Welcome Party

After getting dressed I walk out into the hall. Jonah is nowhere to be found and Devon is waiting for me.

"Where's Jonah?" he looks me up and down and just stares. I wave my hand in front of his face. "Hello!"

"He went downstairs to tell your mother about the dress." he's not even trying to hide the fact that he's checking me out.

"Stop staring already. Let's go." he nods his head.

"Follow me." we start walking through the halls and around many corners. He leads me down a flight of stairs into the foyer. Two halls are leading off to the left and right. This place has to be massive. I wonder how these people stay under the radar while living in a place like this. We take the left hall. The walls are lined with pictures of my family and who I can only assume are his. At the end of the hall is another set of large double doors like the ones to my father's office. Just as we neared the doors a picture on the wall catches my eye. A picture of me as a baby being held by a little boy with searing blue eyes and white hair.

"I told you that I've held you before." he wraps his arm around my waist and leads me toward the doors. Just as we attempted to push the doors open Jonah opened them from the other side.

"There you two are. Hurry up and come in, Adrian." he reaches out for me but Devon slaps his hand away.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to touch what doesn't belong to you?" I scoff at him.

"Haven't I told you that I don't belong to you? It's fine, Jonah. Take me to my parents." Devon groans but doesn't protest or argue. We enter the room and right away I see that everyone is wearing different luxurious

designer loincloths. They are beautiful but they cover so little.

"There he is. Our gorgeous son-in-law. You're quite something." an older Asian woman walks up to me with wide-spread arms. She grabs me and pulls me into a tight embrace.

"You must be Devon's mother. Nice to meet his literal maker." she laughs loudly in my ear and squeezes me tighter.

"You're so funny, sweetie. Your parents were just telling me about you." I glare over at my father as I pull away from her.

"That's funny. I only know one of them." he sucks his teeth at me.

"Don't be petty, Adrian. We have guests." I roll my eyes.

"Wow, I care about that so much. I don't even know these people. Fuck them!" 

"I thought Hero's didn't use such foul language," he smirks at me.

"Things changed after you murdered your friends and went into hiding. Maybe you should get out more old man." he begins to laugh.

"Oh, how nice of you to join us, Devon. We were just talking to your lovely bride. Seems you have your hands full with this one." he sighs.

"You're telling me? He slapped the shit out of me just a few minutes ago." I cross my arms over my chest.

"You know why." he just smiles and pulls me into a hug.

"Don't act like that. You'll hurt my feelings and run the risk of making my sister feel better about herself."

"Oh no~ we wouldn't want that to happen. Where would I get my happiness if she isn't miserable?" we both chuckle to ourselves.

"Well, if you look at that. They're already getting along so well." I push away from him and roll my eyes.

"What on earth made you think that? I have my reasons for agreeing to this Ludacris wedding." Devon sighs, grabs my arm, and leads me away. Jonah follows behind us at a distance.

"Why is Jonah so far behind us?" he groans.

"He's getting in the way. You're marrying me not him, why do you care about him so much? Were you lying to me earlier? Is he your boyfriend or something?" his grip on my arm tightens.

"No! What are you talking about!? He's nothing more than a friend. I was just wondering why he was so far behind us if he's here to assist us." he scoffs at me.

"Yeah right! You don't need him when you have me! You just want your little boyfriend by your side. Maybe we should just get rid of him." he halts and beacons Jonah over.

"Stop! I made a deal with my father. If any harm comes to Jonah I have the right to refuse to marry you!" his expression of pure rage dies down.

"You're quite sneaky, aren't you? I'm still angry but I won't kill him. However, I will be separating the two of you until the wedding. You shouldn't be seen with him anyway. He's beneath you." Jonah stands quietly waiting for Devon to finish speaking.

"How may I help you?"

"I am removing you from Adrian's official staff. After tonight I don't want to see you anywhere near him for the next two weeks." he waved him away and Jonah just nods his head in agreement. I couldn't help but feel hurt. He didn't even protest. He just accepted it. Was it that easy for him to walk away from me? Was I really just some mission to him?

"There, now everything is right in the world." I pull away from him.

"The world hasn't been right since the day you and your tweaked-out sister were born." I try to walk away but he grabs me by the wrist.

"And there they are! An honored couple of the night!" a spotlight catches us and everyone turns to look at us. Devon and my parents are holding microphones.

"We are so pleased to say that the next generation couple has been decided. Our beautiful sons will merge these families and give birth to the next generation." everyone began to cheer. They cheer as if this is something so amazing. I pull away from him once again and we go join our family. Alissa also joins us. She sneers at her brother and kisses up to my father.

"You look stunning in your new outfit, your grace." I cringe at her words.

