Obey

Chapter Three- The First Night

The sound of steps approaching me from behind would force my back to stiffen with the wish to appear more confident than I was in this moment. In my attempts to rival his professional arrogance, I desired to show him that I remained unaffected by his money, presence, or his tries of continuous intimidation; even if I was unravelling inside to what remained firmly uncertain. But with the feeling of his eyes peering at me from beneath his desire to keep me on the edge of my toes, he was either ignorant or played the part well of being unaware that I was constantly in wait on my tiptoes whenever he was near. Not in arousal, but in fear of what it was he was truly capable of.

“Do you eat meat?” He would ask with a grin that made me question if this had been some form of bold innuendo spoken with the lack of cunning subtlety. But at the sight of the chef dressed decadently in black to match his employer, I allowed myself to believe it was simply an innocuous inquiry and nothing sexually sinister. Offering a nod, the men would then speak to one another in French until the chef would disappear into the archway that then separated us from the kitchen. As much as I would berate myself for feeling a flutter develop within my heart, it would overtake me for only a moment to how he would speak such a complicated language so beautifully and so fluently.

Aside from this initial question of my preferences, we would sit in silence for a lengthy torment before we were allowed the aromantic pleasure of our meals now carried to us on individual trays. The sight of a large bowl of soup would be garnished by a simple green leaf while a small side salad and a fresh bowl of fruit drizzled in a caramel sauce and whipped cream were now sitting before me as I was offered champagne-but chose water as I wished to remain sharp. But as I looked at this food, standing borderline on starvation, I was unaware how long it had been since I had taken my last meal and I was bursting at the seams to dig in to lavish food such as this. And yet, I wouldn’t.

“Something wrong?” He would ask as he saw me hesitate to lift the spoon to my lips as I was rushed with a horrible potential circumstance. But before I was able to allow my concern to be voiced, he would shake his head in disapproval or disbelief-even a mixture of both.

“You’re afraid to eat it?” He questioned while pushing his palms into the edge of the table, moved to me in a casual stride, and stood at my back for a moment, only to bend over my side and taste my food for himself. My peripheral vision would catch a single strand of hair to part from his otherwise reserved locks held up by his failing product, before he would return the spoon to the side of the bowl. But as I expected to find him to return to the seat across from me, he would instead collect his food and return now to my side, until now residing in the chair directly diagonal from me.

“Is that proof enough?” My eyes would rise to him as he would release a deep exhale.

“It’s safe.” He validated once more before bringing a fork of lettuce to his lips as it would disappear beyond his full mouth as I would pick at my own-still unsure if there was some way he could have bypassed a potential narcotic to force me unconscious so he could either have his way with me or simply keep me silent as I was not as complacent or fearful as he may have liked or had expected.

“I’m not some criminal mastermind, Aubrey...I just have connections to powerful people...and that makes me dangerous…” He spoke this in pride, well aware how he made a girl’s heart race to such words as even despite our attempts against it, there would be a form of excitement in any bad boy-even just from afar-and especially one trying hard to win one’s affirmations. But I was not easily swindled.

“I’ve noticed.” I muttered as he would shake his head in what appeared to be annoyance before chuckling in humor. He would turn to his own food, continuing to eat until half of his food was gone, until looking at me once more. I attempted to ignore him as I peered at my food for anything that looked suspicious-as if I would know the difference between ‘drugged’ food and something left untouched.

“Do I have to feed you?” My eyes suddenly shot up in his direction as he would possess my spoon once again. Only now, he would scoop it into the burnt red soup before holding it in front of my face. His eyes would narrow onto mine just enough to ask me some sort of question with this gaze and without a single word or confirmation, I would have sworn he was asking me if I was beginning to trust him. To keep him from believing so, I would reach for the neck of the spoon myself, brushing his fingers unintentionally in the process, our eyes remaining locked, until I pulled my focus elsewhere and kept to orgasmic attenion I now had on a bland dish made ethereal by a skilled hand.

I recognized the taste immediately as having been a classic tomato that had been elevated with some concoction of spices that crossed over my taste buds and into the recess of my throat. I would hide how impressed I was of course, as he would continue to watch me until all of my food was consumed and the dishes were taken from us. But during the entire consumption of my meal, I watched as he reclined within his seat or would rest forward on his elbows, playing with his bottom lip as if this action of me scarfing my face had been somehow erotic to him.

“I’m curious as to what makes you so...untrusting…” My eyes creased towards him in uncertainty as this question, although odd, was one far too deep to explain to someone who was truly no more than a stranger. But even if we had held a moment between us that was not elevated in volume or insulting in our choice of individual words directed to one another, I was not allowing myself to relax around him for even a moment. This would show in my response.

