The Child Bride

Ch-1- All For A Name

Ch-1- All For A Name

“Hello! This is Marin Vasquez, I am a bit busy at the moment so please leave a message- Unless you are Carter, Carter, just text me baby-I’ll always be up for you, Haha”

The phone beeped just as Don pressed the cancel button. The words wash over him in long waves, the voice message repeating over and over in his head even though he knows he has cancelled the call. But the name resonates, ‘Carter just text me baby’- Carter. Don blinks, tries to get the words out if his head, tries to tell himself that he already knew this, there is no reason for him to react this way, but yet the message can’t be erased, it goes on and on, taunting him insistently.

He throws the phone to the wall and in shatters quickly on impact.

He still can’t get the voice out of his head. Carter, she was with Carter now.

“Again Boss?” he is interrupted from his own thoughts, he had failed to notice the door opening as he was too busy staring intently at the wall.

“Matt” he greets his head of security, he must have heard the phone shatter, and seeing that Matt’s eyes were already focused on the scattered screen and plastic pieces littered across the tiles of his home office Matt knew exactly what Don just did and what lead to his sudden fit of rage. Over the years Matt has grown to become more than just his employ, Matt was his trusted advisor and took up the role of his recently vacant best friend most days.

“Everything alright there Boss?” He enquires cautiously even though they both know the answer to that question well enough.

“I-It’s fine, I am fine- I am sorry” he thumps his head down on his desk, he stays like that for a few good minutes, letting the omnipresent headache burn, hoping that somehow the pain numbs the rest of his emotions or erases the still repeating words out of his head. When he finally dares to look up it’s to search for the familiar bottle, just to see that it’s empty and sigh out loud. “You should head out. You are probably done for the day” he informs already getting up from his chair to grab another one.

“Boss?” Matt’s walking closer now, and just as expected he cautiously stands in front of him, blocking his path to the cooler before he can grab another bottle. “Donnie- Come on Man-” he pushes, looking at him with eyes too wide for a man who has seen just as much as Don has.

He isn’t sure when his silent shadow turned into his pseudo-caretaker; the fact that he woke up in critical care a couple of months ago after a few too many shots might have something to do with it. After all, Matt’s job description is to have his back; the guy’s job isn’t made easier due to his overflowing addictions.

“Just- Not today Matt, go home” Don tries, even though he knows Matt won’t be quick enough to take the order. There is a familiar arm thrown across is shoulder, pushing him further away from his destination.

“You should call it a day too Boss, I think you are done. Besides I am not the one with a pretty, young wife, you shouldn’t let the poor thing go to bed all alone” Matt teases, and Don knows that he is teasing but yet the mentioning of the new stranger in his house wearing his name stings at his chest.

“How is she?” he finds himself asking, he hasn’t seen her in maybe the past weeks, not since they came back from their presumed ‘honeymoon’ which also mainly consisted of Don getting drunk and his child bride avoiding his very shadow. She could have run away for all he knows, and maybe he hopes she did, but he knew better, he has people all around town and he presumed Matt would let him know if she did make a break for it or shot someone.

“Silent” Matt says after a while, choosing his words carefully “I don’t know what I expected but she is different, I was pretty sure it was either gonna be Bossy Mrs. Carllone running the house or an angry little spitfire trying who hated all of us, she caught sight of my gun on the way here, from the way she was staring at it I was sure she was gonna take it and shoot you before she even stepped in the house” Matt grins at him easily, it eases something off but yet his chest still stings.

Don manages a silent smile. His interaction with his wife had been the very minimum, mainly because he had found a kitchen knife under her pillow the night they were forced to spend together. He was mostly drunk but he recalls handing her a credit card as compensation and telling her in less than polite terms to stay away from him. And when they did get back to the Carllone house, a place a good five hour flight away from the dreaded Devitto mansion he had took her from, he had told Matt to give her the furthest room from his. As long as she stayed in town, came back home and acted as his wife in the very rare occasion where they both were in public she could do whatever the hell she wanted and it wasn’t going to be any of his business. In return she gets the power of his name, money and clothes and whatever the hell girls like her got from marriages such as these.

“And yet there have been no attempts at my life” Don sighs out, waving out of Matt’s grip and heading back towards the cooler to grab what he wanted. Matt opens his mouth for a second but doesn’t try to stop him this time.

