Jayden's POV
"Is everything in place Kyle? Everything has to be perfect," I asked Kyle patiently checking my watch momentarily.
"That's like the fifth time in a row you've asked me that obvious question Jayden," Kyle replied putting his hand on my arm.
"Everything is perfect and everything will go according to plan. Your dad, Mrs Casella, Lisa, Layton and other relatives are handling the guests," he reassured me.
"And Kyra? When will she be done? It's been like three hours since they started dressing her up."
"Oh c'mon. She's the bride. She has to look exquisite so they are putting their maximum effort into it. They should be done in fifteen."
"Fine. I guess I have to wait then."
"I'll head to the ballroom. All the best, Jayden. If you need anything at all I will make sure I'm in sight at all times."
"Sure, Kyle. See you around."
Kyle disappeared down the hallway leaving me all alone in the hallway. I was nervous but I made sure to maintain a neutral facial expression.
There was no room for mistakes. This entire thing had cost both families millions so we had to make sure our money had not gone to waste.
I looked out the window close to me and then I turned to the night sky. It was beautiful, peaceful and magical. The stars twinkled brightly and lights shone brightly all over New York City.
It all made me miss my mom. She had become history in the blink of an eye yet her memories were still fresh in my mind as if we had lost her a few seconds ago.
The stars reminded me of her. Looking at them made me feel as if she was right there looking down on me from heaven. If only I could hold her one last time and tell her how much I loved her.
My thoughts were interrupted by the opening of a door. I turned back and quite a number of people exited most whom I recognised as make-up artists and so forth. Guess they were done.
They all acknowledged me as they left all complimenting my looks and all. Well, it was not anything new to me anyway.
"Mr Montero, your bride is ready. We'll leave the two of you alone," an older lady announced as she was the last one to exit the room.
I nodded and thanked her then I watched her leave. Well, now where on earth was 'my bride'?
She wasn't expecting me to come in and say some dramatic compliments then escort her out was she?
For the sake of time I decided to take the first step. I ambled into the room and then what I saw rendered me speechless. Kyra stood there nervously as I eye wrapped her glorious figure and appearance.
Holy cheese! Did I just call her glorious?
Jealous down she deserved a much better term to do justice to her master perfection beauty and glory. Her first feature that had the urge to flip my entire world upside down were her eyes.
They represented one of my favourite places on earth, the ocean. They held an intense shade of ocean blue filled with pure innocence, mildness and perfection.
How come I had never noticed them?Heck, I had never really looked at her to the point of absorbing her features but now ignoring her was impossible.
I realised that this was actually my first time looking directly at her to see her for who she was not my enemy who had marched into my life to cause a catastrophe.
Her languid eyelashes of velvet black blinked gracefully as her crescent shaped eyebrow inclined slightly as she saw me staring at her. Her hair was that type that'd look gorgeous spread on my pillow.
It was a glorious tumble of natural light blonde and spools of it plunged around her photogenic face and hid a swan's neck; elegant and smooth.
Her skin was flawless and her kiss inspiring lips looked delicious. Her body did full justice to her face by thunder. She wore a gown made from finest silk fabrics and contained multiple carats of diamonds to complement her figure.
My family's business was all about jewels and precious minerals especially diamonds so most of the things were adorned using diamonds and gold.
Kyra was in that class of women who would look gorgeous with or without clothes on. Her gown had a cleavage that showed off her full and firm breasts that appeared to be either untouched or touched by a man who handled her like glass.
Surviving with her for an entire year without having impure thoughts was going to be tough. Kyra was beautiful. Her type of beauty was rare and unique and unlike most women I had come across, she wasn't the type of woman to use it to get every man's attention.
What was I even thinking? She was just an arrangement. Trying to get to know her more would just complicate my life.
"H-how do I look?" Kyra stuttered in her angelic sotto voce voice.
Her voice was sweet, low and calm. It suited her personality but something told me she could be louder. She just lacked the confidence.
"You look great, Kyra. We should get going. The guests are waiting."
I had to keep it short and simple to avoid saying stuff that'd make her uncomfortable.
"You look amazing," she complimented me.
Why did it suddenly sound different coming from her?
"Thanks. Shall we?" I asked and then she softly nodded and we interlinked our arms.
We made quite a grand entry when we were introduced with the dazzling spotlight on us. The moment was surreal as we got different reactions from the audience.
I could see men eye wrapping my wife with those dreamy eyes which made me tighten a possessive grip on the small of her back. I don't know why I did that but my instincts kicked in. Even if this was an arrangement I had no interest in sharing.
Pillar centerpieces of cascading crystals were the perfect luxe touch to the ballroom. An eight tier cake at least two metres tall stood at the centre of the ballroom on a table with beautiful diamonds decorating the masterpiece cake.
The events of the night rolled in perfectly well as I introduced Kyra to my relatives and close friends. I liked how she handled my relatives. She was polite and treated them like her own family.
Kylie had no time and patience to handle my family. We seriously had to work on it if she was going to be my wife. I noticed that she was smiling. Her beguiling oyster white teeth lit up the room.
After a long while of attending to guests we were served some amazing wine. The Casellas owned a successful beverage company that produced the best wine, alcohol, juices, sodas, energy drinks and so forth.
Their company was worth billions. They were into other industries too like us but that was their major.
"You are doing great. Great job with your voice."
"Uhm, thanks. You guys must have really worked hard on this. It's perfect and I'm sure everyone loves it."
She was just adorable and it was like she only had nice stuff to say.
