JULIANA'S POV
"This way" said the man as we entered the big house.
It had been about half an hour since Tyberias received the text. We had informed his family and Aria and Leona bursted into tears.
Tyberias' dad was furious when he found out and demanded that he wanted 50 men to attack the place where his son was being held hostage. Aria, being the more reasonable one, said it would be a bad idea because they could retaliate and kill Adrian.
So me and Tyberias left Estella at Leona's place to play with Luca and drove over to the place. I tried to call him down on the journey but it was no use.
The man walked us over to what looked like a metal detector and told us to walk through. Tyberias went first and the machine beeped like crazy. Hesitantly, he removed the gun that was tucked into his pants and walked through it again, and no beeps were heard.
It was my turn to walk through and I confidently did so, knowing I didn't have a gun on me. I was surprised to say the least, when the machine beeped for me. I frowned, not knowing what it was that was causing it to beep as I wasn't wearing any jewellery today.
The man held a small, rectangular metal detector in his hand and moved it around my body to see where it was coming from. I pulled away, slightly offended that it started beeping at my breasts.
I mentally facepalmed. I forgot about the pocket knife I had tucked into there. I took it off and the beeps stopped.
The man led us to a big office where he knocked 3 times.
"Mr Ivanov, they're here."
"Let them in." Said a deep voice and we entered the room.
"Aleksei." Tyberias said, shocked that one of his business partners has turned against him. As far as I could remember, Aleksei Ivanov was in charge of the Russian Mafia. He had been allies with Tyberias for years, which is why his betrayal came as even more of a shock.
And then something clicked in my brain. It was him, Aleksei. The man who approached my parents and told them to kidnap me. He must've been planning this throughout the past year.
"Take a seat" Aleksei said and nodded to the two chairs in front of his desk.
I placed a hand over Tyberias' clenched fist. "Come on" I whispered, seeing as he still hadn't moved.
He hesitantly moved to sit down.
"Where's my brother?" Tyberias seethed.
"He's not here. So if you were thinking of having the place raided, all I have to do is make one phone call and he endures a slow and painful death."
"Now, I know you must be angry, but all will be explained. And if you cooperate, no one will get hurt." He continued
"What do you want from us?"
"Mila, come in." Aleksei said, ignoring our question. On cue, a girl walked in with light brown hair and big blue eyes. She was beautiful to say the least, however, she looked petrified.
"This is Mila, my only daughter. She just turned 18 last week, the legal age for marriage." He began but we both stared at him confused. "In case you weren't understanding what I was hinting at, let me make it more clear. In one months time, Tyberias, you will marry Mila and join our families as one. In return, I will let Adrian live. I must also add that when you both get married, I expect you to be fully faithful to each other." Aleksei said, looking between the both of us.
We both stared at him as if he had grown two heads. He wanted Tyberias to... marry her?
"What the fùck? No. I-I'm not marrying her. She's a kid" Tyberias exclaimed, cringing at the nine year age gap.
"I don't think you're in any position to be making demands. But let me give you another incentive. Not only would I allow Adrian to live, I will also allow Juliana's sister... what's her name? Oh yes, Estella, to live as well. Now, take note, I had no intentions of harming her at first, but if you don't marry my daughter, Estella will endure the same fate as her parents."
"You won't hurt her" Tyberias growled slamming his fist on the table.
"Don't underestimate me, didn't you see how easy it was for me to take Adrian from right under your noses. I could do the same to Estella in a heartbeat."
My eyes began tearing up at the thought of Estella and Adrian harmed. I would give up my happiness any day to have them safe. And in that moment, I knew Tyberias had no choice.
"He'll do it. He'll marry her." I finalised. We couldn't be selfish. It was not only Adrian's but also Estella's lives at risk.
"Brilliant decision. I know there were some brains in there, Juliana." Aleksei patronised me.
"You know Juliana, you're a hard girl to get rid of. When I had your parents kidnap you, I secretly paid your father double to convince him to kill you but the piece of shit couldn't even do his damn job. I even had one of my men try to shoot you but you're like an annoying fly- always there when you're not wanted." Aleksei continued.
"How much did you pay them anyways?" I asked.
"It wasn't hard to convince your mother, all I had to do was show her what Tyberias actually did for a living and offer her $50,000 and she warmed up to my plans quickly. I gave you father $100,000, however, something tells me he would've done it for much less just to see you miserable. How does it feel, Juliana? To have your own parents sell you out for so little?" He asked. I knew he was just looking for a reaction but I didn't give him one. I only stayed silent.
"Now, you may both leave. However, Tyberias, I will arrange a meeting in two weeks so we can go over the details." He continued.
As soon as he said this, we got up and left, I think we were both still in a state of shock about the whole situation.
"What are you waiting for, Mila. Get out of my face." I heard Aleksei snap to his daughter as we walked out the door.
"Yes, father." She said obediently.
"Why couldn't I get a dàmn son instead?" He muttered.
We began walking towards the front door but I told him I needed the toilet so man led me to the closest one.
Tyberias insisted on waiting outside for me but I told him to wait near the front door. I just wanted to be alone for a couple minutes.
I entered the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my fathers, not caring that my makeup was coming off.
I looked at myself in the mirror and instantly bursted our into silent sobs.
Just when I thought I could be happy, something had to ruin it.
I splashed more water on me and patted my face dry so it didn't look like I was crying. I exited the bathroom and began walking to where Tyberias was waiting when I heard a voice.
"I'm sorry, James. I have no choice. I hope you understand" I heard someone quietly cry into the phone.
I discreetly poke my head to see Mila crying.
"I love you too. Bye." She finished and quickly wiped her tears so no one would know she was crying.
And then it hit me. She was getting forced into this, just like Tyberias. Any animosity I was feeling towards her was gone.
I wanted to hate Mila so bad because it would make it easier to deal with this whole situation, but I couldn't. She was getting dragged into this, just like us.
She turned her head and I quickly moved so she wouldn't see me. I quickly made my way back to Tyberias.
We had collected our things and were about to walk out the door when I heard someone call my name.
I turned around to see Mila rushing towards us.
"I-I know you both probably hate me right now but I just wanted to say I'm sorry you both have to be in this situation. I begged my father no to do it but he wouldn't listen to me. Please don't be angry at me" She said and I could tell she was being genuine by the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.
"We don't blame you. We know you didn't have a say in this." I said, speaking for both of us and she looked genuinely surprised
"I- Uh. Thank you for believing me" she stuttered and I shook my head, indicating that it was alright.
With that we exited the house and were left to deal with the reality of the situation.