by Tina Martin
Emily smiled.
“It’s getting late. I should let you go to bed.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll speak with you soon. Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Goodnight, Armand.”
Dante poured a little Bourbon in a glass, swished it around and turned it up to his mouth, feeling the heat of the alcohol in his throat. It was only a shot’s worth but it helped to settle him as he focused on what he was about to do this weekend. He was going to blindside the woman he wanted, Emily Mitchell, with his presence. How would she react when she found out that the man she’d been interacting with for the last three months online was really him instead?
Chapter 10
Saturday morning – wedding day.
Emily looked around in awe of her surroundings. There were news vans everywhere as well as a crowd of bystanders, likely nearby vacationers from other resorts, taking pictures. The smell of food, the sound of music and sight of beautiful wedding decor put everyone in a celebratory frame of mind.
The temperature today on the beach was a cozy seventy-eight degrees. Unlike Asheville, bright sunny skies were overhead instead of dark, gray ones. A light, warm wind lingered, igniting the feeling of love in the air.
Emily had arrived to the resort last night, so she was fully aware of how magnificent this place was – the place she would be calling home for the next couple of weeks. She hadn’t known much about coastal cities, but from what she understood, Pleasure Island was made up of three beaches – Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wilmington Beach. She’d had the opportunity to walk the Grieving Hearts Connect resort located on Carolina Beach, and what she discovered was truly amazing: two outdoor pools, one indoor pool, a restaurant and coffee bar, a separate fitness center and whirlpools. The penthouse suite boasted a sixty-inch flat screen TV, an open concept living and dining room, two bathrooms, a private balcony that faced the ocean, his and hers baths, a wet bar with refrigerator, robes, slippers, and a Jacuzzi. On the bed, there was an itinerary for the wedding and activities for the entire two-week journey which included couples counseling every day from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., fishing trips, hiking at Carolina Beach State park, paddle boarding lessons and much more.
Now, was the moment that everyone had been waiting for – the marriage ceremony. Emily stood in line, side-by-side with many other brides, waiting for their husbands-to-be to join them out on the beach. With the ocean as their backdrop, the picture of beautiful women in white gowns lined at the shore was a truly breathtaking sight, and with all the media attention surrounding the event, the women felt like royalty. What woman wouldn’t want to feel like royalty on her wedding day?
Once pictures were taken of the women, the men appeared, all wearing black tuxedos walking towards their brides and taking them by the hand.
Emily studied the crowd of men, rubbing her sweaty palms together while looking for Armand. She’d only seen his picture online and now she wondered if it was perhaps an old, outdated photo of him since she hadn’t seen any man who resembled Armand in this sea of men.
She took a deep breath. Now she was getting nervous. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. She’d spoken with a few of the brides last night who had actually met their men in person before coming here. Now she wished she had done the same thing.
Again, she peered at the men, looking for Armand and still, she hadn’t seen him. She did, however, recognize one man – Dante Champion – and for some reason, he was walking directly towards her with a smile on his face. What was he doing here?
Emily cringed, broke her trance with him and kept looking for Armand, avoiding Dante at all costs. Still, she could feel him getting closer and closer, the heat of his eyes stalking her.
Dante walked up to her, touched her hand and with a smile on his face, he asked, “Are you ready to do this, dear?”
Chapter 11
The disturbance in Emily’s forehead was dominant and defined. She was convinced that Dante had a problem, a serious one. Did he really follow her here? “What do you mean, am I ready?” she asked, snatching her hand away from his grasp.
“To become my wife,” he responded.
“Are you delusional? I’m not marrying you. What are you doing here, Dante?”
“I’m Armand, Emily.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes I am. I’m the man you’re been instant messaging online for the last three months and I can prove it.” Dante took a picture from his pocket, a picture of some man’s face he’d found online to use as his profile picture. He showed it to her.
“That’s Armand,” Emily said, pointing to the picture.
“No. That’s the picture I used on my profile. I found it of the internet. I knew if I used my real picture, you wouldn’t have given me the time of day.”
Emily’s frown deepened. She felt anger build up inside of her. “You’re right about that, and I’m not giving you the time of day now.” She attempted to take a step away from him, but he grabbed her arm discreetly and gently before she could make a run for it.
With his large hand still holding her hostage, he said, “Need I remind you that you signed a contract. If you back out now, you owe thirty grand. Do you have that kind of money, Emily?”
Her lips quivered in anger.
“Didn’t think so,” he said in a cocky, supercilious tone. Then he took charge. “Now here’s how this is going to play out. We’re going to get married. Right here. Right now. We’ll spend two weeks on this island and after those two weeks, if you still hate me, as you obviously do now, I’ll have my attorney draw up annulment papers. Understood?”
Emily was speechless. All she wanted to do was pack her bags and get as far away from this place as she could.
When she didn’t respond, Dante said, “Good.”