“She’s barely left her room Don. She asked for a laptop and the internet password, ordered a couple of cheap T shirt and jeans online with your card, everything less that one of your suits costs and nothing fitting the Carllone bride. But yeah, other than that she’s been pretty much dead to the world” Matt shrugs.

“It’s been weeks since we came back” he points out, he is not sure about what exactly teenagers do these days, but three weeks is a long time not to step out of the house, but at least it means he won’t have to see her if he did dare to get out of his own office anytime soon.

“I don’t think she knows that Boss” Matt says again, seemingly contemplating something, “I don’t think she knows she is allowed to step out of the house. I don’t know what you told her, but she is terrified, she tries to put of a brave front but I can tell she is waiting for the moment one of us jumps her. She is surprisingly innocent for a Devitto” Matt informs.

He doesn’t really care about his child bride being a hermit, in fact he would prefer that as she won’t be his problem and he doesn’t intent to go near her at all, but Don can’t comprehend the idea of her being afraid, she had always been defiant, she had the guts to try and kill him the day they were married for god’s sake but yet he remembers the crying baby as it’s mother was shot right next door, thinks of the bruises and the gleaming faces of the Devitto family, the crude and sadistic words of encouragement her step brother, a man just a couple of years older than her, had given him before his wedding night and thinks maybe Matt does have a point.

“You should go talk to her, Boss” Matt suggests, Don in turn glares at the man, “I get it alright? She is a kid, and you are still hung up over Marin, and that’s okay but she could be dead for all we know and we wouldn’t know until one of the maids go in to clean the room. Just tell her it’s okay to step out and show her face, that we won’t shoot her for going out of the house once in a while because I am sure you would have scared her shitless in your drunken rage” he points out, stepping away from the pathway to the door as if to clear his way.

“Why can’t you do it? Trust me she knows you better than she knows me” Don deflects taking a large gulp out of his newly opened bottle, the look of extreme disappointment on Matt’s face isn’t unnoticed.

“She is your wife, Donatello” Matt is curt, a hint of harshness evident due to Don’s attachment to the bottle of liquor.

“Not to me; as far as I am concerned she is still the screaming baby seconds before her mother was murdered” Don points out easily, shrugging away Matt’s unnecessary apprehensions. But Matt doesn’t give in quite as easily, foregoing the disappointment for something sterner that Don is sure Matt got it from his Ma “I don’t- What do I even do?” he relents at last.

“Well you can start by putting the bottle down” he suggests, the slightest hint of a smile appearing on his friend’s face.

“It’s late, she’d be long asleep by now” he notes, he takes another long gulp before he even considers Matt’s words. “Maybe in the morning” he decides.

“You’ll be too hungover by morning to remember your own name” Matt keeps on pushing, as if he is completely unaware of why he was avoiding the said child bride “I don’t think you are the only one forced into this, Donnie” he adds. He isn’t sure what exactly Matt is implying, because there is no scenario where this is going to work, he can’t see anything other than a screaming baby every time he looks at her.

But he must mean something worthwhile because Don finds himself putting the bottle down and making his way into the newly resided guest room, Matt tailing behind him with keen focus, he doesn’t even try to hide the fact he is checking over his gun just in case. Don just rolls his eyes, paranoid or not she is still just 18.

He only realizes that he is pointedly seeking her out after threatening her to do the very opposite when he is standing in front of the guest room door. The door is old and wooden with finely crafted designs on the edges, definitely his Ma’s selection much like the rest of the house, for a second it’s easier to admire his mother’s preferences in woodwork rather than admit the truth to himself. It’s been easy, ignoring that there was another person in his house, if he didn’t have to see her it was easier to forget that he was married to a stranger, but then again his life had never been easy.

He had his fate written when he was 11 years old, but he had always dared to hope for more, always thought that it was just a fictional little idea everyone had in their head and once he was older the idea of an arranged marriage on the basis of business contracts would seem impractical. They lived in the 21st century in a well-developed country with a higher thought process, things had changed drastically but it seems families of old blood such as his, or the Devittos didn’t get the memo, so when the time came it was either give up every notion of a happy future he had with the love of his life and marry a strange child or lose everything his family had built over the last few decades because he couldn’t keep his father’s word.

