C5

CHAPTER FIVE

Luciano took a deep breath, once he was in front of the office.

He twisted the door knob and walked into the room, and immediately all eyes were on him.

" Um... I've only got five minutes to spare and I would like for this to be as fast as possible." He said breaking the awkward silence.

Karen could feel blood drain out of her, the nerve of this man, he had kept them waiting for more than four hours straight, yet he just walked in casually, like this was some sort of super market, sprouting whatever nonsense he could utter.

" Ok, Mr Pavarotti we may proceed, please have your seat, you've kept everyone waiting for quite awhile." The clerk said.

" My apologies, things happened." Luciano took a quick glance at everyone seated in the large office before walking to the front pew.

He could see two girls tightly holding each other silently mopping like they lost someone, and he presumed immediately that they had to be the sisters of his soon to be wife.

He gave a slight nod to the two elderly couple whom he guessed were the parents in law, as he proceeded to take the seat prepared for him.

From where she was seated beside the late, unapologetic groom.

She was fuming mad.

Who does that? How disrespectful.

He gave such insincere apology, like you would to a device for misusing it. This were human beings he kept waiting for Pete's sake. She was beyond angered.

Luciano could feel the chill running down his spine, It was almost like he could sense daggers flying all over his head. He could feel the bad energy coming from right beside him.

He turned to his side, finally sparing **her**a glance, but he was unable to see her face.

She was covered in a big white veil, not even a bit of her skin was exposed.

Who dresses in such way now a days?.He wondered.

Weird!

He could feel the anger oozing through her, simmering above the surface then coming straight to him causing the chill in his spine.

She made him feel weird for some reason. At this point he was not even listening to what the marriage judge had to say, he just kept staring at her.

Karen could feel the lasers burning right through her skin, past the heavy white dress she wore, she knew he was staring at her but she was too consumed with anger to even look at her left side.

Apart from the fact that it was winter and she was prone to cold, she had opted for this dress in place of the dress his assistant had sent over to their home, her own little way of saying she could not be pushed around.

The dress was gorgeous, but there was no way in hell she was going to let things be exactly the way he wanted, she wasn't going to do everything their way even though it was just a bargain marriage, and he was paying her father's debt.

She could hear the presiding judge telling them about the sanctity of marriage. After a while they were asked to say their vows.

Luciano listened as she read out her vows in a sweet shaky voice. And he turned to his side just in time to see her fondling with a pen. He said his vows and they exchanged the wedding rings. She slipped in the ring quite hastily on his finger and he could tell she was nervous.

Everything was done quite quickly as he requested and it was time for them to sign the marriage documents.

He did that as quickly as possible, and passed the papers over to her to sign.

Just when she was about to sign it, she paused for a long while almost like she was hesitating.

Karen kept staring at the papers, this was the point where everything would be finalized, yet all those earlier emotions were coming back again.

More questions kept flooding in.

Would she regret this? Was this even worth it?

She might have succeeded in hiding herself all this time but what if he saw her later on and changed his mind?

She had heard through the grapevine that he had married her for business purpose but what if she wasn't what he felt was befitting his business status?

She felt him nudge her.

" Sign the darn documents, don't embarrass me the media are waiting just outside to capture moments like this." He said leaning into her.

Oh! He cared about his image, how convenient, and yet he showed up late. She thought sarcastically.

She took a deep breath.

" Remember your family's debt and what signing this papers would do for them." He whispered once more to her ears.

Luciano felt that reminding her of this things would hasten her decision.

Well, he was right. This was for her family.

Her family. Her sisters especially.

She picked up the pen with shaking fingers and scribbled her signature on them.

It was now ** final**.

" Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Pavarotti!"

Karen heard the minister say, and she immediately felt like the whole world were crashing on her shoulders.

Luciano stood up and shook hands with the judge. He had been a friend of his father, and a good friend of his as well, having him to preside the wedding at such short notice was a huge favor he appreciated.

" Thank you judge Montgomery."

Luciano said smiling at him.

" You are very most welcome Luc, I hope you have a wonderful wedded life." The judge said smiling back.

Oh, he was going to see about that!.

He thought.

He turned to the bride's parents.

" I've prepared a little after party for you all, my assistant would take you to the venue, I'll make out some other time for us to meet properly." He said coming over to shake their hands.

" I'll have all the financial aspect sorted out as promised. You'll be cleared of all your debts." He said to the middle aged man, who happened to be Karen's father, a name he had only got to find out just today.

" Thank you Mr Pavarotti!" he replied.

He looked at the sisters, they were both beautiful.

Even though he couldn't see the face of whom he was marrying through those heavy veil, he could tell she was going to be beautiful judging by the looks of her sisters and parents.

They were a good looking lot.

Not like her looks mattered anyways.

The deed has been done.

Her sisters were both red hairs, with slender figures.

At first glance one could mistake them for twins but now he could see the slight difference in height.

He gave his most charming smile to them. The youngest of them looked like she had been crying for a while now.

" Thank you so much, I hope you take good care of Karen."

Mrs Smith, Karen's mother said taking both of his hands in hers while squeezing them and smiling at him.

He only gave her a reassuring smile.

" I'll run along now, I've still got some work to do." He said.

He turned to his newly married wife sitting at the corner quietly, like she was mourning her lost freedom. He wished she had picked a lighter material for a veil so he could atleast see her face.

" I'll have them drop you ** home** once you are done with your family."

The word sounded awkward even to his own ears.

Karen watched as he left, even before she could take a good look at him.

She had been avoiding looking at him all this time but now she was curious of what he looked like. She bet he looked every bit as his foul attitude.

She could already imagine how life would be living with such an asshole for a husband. How she wished her father hadn't gotten them into this mess in the first place. They may not be as rich, but they were content living their once peaceful lives.