Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
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Hadley
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My brain hurts, and that’s putting it lightly.
I spent all the time in the car trying to get out of the situation.
How much do I say? Do I tell them about Tatiana’s allergic reaction?
Mrs. Neal threatening me with a large sum of money to stand in for her daughter, who needed urgent medical help in the meantime?
Maybe Mrs. Neal threw me under the bus. And now I would have to face off with Tatiana, their bride. And she’s going to rip my face off because I listened to her mother and married them on her behalf. But doesn’t she know it means nothing? She’s still their bride.
Maybe they’re just kidnapping me to another country just to appease their new bride. I should just shut my mouth until we reach Italy and see what’s in store for me. Yes, that would be the best thing to do.
I try to be as compliant as possible when they load me onto their lush private jet, hoping they’ll put in a good word for me with Tatiana. Also, is she better already? She must be, and she traveled overnight to Italy herself.
My strategy to stay silent was no hardship at all. I was served the best-tasting meal in the world, and then I took the most luxurious sleep ever and woke up a new person in Italy.
Show time. My silence served me well, but now I need to gather my wits and face the Neals. Hopefully only one of them. Two would be a war.
The villa is nothing short of a sun-drenched, quaint little palace. I’m so in awe of the place; my eyes sparkle against the terracotta facade, surrounded by gardens that just take my breath away.
But no. I can’t be awed. I’m going to face an execution squad, and I need to have my defense ready.
How am I going to get out of this? Mrs. Neal made me do it.
She did. She said she would make my life very difficult.
It’s true. But also, why am I really here?
No harm, no foul—isn't that the saying? Yeah, I’m going to be roasted alive.
For a moment, my panic is so consuming I contemplate running off into the countryside, adopting a new identity and living out the rest of my life in a small fishing village.
But I’m startled out of my panic when I see Cristian carrying my bags. The ones I was supposed to take with me to the Maldives. Paradise, I won’t be coming after all. Hell, here I come.
I’m shown to a large, airy living room, the furniture chic and vintage and so fitting.
If I expected to see Tatiana or Mrs. Neal or both waiting for me there, I was wrong. Things are going to get real very soon.
Except there I am standing in the middle of the room, wringing my hands, while the three of them are just so relaxed as their gazes’ glide over me. As if they can’t look away. As if they’re undressing me.
I cannot afford to lose my mind right now. I need to know what the Neals have said so I can react accordingly. But minutes go by, and still their bride hasn’t arrived yet. Is she making me deliberately stew?
“Umm... Tatiana... I mean Mrs. Skycrest here?”
After marrying the three billionaires, Tatiana was going to take the name Skycrest, which means she’s the Skycrest bride; her husbands are Edison, Cristian, and Dayton.
“We’re looking at Mrs. Skycrest right now,” Cristian says.
My brain flutters off for a second before the storm hits every single neuron in my system. I force myself to calm down. It’s okay. They’re playing with me.
“Mr. Dunn, Mr. Harvey, and Mr. Watson, I have no idea why you brought me here to the villa where you should be honeymooning with your bride, Mrs. Skycrest. All I can think of is that it might be a misunderstanding. So I’ll just get my bags and be off.
I hope you have a fabulous honeymoon,” I say, trying to back out toward the exit.
That isn’t going to work. Edison, arms folded over his broad chest, is blocking my way. I could just knee him in the balls and make a run for it.
I don’t, because I’ll lose.
“You don’t know why we brought you here?”
“Not in the slightest. It’s totally unnecessary, and I really should get going.”
“This is where we’re supposed to be on honeymoon with our bride. Where we’re supposed to take off her clothes and suck on her nipples until she begs us to fuck her sweet hot pussy and fill her with our come,” Dayton says.
My mouth drops open. I try to close it; it opens further. My ears are so hot; my hair is going to catch fire. I’m not going to think about what Dayton's words did to my own nipples and clit because that should not have happened.
Mrs. Neal explained in passing that once Tatiana fell pregnant here in Italy, she would bring out her pregnancy with her mother in London, without her husbands. It’s a marriage of convenience thing. A rich people's way of doing things. Not my business at all.
“And I’m sure Mrs. Skycrest would love that,” I say painfully.
“Do you?” Edison pushes off the frame and comes toward me.
I try to step back until I’m trapped between him and the back of a sofa.
“Mrs. Skycrest?” He places his finger under my chin.
I see stars with my eyes wide open. He’s going to kiss me.
My panties are too soaked already. My knees have turned to jelly.
But he doesn’t kiss me.
“You are Mrs. Skycrest, Hadley. We married you,” Cristian says, and I fall for his voice all over again. Of course they knew.
“Look. You have no idea what happened. Is Tatiana here? Just let me speak to her, please.”
“Why would we have another woman here? You’re our bride and right where you should be.”
Oh boy.