In the end he chose for the sake of the Carllone name, let go of the one woman he ever loved and ended up with a brand new bride.

He raps his knuckles at the door, then opens his mouth to call out to the girl just to realize that he doesn’t even recall her name, he remembers ‘Anna’, the way her mother had screamed it out loud all those years ago, but he is sure that she was called something else, the Devitto family obviously did not leave the decision to the dead mother. It’s hilarious he think, that fact that he can’t even remember his wife’s name, he had never really cared enough to do so.

“Cassandra” Matt evokes the word in his head, obviously noting his dilemma. It sounds familiar enough and he is in no mood to doubt Matt’s words at the moment.

“Cassandra” he calls out, forcing his voice to remain firm. Cassandra Carllone; that was her name now, the word stings even worse as the sense of wrongfulness overwhelms him.

His knocks gets harsher, irrational anger fueling out in any way it can, it doesn’t help entirely and he is sure it’s not a smart idea to face the kid when he is partially drunk and partially fuming all because she had the right to wear his name.

When the door opens, it is sudden enough that he almost leans forward and falls over, his coordination hasn’t been top notch in a while, not when the alcohol rarely ever leaves his system these days, not that he is complaining because without the alcohol he has to face things much worse that his lack of coordination.

He is not sure what exactly he predicted to greet him, maybe a teary faced girl who has been crying herself to sleep or her fuming anger lashing out at him the way he wants to lash out at her, maybe even the terrified little girl that Matt is sure of, but yet the face that greets him is just tired, sleepy and -considering the way he just barged into the room- she flinches back startled, almost hiding behind the door but it’s not really out of fear.

She doesn’t look a lot like her mother, not from the flashes he recalls about the red faced lady, not much like Aldrich Devitto either. She doesn’t look much different from the skinny, bruised 10 year old, she is skinnier if anything, a few inches shorter than him, is all dark hair and brown eyes, while the rest of the Devittos are almost devilish when it comes to their looks.

She blinks at him, slowly making her way from behind the door once she takes a good look at him, as if making sure he isn’t about to jump at her, but yet she keeps her distance.

“Cassandra” he repeats her name, mainly because he doesn’t know what exactly to tell her without once again shouting at her like he did all those weeks ago. It’s not very effective either because the name makes her frown even harder.

“Casey, its Casey” she is quick to correct, her eyes hardening into a glare that is aimed at both him and Matt. He still remembers her as Anna, something about a dying mother’s last words tends to stick in his mind, but he highly doubts how that would help her right now. Not when she still looks at them like they are both out to get her.

“Right, I need to talk to you” he manages to say at last, Anna- Casey opens her mouth, there is a cross look in her eyes which reveals a childish mirth that tells him she is about say something sarcastic back, but yet she catches herself at the last second, closes her mouth and simply nods.

Don motions for Matt to leave them alone, Matt looks hesitant at the command and almost protests before he relents and takes a few steps back. He doesn’t really know why Matt is being paranoid, from what he can see there is a laptop on the bed, the charger cord attached to the socket, the sheets are a mess and there are way too many pillows than necessary, other than a couple of books by the windowsill, a few messy T shirts by the closet and a half eaten sandwich on a plate there is nothing else in the room, so unless the kid intends to hit him with laptop there is nothing dangerous for her to use.

She is messy, which is confusing because is a bride, wife, adult but then he also recalls she is a baby, kid, 18 and suddenly the state of her room and her hesitancy to come out does make sense. At 18, despite the drug use, s*x and interest in armory he doesn’t think he would have been any different, but yet it’s not what he expected.

She is still looking at him warily, making sure there is a large distance between them and insistently clutching onto the door, as if to make sure it remains open and then all of a sudden her hesitancy and guarded stance finally makes sense.

“Jeez- kid I am not going to f*****g r**e you!” he clarifies quickly. He swears under his breath for not realizing it sooner, no wonder the kid was avoiding him like the plague, afraid to step out of her own room, for all he knows the only thing the Devittos ever told her to do was spread her legs and pop out Devitto- Carllone babies for the world to see.

“You’ll have to forgive me for not trusting the drunkard with the anger issues” she snaps back almost unexpectedly, that he is shocked enough that he takes another long look at the kid. He can already imagine Matt smirking outside, obviously having heard it and he thinks, he might really have read the kid wrong. “Sorry” she murmurs back a second later, not meeting his eyes once again. Her hold over the door thickens.

