32. Violeta
I don’t need a knight; I need three men to tell me they choose me.
The loud pounding on my door scared the shit out of me. Lorenzo’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard and his condescending tone needed to fuck off somewhere the sun doesn’t shine.
“You hear me?” he shouted, already fed up with me.
I looked over at the hotel's clock. It was six-thirty in the morning. Lorenzo didn’t specify what time the flight was, but of course this asshole would choose an ungodly hour. It didn’t help that I had slept like shit. Sleeping with the guys for a few weeks probably ruined me for life.
Another obnoxious pounding on the door pulled me out of the downward spiral I was heading toward.
“Ok!” I snapped.
“Watch that tone with me,” he snarled.
“Oh, fuck off,” I muttered, throwing a pillow over my head.
“We are leaving in thirty minutes and you better be ready,” he shouted.
Fucking asshole, giving me thirty minutes was criminal. I was too afraid to look at myself in the mirror, with all the crying I had been doing and the lack of water and food. My face was probably puffy and splotchy. My stomach grumbled, reminding me it had been almost a full day since I had eaten.
Sitting up and throwing the covers off, I catalogued how my body felt. My legs were scratched up, and bruised, looking worse for wear. My ankle felt tender, but not as bad as yesterday, it even looked a little less swollen. I rotated my ankle, feeling a slight twinge, even if it did look better.
I walked slowly to the bathroom, testing my ankle, telling myself it was better, but I didn’t know if it was. With too much weight on it, a sharp pain shot down my foot and made me flinch.
“Fuck,” I said, reaching the bathroom. “It’s ok, I just needed to elevate and ice it. I’ll be fine.”
This was my mantra as I got ready. Another shower made me feel a little more human and even if I didn’t have time, I put in curl cream, and scrunched it until I had loose waves.
There was only enough time to fix my unruly brows and a touch of concealer to mask these bags under my eyes.
Was this my new reality? Would every day feel like climbing over a mountain, feeling trapped and hopeless?
If this was how our marriage was going to be like, there was no way I could stay with him.
I had to figure something out when I got back to the states. This was no way to live.
The significance of my decisions weighed heavily on me as I grabbed my things to place in my bag. I stopped myself from crying a few times, missing the guys, hating the cruel world for giving me a glimpse of happiness and yanking it away.
“Violeta, now!” Lorenzo pounded on the door. “And you will wear this dress!”
“Excuse me?” I yelled, opening the door.
Lorenzo stood there holding out a summery dress that matched the tie he was wearing. I scrunched my nose, not hating the dress, but what it meant and who I would belong to.
“I will not wear this dress for a ten-plus hour flight,” I growled.
“You don’t have an option,” he snapped, shoving it towards me. “You have five minutes to dress and—”
Lorenzo turned around, grabbing a sleek new piece of luggage.
“Throw away that hideous thing you call a bag and put your things in here,” he said, walking away.
I opened my mouth to say something, but what the fuck could I say?
I was his bitch for the time being. I changed quickly into what he brought me and put strappy sandals on that weren’t as bad as I thought they would be.
I instantly hated how put together on the outside I was, while I was hurting on the inside.
The luggage he bought me was big enough to pack everything and even though my bag was not the prettiest, I didn’t want to let it go. It held everything for me these last few months and I had started putting patches of all the places I had visited on it. I’d be damned if I had to leave this.
Taking one look around my room, I made sure I had left nothing. Lorenzo was on the phone as I exited my room, looking distraught, speaking in Spanish.
“Yes, I understand. I’m not stupid. We are leaving today and I will let you know when we arrive.”
He ended the call, looking up at the ceiling, sighing, clearly stressed out.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said, catching his attention. “You don’t want to marry me.”
“What I want doesn’t matter anymore,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
He opened the door as a man came in, taking my bags from me.
“I’m taking this,” I said, keeping my backpacking bag.
“Violeta,” Lorenzo snapped.
“Lorenzo,” I snapped back. “I’m shipping this home.”
I walked towards the elevator, hoping to make it down before him, but I wasn’t that lucky.
