for the right reasons."
"Right reasons? So you're in love with me and want to spend forever and ever with me?"
He chuckled, noticing the hint of sarcasm in her voice, "Hilarious." He muttered, "I don't believe in love at first sight."
"I don't either."
He pulled away from her, letting her enter the bedroom like she was going to before he decided to have a serious talk with her. Stepping inside Jade sat down on the edge of their bed and pulled off her socks. Without giving a crap about modesty Mark unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off, heading into the bathroom, leaving the door ajar. Jade joined him, pulling her hair up in a bun and standing beside him at the sink to clean her face.
"I just think we'll make a good team."
She raised an eyebrow at him in the mirror, "I don't know about that."
"We move around in the same circles-"
"Your previous dates did too." She reminded him.
Getting two pumps of face wash, Jade massaged it gently in her face and rinsed it off. Thanking Mark for handing her a face towel. Gently patting her face dry she glanced back at him, her cheeks burning up when she realized he was getting ready to hop in the shower.
"Mark!"
"You've seen a man naked before, right?" He brushed her off, taking off his pants and socks.
"That doesn't mean you should just go ahead and undress yourself in front of me!"
She kept her gaze away from him while he got under the showerhead, completely naked. She stared at herself in the mirror, patting her cheeks, trying to get rid of the redness.
"We've been through this before." Mark pointed out, raising his voice a little so she could hear him over the water running.
"And I've told you before that I'm going to stay celibate."
He laughed and said nothing more. But he didn't need to, she knew that she was full of shit when she was saying that. She just didn't want him to be right.
***
A few weeks later Jade was trying on her wedding dress, it wasn't an actual wedding dress, just a fancy lace white dress with long sleeves which she bought from her shop. It was a small, intimate wedding so she wasn't going to spend too much money on a wedding dress. Her mother wasn't too excited about that idea, but now she was looking at the dress she was wearing, Jade could tell her mother had changed her mind. She loved the dress.
"Honey." Her mother had her mouth covered with a hand as she observed her, "You look absolutely beautiful." She whispered, stepping closer to Jade, "I like it."
Jade stepped to her mother, "Mom."
"I can't believe you're getting married in a month or so."
Jade reached for her mother's hands and gently held onto her, "I am getting married in a month and two weeks and it will be perfect because you set things up. Just like you said, it's going to be beautiful."
Her mother pulled her into a hug, keeping just a bit of distance so she wouldn't get any make-up on her dress.
"Jade, you home?!"
Mark. Her mother pulled out of the hug and brushed away tears which spilled. She turned around and stepped into the doorway, making sure to keep the door ajar.
"She is in here, but she can't see you right now. Is it urgent?" Camilla asked.
"Is she okay?" Mark sounded close, so Jade assumed her fiancé was standing before her mother.
"She is fine, just showing me her wedding dress and accessories. We'll get ready for dinner in a few and meet you in the living room."
Jade loved how her mother bossed Mark around and he didn't complain at all. He listened to her, letting Camilla boss him around. She guessed Mark respected her mother enough to listen to her demands. Or he was humoring them with the wedding stuff. Either way she liked it. In the back of her mind she also wondered if it had something to do with the fact that his mother wasn't in the picture anymore. So Camilla was filling up a void. It was a dark thought which she couldn't push into a box, but she wouldn't ask Mark about it either. It would ruin the good mood between them.
"We have a reservation in forty minutes, so you ladies need to hurry up."
Her mother brushed him off, "We'll be ready in a minute."
Jade smiled and walked to the closet, changing into a jade colored cocktail dress. It had a sweetheart neckline, reaching just above her knees. It wasn't too short, but showed off enough skin to be called a sexy dress. Slipping into a pair of nude heels she put away her wedding dress and stepped to the tall mirror to straighten her dress and fix her hair.
"You ready, honey? Mark is waiting for us and he didn't sound very patient."
Jade smiled and turned around, facing her mother, "I'm ready. Let me get my clutch."
They met Mark in the living room and got ready to leave for dinner. Jade was getting married in a month or so and unlike a few weeks ago she wasn't that anxious anymore. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Mark was actually putting in the effort to get to know her. Or the fact that he kept his promises to her. But what she did know was the fact that she liked the way she looked in her white dress. Marrying Mark was not the end of her world.