Selena was still wearing the wedding gown as she stumbled into her apartment and dropped into a couch. Her eyes were dry and blank. She just sat there, like that for a long moment, staring into nothing. After a while, she stood up from the couch. With legs like lead, she slowly walked to the liquor cabinet. She picked up a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, sloshed some stiff shot into a glass cup and lifted it to her mouth. She downed the whole contents instantly. She filled the glass again and tossed the contents down her throat. She felt better now.
She moved away from the bar and began to pace aimlessly around the room. How? How could things have turned out this way? She asked herself. This was to support her wedding night. So what is she doing in her house? She was supposed to be with Caesar. So what the hell had happened? She grimaced and shook her head miserably. The thought of the man that was responsible for all this came into her head and she shivered. Who was he? She had never seen his face before here in Fur Rivers. He was not from around here. That she was sure of. So who was he? Why was she just seeing him now, on her wedding day and not any other day?
She imagined that handsome face of his and the thought of it made her heart begin to thump loudly in her chest and it made her feel faint. The man was the most powerful looking man she had ever seen. That face was unique; that angular face, with its dark eyes, noir-matte hair, and that sharp razor jaw; it was undoubtedly unique: It was a rarity. And he was going to be a hellraiser; a dangerous man. You can’t possess a face like that and not be dangerous.
She remembered the way they had both stared at each other. It was as if he had seen through her soul………it was as if they had known each other for a long time. She shivered and folded her arms round her bosom. She had never met anyone like him. The wave of sexual attraction that had stemmed from the man was so over-consuming. The naked desire from him was raw. There was no one woman who could have withstand that kind of energy. And what she had felt for him……..what she had felt for him was inexplicable; something she had never felt for anyone in her life.
She thought of everything that had happened that night and her legs felt weak. Tired of pacing around; she walked slowly to a chair and sat down. She held her face in her hands, her mind busy with thoughts. She remained there as the hands of the clock on the wall moved around its face; marking the hour.
Outside, the sound of a car droned past and the wind raised to a howl and floated away.
After a while, she eased her stiffness by stretching out her long, slim legs. Her mind began to work. I need to see him. There was no way in hell she was not going to find him. She thought of Caesar. Well, there was nothing she could do about it. Anyways, who was she kidding? you don’t love Caesar. You’ve always known that. This thing that happened this night, at the church, it was good it happened that way. Yes, there’s going to be a lot of talk about it in the town. People are going to marinate on the story. It’s going to be a long time before everyone gets over it and moves on. But who cares? I don’t owe anyone anything in this town. This is my life. I’m the one facing all this shit right now. The only person she was worried about was Caesar. I know he’s mad at me now. Caesar held himself so high. He sees himself as a god and she had shamed and embarrassed him in front of the whole town. He’s never going to forgive me for what I did to him today.
Selena drew in a long, slow breath. She pushed the thought of Caesar out of her mind. She must find this man. This man that was responsible for everything that had happened that night. She must find him. Her mind began to work again. She had seen him with Marianna. He had sat close to her. And with the look of things, it seems they were together. She did not want to have anything to do with Marianna. But she had a feeling that if she was to see that man again, then the only person that could lead her to him was Marianna. But how? How can I use her to lead me to him? How? with this thought in her mind, she rested her head back on the couch and closed her eyes. The thought of taking off the wedding dress did not enter her head.
********************
Caesar drove recklessly to his mansion, slamming the car door shut as he stormed inside. Rushing to the liquor cabinet, he grabbed a bottle of Glenfiddich scotch and approached a large mirror. His face was swollen, bloody, and bruised. He looked like hell. Cursing at his appearance, he took out a clean white handkerchief. He poured the liquor on the handkerchief and began to dab his wounds, wincing at the pain. Suddenly, he stiffened as he heard a car pull up outside. A moment later, Marianna entered the living room, her swollen face and teary eyes filled with intense hatred as she looked at him.
“You bastard! What came over you?” She fired at him, her voice terribly shaken.
