"What do you mean by joining your family?" She asked in surprise as his tone was very light and carefree yet his eyes remained inhumanly dark. "Since Hayden got himself into this mess, he'll marry you and we'll take you back to the chateau and keep you on lockdown until we are sure we can trust you" "What??!" Three voices chorused in unison at Hunter's proposition and all the dark eyed man did was smirk. Adriana was at the wrong place at the wrong time and saw Safari City's richest man shoot her ex boyfriend in cold blood, she was given to choices; sign an NDA contract and get married to Hayden or get killed by the Friedman Brothers. With no other options she joins the Friedman Family but that is just the beginning of her troubles. The Mafia that her ex boyfriend belonged to came looking for revenge and her husband is hurt fatally in the conflict that ensues. Will she be able to let go of her hate for him for killing her first love or will she be consumed by the powerful forces that surround her?
"Shit!" Hayden cursed as he punched the car behind him denting the metal irreparably. The brothers were on full panic mode as Adriana hadn't been found yet. Hunter sat beside Betty wrapping his coat around her to keep her warm in the cold morning weather.
"Why the fuck didn't you lock her in Jeremy? I could go to prison for your stupid fucking mistake!" Hayden yelled again and shook his fists at his younger brother.
"Shut up Hayden, no cursing in front of Betty and no talking about prison either" Hunter cautioned sternly and Hayden immediately calmed down and slinked over to Betty's side.
"Sorry Betty, I'm just a little bit upset that's all" He apologized as she hugged him tightly.
"Will you go to jail brother?" She asked innocently and Hayden shook his head determinedly.
"I'm not going to jail Betty, now tell me anything you noticed about the lady you saw last night"
"She was locking the bathroom door just as I entered the room so maybe she hid something there"
"I'll check it out" Jeremy dashed into the house and came back a few minutes later with a tired looking Miss Grundy.
"Guess who I found all tied up and gagged in the bathroom of the Blue Room?" Jeremy announced as he got outside with the old housekeeper.
"Miss Grundy? That crazy lady was the one right? Did she tell you anything about where she was headed?" Hayden asked as he hurried over to her side and helped her to the car to sit down.
"I don't know for sure but she did mention that she was from the Southside" The old woman coughed in pain as Hayden helped her into the air conditioned car.
"That's it Hayden, I know some guys down in the Southside, and everyone knows everyone there. Odds are they might know where she lives, get into your cars and follow me but get someone to tend to Miss Grundy and Betty first" Hunter jumped into his car and sped out of the compound before he even finished talking.
***
"Are you sure this is where she lives?" Jeremy whispered to his brother as they watched the ramshackle apartment they had been told that Adriana lives in.
"That's what my guys told me" Hunter replied in a flat tone.
"They might have told you the wrong address because this building is not even fit for animals to live in and you want me to believe Adriana lives here. This is prime mafia territory, you can tell by the graffiti they put up on the walls" Jeremy argued back as he pointed at the various street art desecrating the walls of the building.
"She admitted that that prick I shot was her ex boyfriend. Cody was part of the Mafia so she must be somehow mixed up with them. You see why she's too dangerous to marry Hunter?"
"Shut up Hayden, we'll get her, take her back home where our lawyers and the priest will be waiting and Grandma will be happy to see her favorite grandson finally decide to settle down again after-"
"Don't even think about saying it Hunter, I'm warning you" Hayden growled at his brother but they were both shaken out of their glaring contest when Jeremy suddenly shouted.
"There she is! With the large brown bag, she's put on a wig and wore high heeled shoes to increase her height but I'm very sure that's her"
"Alright guys let's do this" Hunter took a deep breath and started the car.
***
'Shit! I shouldn't have slept over, they might have traced me here' Adriana thought as she struggled to carry the large bag containing her personal belongings with her cold and numb hands.
'Fuck! Fuck you Cody, I shouldn't have followed you then I'll not be in this situation right now. Did you have to pull a gun on them? Now you're dead and you have no family, I'm the only one in the whole world who ever gave a damn about you and you pushed me away too, now you're dead'
Tears slipped down her cheeks as she remembered the nice memories she had with Cody, putting the bad ones at the back of her mind.
She was still buried in her thoughts when she heard the beep of a car horn from behind her. She turned around to see who it was and she froze up immediately she saw the Friedman Brothers all glaring at her from the car.
"Get into the car Adriana, I thought you were smart and wouldn't try anything this stupid" Hunter spoke in an annoyed growl and Adriana began to look around for her nearest route of escape.
"Don't even think if running, we have men surrounding the entire block with permission to shoot if you try to run. I wouldn't want to end your life this early" Hayden warned as he followed her eye.
"You killed Cody! You killed him and now you want me to just get married to you like it's nothing?! You think the world is your plaything but guess what, it's not. I'd rather die than get married to you" Adriana yelled and threw her shoe at the car in anger.
"Alright Jeremy, we'll have to go the rough way" Hunter whispered to his brother.
Adriana somehow realized what they were talking about and made to run but she wasn't more athletic than Jeremy and in a few leaps he caught up with her and dragged her into the car.
"Hey! Stop! I'm not doing this!" She screamed at top of her voice as tears began flowing freely from her eyes.
"Could you stop screaming Adriana! You're drawing too much attention. There are worse things in the world than marrying my brother" Jeremy tried to placate her but she hit his hands away and stared out of the window in silence with deep frown set on her face.
She knew there was no other option now, she either got married to Hayden Friedman or die. All because the Friedmans were rich and powerful they thought they could bend any thing to their will, she wasn't the type to submit and she was going to make sure the Friedman Brothers paid for trying to control her.