Chapter One

"What do you mean by he is no where to be found..?"

Sophie had that slight tremble in her voice that signaled she was at the very edge of panic.

Marko shifted his weight from foot to foot, trying to avoid the intense searching gaze of Sophie Gonzales. She had always had that intimidating look about her.

That serene almost hostile air of an aristocrat who wasn't used to unpleasantness, but her emerald green eyes had never held so much fire as it did in that moment. Atleast not when directed at him.

And he didn't blame her... Not really. She was living every bride's nightmare; a missing groom.

To be fair though, she was taking this quite well for a woman In a situation like hers. Better than most. But what did he know..? She could be building up to an eruptive volcano for all her calm was worth; He didn't trust it one bit. And he was just so unlucky as to have to be the one in her direct line of fire. Damn you Sebastain! He cursed inwardly at the missing groom.

Marko had been desperately trying to avoid basically anyone from the bride's family on his way to answer the vicar's summons, demanding an explanation for the delay in procession.

He hadn't foreseen the problematic possibility of being ambushed by Alonso Gonzales and his daughter, demanding to know what was going on.

Of course they were eventually going to be informed.

They couldn't possibly be left in the dark for that much longer.

However, that was supposed to be the priest's job or that of the groom's family. Anyone but Marko.

Not an innocent groom's man like he was. It was not as though he knew where the heck Sebastian had taken off too. Although there was no way he could convince the bride of that. She kept giving him that nasty look as though he knew something he wasn't telling her.

He had not signed up for this when he had agreed to be Bastain's best man at the wedding. He hadn't signed up for any of this at all.

"Well has the cat got your tongue muchaho?" Alonso Gonzales barked impatiently from somewhere behind Marko_on his way back from ensuring that their privacy was secured and that they were in no danger of encountering anyone or rather, one person in particular; Marina Gonzales.

Marko didn't know much about the mother of the bride, but with the little he knew, he could understand why it would be an awfully terrible thing to allow news of the current situation get to her just yet.

"I-I don't know." Marko Squeaked, but because Mr Gonzales was still pinning him with a stern look, he felt obligated to add;

" The last time I saw Sebastian was uh.. last night, a-at t-he bachelor's party..." He was stuttering now as he Reflexively drew a step farther away from the agitated older man who seemed to be bearing down on him.

Marko might be a head taller than Mr Gonzales, but he wasn't stupid enough as to provoke the anger of a man whose daughter was likely about to be jilted at the altar. Least of all if that man was as Formidably influential and intimidating as Alonso Gonzales.

Despite the older man might being a few good inches shorter than the younger gentleman before him, Mr Gonzales still had the uncanny ability to look down his nose on people who he considered below his station and social status, regardless of something as seemingly inconsequential as a height difference.

"And..?" Mr Gonzales probed now

"And I-uhm..we have not seen him ever since.." Marko replied

"So..?" The older man pursued and Marko was going to open his mouth and say whatever it was his brain hadn't managed to think up yet, but then he shut it right up again. This was beginning to feel awfully much like a trap and The way he saw it, he was not exactly sure it was one he could freely walk away from. The way Mr Gonzales was arching one perfectly carved eyebrow in threatening expectation was unsettling.

"Marko.. that's uh, that's the name right?"

Sophie spoke up again, intercepting her Father's bullying of the groom's man.

Her voice was much calmer now, much clearer and controlled. And her facial expression was mostly one of mild curiosity.

Marko nodded in acquiesce and turned gratefully to the less intimidating bride, only to regret it almost immediately.

Sophie might not be visibly panicking or giving in to hysterics, but she had that half-sad, half-scared look about her, and somehow that was worse than the possibility of actual tears. Not that he enjoyed the company of emotional women, mind you. Thirty four weeks in the company of Amelia and her hormonal mood swings was enough torture to last any man a lifetime.

"When was the last time you spoke to Sabastain?" Sophie asked

"Uh..last night" If there was a slight hesitation before Marko's half hearted answer, Sophie didn't notice.

"At the party?"