Caesar stopped what he was doing to his face. Slowly, he turned to look at her. He had a kind of cool hatred in his eyes and it sent a cold spider crawling up her spine despite her anger towards him.
“Who was that man?” He asked, his voice was calm. Too calm. That was not a good sign.
Marianna, knowing the kind of brother she has, knows the only way she was going to get out of anything he had cooked up in his crazy head for her was to play it nice and cool with him. Playing rough will only get her into more trouble with him.
“He’s my boyfriend,” she said simply. There was no reason for her to lie anymore. If she had lied, he wouldn’t have believed her.
A wicked glint jumped into his eyes and it quickly went away just as it had come. He looked down at the liquor bottle he was holding and stared at it for a long moment. Then with a shudder of anger, he hurled the bottle at her. She must have sensed his intent. Because as the bottle hurled at her, she bent her head and the bottle went crashing into the opposite wall. It made a loud noise as it shattered, spraying glasses and splashing liquor onto the rug. .
Caesar, with the movement of a jaguar, moved to her and grabbed her throat. His hands had the grip of a monkey wrench. He shoved her hard into the couch. The grip on her throat was strong and tight. She tried to scream but nothing came out. The muscles in her legs began to flutter. The impact of how he had thrown the bottle and how she had luckily dodged it had weakened her.
“You little rat!” He snarled. “How could you go behind my back and do things I wouldn’t like?” There was a kind of gentle, patient rage with the way he spoke.
“I didn’t do anything. Let go of me, Caesar.” she croaked. Her body was shaking badly and she hated him for having so much control over her.
“You didn’t do anything?” He asked, his voice incredulous. “You’ve been banging that man behind my back for so long. The instant I saw him with you this night, I knew both of you had something going for each other. No wonder you did not let me touch you the other day. He’s been screwing you all this while. Having what’s mine for himself. You dare bring him to my wedding. And yet, he still had the guts to be looking at my bride to be, those eyes of his stripping my Selena. It was as if he owned Selena. And you caused it! You brought that ape to my wedding. You’ve been a pest in my back for too long. I should wring your little dirty neck.” he seethed out.
Marianna’s eyes were starting to look like two big holes in a white sheet. She felt her mouth opening. Her tongue seemed to be swelling. Her blood drummed in her ears. A thought flashed through her mind that he was going to kill her and there was nothing she could do about it. She thought of Victor. She could see him quite clearly, looking at her, his dark eyes, alert, cold and hard, and yet behind those coldness, she felt the warmth there, the sunshine. She knew he was going to save her if he was seeing what her brother was doing to her. But he was not there and that hurt her more than anything.
Caesar watched her, as he exerted pressure on her neck. He hated doing this. He hated doing it. But she had pushed him this far. And he needed to punish her. Then something flashed in his mind. Something he couldn’t have imagined at that moment. It was the thought of their mother; the beautiful, warm face of Lady Davenport. And as he was looking down at Marianna, he suddenly was looking at the face of their mother. The thought startled him. He released his grip and as he did so; he heard Marianna draw in a sharp, shuddering breath and she began to cough; long, sporadic coughs that spooked him. The thought that a few moments ago he had nearly killed his sister shook him. Quickly, he dashed into the vast kitchen, filled a glass with water and came rushing back to the living room. He picked her up but she began to struggle in his hands. Droplet of water spilled from the glass in his hand.
“Stay still, Anna,” he hushed, his voice soft and full of concern. “You need water,” she was still coughing but it was coming in short, quick bursts. He felt her lay still and he held her to his body. “Take water,” he held the glass to her mouth.
She began to drink, slowly at first, then she increased the pace. When she felt better, she shook her head. He took the glass from her mouth and placed it on the carpet. Then he bent down and easily picked her up. With her in his arms, he crossed the room to a settee and sat on it. She lay in his arms, limp and tired but very aware of her surroundings. They were like that for a long moment, listening to the beat of their hearts. Then Caesar began to talk.