Chapter 2 - Love

We have been in this room for almost half an hour now trying to get a better solution for our current problem but there seems to be none. Jax and Hunter are highly against me marrying Vladim because they better than me know who Vladim is. 

Throughout this 30 minutes they're talking about me like I'm not here, deciding my fate for me. I wasn't exactly looking forward to getting married so early in my life, I just got out of university and I had bigger plans for my future.

"You don't understand, there is nothing I can do about this. I'm a man of my word and I have to give it to him or else he will take it himself. I want this to be as peaceful as possible, I don't want her to get hurt" Dad said.

"Why did you gamble her life into this business in the first place?" Hunter snapped.

"Gamble her life? No one in here loves her more than I do and I didn't know that by my most prized possession he meant her" Dad calmly responded.

He was never the type to let his anger control him, he always tried his bets to speak as calmly as possible no matter how deep the situation is, he's always been in control of his anger.

"I never ever mentioned my daughter to anyone, I let her go away and not come to visit me for years because I didn't want her anywhere near this business anymore. When he said my most prized possession I thought whatever happens, I don't mind losing this mansion but I should have known that Vladim is a smart man, he sees through people"

"How much do you owe him maybe we can put our money together and pay him back" Jax commented. 

"That doesn't matter I have a better idea" Dad responded "Sit down" He ordered.

Jax and Hunter sat back down, ready to listen to whatever he had to say. I was already seated as I was obviously not included in the conversation.

"If we use our money to pay him, that could make us go bankrupt and could end the business, we will be left with nothing and I can't let that happen"

"I don't think planning any further is a good idea as it could backfire" I say, getting all their attention.

"Listen Love, I know this might sound difficult but I need you to marry him and be with him for 6 months. Give me 6 months and I promise I will try my best to fix it all, I will have Hunter and Jax working on it with me to find out who took the money and the products then we can have you back here in no time, and that can give us a chance to form a good relationship with the Chekov’s and grow our business" He explained.

"I seriously don't stand with this… What if he harms her" Hunter signs.

"Can we take a moment to actually reflect on the fact that Rin is trained, she can fight, she is damn good at taking care of herself, and I think she deserves to have a say in this" Jax comments.

"Thank you, oh my god, thank you" I signed shaking my head "Finally someone giving me a chance to talk" 

"No one stopped you in the first place" He shrugged.

"Shut up" I says then turn to dad "Look, I can do this, this isn't anything big for me, remember when I was 17, you sent me to the Xin exhibition alone to handle the business, I'm 22 now, even more mature than ever, I deserve a chance, and I can get you some inside information if I am inside" I say.

They all stayed silent for a bit until dad spoke "I never doubted for a second that you could do it Love, but this is Vladim, I myself, a powerful man like me is scared to butt heads with him, he has connections, strong ones so I need you to be careful"

At the end of all this, my two brothers finally agreed to let me go. Jax was a bit more convinced than Hunter, Hunter had always been an extreme protective one, he always treats me like a baby, but that’s fine, it comes with its advantages too.

I went up to my room, where my luggage was already kept and ready. I also knew I had a few extra clothes in the closet that dad had them get ready for me so I didn’t bother myself with opening mine, I just jumped into the shower.

By the time I was out and ready, lunch was ready downstairs. The building is big, a 10 room building, excluding the kitchen, living rooms and stores. So, reaching from one end to another is like walking a whole mile. I walked down the stairs to the dining room where Hunter and Jax were sitting, with 12 more empty seats around them. The food is placed on the table in front of them, which got me excited. I ran and sat down, then pulled a piece of fries and threw it in my mouth. 

Hunter slapped me behind the head and stopped me from taking any more “Wait for dad you untrained bitch”

I gave him a blank poker expression, to let him know that he’s not funny, then looked away and picked my phone. I kept my eyes glued on my phone until I finally heard dad’s footsteps coming. I grinned, knowing that we can finally eat and turned to face him in happiness but frowed when I saw a huge figure behind him.

Without even getting a proper introduction I could already tell that that man is Vladim. The dark eyes, the black tucked in shirt and black jeans, the strong jawline, the big body and the smug walk, only a real powerful man has the audacity to walk like that in our house.

My eyes fell down to his chest where you can clearly tell that  he’s a strong man due to the well toned chest muscles. If he wants me to concentrate on anything here, he has to put his buttons up because damn.

“Don’t let yourself fall for good looks my dear sister” Hunter whispered. 

I didn’t bother responding to him, I looked up, and my eyes met Vadim’s, who clearly caught me staring. I wanted to throw myself over the table and wipe the smirk off his face but instead, I smirked back. Showing him that I felt embarrassed over him catching me staring would have been a bad Idea, so I decided to make it even more obvious that I am. 

“This is Vladim Chekov” Dad says, looking directly at me. I nodded, and turned my eyes to Vladim, who was already looking at me. Well at least he’s not ugly, if I’m going to marry anyone for 6 months then I would prefer that he isn’t ugly.

I could feel my dad's eyes burning holes into my brain from the side of my eyes so I reluctantly pushed out of my seat and went round to them. I couldn’t help but feel like a midget near him. Hunter is tall but this man has to be a tree. 

I strongly and slowly walked over to him and put my hands forward “Irene, you can call me Rin” I smiled, he shook my hand and my eyes lingered on the veins that covered his arm, also on the fact that my hand looks like a baby's hand compared to his.

“Vladim,” He speaks, taking my hand in his. Oh holy grains, his voice. Now I can tell why he has so much authority, that, Is a damn powerful voice, it sounds like daggers being thrown at you. I could listen to him speak all day “You can’t call me Vlad” He blankly responded.

“I wasn’t planning on” I pulled my hand out of his grip and walked back to my seat “Can we eat? I’m hungry” I ordered.

Dad sat on his throne seat and Vladim sat facing me. I eyed his perfectly shaped beard, then let my eyes fall to his chest for a millisecond before I looked down at my food and took a bite.

"Vlad, I wanted to discuss something with you while we're at this table" Dad spoke.

Vlad? They're best friends now? A man like this shouldn't even have a nick name to begin with, he doesn't seem like one to be called sweetheart, more like one who would damage a sweetheart.

We all faced my dad, waiting for him to continue.

"Since you're going to marry my daughter, I don't want word to go out that you are marrying her only because I failed to pay you, I want the world to believe that all this is because you actually love her, I don't want my reputation getting stained because of this" 

"With no due respect, I couldn't care less about your reputation" Vladim responded.

"Watch how you speak to my dad" Hunter growled.

Hunter's anger didn't seem to faze him at all, he didn't react in any way. He just stared at hunter for less than a second, keepig the same blank expression then looked back to my dad and continued.

"I won't be letting anyone know that this has to do with you failing to pay because it puts a strain on MY business" He added.

"Why me? I interrupted, taking a sip of water "Why do you want to marry me, what are you trying to achieve by having me as a wife?" I asked, leaning back onto my seat.

"Why should I answer you?" He asks.

"Because its my life, I have a right to decided and unless I know why you want to marry me, I won't agree to this marriage" I respond.

"You're missing the point here Love" He looks up at me through his eyebrows, with an evil smirk, keeping his head down to his food which he slowly mixes "You don't have a choice"