Just One Kiss (The Town of Pearl 8)

* * * *

“I hate you. I hate all of you. You can’t make me marry you. It’s not legal. You lost!” she screamed at Derek.

Derek backhanded her across the mouth, and she nearly fell off the chair she was tied to.

“Let’s move on with this and be done with her. I’ve got a hair appointment in a half hour,” her mom said as she stood there in her fancy outfit, high heels and all.

“How could you do this to me? I’m your daughter, your only child. You know he drugged me and raped me, and he raped that other woman too. How could you force me to marry him? For money, for social standing?” Lucia cried out.

“Get on with it,” her father said, waving his arm in the air. The older man behind Derek placed the papers down on the table.

Derek grabbed her face and squeezed. She moaned in pain. “You stupid bitch. You’re just like all the others. You’re going to complain about me drugging you and fucking you yet you spread your legs for four men. You’re trash, and when this is done and we’re officially married and I collect what’s coming to me, I’m going to get rid of you. A nice clean kill and then I’ll collect your inheritance too.”

Lucia spit at him.

“What inheritance?” she asked him.

Her mom bitched at Derek.

“Shut up, Derek, and get the pastor you hired to marry the two of you to do it and witness these contracts.”

“What inheritance?” Lucia asked as she stared at her mother.

Her mom stomped closer and gave her a backhand across the mouth. “Your fucking grandfather left you a fortune. A fortune that should have been left to me, not you. The moment he knew I was pregnant he changed his will and left it all to you. I’ll have nothing left because of you,” she spat at her.

Lucia was beginning to put it all together. By marrying into the McMillian family, her mom and dad gained their money, but also Lucia gained the inheritance she didn’t even know she had from her grandfather. Derek would share that, too, but they probably had a plan to steal that as well. If she died, of course he would get it. He was her husband.

“Begin,” her father yelled at the pastor.

The older man looked at her. She could feel her cheeks swelling, and her lip was bleeding. This was it. She was going to be forced to marry this monster that would steal her money and then kill her to steal more money. All while her own mother and father watched and waited for their cut. She felt so hollow inside, so empty, and then she thought about her men as the priest continued to go through the motions of making the marriage between her and Derek legit.

“I’m in love with Maxwell, Salvatore, Lucifer, and Gabriele. Know that I love them with all my heart, my body, and my soul. That’s something none of you could ever take away from me. Ever.” Lucia yelled over the pastor’s voice as he went on with the ceremony forcing her to marry Derek. She kept repeating that she loved them and not Derek and that Derek could never make her marry him. It was illegal and unethical.

“You are now husband and wife.”

Derek grabbed her by the throat and forcibly kissed her. He squeezed her throat so hard she thought he would kill her right here when the doors burst open and men came swarming inside.

She didn’t recognize any of them and didn’t really care as she coughed and felt like she would pass out. But then she heard what sounded like Russian, and then Maxwell’s voice.

“Lucia!” he yelled. She was slumped in the chair, unable to do anything but cry as she saw Maxwell, Lucifer, Salvatore, and Gabriele.

“Baby, God, that bastard.” Salvatore stood up and decked Derek, who was being held by two men.

“We’ve got this. You don’t worry about anything but getting your woman home and cared for,” Fenton told them.

“But what about them? What will happen? How will we stop them from coming after her again?” Lucifer asked Fenton.

“Ask Mrs. Higgins. She’ll explain.”

* * * *

Gabriele was cutting the rope that kept Lucia bound to the chair. She felt his warm breath collide against her skin. She inhaled his cologne and the scents so familiar and comforting to her. Maxwell lifted her up into his arms and held her against his chest. Lucia closed her eyes and willed the pain, the fear, and the worry from her mind and just focused on the fact that her men had saved her. They all left the warehouse and headed to the waiting SUV.

She wanted to hide her face. She felt so ashamed to be so meaningless to her own parents that they would force her to marry a man who even told them he would kill her when it was all said and done. What had she done to cause these people to hate her, and to have no emotions, care, or affection whatsoever for her? Tears rolled down her cheeks and her throat clogged up with emotion. She wanted to hide forever and was grateful for the dark interior of the vehicle.

On their way they called Wyatt, and Doc would be waiting at their house to look Lucia over.

“It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Lucifer’s strong deep voice washed over her.