After putting Elsa down to sleep, Gabriel stepped out of the room.
"Gab—" Ricardo approached him and put his hand on his shoulder. "I am so sorry for your loss. This shouldn't have happened."
The last string holding him together shattered into tiny pieces when he saw his best friend.
Gabriel hugged him and as he sobbed in the grief of his father who was his everything.
Ever since his mom died when he was only three months old, Karlo had raised him on his own. He had trained him to be who he was today.
Losing him was like losing a part of his heart, the part which made him feel secure and strong.
Ricardo hugged him back and closed his eyes as a tear trickled down his cheek. "They will not get away with this."
"I know." Gabriel pulled away. His eyes were filled with rage just like Ricardo's. "He is going to pay for what he has done today."
"He will brother, he will." Ricardo assured him. The Greco's were not getting away with it.
But getting the Greco's down wasn't something they could do all by themselves. They needed more power, more force, someone like the Fedorov's.
...
[Next Day]
Elsa stood by her uncle Karlo's grave. The sky was covered with gray clouds and had started to pour.
She squatted in front of him and placed a white rose on his grave. The wind gushed through her but she couldn't care less.
The funeral was over. He was gone but the feeling of him being there still lingered around her.
"I'll always miss you," she muttered. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Someone placed a bunch of yellow roses on the grave and stood beside her.
At first, Elsa did not pay any attention to him but when the man shielded her with the black umbrella he was holding, she looked at him.
Desmond Fedorov, was standing beside her with a stern look on his face.
He was dressed in an all black tailored suit. His defined jawline clenched, making it more prominent. He had his other hand tucked inside his pocket while the one held the umbrella.
Elsa wiped her tears and stood up.
Desmond did not say anything and neither did she. Both of them kept standing in front of the grave in silence.
They both knew what their fate was. They both knew they would end up getting married in a couple of weeks or so.
They did not even know each other. In fact, this was the first time Elsa was seeing him closely.
It was weird but both of them knew what they had to do and what was bound to happen.
…..
[In a distance]
"Thank you for coming," Enzo Marino looked at Henry Fedorov, Desmond's father.
In response, Henry nodded. He then looked at Gabriel. "I am sorry for your loss."
Gabriel nodded. "He is in a better place now."
"I am sure he is."
Marco, who was standing beside his father, scoffed before storming away. But he didn't forget to glare at the other two Fedorov brothers who were standing beside their father.
"Marco, you need to stop acting this way." Ricardo couldn't help but chide his brother.
"They are not supposed to be here," Marco frowned. "Why did dad invite them?"
"We had to be seen together like a family," Gabriel was the one who answered. "Uncle Enzo and I mutually decided that inviting them to dad's funeral would be a good start."
"You agreed to this?" Marco frowned. "This is supposed to be a mourning day for our family not some welcome party for the fucking Fedorov's."
"Language, Marco," Ricardo frowned. He understood the hatred he had for the Fedorov's. In fact, he shared a mutual feeling but they had to put the feelings aside and act civil with them.
Marco was about to retort when Justin Fedorov, the youngest member of the Fedorov family approached them.
"I hope I am not intruding."
Marco was about to snap at him when his eyes landed on his injured arm. This is when he realized that Justin was also attacked that day along with Elsa and Karlo.
Ignoring Marco's murderous glare, Justin looked at Gabriel. "I am sorry for your loss."
Pausing for a while, he added, "Karlo saved my life too."
…..
After a few minutes, Elsa turned around and walked away. She didn't look at Desmond and neither did he. There was an unspoken awkwardness between them which made her feel uncomfortable.
In the distance, she saw her brothers talking to someone. When she looked closely, she recognised who it was.
Justin Fedorov, the person who had escaped death yesterday just like her.
Her eyes landed on his left bandaged arm. She remembered him being shot in the crossfire.
Just then she felt someone's presence behind her again.
When she looked at him, their eyes met.
Desmond's light brown eyes pierced into hers. His gaze made her feel flustered.
Without saying anything, he handed her the umbrella he was holding before walking towards his father.
Elsa wanted to thank him but he was already gone.
She sighed as she watched him leave. How were they supposed to spend their lives together when it was hard for them to even start a courtesy conversation?
This made her wonder if this marriage would ever work. Not that she had any expectations from it.
Arranged marriages in their world were very common. Sometimes it turned out to be a blissful one just like her father and mother but most of the time, it turned out to be miserable.
The strong feeling of her marriage turning out to be more on the miserable part, Elsa's heart clenched. She wasn't a romantic but she hadn't envisioned her marriage to be a misery.
But now that there was a chance of it happening, she had no other choice but to stay strong.
Showing a Fedorov her weakness was a mistake Elsa would never commit.
…..
[Fedorov mansion]
"Did you talk to her?"