“Maybe the fact that yesterday morning, I woke up in my bed and now I’m married to a complete stranger who is holding my father’s life over my head as a means for me to stay put and not cause a riot...AND the fact he let my father get shot...But that’s just a hunch…” I spoke in sarcasm made up of more truth than humor, before finishing my glass of water as he copied my actions, but only to hold his smirk behind his own cup.

“Then let’s not be strangers…” His hand worked its way in the parted space between my legs where his thumb would rest a mere centimeter from my womanly dividends. He would pull me towards him until I was now close enough to feel the brush of his pants rest between my legs and his toes fall to the bar beneath my chair to keep me in place.

“Ask me anything…” Although I did not believe he would be honest on questions of a deeper meaning, I had hoped, if anything, that he would give me grounds to rival him; and so I would ask the one burning question that had remained in my mind over the last several hours.

“What did my dad steal from you?” This question surprised him and would even reign victorious in wiping that grin from his lips as I would now use my foot between his own legs, using this newfound stability to return my chair to my own comfort, before crossing my arms to await an answer.

“Anything else.”

“I thought you would love to tell me how messed up my situation is...I thought you would revel in it to know we barely get by...to know we hardly have enough to make a paycheck stretch and even with my babysitting jobs, it didn’t do a dent-” His eyes would narrow to this and turn away in confusion before returning to me.

“Or is what he stole just so minor to you like lives that you can just pick up another one-”

“Enough.” He spoke in dominance before letting out a deep breath.

“Ask me anything else and I promise to be honest...But do not ask me about that again.” Now collecting the bottle of alcohol left on the table, he would take it immediately to his lips and drink its remnants, before wiping his lips with the back of his hand, and returning his gaze to me. But as I would be unable to fathom another question, he would look at me in annoyance before rising to his feet.

“Let’s go…” Before I could even carry my eyes to him, he forced me to the soles of my feet by the forceful grip he held on my wrist, until I was now moving in his similar direction and into a car awaiting us outside. As I went to berate him for attempting to drive drunk, I would slide into the back of the vehicle to find him joining me at my side. We would sit in silence as he would not even lift his eyes to observe me, until the chauffeur stopped us in the shopping district of Miami’s nightlife which was bustling for it having been summer and the evening. My heart lifted with excitement as I believed this would be my golden ticket to escape as it would become easy to throw yourself into the crowd and become lost-but before I could try, we were taken in a secondary exit away from the mass of people, as this window of opportunity was getting slimmer by the second.

“Warren!” An enthusiastic woman spoke as she moved to my ‘husband’, whose name I would now learn for the first time coming from her lips, as she would press a kiss onto either side of his cheek, before looking at me.

“Alicia, this is my wife.” My heart both stopped and accelerated at the introduction as I knew I should have been sickened, and yet the look of pride cresting over his face when speaking of me had left me touched by his excitement to have me at his side.

“After our wedding, her suitcase got lost so I want her to have everything she needs…”

“Of course!” Suddenly I was pulled away from the group making up Warren and his goons who remained nameless, as I would turn my head to him in worry before being pulled to a standing closet of clothes. The fabrics were impossibly soft and the designs ranged from intricate and hand sewn to basic as everything remained incredibly pricey.

“I am dying to know the details of how you managed to get one of Florida’s-the world’s most eligible bachelors to marry you!” The woman spoke in excitement as she collected a series of clothes before shoving me into a dressing room and tossing clothes over one by one until an outfit was established. Meanwhile, she questioned my own upbringing, which I kept as vague as possible to protect my father, whereas the details of this forced courtship had been left as close to the truth as possible to protect myself.

“It happened rather quickly to be honest...But he went to my father and asked to marry me and it seemed to happen overnight…”

“I see…” She spoke in concern as I emerged with my first outfit; a pantsuit made up entirely of white cloth that didn’t even bring Warren’s gaze from his phone for even a second as I had expected him to have some form of input. This would continue for the next handful of outfits until I would return with his absence completely. This would be the chance I truly needed and so without a second thought, I sprinted out the front door of the shop and into the busy street before tugging on those closest to me. But in my attempts to bring aid to my situation, they would only look to me as if I had lost my mind. Eventually, I had made a divot in the crowd as they looked to me as if I had been a leper or a ghost that they had all come to see at once. Realizing I could not remain in this space as I would be uncovered by his goons, I continued forward until colliding into an unfamiliar figure that would be my last chance.

“Can you help me?” I asked in desperation as a man would turn to face me, unrecognizable, and therefore safe as far as I was concerned.

“Are you alright?”

“Do you have a phone? Could you call the police? I’ve-” Suddenly the feeling of a hand sliding itself from one of my hips to the other in an aggressive hold, I would feel Warren’s breath hot against my ear in threat as all kindness and softless he brought to my heart prior to this moment had been replaced with the familiar hostility.

