Knight in Shining Suit (68 page)

I sighed. There was one
dream when I was younger. The first wedding idea that sparked my
passion for wedding planning.

“
Tell me,” Ryder
said.

I shook my head. It was
such a long time ago. I was barely a teenager then. I was just a
kid who hasn’t even graduated from reading fairy tales.

Ryder pushed me back to
bed and started tickling me. I laughed.

“
Ryder, stop!”

“
Come on! I can do this
all night!” He laughed and then he relentlessly tickled me in spots
he knew I was most sensitive.

I wriggled away from him
but he refused to let me go.

“
Okay! Okay!”

He stopped and collapsed
on the bed beside me. He gathered me in his arms and let me rest my
head on his chest.

I took a deep breath and
then I closed my eyes, picturing what I thought was
the
dream of dreams
weddings.

“
When I was younger, I
used to picture a wedding in a huge estate… with a huge garden.
Flowers in bloom everywhere. The ceremony would be in the middle of
an orchard, surrounded by trees. It would be like a fairyland. When
the bride walks down the aisle, there would be a rain of flower
petals. Then at night, all the trees would be illuminated by lights
like they’ve been infested by fireflies, and then there would be a
fireworks display.”

“
Fairyland wedding,” he
said. “Suitable to seal the deal on your ‘ever after’.”

I giggled.
“Yes.”

He tilted my chin up so I
could look at him.

“
Now, I like
that
idea!”

My eyes widened. “But
Ryder… that will be very expensive!”

He raised a brow. “So? I
intend to marry only once, love. Why not go all the way? If you had
to plan the wedding of your wildest dreams, with unlimited budget,
what would you do?”

“
But Ryder… we don’t even
have a location for that. Where could we find a large estate that
has a forest or a garden that’s huge enough to pass up as a
fairyland?”

He smiled and pulled me to
him. “I think I know exactly the place, love.”

The next day, Ryder took
me for a ride.

“
Where are we
going?”

“
My grandmother’s house,”
he replied.

“
Your grandmother’s? You…
you never mentioned her before.”

“
Well, she’s in heaven
now,” he said. “But she left my mother her estate. Just check it
out.”

It was a little more than
an hour drive. Then he stopped in front of a steel-gated estate. He
blew the horn and waved at the CCTV camera. Immediately, the gate
opened. We were entering a huge property. My jaw dropped. It was
not just a mansion. It was almost like… a freaking
castle!

“
Your mother owns
this?”

Ryder nodded. “Soon we
will own it too, along with Paris.”

I stared at him, unable to
believe what he’s saying. “Who lives here?”

“
Butlers… maids,” he
replied. “We come here for short breaks at least twice a
year.”

He parked in front of the
mansion… castle… estate… whatever you call it. A man dressed in a
suit greeted us.

“
Mr. Ryder, good day.” He
greeted. Then he looked at me and smiled. “Madam Astrid. It is nice
to finally meet you.”

“
Good day Ben.” Ryder
greeted him. “Sweetheart, this is Ben. He takes care of the whole
estate.”

I smiled at Ben and
extended my hand to him. He shook it. I was actually surprised that
he knew who I was.

“
To what do we owe the
pleasure of this visit?”

“
Astrid wants to see the
whole place. If she likes it, we’re going to hold our wedding here
in a couple of months.”

Ben smiled. “Then I shall
take you on a tour. A wedding has not been held here since Mr.
Ryder’s grandparents got married. It would be our utmost pleasure
to host yours.”

The whole estate was
massive and completely impressive. The front of the house has a
vast garden filled with flowers of different kinds and colors.
There are two lavish fountains standing side-by-side each other and
sculptures of angels and cupids adorn every corner.

There are two other
gardens at the back of the house. One is a labyrinth. I couldn’t
resist going inside it. There are benches inside the pathways, as
well as lamps and posts to make it suitable for walking at night.
The whole structure was only about two feet taller than
Ryder.

The center of the
labyrinth was an even more picturesque garden with beautifully
landscaped plants, cut knee high, and form patterns of circles and
hearts.

I couldn’t believe what I
was seeing. I can barely believe I was still in New York. God, I
cannot even believe I was still in the human world!

Ryder and Ben led me out
of the labyrinth and we proceeded further into the estate. They led
me to a line of oak trees. Some branches were intertwined together
to form an arc over the pathway. The end of the arc lead to what
looks like an orchard, surrounded by very tall trees that shade the
whole area, allowing only a little of the rays of the sunlight,
even at noontime.

We walked further, until
we reached the lake at the end of the entire estate.

“
We can get swans to swim
here on the day of the wedding.” Ryder whispered.

I stared at Ryder. Tears
were brimming in my eyes. “Seriously?” I asked him.

He nodded. “It gets
better,” he said.

“
There’s more?”

Ryder smiled. “Guess what
comes out here at night?”

I smiled, looking at the
beautiful line of flowers and shrubs that border the entire estate,
separating it from the lake.

“
I don’t know what else
could top these. Unless you have fireflies here at night
too.”

Ryder didn’t answer. Ben
smiled. I stared at both of them.

“
Oh my God!” I breathed.
“Seriously? Fireflies?”

Ryder’s eyes twinkled.
“So, has the future Mrs. Ryder Van Woodsen found her fairyland
yet?”

I nodded. I lunged forward
and hugged him. “It’s perfect,” I said. “Just like you… it’s
absolutely perfect.”

***

The following months
zoomed by so fast. Maybe that was because I was too busy. I kept
Nicole on her toes as well. Janis and Paris would come to help once
in a while.

Ryder made Nicole
in-charge of the wedding budget. I strongly argued, but I didn’t
win, two against one.

