The Funeral

LAURA

Grace's funeral was today. As promised, Xavier sent a car for me; a Mercedes car with tinted windows. The drive down to the venue was quiet and I sat in the back seat wearing the only black dress I owned. Compared to the shiny black leather seats in the car, it felt like I was wearing rags.

The funeral was holding at a church cathedral on the north side. I haven't been to this part of Chicago before. This was the wealthy, expensive division and my mouth fell open as I regarded the skyscrapers and the beautiful horticulture lining the streets. This was where people like Xavier lives. 

We pulled up to the cathedral and I was surprised to see the crowd milling about the entrance. I thought it crazy that this amount of people showed up for her funeral but not one of them visited while she was in the clinic. Hundreds of people in designer black clothes stood around talking in small groups. I recognized some of them from television. There was a senator, and a popular news anchor, I also saw the CEO of a renowned tech company. I felt small in my petty dress, I didn't know belong to this lifestyle.

The driver opened the door for me and I came out slowly, a few people looked my way, then removed their gaze. 

I walked towards the cathedral entrance and that was when I saw Xavier. 

His intimidating form stood at the top of the stairs and he was surrounded by cruel looking men in black suits. They should be his bodyguards. The longer I stared at him, the more I drooled. His black suit fit him perfectly. His black hair was styled away from his face bringing out his sculpted angles. Even from this distance, I could see how handsome he was. Butterflies fluttered in my tommy. 

The men standing around him had this dangerous aura. They all had scars on their faces and I recalled what my adoptive father used to warm me about when I was growing up. These were the mafia. 

Xavier and I locked gazes. He didn't smile ate or nod at me, he just looked at me for a moment before he turned to the man with the scar.

"Laura!" 

I turned around to see my adoptive sister, Jennifer with my adoptive father, Alex. She looked stunning in a designer black dress that brought out her hazel eyes. Her makeup was flawless. She always knew how to make an entrance. 

"Jennifer," I said. "Dad." 

Alex nodded at me but he didn't speak. He barely spoke to me unless it was important. Meanwhile Jennifer had a lot to say. "What are you doing here, you peasant." Her voice was filled with disdain. "This is a private funeral."

"Grace Blackwell was my personal patient, I was invited by her family."

Jennifer laughed, but it was in pure mockery. "Of course, always the goody two shoes. Treating wealthy families for minimum wage." She tutted, as her gaze regarded me from my head down to my feet.

"Jennifer" Alex said quietly. "This is the wrong place to do this."

She scrunched her nose. "Why not here? I want to know what she is doing at the funeral of Chicago's wealthiest woman. Well, maybe you're here because you're her nurse and you want a generous tip."

I sighed. "Not everyone is like you, Jennifer. I'm not after anything."

"Sure you're not," she scoffed as she came closer, her voice threatening. "I saw the way you were looking at Xavier earlier on. Stay away from Xavier. Do you hear me?"

Before I could ask what she meant by that, she spun on her heels and sashayed away, her father trailing her at the back. I stood there feeling I'd been slapped. 

The funeral service was long because everyone had a thing or two to say about Grace's accomplishments, her charity work, her kind heart and her love for her family. People cried and so did I, but for different reasons. I cried because Grace had been so nice to me when no one else was. She looked out for me and that is why she tried to give me a way out, even if it meant forcing her son into a marriage he didn't want.

After the service, everyone moved to the cemetery for the burial. I stayed in the back of the crowd. From the back, I could see Xavier standing in the front with a woman who looked like him. She was probably his sister. Beside him, stood a man who had his stature and build, probably his brother too. 

When it was over, people started moving to their cars. I turned to leave but then someone touched my arm.

"Miss Grey." It was one of those mafia men who's good with Xavier earlier. "Mr. Blackwell wants to see you."

"Now?"

He nodded gravely.

I followed him to the back of the cathedral. We stopped at a heavy oaken door and he knocked. 

"Come in," Xavier's gruff voice sounded from inside. The man opened the door and we stepped into a huge private study. 

Xavier stood near a desk by the window, holding a thick leather portfolio. 

"Leave us," he waved the man away. He closed the door behind me and I stood alone with him.

"Sit." Xavier commanded. I sat quickly. I was terrified of him. He remained standing and when he looked down at me, I felt small.

"We need to discuss the terms of our arrangement." He opened the portfolio and pulled out a stack of papers. He handed them over to me. "Read them very carefully."

My hands shook as I took the papers. I could barely understand the legal language. Then I saw the digits and my mouth fell open. I was entitled to fifty thousand dollars a month for allowance. I was to move into the mansion at Lincoln park, I was entitled to two cars. And then five million dollars to start up my private medical clinic. I looked up at him, dumbfounded.

"The marriage will last two years." Xavier said. "We'll live separately. You'll have your own residence while I'll have mine. After two years, we'll divorce quietly. You'll receive a settlement of ten million dollars."

"If there is any case of infidelity from either parties the marriage will be terminated. The unfaithful party receives nothing."

My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped the papers. He noticed and his expression hardened. 

"I know why you befriended my mother. This is what you wanted all along, that when she dies, she'll leave you something in her will."

I glared at him. "That is not true.'

"No? Then why are your hands shaking? You are looking at money you've never seen in your life. You're practically salivating."

"I'm shaking because I'm scared" I snapped, my fists clenching in anger. "Some psycho has been stalking me for six months and the police has refused to do nothing about it. I'm about to marry a man who hates my guts. Your mother was the only one that was kind to me in years but now she's dead. I've never felt so alone or confused."

I stood up. The papers fell from my hands onto the floor. "Keep your money. Keep your contract. I don't want any of it."

I turned toward the door. Xavier's voice stopped me.

"Wait."

His phone buzzed. He pulled it out and looked at the screen. His jaw tightened. When he looked up at me, something had changed in his eyes.

"There's something else you should know," he said. "Your adoptive father, Alex Anderson, owes my family three million dollars. He offered your sister Jennifer as payment. A marriage arrangement my father made before he died."

The room tilted. I grabbed the back of the chair to steady myself.

"What?"

Xavier's dark eyes bored into mine. "You're not the only one trapped in this game, Laura."