“If you say another word, I will send Jaymes and Peter to your father within the hour where I’ll let them batter him to a pulp.” I froze at this image as Warren would introduce himself to the man across from us who looked to me in worry. But I would end up amazed at how quickly Warren was able to convince this man that I was emotionally unstable due to a loss in my family and therefore in a desperate need to get home. But the amazement didn’t come in the gullible man across from me who took to each word as a second part of a joining magnet, but at how my ‘husband’ had a way with words that almost even convinced me.

“Of course…” They would begin to part before offering a handshake to one another before the man called back to him. “You have my vote, Warren!” My eyes narrowed to him as I was pulled into the direction of the car without an answer to the questions I was pleading to have a response to.

“You can’t keep me forever, you know! Eventually someone will realize how miserable I am...something that can be less if you answered a question once every blue moon-” Suddenly he faced me, aggression in tow as he rivaled me.

“I have my own reasons for doing things, reasons YOU now fit in to. The only truth and answer I will give you-not that you’re deserving of it, is that if you pull something like that again, I will NOT hesitate to make good on my threats.”

“Then just kill me. If I have to sit across from you and be tormented with these threats and these thoughts that you put in my head about my father-just kill ME!”

“I need you!” He blurted as my lips parted in surprise. “Alive…” He quickly closed this sentence with the addition of this word as I would have sworn for just a moment I was allowed to witness a sense of desperation from his heart and not from his mind; if such a space existed in the black cavern of his chest.

“Tough!” I rivaled against him as the car would reach the driveway and I would be allowed inside before him, marching my way through the space, as he followed quickly behind me, until I faced him once again while we now stood in the bedroom.

“Why are you always so complicated after I’ve tried to make things as comfortable for you as physically possible-”

“And all I’ve asked is to go home! Whatever reason you need me, I’m sure you can find in ANY other girl! So go find it!” His jaw clenched.

“I can’t trust anyone else.”

“What makes you think you can trust me? If I had anyone come up and ask me who you are...I would tell them everything you’ve done...the night you stole me from my home...the way you threaten to kill my father just to keep me here! And even if there was a small chance I could somehow trust you...how can I when you never answer anything?!”

“If you would keep your mouth shut for two seconds, maybe I could-”

“You don’t get to talk to me that way!” I attempted to hit against his chest until he took hold of my wrists; one at a time, and pulled me into him.

“If you want me to explain, then let me.”

“Like you would tell me the truth!”

“You’ll find out soon enough...But if you interrupt me-even once, you’ll read about it just as everyone else.” I went to object as he would raise his brow to me in warning before tossing me gently into the direction of the bed.

“The circumstances your father and I made for you were not ideal for me...but they did present something I could use.” I remained silent in hopes this would offer me some form of answer in my jumbled mind as he would pause before slowly nodding to continue, seemingly pleased with my silence.

“My reputation was not the best in the past and I needed someone to help remedy that. Someone who I knew wouldn’t throw herself against someone else if cornered in a bathroom or littering social media with things that could get us both cancelled. I am running for mayor to make a change-whether you care or believe me, it’s why I need you here. In agreement to that, I have this…” He now moved across the room and to a desk I hadn’t seen prior to this moment. Pulling open the drawer, he now handed me the same manila envelope I witnessed at the courthouse.

“This is the deed to your house. In a year’s time, it goes in your name and you have every right to return to it. After a year of getting through this campaign, smiling at my side, and playing the part I need you to, you can have your life back-completely removed from me.”

“I’m not an idiot...they are going to question what happens when I’m no longer in the picture after a year-as if you’d just let me go-”

“Politicians f**k up all the time. I’ll spin something and you’ll be free of me...I promise...But if you do so much as sigh at an event that I need you to be smiling, I can tear that up in seconds-it is the only copy and then the house goes to the bank.”

“If I do this for a year... you’ll leave us alone?” He nodded.

“I swear it.” I c****d my jaw to the side in pensive silence before watching him move to the bed behind me, where I turned to watch him sit in his own quietude.

“Okay...But I want to make terms of my own-”

“This isn’t negotiable-”

“If you want me to do this...I need to be comfortable to appear like I am! It isn’t much and it’s something you can spare…”

After a momentary silence, he would finally nod. “Fine. But we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Right now, I’m exhausted.” He would begin to disrobe on his side of the bed as I quickly let out a scoff.

“What are you doing?!”

“Going to bed...I knew you were sheltered but did you sleep in a litter box or something-”

“Lay on the floor!”

“You!”

“After what you’ve put me through, don’t you think I can get one good night’s sleep?!”

“I promise I can keep my hands to myself.” His face suddenly developed a sense of mischief. “Unless you’re more worried about your own-”

“Fine. But tomorrow, we will negotiate.”

He nodded and slipped into the bed first as I would follow, turning my back from him in the hopes that this would be my chance at survival; even if an escape would be futile-at least for now, I could use this new knowledge to my advantage-and I intended to.