"Ew, don't call me that. Coming from someone like you it's like stabbing my eardrum with a needle. Back away from me." I could see the frustration in her face and the rage in her eyes but for some reason, it was directed at Devon, not me. I mean she did say that she wanted to marry me but to hate him for being born first is wild.

"I'm sorry to bother you." she backs away. It was as if she blamed my actions on him. She goes to her mother's side and mumbles something under her breath. I look around and spot Jonah in the crowd. Before I could attempt to slip away Devon grabs my wrist and pulls me in.

"Don't walk away from me. He'll be fine without you and you don't need him."

"I'm starting to understand why your sister hates you." he shrugs.

"As if I care about what she thinks. She may be family but she's also beneath me. You're the only one on my level." this man is unbelievable.

"Can't you just allow me to enjoy myself? You have no say in what I get to do and with whom. I already have to marry you, you don't have to smother me as well." he uses his other hand to grab my waist and pull me in closer.

"You want to enjoy yourself, huh? Then how about I take you out tomorrow? We can go during the night and meet up with your Hero friends. I bet they aren't even looking for you. How do you think they'll react when you show up with me?"

"Sorry to cut in but I need to have a word with my son." Devon's father grabs him by the hair and drags him away. It happened so quickly that he almost didn't let go of me. He brings him over to his mother and sister who don't look very happy. The three of them whisper-yell at him and his father slaps him in the head. My parents approach me.

"Oh sweetie, the two of you go together so well."

"Wow, I hadn't noticed that you were going blind. He's aggressively possessive of me and believes I belong to him. He's crazy. He won't even allow me to speak to Jonah let alone be in a ten-foot radius of him." they look at each other and then over at Devon's family.

"So that's why they pulled him away so abruptly. They must have seen it. Maybe I should talk with him." I wave him away.

"Don't do that. You don't mean to talk. You'll kick his ass and then it'll just get worse for me once you're not around." he grits his teeth.

"Has he hurt you?"

"Not on purpose. He just hates the idea of me being around any guy that isn't him. Honestly, why would you marry me off to someone like him? And apparently, we've been engaged since before I was even born!? Are you insane?" he just pats my head.

"He's fine and he was the best choice for you. His sister is deranged and his cousins are much worse than he is. I'd have killed one of them by now if they were to be your husband. They wouldn't care if they hurt you or not as long as they were able to birth the next generation. Be happy that it's him." I narrow my eyes on him.

"Easy for you to say. You've got mom! She's the nicest person in the world. I'm surprised she's still sane after marrying you!" he heaves a sigh.

"Can't you be nicer to me? I'm your father."

"Who married off his infant son before he was even born to a true psychopath? I'm sure I can find a way to tolerate you."

"Fine, more importantly: He isn't hurting at all? I'm serious. Tell me." I glance over at Devon.

"It's nothing like that. He hasn't hurt me. I'm fine. I'll tell you if anything happens." he heaves a sigh of relief.

"Guess that means I don't have to kill him." he and my mother begin to laugh like it's the funniest thing in the world. It's honestly really creepy. She never acts like this. It's like her submissive attitude is rubbing off on me as well. I don't want to tell them that I don't want to be left alone with Devon anymore. Why am I acting like this? Why can't I just say it?

"Sorry about that. My family is obsessed with you, I hope you know that. They pulled me away to lecture me on how to be the perfect husband for such a perfect bride."

"I am far from perfect." he grabs my hand.

"I'd beg to differ. If you aren't perfect then nothing in this world has ever been or ever will be. It is an honor to be at your side and to have you as my bride." he lifts my hand and gently kisses my fingers. The women around us coo and swoon over his sweetness. I don't believe he means it.

"Thank you. That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." he smiles and kisses my hand again.

"I can't see why anyone wouldn't compliment you. You're stunning." being complimented like this was truly embarrassing. I could feel the blood rushing to my face.

"Well isn't that nice. You two already look so in love." I roll my eyes. Everyone was just seeing what they wanted. How could I ever fall in love with this maniac? He just threatened to kill Jonah because he was jealous of our relationship. He's completely unreasonable and these people expect me to be happy about being forced to marry him? How do they expect me to raise a child with this man? This is the most unhappy home in the making. These people are murderers and arsonists. No wonder this man turned out the way he did.

"I suppose we do look that way, though you should never let an image of perfection cloud your mind to their flaws."

"Truer words have never been spoken, child." Devon's mother rests her hand on his shoulder and his fingers gently grip my hand.

"I'm glad you believe so. Well anyway, what kind of welcome party is this? Let's liven the place up a bit."

"Of course, dear. Let's play some livelier music and get some drinks going." Everyone cheers.