“That bag is useless,” he murmured, as the elevator took us down.
“I’m already marrying you, don’t make me give up everything,” I sighed, wondering how far I wanted to push him before he retaliated.
“You think marrying me is giving up everything?” he scoffed. “You will live a comfortable life and if you want, stay home to do as you please. I’m only asking you to marry me, give me a child and be presentable.”
“If you think that’s so easy to do, why don’t you fucking pop out a baby and stay home with them?” I clenched my jaw. “I’m sure I could work enough to support all of us, be gone all day and come home like I’m doing you a fucking favor.”
My eyes stung, unshed tears threatening to escape.
“Violeta,” he snapped. “This is what you agreed to months ago.”
“Me running away, should have been a clue that I don’t want this,” I said, as the elevator doors opened. “I agreed because I thought you were still that same boy I loved when we went to college, but life has changed you and not for the better.”
I walked off, heading to the front desk to see if they could ship my bag back home.
The manager was very accommodating and assured me they would be able to send it home for me.
The throat punch at the end of our conversation was her calling me Mrs. Villalobos.
I stared at her as my new reality sunk in, I was going to be this asshole's wife if I didn’t figure something out quickly.
The man who grabbed our bags escorted me to a car out front with Lorenzo already inside and on the phone.
Reluctantly, I got into the car, wishing I had my phone to distract me.
The drive was quick, barely giving me a chance to prepare myself for what was about to happen.
Leaving Greece and going back home meant I had failed, just delaying the inevitable.
A very well-dressed woman greeted us as soon as we were let out of the car.
She spoke to Lorenzo in Spanish, taking our passports from him and telling him about the amenities in the lounge.
I walked behind them, trying to keep up, even though my ankle was on fire, as she led us into a separate entrance that had our own security line.
Everyone in line looked wealthy and had their own personal guide.
I immediately felt like I didn’t belong and I wondered if this was what the rest of my life would feel like.
The guys were obviously well-off, but being with them never felt like this.
Seeing the snobbery of wealth was extremely off-putting and how they spoke to their guides was disgraceful.
We walked through a metal detector and it took us all of ten minutes to get through security.
Our guide led us to the lounge, leaving us at a table that had our last name on it.
“Mr. and Mrs. Villalobos, enjoy your flight with us and let us know if there is anything we can do to make your flight with us more comfortable,” she said in Spanish, handing our boarding passes and passports to Lorenzo. “I will come get you when it is time to board.”
“Gracias,” I said, when Lorenzo said nothing.
A simple thank you wasn’t that fucking hard.
She bowed, leaving us. The lounge was big, but still felt intimate. There was a buffet of food in the middle with two chefs who looked to be taking orders.
“I need to make a phone call,” Lorenzo said, pulling his phone out. “I trust you will stay here?”
I nodded, looking over to the food. “My foot needs to be iced. I need coffee and food.”
He glanced down at my foot, leaving without saying anything more and I went in search of coffee. There was a counter with a barista that had a line I really wasn’t in the mood to wait in.
“Brown sugar shaken espresso?”
My heart skipped a beat when I thought I heard Ruwon’s voice. I turned around, immediately seeing my actor holding out a coffee toward me. My mind went blank as I threw myself at him, catching me with ease.
“What are you doing here?” I cried into his shoulder, anxiety spiking my chest, feeling tight because I only had moments before Lorenzo came back.
“I’m sorry,” he said, holding me tighter. “I never should have let you leave. I should have—”
“Nonsense,” I said, pulling back and wiping my eyes. “My bullshit shouldn’t ruin your life.”
“Violeta, you could never ruin my life,” he said, cupping my face. “If this ruins my career, then so be it, but I think we could all walk away from this with everything we want.”
“What are you saying?” My heart fluttered with endless possibilities running through my head.
“I’m saying, I want this, us together: Levi, Matteo, you and me. I don’t know how it is going to work, but I want to try.”
I searched his eyes for the truth, wanting this to be real so badly, but another part of me left because he shouldn’t have to blow up his life for me. He was the only one here for me, and I tried not to think too hard about it.