"You didn't reply me the other day when I apologised about Natasha."
The whole incident replayed in my head. It made me furious. Natasha had no right to treat Kyra like that. That was purely inhuman of her.
"Well, let's save it for later. Right now we have way important stuff to attend to."
I could tell she was avoiding the topic. She was embarrassed of the entire situation and it made her feel uncomfortable. I understood her.
"Jayden Montero," I heard someone say making me give them my full attention as I looked up.
"Nicholas Calleiro. What a pleasant surprise," I replied enthusiastically as I hugged my dear close friend.
He hugged me back with as much enthusiasm as I had hugged him with.
"Man it's good to see you. I see you are still glowing as usual," he remarked as I absorbed his features.
Still our same old Nick even after two years in Australia.
"And our gorgeous bride," he acknowledged Kyra as he took her smooth hand and planted a light kiss on it.
He hadn't changed at all. Still Mr Charming. Kyra blushed a little and there was a spark of interest in her eyes.
"You are the guy from yesterday right?" she asked as Nick gave her his megawatt smile and squeezed her hand gently before letting it go.
"I see our Kyra has a sharp memory. Yes it's me dearie."
I gave Nick a soft punch on his shoulder.
"You psycho. Did you seriously have to send an anonymous message?"
"I just needed a dramatic scene to worry you a bit. I hope I peaked your worry."
"Not a chance and when did you come back. You should have at least given us a heads up."
"As soon as I saw the news of your marriage I packed my bags and booked the first flight here. I had to confirm in person that you really were tying the knot."
"Good thing then. Well let me officially introduce you guys," I said as I gently pulled Kyra closer to me by her curvilinear waist and planted a kiss on her head.
The media was everywhere. We had to look natural.
"Kyra, this is my friend Nicholas Calleiro. Everyone calls him Nick. Nick, my wife Kyra."
"Nice to meet you, Nick," Kyra said as she gave him a smile.
Nick couldn't take his eyes off her. It was as if he was seeing a beautiful woman for the first time in his life.
"Nice to meet you too, Kyra. You look perfect tonight, heck, even yesterday you looked beautiful. You are a gorgeous lady."
"T-thank you Nick."
She was blushing profusely and it made Nick smile broadly.
Just then his younger sister joined us who was just her age. She greeted the both of us and congratulated us. She was as amazing as her brother and ever bright. We talked a lot every time we met.
"Well Kyra, I am Monica. I'm this psycho's little sister and your husband is my friend and my brother's friend too. Welcome to the family. We are more than happy to have you here," Monica chirped lively as she squeezed Kyra into a tight hug.
The two ladies blended in the crowd as they started interacting with other ladies. They'd make good friends.
"Jay, how did you get to be so lucky?I mean she is perfect in every sense. I'd give anything to have a wife just like her."
"You barely even know her Nick."
"Her eyes are like the map of her soul. They tell she is amazing. She is so perfect even with her imperfections."
"You do realise it's my wife we are talking about right?"
"Of course, Jayden. I'm just complimenting. I'd never dream of claiming what's yours. The two of you are perfect together."
"I hope you won't stand as a threat to my marriage in future because the way you are looking at her is making me uncomfortable," I remarked making him chuckle.
"Cheers to that," he offered and we clicked our wine glasses.
My eyes wandered off to look for Kyra and I spotted her staring at me and as soon as I caught her she looked away. I smiled to myself for an unknown reason.
I then spotted Kylie standing with Lisa and she gave me a flirtatious smile. She looked gorgeous. Seeing her reminded me that l loved her and Kyra didn't hold any place in my heart. I had to maintain it like that.
The events of the reception all rolled in perfectly well. We had our dance which was totally legit.
After a long, fun and successful night, we completed the day with a firework display.
We saw our guests off peacefully. I looked around and saw Kyra laughing off with Nick, Kyle and Monica about some silly joke pulled by Kyle. It was quite the scene seeing them all in stitches.
So she actually laughed. Wow.
"It's quite a lovely sight right?" Dad asked as he stood next to me smiling at Kyle, Kyra, Nick and Monica.
"What's up, Dad?"
"Tonight was a major success. Now it is your duty to take care of your wife."
"I see you are concerned about that girl," I said referring to Kyra.
"That girl happens to be your wife, Jayden, so I'd appreciate it if you were to show her some respect."
"Temporary wife, Dad. You seem to be taking this a little bit overboard."
"What exactly do you have against Kyra? Can't you see how much of a nice person she is. Her eyes tell she's been through a lot. Won't you at least respect her."
"I do respect her, Dad. It becomes a problem when you seem to like her like she is your permanent daughter-in-law."
"Are we going to fight about this Jayden?"
"What do you have against Kylie, Dad? Before Kyra stormed into our lives everything was perfect. Now you are acting all weird."
"I have nothing against Kylie. She is your girlfriend and I respect that. All I'm saying is Kyra is a nice person. Don't blame the situation on her."
"Fine, Dad. I'll do as you say."
"Your honeymoon is in two days. Have fun, Son," he said patting my back.
He did that every time he knew I was mad.
"I don't want to fight with you, Dad."
"I don't want that either. We love you Jay. From your mom and I."
This was going to be harder than I thought. If Dad started liking Kyra then chances of us ever divorcing were slim. He wasn't being open about it but I could tell where it was leading to. He would never force me to get stuck in a loveless marriage but his blessing mattered.
I looked over at Kyra one more time. I didn't want to have anything to do with her but at the same time I felt guilty because it was like her eyes were begging for help and peace.
Why me Lord?
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