“
If you handled the
budget, it would alter your creativity.” Nicole said to me. “You
stop your wonderful ideas once you tally the bottom
figure.”

Ryder agreed with her. “I
already told you. Wedding of your wildest dreams, love. Nothing
less.” He looked at Nicole. “Don’t even give her the subtotals.
Send all the bills to me.”

Nicole smiled radiantly
and gave me a triumphant look. She had a couple of
out-of-this-world ideas that she wanted to try, and she was using
my wedding as a guinea pig.

A month and a half before
the date, a very elegant, Swarovski-adorned, white and gold scrolls
encased in crystal glass tubes went out to the guests, inviting
them to our big day.

A few days before the
wedding, the girls planned for my bachelorette’s party, which was
held in Ryder’s grandmother’s vast estate.

On the same day, Ryder was
going to have his bachelor’s party. At first, I was nervous about
what they were going to do. I knew Bryan was planning to do his at
a strip bar. I knew it was tradition to go to those places for
bachelors’ parties, but I somehow couldn’t help being worried about
the fact that Ryder might be with another woman. And I hated that
thought… tradition or no tradition.

But in the morning, I saw
Ryder in his hiking boots, preparing some camping stuff.

“
Where are you
going?”

“
Bachelor’s thing,” he
replied.

“
In hiking
boots?”

He laughed. “What did you
think, love? Strippers and one night stands?” I glared at him. He
laughed again. “I promise. No monkey business,” he said. “Jake,
Adam, Derek, John, and I are going camping in the woods close to my
grandmother’s estate. We’ll trek, we’ll fish, we’ll enjoy the
fireflies and we’ll get drunk. Then we’ll head back in the
morning.”

“
Why would you do
that?”

“
Because that’s what I
wanted to do before I got married,” he said. “Something that I only
used to do when I was a boy with no responsibility in
life.”

I smiled at him and gave
him a hug, quite relieved that I didn’t have to worry about him
being with somebody else.

But it seems that my girls
have planned the complete opposite for me. They wanted me to have
the whole bachelorette experience. From liquor, to kinky-looking
cakes to blindfolds, and really slinky, revealing lingerie
presents.

After they revealed their
presents that seem to lack in material and leave almost nothing to
imagination, they blindfolded me and told me to sit in the chair
and just enjoy the ride.

“
Strippers!”
They screamed and the music blasted from the
stereos.

“
Guys! Please! Ryder’s
grandmother might still be here watching us!” I pleaded.

I don’t like this at all.
I have never been with anyone but Ryder, so I won’t really be
missing out on anything when we get married.

There were cheering all
around. The girls were going wild. Suddenly, I felt hot breath on
my neck. I almost screamed. Masculine hands touched my nape and I
felt a soft kiss on my right shoulder.

Now, I really
screamed.

“
Stop! Please stop!” I
pleaded to the guy. I will not allow this! I raised my knees up my
chair and wrapped my arms around my legs. I was almost in the brink
of crying.

“
Come on, sweetheart!”
Janis said. “This guy is expensive! Make it worth our
money!”

“
I’ll pay you back!” I
shouted. “Just please make him leave!”

They laughed again. They
kept encouraging the guy to touch me. “Come on! Her fiancé won’t
find out! Touch her!”

I felt hands on my waist,
then on my thighs, forcing me to sit properly. I felt cold hands on
mine and they were pulled behind me.

“
Sorry, sweetheart.”
Dannie said. “We can’t have you resisting the ride of your
life!”

“
Ryder!” I whispered.
“Where are you when I need you the most?”

“
Come on, Ash! One man all
your life?” Somebody asked. And I recognized that as
Paris.

“
That one man is your
brother!” I cried desperately.

She laughed. “I won’t
tell.”

“
Guys, stop this!” I
pleaded to them. “I don’t want this.”

“
You don’t know that.”
Nicole said. “You just might enjoy it!”

Just then, I felt strong
arms wrap around my waist and I was lifted from the
chair.

I started kicking and
trying to get away. But damn he’s strong! I was being lifted again
and tossed over a muscular shoulder like a piece of sack. The man
walked and I knew I was being carried away from the room. I could
tell that the guy was shirtless. I kept kicking and struggling but
he held my thighs securely over his shoulder.

“
Make her scream, okay?”
One of my traitor friends said.

“
Make every penny count!”
Another one added.

And suddenly, I could only
hear my friends’ faint voices. I landed on soft mattresses and I
knew that I was placed down on a bed, in a separate bedroom. I got
even more scared because I suspect that we were alone.

“
Damn you! Stay away from
me! My fiancé will kick your ass!” I screamed.

I was pushed on the bed by
a force that is a lot stronger than me. I struggled, but he held me
perfectly in place, pinning me between the mattress and his body.
It didn’t help that my hands were tightly cuffed behind me. The
combination of Dannie and handcuffs proved to be
dangerous.

Why are my friends
allowing this?

“
I will scream rape!” I
said, almost shouting.

Somehow, I know that the
guy was laughing at me, but he didn’t even make a sound. He reached
for my hands behind me and suddenly the cuffs went off.

I prepared to punch,
scratch and inflict pain, but he was ready for me, too. He captured
both my hands and held it securely above my head.

“
I will pay you! Ten times
what they paid you.” I pleaded when I knew I wouldn’t be able to
escape.

It didn’t seem like he was
listening to me at all. I was pinned securely on the mattress, his
thighs covering mine. One of his hands was securely fastened on my
hip to prevent me from escaping, the other was holding both my
hands above me. I felt his hot breath on my neck again. I
squirmed.