Chapter 4 Runaway Bride

This was happening all so fast. Vincenzo pulls me towards a table with three men and a woman in total already seated.

In less than thirty minutes, all the papers were signed, I was barely present in the room when it was all signed and done.

"Seraphina?"

"Uhh" I jump at his sudden voice.

"What?"

"Come on, we are done here." Vincenzo says. "The after party is in an hour."

"So?" I ask him.

"You need to take pictures and change." Vincenzo says and I watch him like he was crazy.

"Why did you then have me wear this gown if it would just be for a court wedding, it's not even a court wedding since you so lovingly brought the lawyers to us." I tell him getting pissed.

The man raises his brows up. "I thought you women liked your wears all extravagant and all." My glare turns to him.

"Well you should have asked before assuming on my behalf." I say in annoyance dusting my hands on the very nice gown.

"But you do like the gown don't you?" Vincenzo asks in amusement like he knew something.

Well, I was in love with the dress, it made me feel like an actual queen. I just don't like the unnecessary hassle for a marriage I didn't even want.

"I do not want to change." I tell him instead.

"Okay, if you say so." Vincenzo says amused and I huff.

I need to leave before the reception, I have no time to change.

"Vincenzo, I'll be right back." I say with a small smile on my face.

"Where are you off to?" Vincenzo asks watching me weirdly.

"To the bathroom." I answer already walking away and he nods at a guard.

"I do not need a guard in the bathroom." I simply state, Vincenzo coldly watches me and then he nods again to stop the guard.

I drag Tiana along with me.

"Where's the back door?" I ask her.

"Back out the kitchen."

"And where is the kitchen?"

"Right behind the dinner table, the maids are all off for the day, getting past the kitchen is a piece of cake if we can find a way to get your husband out of there." Tiana says.

"Okay." I nod nervously.

"I've the seen the property, it's way too huge, I wouldn't be able to run, especially in this dress, I'll get caught." I say biting my fingers.

"You don't have to run, what if you hide and then when the thorough search is done, we can find a way to escape, no one will suspect that you would still be here." Tiana suggests and I nod.

"There's a ranch house far out from the back door, everyone will think you must have run towards the main gate, no one would suspect that you would still be around the plantation." Tiana says.

"why does he have a ranch house here and how do you know so much about this place?" I ask Tiana absentmindedly.

"I-I- got lost this morning and I came upon the ranch house." Tiana stutters out.

"Thank you." I say holding her hand.

I head downstairs. I sigh in relieve when I no longer see Vincenzo in the room.

A loud bang and glass shattering noise comes from up the stairs and I take that as my queue as the guards run up to check the choas.

I quickly trudge out the back door, picking up my dress in my arms as much as I could and running towards the small ranch house Tiana told me about. The ranch house looked extremely shabby and stuffy. I find somewhere clean to sit making my plans to leave later at night.

I have no idea how I slept off on the dried grass floor but when I wake up I hear scrunching sound of a foot behind me. I freeze in fear.

Oh fuck me!

I try to run but a hand comes up from behind me, covering my nose and mouth.

"Uhm, what do we have here?" The voice ticks in amusement. "From your dress, you must be my brother's much long awaited bride, my brother did not tell me he was getting married to such keen beauty." The voice says as he grips my nose and mouth even tighter. I slam my hand against his, struggling to get away.

"Now tell me, what might you be doing here? You have caused quite the uproar outside." The man says chuckling as he gets up dragging me to my feet and dragging me all the way outside.

He puts me onto his shoulders ignoring my loud screaming and assault to his back, chuckling the more I hit him.

He suddenly dumps my body unto the floor like a heavy sack and I groan in pain.

"Brother look what I found running away." Those words has my heart thumping hard, knowing that Vincenzo was not too far from me. I hear familiar footsteps till his delicious scent fills my nose.

"I wasn't running, I-I got lost, I just wanted to tour around the place, I was bored and then I fell asleep." I say quickly my eyes finding Tiana's shaking and horrified expression as one of the guards held a gun to her head.

"What are you doing?" I ask turning to Vincenzo, I subconsciously wince, he looked like he was trying to restrain his rage.

His fingers trail past my exposed chest, sending a shiver down my spine, he trails past my ear to my hair, a loud yelp falling past my lips at the harsh tug of my hair.

"Your sister here just told me something entirely different Seraphina, did you try to run from me?" Vincenzo asks and I immediately shake my head.

"It seems perhaps I have been too lenient with you." Vincenzo says pulling my hair even tighter.

"We are late for our reception, get her next dress ready, we leave in ten." The man orders, his eyes going over the filthy ruin I made of my once pretty wedding dress.

The maids take a defeated me upstairs and demand I get dressed but I was too overwhelmed to move.