Ignoring his father's question, Desmond made his way towards the bar. He was annoyed, angry and displeased with the arrangement he was being pushed into.
Justin looked at his father and then his brother simultaneously. The tension between them was very intense. He had felt it in the car but now when they were home, it had doubled.
"I talked to Elsa for sometime," he interjected. "She seems nice."
Henry looked at his eldest son. "This arrangement is not going to work if you act so stubborn Desmond."
"Maybe I wouldn't have acted stubborn if you had given me a fucking choice."
"Desmond—"
"Don't start with your lecture again dad, I think I have heard enough," Desmond scoffed. "I have agreed with this arrangement but that doesn't mean I will accept her as my wife and shower her with all the non-existing love and care I have for her."
"This is purely business, a transaction." He wasn't happy with the arrangement. Forming such a strong relationship with the Marino's was not even the last thing he wanted.
Marrying Elsa Marino was something he had never imagined. But here he was, throwing his life away by forcing himself to marry into a family he hated from his gut.
Being the first born child and the next in line to be the leader of the Fedorov family after his father wasn't an easy task. But Desmond had already embraced his fate, his birthright and he would do anything to take over the title and position he deserved.
Just like the Marino family, the Fedorov's were also an influential family.
In terms of wealth, they had an upper hand over the Marino's. But when it came to dealing with people, Marino's were more ruthless and reckless.
They were involved in the mafia business but unlike the Marino's who were always open with what and how they did, The Fedorov's did all the dirty work in the dark.
Though their main business ruled over the black market and the dark world, their multinational company and other businesses were highlighted as their main source of income.
They owned two out of the three elite clubs in the city, the Shallow and the Plaza.
"Woah…what the hell is going on here?" Carl Fedorov entered the mansion. "I can cut the tension in the living room with a knife." He looked at his twin and his father simultaneously. "You two fighting again?"
Henry Fedorov and his wife, Olivia Fedorov, had three sons.
Desmond and Carl who were fraternal twins, and Justin the youngest one.
"Talk to your brother. I need to go home, your mother is waiting for me." Henry patted Carl's shoulder before walking out of the mansion. He knew talking to his oldest son was useless at the moment. But he wasn't worried as he was sure that Desmond would move forward with the arrangement no matter what.
"Pour me one too," Carl told Desmond before walking towards Justin.
"How is your arm?" He inquired.
"You know I have been through worse," Justin smirked.
Carl sighed and helplessly shook his head. He couldn't deny that.
Being the youngest one in the family wasn't easy. Their enemies always had their eyes on Justin. They always targeted him, just like what the Greco's did.
"You don't feel anything now because your bones are still young," Desmond remarked as he walked towards them.
"I am twenty-seven," Justin remarked as he took a glass from his brother's hand. "I am not that young."
"That's true," Carl nodded. "You can impregnate a woman if you want to. But don't screw a woman yet. Getting a girl pregnant at twenty-seven is the last thing you want."
He then looked at Desmond and grinned. "So how is your bride-to-be and my sister-in-law doing?"
Desmond pursed his lips and frowned. "Shut up."
Carl threw his head back and chuckled, "Why are you being so grumpy? Did the Marino princess give you a hard time?"
"He didn't even talk to her." Justin looked at his brother and raised his brows. "You should be more nice to your wife."
"Do you want me to throw you out of this house?" Desmond snapped. "Because trust me, I will."
"Well, I know you aren't okay with this whole marriage arrangement but you have to do it," Carl shrugged. "This commitment comes along with the responsibility of being the heir."
Desmond did not say anything. He kept sipping his drink. Being the heir came with great responsibilities. This was the only reason why he was going along with whatever his father and Enzo Marino had agreed on.
"Come on now don't be grumpy," Carl tried to cheer up his twin. "At least she is hot."
"And beautiful too," Justin added.
Desmond sighed and helplessly shook his head. Elsa Marino was a fine piece of art with equal amounts of hotness and beauty. At least he wasn't marrying someone absurd and ugly to fulfil his duties.
"She looked very upset today," Justin sighed. "I think she shared a close relationship with the man."
"Karlo Dominic had been around since she was born," Desmond answered. "She is also very close with his son, Gabriel."
Carl raised his brows and grinned, "Well, someone did his homework."
"Pardon me for digging a few things about my future wife," Desmond scoffed. "You don't expect me to marry someone without finding out a few things about her, do you?"
"You can find out anything you want to," Carl shrugged. "But from what I know, she is good enough to give this family the next heir."
"I don't like kids." Desmond scrunched his nose. He had no intentions of maintaining a husband wife relationship with Elsa let alone have kids with her.
"You don't have a choice, do you?" Carl chuckled. "You know the rules, Des. The first born son of the heir takes over the position."
"That's not fair, we are twins."
"Who told you to squeeze out of mom two minutes before I did?" Carl raised his brows. "Now bear the consequences."
…..
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