Matt was right, they really should have had this conversation sooner and maybe with more words rather than throwing a credit card at her face and scaring the kid into keeping her distance, but he is clearly not drunk enough for this though.

“Listen kid-I don’t know what they told you-“ he starts just to be interrupted halfway.

“They told me my sole function in life is to pop out your babies, I obviously don’t agree” she interrupts, once again seeming hesitant with her words, but this time she does meet his eyes.

“Well I don’t want your babies. I hate children, you included- Trust me kid, touching you is the last thing on my mind okay? I meant what I said that day, you-you can live your life, as long as it’s within the premise of this town, you take one of my men with you and you inform Matt or anyone in the house where you are going, you have complete freedom. You just need to come back and not get killed because I really don’t want to be stuck with another child bride” Don snaps out and watches the way the kid’s eyes widen, obviously not trusting his words.

“Look we are half way across the country, the name Carllone or Devitto doesn’t really mean s**t around here. I have worked all my life to remove the blood and crime from my family name, for the most part we are clean, at least around here so no one is gonna give a damn about you or care about who you are married to” he assures, trying his very best to keep his voice calm. “The catch is when the time comes you are going to have to be my wife, in front of people, in front of your family. The only reason I married you is because I can’t afford to have your family pull out their shares from my company right now, you get that?” he asks and the kid hesitantly nods.

“Good, because we are done then and hopefully we won’t have to see each other again anytime soon. You can do whatever you are doing, just tell Matt if you need something- Do you need something?” he asks for the sake of asking, already stepping away so he can leave. She doesn’t say anything for a long while, just stands there clutching the door still mistrustful of him, Don almost steps out of the room thinking that’s it before he hears her voice again.

“Can I go to college?” the question is rushed that he has to take a few seconds to think back on the words for it to make sense.

“What?” he is mostly confused because that wasn’t what he was expecting out of her, usually women ask him for a car, or a beach house, a pair of expensive shoes or jewelry at the very least.

“I- It’s – Uh- I’ve got the grades and I already applied and got accepted, and there is this university just a few miles out- within town, it’s uh- it’s not bad, they have a famous faculty and lot of kids that it’s easier to blend in and they have a good Veterinary program-” she starts speaking in lighting speed, stuttering over her words until she looks at him again and her face falls, once again a guarded expression taking hold of her features, “You know what?- It’s fine never mind. I am good- Thanks for everything” she changes her words instantly rushing to close the door before Don exerts a foot between the doorframes and stops her.

She once again flinches, and the defensive posture of her eyes is obvious that it tells him that there is way more to this kid than what is seen on the surface.

“No, I-That’s good, you’ll have something to do- Get the papers ready, Matt will take care of it” he assures, feeling something soften in his chest rather than the constant anger and bitterness at her very name.

“You don’t have to” she says, but he can see the desperation and fear there that he almost rolls his eyes at her; he has to remind himself who exactly is the teen in the situation.

“It’s better than you sitting her, making a mess out of my house and plotting ways to kill me” he says easily, and he thinks she smiles a little, but she is quick to hide behind the door again when Don finally steps out.

He was just about to let her close the door, so she can go back to whatever she was doing, most likely watching something from the laptop that was on her bed, and he can go back to his bottle, but before she does lock the door he notes the shade of her eyes, holding too many emotions for someone her age and he finds himself speaking up again.

“What the hell do they have on you?” he wonders out loud, because there is no way in hell this kid agreed to marry a man a decade older than her for the money and fame, she doesn’t want anything associated with the Carllone name, three weeks at one of the largest mansions in the state and all she has done was stay in her room and watch shows on the internet and buy cloths that his Ma would have a second heart attack over.

She looks at him earnestly, and she must find whatever she was searching for in him because she doesn’t look so scared anymore.

“They have everything” she admits.

It’s not much to go by, and even if he asks further she doesn’t look like she would be very forthcoming with the information, not with the way she quickly slams the door shut in front of his face, but yet he feels the sting in her chest ease off a little more. Don doesn’t know what exactly it makes him, but he is glad to know he isn’t the only one miserable in this marriage.