The Billion-Dollar Marriage Contract (20 page)

“Last chance, Demakis. Do it!”

“No!”

“Have it your way then.”

The leader then reached into his pocket and withdrew a jagged knife. He approached Nikos with an evil glint in his eyes and waved the knife in front of his face.

“Let’s see if you’ll still look that pretty when we carve the hell out of your body,” his captor said and then all the men inside the room chuckled.

**********

Cassia jerked awake when she heard Nikos shout and felt the chains binding them together yank her arm. She felt his body twisting in their cold, dark cell and she instantly reached for him. Sweat covered his forehead and also his entire body. She squinted against the dark and saw that his eyes were closed.

“Nikos!” she shouted as she shook him awake.

He was still screaming and she was afraid that any time now, their kidnappers would come to investigate.

“Nikos. Please. It’s all a bad dream,” she explained when he finally opened his eyes.

The feral look was back in his gaze and his eyes looked terrified. Cassia forced him to look at her and she gazed deep into his eyes.

“Nikos. It’s me, Cassia. You’re fine. It was just a nightmare.”

The tension in his body eased a little bit and he started to look around his surroundings. He focused back on Cassia.

“No...it’s not a nightmare. We’re here and in the same situation so it’s all real...”

Cassia winced at the pain in his voice. Good thing it was dark or he would’ve seen the pity in her eyes. Nikos was a proud man and she was sure he would not appreciate those emotions for him.

“It may be real. But you said we’re going to escape here. I believe you, Nikos,” she said to calm him.

The lights were switched on and brightness flooded the room. After a few seconds of adjusting, Cassia was able to see every inch of their cell once more. The door to their cell opened and two trays of food were pushed inside.

Cassia was so thirsty that she began to reach for the water. Nikos stopped her by grabbing her hand.

“That may be drugged or poisoned.”

Reluctantly, she huddled back to her corner.

“Suit yourself.” The young man who brought their dinner shrugged.

“Hey, Jason, get your ass back here!” one of the other men outside shouted.

The boy who brought their dinner rolled his eyes and cursed.

“Coming!”

Jason
continued to curse and mutter insults about the other men as he pushed the second tray inside Cassia and Nikos’ cell.

“
Those good for nothing assholes just sit on their asses all day doing nothing and they get paid thrice of what I get.
Fucking damned unjust world
,” the boy kept on muttering.

He placed another glass of water inside their cell.

“It isn’t poisoned lady, you can drink that. They don’t pay me enough to poison your food,” Jason informed her before he turned around and left.

The lights were switched off and they were plunged into darkness once more.

“I think he may just be our way out of here,” Cassia whispered after the boy left them.

“Maybe...”

Nikos thought hard for a few seconds.

“...if we play our cards right.”

November 20,2013
Unknown Island in Greece

“Tell me about yourself,” Nikos told Cassia after they were silent for what felt like hours.

A day may have passed, and they were still stuck here. She was bored out of her mind, but she also did not want to talk to Nikos. They needed to stick together to survive but she still couldn’t get over what happened between them in the past. She could be civil to him but that was still a far cry from being friends.

“Why should I?” she replied.

“We don’t have anything better to do, and I know you are bored.”

She sighed and finally relented. For the next hour, she told him all about her shop and her passion for design. He was a great listener. He never interrupted her but gave his opinions and inputs when needed. He also commended her for being able to go far.

Over time, she found herself relaxing and telling him more. At first it was just general facts but after a while, she told him the problems of her shop. She was surprised when he gave her excellent solutions based on his business expertise.

“Where do you live? Is your permanent residence your apartment in New York?”

“Yes. It is the most accessible one. I fell in love with that apartment the first time I saw it.”

“What I am thinking is that your apartment, even though it’s one of the most expensive apartments in New York, is still nothing compared to the other eight estates that you bought. Yet you chose not to live in one of those.”

She rolled her eyes and huffed in irritation.

“Nikos, those estates were donated to charity. Seven of them are now orphanages and one of them is a safe haven for stray cats and dogs. I bought all of them with the money I got from my shares to the company.”

She could have slapped him and he wouldn’t have been more shocked than how he was feeling right now.

“You bought those with your own money? Then what about the yearly allowance I gave you?”

“Still sitting in the bank account you opened for me. I never touched them. Well, I did once when I needed money to start my shop and pay off my college tuition, but I repaid it in double plus the interest when I started earning.”

