Chapter 77: The Official Departing

Chapter 77: The Official Departing
Nadine Black's POV:

"Nadine, my newlywed wife..." Damian said as he looked down at me.

The tone he used was stern and instructive, almost as if he was doing this for a show for the numerous sets of eyes staring back in our direction. My eyes went wide with shock upon hearing his words in front of everyone.

No matter. I put on the best smile I could muster as I looked up at Damian. Then, I reached my hand up towards his, placing my fingertips down gently on top of his palm.

"Sure, dear husband," I spoke in a forced, pleasing manner as he assisted me to my feet.

Everybody was smiling, looking in our direction as I stood up, facing Damian directly. When I was standing up firmly, he released my hand and placed his hands on the outer sides of my arms, directly below my shoulders. I knew he did his next move for the crowd when he leaned forward and kissed me on the center of my forehead.

Usually when someone kissed your forehead, they would do so as a sign of a promise. A promise of what I couldn't help but wonder. There's nothing I wanted from Damian, and least of all to be his wife. In the distance, you could hear minimal and hushed conversations admiring the new happy couple.

When Damian pulled his head away from mine, he wrapped his one arm around my shoulders, pulling me directly to his side.

"Congratulations to the happy couple," some random person in the audience shouted before us, just as others could be heard agreeing with whoops and hollers in cheerful tones.

I couldn't help it as I felt my cheeks flush knowing that I was put on the spot in front of the crowded room. Damian's demeanor didn't so much as flinch upon hearing such tones coming from the crowd in front of us. I wasn't surprised that he wasn't swayed in the slightest. Soon, my father, Germaine, reached up and placed his hand on top of Damian's shoulder.

This was the shoulder right above where I stood beside him when my father asked, "Are you ready to depart?"

It was in that moment that Damian looked down at me. I instinctively looked up at him, wondering what it was that he was going to say after my father had asked the question.

"Well... Bride?" Damian spoke, his tone deep and set low. "Are you ready to head out?"

I don't know what came over me. It was strange early. It was in that precise moment that I swallowed... Somewhat hard, as I reached up with my spare hand and placed it around my neck.

"Easy there," Damian said as he lowered his head to whisper into my ear. "You mustn't hurt yourself, as you will be using that later."

I couldn't help but feel a sense of fear that crept over me as I forced my gaze downward so that I did not reveal my terrified look to the crowd standing in front of me. I didn't exactly know what he meant by that comment. I knew what I had been forced to endure previously, but it was at the hands of others, not his own.

I knew now that he had claimed me as his wife that I would no longer be allowed to be touched by anyone else. I was pretty sure that he would be more than willing to cut off any appendage and/or hand of any would-be individual who attempted such a thing. It was with that current thought that my eyes rose from the floor as I desperately searched the crowd for one face in particular.

I didn't know if he was here. And that is one thing that possibly upset me most of all. I remember what happened the night before. The moment I recalled spending time with Bryce. The kiss that we shared... Nothing could have compared to the moment of passion that I had in that single moment. The kiss was subtle, but it meant something to me. Something I have never experienced before.

"Did you hear me?" Damian asked, and his question caused me to turn to look up at him once more.

"Oh... yes, I did hear you," I spoke as I finally lowered my hand and forced a smile out towards the crowd once more before looking back up at Damian.

"Then I suggest you answer a bit faster next time," Damian warned, his tone still set low so that I was the only one who heard him.

My father finally removed his hand from Damian's shoulder as we turned to head toward the double doors leading out to the parking lot outside this very room. What I didn't realize was that as we stood up, most of Damian's men had wandered off. What I didn't know was that they had gone to retrieve the vehicles, brought them up, and parked them outside the small walkway.

As we neared the double set of doors, I looked through the glass windows and saw what I didn't expect to see just yet. I thought there could have just been Damian's vehicle, but not a chance. What I saw shocked me even more.

I noticed there were already four vehicles lined up. One vehicle in particular had red and black ribbons wrapped and tied around the top storage rack rails. I guess it was solely for decoration, showing the colors of my forced wedding, and a signal to everybody else that we happened to pass along the road that somebody had just gotten married.

"Oh wait," one of the bridesmaids called out as she rushed up to me holding the bouquet in her hands. "Are you going to throw the bouquet?"

Damian turned to look down at me as I looked up at him, and he still had me tucked underneath his arm.

"It's tradition," she said as she looked up at Damian for permission.

It's almost as if he narrowed his eyes at her before I looked up at him and pleaded with a smile.

"How about it?" I asked before Damian turned back to look over his shoulder at the crowd standing there behind us as they had all walked up close to see us depart.

"Very well," Damian said as he took his arm out from around the back of my shoulders and took several steps away, allowing me to turn and face the bridesmaid he walked up with the bouquet.

"All right," I called out over the crowd. "Everyone get in position!"