"Yes" he said

"At the party..?" She repeated and then after a slight pause "Weren't you all booked together at a hotel for the night? Did you not go back together"

"Uh.. well yes, technically we were supposed to be together, but then I had an emergency..."

"An emergency..?" Sophie was aware she was beginning to sound very much like a parrot, but she could hardly help herself.

"Yes, uh, you see my wife, Amelia... She uh.. she thought she was going into labor and.." he was saying

"Por El amor de dios!" Alonso thundered, letting out an expletive to drive home his frustration. impatiently interrupting what he foresaw to be a litany of uneccessary information.

"For the love of God, No one cares about your pregnant wife young man.." he added, causing Sophie to wince at his crass attitude as she noticed Marko flinch and try not to lose his own temper. They might be having a sticky situation on their hands, but it was no excuse on their part to be inconsiderate of other people's feelings and she tried explaining that to her father but he was too agitated to care.

"...No use talking to this one, he knows nothing" Alonso continued carelessly, throwing up his hands in mock defeat, completely indifferent to his slight against the younger man as he turned away from them.

"Where are the Castillo's anyway..?" He muttered irritatedly as he began to stride decisively towards the exit, presumably to find the Castillo's who he suspected would have better answers for him.

"I'm sorry about my father, he is just a bit stres..." Sophie started to address Marko apologetically on behalf of her father when she heard her him suddenly call out;

"Gaius!" Sophie and Marko turned in unison to see him striding towards a middle aged man with a receding hairline, who looked relieved as well as anxious to see the Alonso making a beeline for him.

After a brief hesitation, Sophie eventually started to make her way towards them but Marko was more than happy to stay behind, glad to finally rid himself of the bride and her father.

"..What is this nonsense I hear about a missing groom Gaius? What brainless game are you trying to play? You want to make a fool out of me and my family, Si?" Alonso Gonzales was basically foaming at the mouth when she closed in on them.

"Pa'.." she groaned in mortification, glancing about to make sure no one was privy to the unfolding scene. They were standing just outside the priest's office and anyone coming from the cathedral just adjacent or the vicarage, directly opposite, could have seen them. If news of the impending disaster was to become public knowledge, she would rather it came from a dignified source as a formal announcement, instead of being the humiliating topic of cheap gossip it would otherwise become.

"It is not as you fear it to be my friend..." Mr Castillo started

"Don't call me your friend, Y' no soy tu amigo, Gaius! I do not feel very friendly at the moment" Alonso fumed, unconsciously slipping into his native tongue as he was likely to do whenever he was in a foul mood.

"We understand your anxiety considering the situation, but you must understand, we all are under pressure at the moment, You have to calm down Alonso and just lis..." Gaius Castillo solicited.

"Don't tell me to calm down Callisto.

Are you backing down on your words already? Is that what you mean by trying to call off the wedding..? Have you found a better offer then, is that it? Is that what this game is about?" Alonso forged on, mindlessly talking over his in-law to be.

"Do you have no balls to say it to my face..?" He challenged as he continued to foam at the mouth.

Sophie was confused as well as embarrassed.

She didn't understand what her father was talking about either.

She looked from her dad to Mr Castillo, trying to decipher their meaning.

"No one is calling off any wedding Signor Gonzales" Again, their collective attention was navigated towards the approaching company; Dante Castillo, the supposedly "adopted" son of Gaius Castillo and Sabastain's much older brother. He was intimidatingly tall at nearly 6ft-5 with a brooding personality, verging on hostile. And if he hadn't already been known to be quite the hermit, Sophie knew he was the kind of person she would have done well to avoid anyway.

He was one of the reasons why she hadn't visit the Castillo mansion as often as she would have liked in the past.

He was the coldest, meanest person she had ever had the misfortune to meet.

But even then, she had prepared her mind to tolerate him as her brother in-law after she was to be married to Sebastian.

Looks like that wouldn't be happening any century soon though.

And as twisted as it may seem, she really believed this reality was her only silver lining in this disheartening crises she was in.

"We apologize for the slight delay in plans.." Dante began

"You call this a slight del..." Alonso made to interrupt but Dante talked right over him.