“Why?” he asked incredulously.

“I never wanted your money. Contrary to what you believed all these years, I am not a gold-digger.”

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. His wife was an irritating woman, but he was also finding out that she was a complex one. He was right with his assessment of her the first time they met: she was different than the women of the elite circle, including all the gold-diggers and social climbers that he dated.

At first he wasn’t that jaded when it came to women but after dating several with the same attitude and inclination, he just grew tired. Another factor that influenced him was what happened to Antonio and his ex-fiancee, Mara.

Nikos took her hand and linked his fingers with hers. Then, he frowned.

“I remember at the party I asked you about rings. Where are yours?”

Cassia raised an eyebrow. “Where’s yours?”

“It’s in my safe in Greece.”

“Then that’s also where mine is. Along with all the baubles you asked your assistant to send me for my birthdays and our anniversaries for the past ten years.” She shrugged.

“What? Why?”

He was close to losing his mind at this point. He wanted to reach up and pull at his hair in his frustration.

“I mailed them back to your assistant the day after our wedding when I flew back to America. I mail whatever your assistant sends me back the very same day I receive it.”

“Why?”

She glared at him and retorted, “The same reason you aren’t wearing yours, Nikos. Our wedding is a sham. It’s nothing. I want nothing from you.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true,” she snapped.

“During the period after our engagement when we were supposed to get to know each other, I found out that we had nothing in common. I told myself our marriage was doomed from the start. But during our wedding night when you showed me your passion and told me about your life, my view changed. I actually believed it could work out. But you and your grandfather ruined that with all your lies.”

Cassia laughed hysterically.

“I thought you were the sun and the moon. I was so infatuated that I was blinded. I couldn't wait for the day that we were going to be married! I only realized I was wrong right after Antonio told us you were drunk on our wedding day. My grandfather told me that he just forced you to marry me so you wouldn’t lose your company. Unlike you, I believed in us right from the start. That changed when you showed me what kind of man you were the next day.”

Nikos sighed. They were back to that story, again. What’s more, she was blaming him!

His first reaction to everything she said was to scoff and call out her lies but he remembered that he promised to bury their past and move forward. Maybe he could give her the benefit of the doubt for now and see where her story was going?

It was hard but it wasn’t impossible.

He looked at her hazel eyes to see if there was any trace of a lie.

There was none.

“What would Costas gain from lying to you?”

“I don’t know. He hated me ever since. Maybe because my father ran away with my mother? They say that I look like my mother and maybe he sees her in me. For that, maybe he wanted to punish me.” Her tone was indifferent but he could see the pain and anger in her eyes.

“Your grandfather told me that you wanted me, and since he loved you, he offered a merger in return for marriage instead of ruining my company.”

She snorted. “He doesn’t love anyone but himself. He planned everything from the start. Maybe he told you that he bought you for me so you will hate me even at the start of our marriage. Which you did, by the way. I think he made sure we will
never
be happy.” She leaned her head against the stone wall. “Maybe he was hoping that you’d treat me badly because of his lies. Then it would follow that I’d grow unhappy and file for a divorce.”

Nikos exhaled slowly. If everything she said was true then Costas Andrade truly was the devil incarnate.

“Or maybe I was right about what I thought the day after our wedding. Maybe Costas told me that you didn’t care if I went to my mistress because he hoped that one day you’ll catch me and file for divorce. If that happened, then I would be at fault in the courts and as per our contract, I would lose the company.”

“I guess you’re right about that too,” she sighed.

“Cassia...I am turning my back on everything negative I’ve known regarding you. I am willing to give this marriage a chance. I am willing to put my full trust in you and believe everything you tell me. Please do not lie to me.

“I never lied to you, Nikos.
Ever.
You chose to believe my grandfather but not me. Tell me why everything is my fault?” His mouth opened to reply but she continued, “I fancied myself in love with you, remember? You were my whole world...” She looked straight into his eyes.

“...why would I lie to the man I thought I
loved
?”

The lights were switched on and the boy who brought their meals came in.

He opened the door slightly and pushed the tray of their food inside. Cassia gasped when she saw that his left eye was purple and swollen shut. His cheek was also bruised and his lip was cut.

“What happened to you?” she asked.

“None of your business, lady.”

Nikos accepted the tray and sat near the bars of the cell. “You can tell us anything. If you need to vent your anger or talk about it, you can tell me. I have nothing better to do with my time,” Nikos whispered.

