CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO.

TAMIKA’s POV,

I don’t move an inch as he leaves, my eyes still on my mum. I totally understand that as a princess, my life was not mine. I can be married to anyone at any point in my life in order to make sure the country remains safe and peaceful.

But Malachi? Not on my life. Someone like him is not who I should be with, is not who I should even think about.

No matter how much I think about it, there is no logical reason for it.

“I am not going to marry him,” I blurt out almost immediately, my eyes fixated on my mother, “I will rather die than let that happen,”

Before she can respond, I turn around and angrily make my way towards the in-house elevator.

Today was supposed to be a good day, I was supposed to meet up with Rome later for our date. Rome is my boyfriend, the man I thought I would introduce to my parents in a few days. We are supposed to get married and be happy but now—

I shake my head and push the thought of Malachi to the back of my head. I am not getting married to him and that’s final. He can do his worst.

“My princess,” Amanda tries to talk but I glare at her and her voice trails off.

“I need to go out,” I tell her as we finally step into the elevator, “Rome is waiting for me”

“Your father will not let you,” Amanda tells me but that is the least of my worries right now. The only thing I want to do at the moment is get out of this house. It feels draining and suffocating.

I don’t bother with Amanda. I simply get dressed in my usual disguise. A pair of black pants, a tank top and a leather jacket to go with it. I have my hair in a ponytail and my usual sun glasses. The main reason being that if I am recognized and my father gets to find out, he will make sure Rome pays with everything he has. In his words, a princess should not be seen frolicking with just anyone.

“Your father—

“I will handle my father later,” I cut Amanda off before grabbing the keys to the car parked at the back. No one will notice I left, I mean father will be busy now and mum was talking about a visitor earlier.

In no time, I am out of the house towards where I am supposed to meet Rome. A semi lounge downtown. The only thing I want to do now is crash into his embrace. Being the only daughter has not been easy for me and the only way I want to not think about it is this which my father is about to snatch from me. No matter how much I think about it.

In a few minutes, I pull up in front of the lounge and there Rome is waiting by the door. As soon as he sees me, his face breaks into a huge smile and I rush into his embrace. The place where I find peace and solace. No matter how much anyone says, this is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. Malachi can go to hell for all I care.

“God, I missed you,” I whispered into his ear and I buried my face in the crook of his neck. Rome is three years older than me and he has his own tech company. For someone whose parents didn’t leave much of an inheritance, he really made a lot of impression. He owns one of the most fast growing tech companies in the country and even people from America and its environment seek out his help. That is one of the reasons why I believe father will accept him the moment he sees him.

“I am here now,” he whispered as he cupped my face, “I missed you too. You sure took your time coming out today”

I want to tell him about Malachi but I change my mind about it. It’s not going to happen so there is no need to even think about it.

“I’m sorry about that,” I finally tell him as I clasp my hand over his but in that moment, I feel a chill run down my spine. It is as if someone is watching me from the shadows which has never happened before. I look around but I don’t see anyone.

“What’s wrong?” Rome asks, his eyes full of concern towards me, “you look disturbed,”

“I am fine,” I answer, forcing a smile on my face, “I just thought of something. We should go in before someone sees us”

I don’t wait for his response, I grab his hand and pull him towards the door but in that moment, I come face to face with a familiar person. My heart skips a beat. This is the last place I had imagined to see this man.

His eyes darts across the two of us until it settled on Rome and I see his forehead crease into a tiny frown.

“Rome, let’s go” I say and walk past Malachi but he grabs my hand and yanks me into his embrace. Before Rome can even react, two of his men grab a hold of his hand. I have seen my father angry but not to this extent—I can literally see liquid fire spilling out of his eyes.

“What do you think you are doing?” Rome questions, “let go of her,”

“I didn’t expect you would run into the arms of another man the moment we plan to have our marriage registered by tomorrow,”

His voice was dangerously low, his hot breath fanning my face.

I shake my head to remove that thought. What the actual fuck? Yes, Malachi is an epitome or beauty, almost too good to be true. He looks like a Greek god who had come to earth to love amongst the miserly humans but that is just about it. No matter how gorgeous he is, nothing can ever happen between us.

“Let go of me,” I hiss and tries to wriggle out of his embrace but he grabs me tighter and pulls me closer, my back pressing against his hard chest.

“Stop struggling,” he whispers, “you can’t free yourself from me anyways”

“You are a joke!” I growl.

“Let her go,” Rome hisses again but no one pays any heed to him. It is like he doesn’t even exist in that particular moment.

“So what explanation does your father have, princess?” His deep baritone reaches me again as I look up. His eyes are staring down at me and inside of them, I can see what I have not seen before.

“Should I get upset about the fact that my wife is out here frolicking around with another man a few minutes after I left her house?”

“Let her go,” Rome yelled again, his eyes darkening.

Malachi glared at him, venom spiting from his eyes.

“One more word out of you and I am going to make you pay” he grits, “I am talking to my wife”

“Who is your wife?” I spit out, “I am not your wife”

Malachi does not say anything. He only gestures to his men and they immediately pull him out of the door.

“What—

Malachi suddenly picks me up and throws me over his shoulders gaining a shriek of horror from me.

“What do you think you are doing?” I yell out, not minding the onlookers.

“I changed my mind,” he answers, “we are getting married today”