Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Liana
The wedding reception feels more like a funeral.
Well…to me at least. To everyone else around me, I maintain the face of an excited bride.
They would never know inside my blood is boiling.
They wouldn’t have known how badly I wanted to slap the smug look off of Rio’s face as we stood at the altar together.
They wouldn’t have known how fake the white of my dress was, that my innocence was lost long before today… and to my husband no less.
‘Dear God, how could I be so naive?’
I look around and take in the expensive ballroom that has been rented for this occasion.
Every surface gleams so shiny it feels almost blinding and every glass clinks with a sound so sharp it could shatter my eardrums. I’m overstimulated, I know it, and I’m slowly suffocating.
Guests around me fling their arms in wild, sloshing toasts.
They’re already drunk off the expensive liquor, their voices rising with each new song.
For them, it’s a party but for me…it’s a stage.
My mask doesn’t slip, not once. My cousin Andre would be proud if he knew the inner turmoil battling inside me.
I want to scream, but I won’t. So I make my rounds, my smile locked in place as I collect congratulations and well-wishes like I’m built for this, like wearing “Mrs. Sanchez” around my neck isn’t so heavy I could choke on it… if I don’t choke him first.
My body moves automatically as I talk myself into each act.
‘Accept the congratulations, murmur your thanks, bow your head just enough, step onto the dance floor when summoned…‘
I go through the motions like a robot. Rio tries to catch my eye multiple times but I turn away before his gaze touches me.
I’m effectively trying to ignore him. Keyword…
trying, because when I think it’s safe, I stare him down, taking in every hard ridge of his face and body.
I can’t help it. Even with anger scraping raw at my nerves, I still want him.
God, I want to hate him too, but that doesn’t matter. Both feelings coexist within me.
He makes several attempts to pull me aside into some empty space to talk but I keep myself distant, always shifting away easily. Until we have our first dance as husband and wife…
Rio’s hand extends towards me with a mix of determination and something else I can't name in his eyes.
"May I have this dance?" he asks but it doesn’t sound like a question. It’s a clear demand.
I look at his hand, then back up at him, my expression unreadable.
I want to tell him to take this dance and shove it up his ass.
I've been dreading this very moment all night but I can feel the weight of the entire room watching us right now, so I won’t dare do anything stupid.
After a moment of tense silence, I place my hand in his and let him lead me to the center of the dance floor.
The music wraps around us like a cocoon and he pulls me so close to his body I can feel every hard part of him.
My thighs immediately clench together as I suck in a sharp breath.
My body betrays my brain. Rio chuckles lightly which only pisses me off further so I dig the tips of my nails into the back of his neck as we sway and feel a slight sense of satisfaction in hearing him hiss in pain.
“You’re only making me harder, Datura,” he whispers into my ear and the feel of his hot breath on my skin sends a rush of warmth straight to my core.
I close my eyes and try to steady my breathing.
‘Smug asshole.’
As we sway in a carefully measured dance, Rio breaks the silence again.
"I know this isn't how you envisioned our wedding day," he begins, his voice barely audible above the music. "But please believe me when I say that I never wanted to hurt you."
‘Of course this isn’t how I envisioned our wedding day, you moron.’
The thought enters my head hard and fast. I envisioned this day marrying some old, ugly man.
I envisioned the satisfaction of knowing he wouldn’t really get my virginity because I had chosen who to give it to myself.
I envisioned being sad and missing Frankie, secretly hoping for one more rendezvous.
Instead, I’m standing here, in the arms of a God.
I’m wrapped in the strong embrace of the man who not only gladly took my virginity, but also tricked me into falling for him in the process.
And I hate him for that. I hate that I can’t enjoy this moment because he stole it just as much as he stole my innocence.
‘He never wanted to hurt me.’
I scoff inwardly at his words, feeling a surge of anger rising within me.
"Hurt me?" I retort, my tone laced with bitterness. "You've done more than hurt me, Rio. You've shattered everything I believed in."
His grip tightens slightly on my waist forcing me to meet his gaze head-on.
"I know I can't undo the past, but I'm willing to make amends," he says. His tone seems off. It’s almost as if he’s calling a truce…like we are in some game neither of us will win. I don’t like it. I pull away from him slightly, a bitter smile playing on my lips.
"Amends? How do you plan to do that, Frankie…Rio? What do you prefer I call you now? Will you have a new name tomorrow?" I challenge, my voice dripping with so much sarcasm, I even surprise myself.
Rio's expression darkens at my words, his jaw clenching in frustration.
"Don’t be ridiculous," he replies firmly. "We need to talk about us, about our future…together."
I let out a humorless laugh at his audacity.
"Our future? Are we pretending I even have a choice? Could I…?”
“What?” he growls out, sending a chill up my spine.
And I should be scared but I’m so pumped up on reckless adrenaline that my emotions override my brain.
“Leave…could I leave if I wanted?”
The tension between us crackles like electricity as Rio’s grip tightens on me further.
I’m sure I’ll have bruises by morning. I look around frantically, praying no one is watching our exchange too closely as he leans in again speaking low.