The minister welcomed the sea of couples to Pleasure Island, then, after giving a small speech about love and marriage, he instructed the women to face their men and repeat vows. Some women were crying tears of joy. Others had the giggles. Emily wasn’t laughing, and if she did begin to cry, they certainly would not be tears of happiness. She was highly upset, so much so that her entire face was a flushed, reddish color and did her brown eyes darken in fury?
Dante reached for her hands and she snatched them away. The mere thought of his hands on her made her skin crawl.
“Are you going to do this or not?” he asked with a smile, finding her defiance comical because he knew he had her right where he wanted her. Once she was settled, he slid a ring on her finger.
Emily felt thoroughly deceived by Dante, but given the present set of circumstances, she wasn’t sure how she could back out now. She certainly didn’t have thirty-thousand dollars and, with the low sales from her boutique and less than two-thousand dollars in savings, she was already on a path towards becoming heavily in debt.
She looked at Dante and with derision in her voice, she repeated the vows from the minister out of mere rote.
When it was his turn, Dante did the same but not in a rancorous way as she had. He stared happily at her, feeling his heart rate increase since he was finally getting what he wanted. It would’ve been better had she been happy about this, but he had two full weeks to convince her that he was the man for her. He loved the idea of that challenge with Emily and it certainly would be a challenge, but he would handle her as easily as he did his businesses. If he played his cards right, he was sure to get a huge return on his investment.
Chapter 12
After the ceremony, the couples took group pictures, then private ones before going to a grand reception with open bars, music, dancing and an open mic for brides and grooms to publicly declare their everlasting love for each other.
Dante shared a stiff, first-dance with Emily before taking the mic.
“I just want to say that this ceremony is special to me. I never thought I’d be able to find another woman that I wanted to share my life with...a woman that means so much to me. And to my sweet Emily, I want
you to know that I will always be there for you and I look forward to spending the rest of our lives together.”
Emily couldn’t hide the confused look that washed over her face if someone paid her to do so. Was he for real?
As the crowd cheered and clapped after his speech, Dante walked over to Emily, took her right hand and brought it up to his mouth, kissing the smooth skin on the backside of it. Emily flashed a fake smile and when the spotlight was finally off of them, she made a quick run for the nearest bathroom. She slumped over the sink, feeling dizzy for a moment, trying to wrap her head around all of this. Rewinding the events in her head, she tried to come to grips with the fact that Armand wasn’t really Armand. There was no Armand. Armand was Dante Champion. How could she have fallen for this?
Instead of going back to the reception, she headed for the suite. She needed to call Melanie as soon as possible to get some advice and to help her clear her head.
When she stepped in the suite, she noticed Dante’s luggage by the door. The room smelled like his cologne.
Ugh...
She continued on to the closest bathroom, peeled the tight, uncomfortable wedding gown off of her body, then took a pair of shorts and a tank top from her suitcase. She sat down on the bed humiliated. Then she dialed Melanie’s number.
“Hey, girl,” Melanie answered excited. “You already know I have a million questions.”
“I know you do...” was Emily’s unenthusiastic reply.
“So are you married?”
“Yep...I’m married...”
“I can’t believe you went through with it.”
“Neither can I.”
“So tell me all about Mr. Armand. Is he as dreamy as you thought he’d be?”
“He’s definitely a looker. He’s so far from what I expected.”
Melanie screamed and cheered. “Wait...why am I the one cheering? You don’t sound excited at all. What’s wrong?”
Emily sighed. “You remember our conversation a few days ago about being catfished?”
“Yeah...don’t tell me Armand is an old, toothless man.”
“No, it’s worse.”
“He looks like a catfish?”
“Even worse. Armand is really Dante Champion.”
“What!”
Melanie screamed so loud, she left ringing in Emily’s ear.
“Yeah...apparently he found some guy’s picture online, used it for his profile picture then created an account on Grieving Hearts Connect so he could talk to me.”
“Hold up...stop the presses. Are you telling me that the entire three months, you thought you were talking to Armand, it was really Dante Champion the entire time?
“Yep. That’s what I’m telling you.”
“So you’re married to Dante Champion?”
“Dreadfully so.”
“Okay...wait...rewind...tell me exactly how this played out.”
Emily took a breath. “All the brides were standing on the beach, then the grooms came walking towards the women, taking their brides by the hand. I was getting worried when I didn’t see anyone who resembled Armand and while I’m scanning through the men, desperately looking for my man, I see Dante. He was staring at me like I was a T-bone steak, so I quickly looked away. But he walked right up to me, took my hand and, at this point, I’m looking at him like he’d lost his mind. Anyway, he pulls out the profile picture he used online, told me he was the ‘Armand’ that I had been talking to.”
“Oh, that’s dirty.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You could’ve walked away though. Why’d you still marry him?”
“Because I signed a contract. If I breach the contract, I have to pay thirty-thousand dollars, remember.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to fulfill the contract terms...stay here with this man for two weeks and when I get back home, this marriage will be immediately annulled.”