“I can see you spiraling,” he said, kissing my forehead. “Matteo and Levi are here and we aren’t going anywhere. We are a package deal and I know that's a lot, but we think you're worth it and more.”
Butterflies erupted as I looked for the guys, immediately finding them at the table with Lorenzo. They were deep in conversation, making my anxiety spike once more.
“Everything is fine,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I know you can’t fully trust us yet, but I promise we are going to fix everything.”
“Ru, this is insane, you guys can’t bargain with him,” I said, my lips trembling.
“Oh baby, you don’t know how hard Matteo and Levi can bargain with a man who has nothing to bargain with,” he said, leading me to the table.
“Ru,” I said, wary that everything I was hoping for was going to come crashing down.
“You have no proof,” Lorenzo snarled.
“Then how did I find this?” Levi opened a folder, handing the paper to Lorenzo, who was red in the face. “Oh, hello, Reina. I’ve fucking missed you.”
“Bella, you look gorgeous,” Matteo said, grabbing my hand and kissing it. “Our demands are almost done. After that we can go home, you look uncomfortable.”
I didn’t know what to say regarding their confidence.
“Fuck,” Lorenzo whispered, but we all heard.
“I have paperwork going back ten years,” Levi said, handing Lorenzo more paper. “Now, here are our terms and conditions.”
Matteo slid over a paper. “I need you to sign this and hand over all the photos you have and if something ever comes out, we will sue and we will release everything.”
I wanted to ask what they had on Lorenzo when Levi caught my eye, shaking his head and blowing me a kiss. My lips twitched from wanting to smile.
“This is everything I have found, and from what it looks like, your dad has been dirty dealing for years,” Levi said. “I suggest you pull away immediately and protect yourself because if everything I have comes out, neither of you will see life outside of a prison cell for decades.”
“This is all fake,” Lorenzo snarled. “This is…this is fabricated.”
“Do you really want to take that chance?” Matteo said, his lawyer persona up front and center.
Goddamn, he was so sexy like this. Levi had a cocky smirk and Ruwon’s hold on me tightened. I should have been worried, but the way these men were handling Lorenzo, I couldn’t help but fall for them more.
“I…need to speak with my—”
“This is a one-time only offer,” Ruwon said, bringing Lorenzo’s attention to us.
“If we leave and you haven’t signed the paper, we are releasing every document we have, the moment your pictures are sold or published.
Losing my job is a small price to pay to see you and your father go to jail after you’ve been assholes to Violeta.
We know your marriage is a cover-up for what has been happening and you’re hoping her company will pull you out of the hole you’ve dug yourselves in.
Sign it or don’t, no skin off our back.”
“Are you ready?” Ru asked me.
I nodded, speechless.
“You won’t release it,” Lorenzo said quickly. “You will bring shame to her family if they find out she’s with three men. You think her family will ever want her back?”
“Oh, Sweetheart, my father and mother don’t love me,” I said truthfully. “I’m only worth something to them if they can use me for their own benefit. After I left you, well, let’s say they could not have cared less, but I expect three boyfriends is better than one who is stealing from them.”
“Violeta,” he said quickly, looking between the guys. “I think we need to speak alone.”
“Not a chance, asshole. Go fuck yourself,” I said, leaning against Ru.
“Sign it now,” Matteo said, pushing the contract to him again. “We won’t offer it again.”
“This is unfair, this is my livelihood we are talking about,” he said, looking panicked.
“You had no problem ruining ours,” Ru said. “Sign it, last chance.”
“Sign it, Lorenzo. Don’t pay for your father’s mistakes,” I said, hoping to get through to him.
“Sign it,” Levi said, getting up.
“Come on, Gongjunim; let’s get your things and go home,” Ruwon said, pulling me away.
“You are more than what your father says you are,” I said, having a feeling this was all his father’s fault.
I let Ru pull me away, hoping Lorenzo did the right thing. He had changed and I knew it was because of the business and his father. Maybe one day he would be that man he used to be, but I doubted.