His voice may be low but I can feel every ounce of anger simmering below the surface and it sends a shiver up my spine.
This isn’t the Frankie I grew to love. This is Rio Sanchez, heir to the Sanchez empire, and I’m not so sure I really knew what I was getting into until this very moment.
“I think you may not realize who I am and where you were sent, baby girl, so let me tell you. You aren’t going anywhere, not now, not ever.
I warned you before you handed me your innocence on a silver platter.
I’m not a good man and I won’t pretend to be.
I didn’t want you and you didn’t want me, yet here we are.
Now we can make this an easy arrangement or we can make it a difficult one but I promise you one thing, Little Datura. I’m going to enjoy it either way.”
Before I can even think of a response he grips my chin firmly and pulls me into a brutal kiss.
It’s commanding and hard, as he forces my lips to part and sweeps his tongue inside my mouth, stealing my breath.
It’s forceful, sending fear ricocheting throughout my body.
It’s a promise to deliver what I can only imagine true fear would be and it leaves me quite literally shaking as he pulls away and the sound of the entire room erupts into cheers.
He walks away leaving me scared and confused because even as he scorched that promise onto my lips before walking away, I still feel the heat between my legs pulsing as my core clenches uncontrollably. I’m absolutely soaked.
‘I’m so screwed.’
Relief washes over me when I slip away and find Sasha, Andre’s girlfriend, tucked at the far edge of the crowd.
She’s the calm in my current storm of chaos and the peace I need in this moment.
Her laughter echoes in sharp bursts, as she shares memories of my life before Arizona consumed me.
I didn’t get to know her for very long and the thought makes me sad.
My cousin and her are going to have this whole life without me while I’m stuck here in limbo.
Once she finishes catching me up on the craziness I missed, I decide to do the same and tell her everything.
I tell her what Rio did…the lies he spun around me, how he set me up and how every part of Arizona is as fake as I imagined it would be.
Sasha listens eagerly, assessing the situation and when I finish, she squeezes my hand and grins low and sly.
“Make him pay for it. Milk it. Make him grovel.”
She means it as a joke, but something in her voice says she isn’t kidding.
“I want to but…”
“But what, Liana? You still like him, don’t you? I can see it in your eyes. Maybe it wasn’t the game you think it was.”
I ponder that for a second but still find myself annoyed with the situation.
“I do care,” I say with a sigh. “But I’m angry. He played me. He strung me along…and for what? I could never trust him again because the truth is I fell into something…but it was with Frankie, not Rio.”
“Liana, look at me,” Sasha says, drawing my eyes back to hers.
“You have two options. You either sit and wallow in your sorrows or you make him squirm and enjoy every damn minute of it.” She looks over and my gaze follows before my eyes meet Rio’s from across the room.
“And something tells me, you’re going to enjoy it very much. ”
She laughs but I can’t hear anything else over the beating of my heart. The way Rio looks at me, like he could devour every part of my soul, makes my insides melt. She’s right about one thing. I’m going to enjoy him squirming very much.
Movement catches my eye and I watch as Rio’s security team slips over to him out of nowhere.
Someone bends to whisper in his ear and the mood shifts instantly in the room.
I watch the lines set in Rio’s jaw, his casual demeanor flickering off as the true cartel prince surfaces.
He signals for his brothers, the atmosphere changing immediately.
It doesn’t take long before Rio is suddenly standing next to me, gripping my arm tightly. Andre and my cousins appear out of nowhere.
“What’s going on?” he asks as he eyes Rio’s grip on my arm.
“We’re leaving. Security issue.”
Before I know it, we’re gone before I can say goodbye to anyone.
As we drive through the night, the tension in the car becomes unbearable. Rio's gaze flickers to me every now and then, his expression unreadable. Finally, unable to bear the silence any longer, I speak up.
"What's really going on?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
He sighs heavily, running a hand through his dark hair.
"It's complicated.”
I shake my head, frustration bubbling up inside me.
"There you go again…treating me like a child. I may as well be back in Italy."
“You’re not going back to Italy,” he growls out as I watch his hands grip the steering wheel.
I don’t respond to him. Instead I cross my arms over my chest and stare out the front window. Eventually he relents when he realizes I’m not going to speak.
"Fine. The truth is, there's a power struggle within the cartel right now. My position is being threatened, and they probably will see you as a way to get to me."
My heart pounds in my chest at his words.
"So this threat tonight was because of me?"
Rio nods grimly.
"Maybe. I’m sure they will want to use you against me, leverage in their game for control."
I mull over those words as we pull into a hotel that looks like it was meant for royalty.
My stomach lurches. I don’t know why but for some reason, our wedding night hadn’t crossed my mind during this entire drive.
You would think I would be fine but for some reason, I’m more nervous than ever.
We already had sex after all. But that was with Frankie, not Rio.
And I know they are the same man but my heart and head aren’t seeing it the same way right now.
I drag my feet behind him as we are led to a set of large doors.
He looks the same, but he isn’t the same…
is he? Will tonight feel like the first time all over again?