The boy sighed and Cassia was surprised when he sat down.

“I failed them. They ordered me to go to a bar with them and deliver cocaine to a buyer. I did everything they told me except checking the money. All of it wasfake.” He sighed and banged his head against the bars.

“I really needed that money,” the boy added.

“How much was the cocaine?”

“About twenty thousand euros.”

Cassia’s gasped at the amount and her eyes widened when Nikos took off his gold, diamond-studded Rolex watch and handed it to the boy.

“Sell that and you’ll be able to repay them. There will still be extra for whatever you need the money for.”

The boy’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened as Nikos’ closed his hand over the watch. “No! I can’t take this!”

“You can and you will. Use it for what you need.
I only hope that it’s for a good cause.” Then, Nikos stood up and returned to the corner of the cell. Cassia watched as the boy sat there stunned. He never took his eyes off the watch even as tears filled his eyes. After a few minutes, he hastily wiped away his tears and got up and left without another word.

The next morning, Nikos woke up screaming again.

Cassia shook him frantically and he saw the relief in her eyes once he finally became alert. He then realized that something was different. The lights were on and he was able to see everything in the cell.

He felt as though something bad was going to happen.

That was when he saw them.

The men were in front of their cell and they were looking at him with evil gleams in their eyes. Without thinking, he shoved Cassia behind him again just as the men opened the door to their cell.

“Trying to cause a disturbance, were you? Trying to scream for help? No one can hear you in this island,” the leader leered.

“No! He was having a nightmare! That’s all it was!” Cassia answered.

The men laughed and looked at Nikos like he was too weak and beneath their notice.

“Usually, in situations like this, it’s the lady that screams and the guy acts all brave,” one of the other men said.

The other howled with laughter and Cassia realized that they were drunk. Her fear for their safety increased. She knew drunk men tended to do impulsive and stupid things. She was proved correct when the men entered their cell and hauled Nikos to his feet. She was yanked along with him for they were chained together.

One of them retrieved the keys to their handcuffs and removed it. She rubbed at her sore wrist as she glared at them.

“Where are you taking him?!”

“We’re just going to teach him how to be quiet. Maybe pound some sense into him. Maybe even discipline him for disturbing us,” their leader answered.

Nikos struggled and tried to kick those who were holding him but one of them punched him hard in the stomach. He uttered a groan of pain and then fell limp.

“No! Please don’t hurt him!” Cassia recalled Nikos’ nightmares and her heart ached for him.

But there was nothing she could do. The men closed the door and switched off the lights.

“I hate rich men. Don’t you, Kristoff? I hate how they just had to be born and the world was already laid at their feet,” one of the men told their leader.

Cassia memorized every inch of his face and his name.

“Nikos! No! Please let him go!”

“Shut up, lady or we’ll take you too. I know the boss instructed us not to touch you but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him right?” Kristoff, told her. Then he added to the men, “I want my turn with her first,”

“Sure. Then we can pass her around. That would be one hell of a night.”

She heard their captors’ lewd jokes along with their footsteps getting louder.

“No!” she shouted and ran to the corner of her cell.

“Don’t touch her!” Nikos shouted.

He rammed his shoulder into the man on his left, whose head hit the wall. When he had space to move Nikos extended his leg and aimed a powerful kick to the one on his right. He hit the man’s
stomach who then doubled over with pain.

“Son of a bitch!”Kristoff shouted.

He pulled his gun out and aimed it at Nikos’ head.  “One more move and you’re dead.”

“Nikos!” she called out after him but the only response she got was the men’s laughter.

Nikos stilled. When he was held at gunpoint before, his life flashed before his eyes. Now, all he felt was sheer determination to live. He couldn’t leave Cassia defenseless at the mercy of these men.

Cassia moved towards the bars of her cell when she heard the sudden silence. She trembled in fear when she saw Nikos kneeling on the ground with a gun pointed directly at his head.

“No! Please! Don’t hurt him!” she shouted.

Cassia kept on shouting in the hope that she would be able to distract them from hurting Nikos. Or that maybe she could plead enough. They ignored her and picked Nikos up. They dragged him away from her, and with every step they took, her fear for him increased.

She couldn’t see anything anymore and the only thing she heard were their footsteps. It was followed by grunts and the sound of rattling chains.