“Goodness. I knew the man liked you and all, but I didn’t think he would do something so sinister and underhanded.”
“Yeah, well he did.”
“It’s almost flattering.”
With raised eyebrows, Emily asked, “Flattering how?”
“You know...he likes you so much that he was willing to create a fake profile, talk to you for three months without blowing his cover and convince you to marry him. If you ask me, the man has skills, and for you, my dear, he has a plan.”
“Well, I don’t see anything about a liar flattering. It’s disgusting. I mean, who does he think he is?”
“Guess you’ll find out who he really is within the next two weeks.”
Emily sighed. “You’re not helping, Mel.”
“Girl, I’m sorry, but given the circumstances, I just think you should make the most out of a bad situation. Have fun, live it up, then come back home and resume your life as normal.”
“It’s difficult to have fun with a lying stranger.”
“Well, technically, he’s not a stranger. You’ve had several conversations with him before. And what has Dante done to you to make you not like him? Well, other than this incident?”
“He’s an arrogant womanizer, Mel. You heard the rumors about him and his brothers.”
“Yeah, and you’re the first to tell me not to believe everything I hear. I think it’s time you took your own advice.”
Emily shook her head. She could recall overhearing some women in her store talking about one of the Champion brothers – how he’d wined and dined her, slept with her and she never heard from him again. She heard a similar story at the coffee shop next door to her store.
“Well, I’m going to go and figure out where I’ll be sleeping tonight,” Emily said. “I’ll call you later.”
“Okay. Later.”
Chapter 13
“You’re done celebrating?” Dante asked Emily after stepping into the suite. He noticed she had changed out of her gown and into some casual wear as she rested comfortably, her buttery-brown legs stretched out on the expanse of the couch.
“I wasn’t celebrating to begin with,” she said flippantly.
Dante loosened his bow tie, unbuttoned his crisp, white shirt a couple of buttons down as he walked to the couch where she was resting. He sat on the edge of it near her feet, studying her French-pedicured toenails while his eyes roamed up her legs, to her thighs, her middle, flat stomach, breasts and finally her face.
“Listen, Emily. I know this is a little uncomfortable for you.”
“A little?” she said, the heat of her eyes beaming towards him.
“Yes. It’s not ideal. I’m aware of your frustration.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” she hissed, watching him remove silver cuff links and place them on the table. For some reason she was drawn to his hand as he did so, watching how large they were again. Even his knuckles were well-formed and sculpted to perfection. If he wanted, he could punch a hole through a brick wall with those healthy hands.
“Well,” he said with a smug look on his face. “Let’s make the most of it.”
“I’m not making the most of anything.”
“Then what are you going to do, Emily? Pout and whine about it?” he asked, mildly amused.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Now while I love to see you pout, because I think it’s the cutest thing in the world, I do want you to enjoy this journey with me. So, first things first, we need to figure out where we’ll be sleeping.”
I’m definitely not sleeping with you if that’s what you’re thinking, Emily thought to herself.
“I’m sure you’ve seen the bedroom,” Dante said. “I figure you can take the bed and I’ll take the couch. For now.”
For now?
“Perfect,” she said, standing and walking to the bedroom. She shut the door behind her, locked it and sat on the bed, holding her head. Just the thought of being stuck here with Dante made her sick. How was she going to get through two weeks with a man she despised? Then it da
wned on her – she’d stay nestled comfortably in this bedroom and would only come out for food. Dante would not have the upper hand in this situation.
Chapter 14
For three days, Emily stayed in the bedroom. As planned, she only came out for food. Dante had tried to talk her into coming to a group therapy session yesterday afternoon, but she refused. She also hadn’t attended the new couple meet-and-greet nor had she been in attendance at the first couples bonding activity – tango lessons.
This morning, Emily opened her eyes to find Dante lying next to her with a smile on his face.
She frowned and pulled up the covers over her body. How did he get in her bedroom? She was certain that she had locked the door.
“Good morning, Emily.”
“What are you doing in here?” she asked angrily.
“I think it’s time we talked.”
“No! You need to leave. Get out.”
“Emily—”
“Get out!”
“Not until we talk. Now calm down. I just want to talk to you,” he said, calmly.
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” Emily turned around so her back was towards him.
“May I ask why?”
“Because you’re a liar. A bold...faced...liar. Every time you open your mouth, you spew out lies.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is true! How dare you invade my private life, pretending to be someone else, making up stories about your dead wife. Must’ve been real entertaining to read the things I wrote about Melvin, huh?”
“Nothing about someone dying is comical.”
“You’re missing the point. I told you personal things about my life, but you don’t care about me or anything I had to endure. All you wanted was to go out with me...the same way you came into my boutique to buy necklaces only so you could get a date with me.”
Ignoring her, he said, “Listen...the group will be having breakfast in an hour, then we’re all going boating. Why don’t you try to make it? You just may have a good time if you get that chip off of your shoulder.”