" But surely.. this is no way to talk to your in-laws, now is it..? Surely you can try to be more, Understanding, Si..?" Dante continued smoothly in a manner that was probably aimed at being light and friendly if not humourous, but only succeeded in coming across as ominously threatening as Sophie suspected it was originally meant to be.

She watched both men, Her father and Dante, engage briefly in a stare-down mini battle, until Alonso uncomfortably shifted his gaze. It was so rare to see her father concede defeat, if ever it were to be said that he did. Thus, it was twice as annoying to see that her father would defer to Dante in any way. No matter how subtle. Alonso grunted and mumbled inaudibly before turning his gaze once again to the older Castillo man beside him.

"So what is to be done then..?" Alonso demanded of Gaius.

"We have sorted out the matter and devised a solution to..." Gaius started, his tone was levelled if not a little placating, unlike his Son's unapologetic arrogance. But once again though, they were distracted as their collective gazes turned towards the opening door of the vicarage, where a portly middle aged man, garbed in the priestly assemble of a white and black robe, with a small cap perched atop his balding head, was shuffling his way out of the vestibule and into the open, where upon catching sight of the small group just ahead, positively made a beeline for them.

"Has he been found then?"

Sophie asked thereafter, turning desperately to Dante who was closest to her, for answers. He looked at her as if he was just noticing her presence beside him for the first time and then stared at her some more with an expression she could not exactly decipher. Finally he answered;

"No" he sounded bored, as though talking to another human was such a chore and he couldn't be bothered to try.

"D-do you know where he is atleast?" She ventured.

"I'm afraid not Ms Dermot" He drawled without much interest and Sophie literally had to hold herself back from dropping to the ground and wailing out her frustration.

"What is this..?" Sophie jerked at her father's sudden outburst as he turned away from the fast approaching priest to confront the Castillo's again. Obviously, he had been passively listening in on her conversation with Dante.

"Did you not just say that the wedding won't be called off afterall..?" She heard her father sputter, once again regaining momentum on his fading anger.

"Yes, yes of course, we..." the older Castillo stepped in once more

"Are you suggesting a Postponement then?" Alonso inquired, no less displeased by that possibility as he once again redirected his focus to Gaius. His obvious disgust and rejection of such an embarrassing idea was reflected on his facial expression.

"Well, no." Gaius assured decisively

Alonso made to raise another objection but was deterred by the presence of the priest who was already upon them.

"Mr Gonzales, Mr Castillo.." The priest called in greetings.

"Father Carlos" Both men called back in unison as they acknowledged the priest.

"what is with all the delay? The entire congregation is expecting a procession.." The priest said.

"Of course, of course, we apologize... We were just on our way to explain. A moment in your office perhaps?" Gaius Castillo explained, putting an emphasis on the "we" for Alonso's benefit as he urged the priest back toward his office while Alonso_his curiosity winning over his temper_ followed suit.

"Well..?" Sophie probed, on the heels of the departing men. She was met with Dante's inquisitively arched brow as he stared pointedly at her, as though he was the one in need of clarification.

"You said there was to be a wedding?" She added impatiently

"Yes" he affirmed

"And yet my husband has not been miraculously discovered..?"

"No" he said simply.

She stared at him for a long moment and then when it became obviously clear that he wasn't going to say anything else, she added:

"Well how is the wedding supposed to happen then?" She was getting upset by now, more at the man in front of her than at her situation at that moment_

"Because, Incase you have not noticed" she continued sarcastically,

"A wedding usually involves a bride and a groom... And I have no groom!" She was upset that her voice trembled on that last note. She wouldn't cry. She promised herself. Whatever happened, she wouldn't be shedding a tear.

"Oh, but you do have a groom..." he drawled in a lazy reply. And then his lips were doing that weird little thing that caused the sides of his mouth to tilt at the edges in a way that looked suspiciously like he was trying to smile, but really only came across making him look like a big bad wolf trying to court the interests of a sheep of prey. She was still trying to figure out his expression in relation to the implications of his statement when he again spoke up.

"Me." He said, answering the silent question in her eyes and watching all that suppressed anger and confusion in her expression coalesce into one of dreadful shock.