Wedded To The Ruthless Mafia Boss

As Lena approached her house, something caught her attention—a sleek black Range Rover with dark-tinted windows was seated parked in front of the house.

Her father didn’t have the luxury to own such a car, and she was as sure as hell that he didn’t have friends who were that rich to own such cars. Curiosity hit her as she walked closer.

Pushing the door open, she saw a hefty black-suited man standing behind her father. The man had a push dagger in his right hand and his left hand housed the small gun that he pointed to Gavin’s head. His eyes were dark and ominous like he was ready to shoot if given an order by his boss.

She looked around to fathom what was happening around her. Another man was seated on the couch with a gun in his hand and a sly smile playing on his lips. He seemed to be the boss here.

She stared a second longer, peeling her eyes away from him before they settled.

Rushing towards her father. "Dad?" Gavin looked so weak and fragile. Lena hadn’t noticed how much he had emaciated until now that she took a long stare at him as he knelt and cried, his eyes fixated on the man on the couch. "Dad?" She called again, still wondering what was happening.

Her father never got into trouble even before he fell very sick. Now that sickness was taking a toll on him, he had been at home for months and she had been taking care of him. She made sure he received treatments with the little money she saved up while working as a barista in college. Who were these people?

She looked around the room. Her eyes briefly moved from the hefty man with the dagger to the man who was comfortably seated on the tattered couch in their living room. They both had dark glasses on, and she barely saw their faces, but they appeared wealthy and their cologne smelled like danger.

“What’s going on here? Why is my dad on his knees?” She turned to them, asking no one in particular.

When no one gave an answer, she stepped forward, standing in the middle of the living room. Her eyes darted between her father and the men.

“Who are you? What pleasure do you derive in doing this to a harmless old man?” Her voice was louder than its usual decibel.

“Helena…” her father pinched her leg but she shook off and moved closer to the man who obviously was the boss here.

“A harmless old man.” He let out a dry chuckle and she froze, trying to get her eyes off his full, firm lips. That single act seemed more dangerous than she thought.

The glasses were now off his eyes and she briefly studied him when his eyes were focused back on his gun. His skin was tanned. Sharp cheekbones. Deep brown eyes that carried a sharp and calculated gaze. Strong jawline and… the most beautiful man she had ever seen but fuck him.

She didn’t take her eyes off him but he didn't spare her a glance. He didn’t seem like one who acknowledged her presence.

"Dad," She stopped gawking at the young man and turned to her father. Gavin fidgeted and held his daughter with his weak cold hands.

Her chest hurt. Why would these men lower her father to this level of mediocrity?

"I guess she’s your daughter." The stranger spoke. He sounded just exactly as she had imagined. Deep, authoritative yet smooth and controlled.

Lena looked at him again, and his brown eyes rested on her. She wondered why he made such a statement.

"Yes, I'm his daughter. What do you want from us?”

"I think the bait is done." Mr. Brown Eyes crossed his long legs and let out a small smile that didn't seem genuine.

"What do you mean?" Lena asked, confused. She would still ask her father who they were, maybe when they were gone.

"What I need is simple.” He cocked the gun, and targeted it towards Gavin’s head. Apprehension smacked Lena, her heart palpitated. She needed to know what was happening before she lost her mind. “Your father is too irresponsible to hold onto his responsibilities.”

“What responsibilities are you talking about?” Again, she looked between her father and Mr. Brown Eyes, genuine confusion slamming her all over again. Where did her father know these people?

"Gavin Johnson, do you want to explain to your daughter?” Mr. Brown Eyes's lips curved into his signature sly smile.

What an ass. Lena thought as she glared at him, thinking of how she could smack his ass.

“Please, please. Darian.” Gavin muttered, pleading with his eyes, knees and hands. He was reduced to a slave in front of the mighty man. Lena loathed that.

“Please?” Darian veered towards Gavin. He looked fierce and intimidating. “It’s been three years, Gavin. You have said please for three years. I have given you enough time.” He spoke so softly but his words were controlled. “Now is the time to pay back. You either pay with cash or you pay with your life.”

"Darian, I begged you for some time." Gavin wept like a child, breaking Lena’s heart into shreds.

“Three years is enough time, Gavin.”

Where did her father know such a man? Lena wondered as she watched the drama unfold before her eyes. Mr. Brown Eyes whom she now knew as Darian, seemed to enjoy watching people suffer.

"Dad?" she called, but her father ignored her. "Please, I will pay you. I promise to pay you once I have my job back."

"Pay me? Where do you intend to even get that kind of money from?" Darian chuckled, shaking his head lightly.

"Who are you, and why are you frustrating my sick father?" When Lena couldn’t take more, she chirped in angrily. “Leave him alone, you old bully.”

Darian glowered at her, fury burning in his eyes. He wanted to study her but he was too angry for that. "Did your father not teach you to mind the first words you say to strangers?"

“Who the hell are you?” Lena clapped back.

Chuckling, Darian said. "Let's break it down for the little girl. He gestured to his bodyguard to take it up from where he stopped.

“Gavin Johnson is a debtor. He owed my boss for three years.” He still had dark glasses on. They deterred Lena from seeing his face but his voice was as rough as she knew it would be.

Darian straightened up and Lena moved backwards. He took some steps closer to her, halting when he was close enough to perceive her sweet strawberry shampoo. "Your daughter is ripe enough for marriage.”

Lena sent her father a sharp glance. What was he talking about?

“You either pay my money or you give her to me. You have twelve hours to decide if you will go to hell or if I will be planning a wedding in my crib." Darian intoned, flouncing out of the small living room before Gavin could give a response.

His bodyguard followed behind him, slamming the door shut as they filed out.

Lena exchanged a knowing glance with her father. He sure had a lot of explanation to do but before then, she hurried to her room to get her credit card.

Dashing out of the house, she headed towards the pharmacy to get her father new pills.

Lena tried to focus but all that kept on replaying on her mind was the scenario that just played out in front of her a few hours ago.

Handing the pills to her father, she settled on the couch, waiting for him to swallow them and then start with the series of questions she had harbored on her mind since she saw Darian that evening.

Subtly resting her chin against her palms, she asked. “Dad, who was that man and what nonsense was he prattling about marriage?” She did a quick breathwork before she totally lost it. “How did you meet such a man? Why would you even go close to that kind of man?”

Gavin heaved a long sigh. Shaking his head in pity, he stared at his daughter. “I hope you can forgive me for bringing this upon you.”

“Bringing what upon me?” She never raised her voice at her dad, but she was already riled up and hoped he wasn’t about to beg her to marry that dangerous looking man because she would never consider it.

"Helena, he’s Darian Dawson.” He paused, losing the courage to explain further. “I shouldn’t have gotten involved with him.”

“Who is he, dad?” Lena sounded more serious this time. “What does he do?”

“I met him in a club. I don’t know what he does for a living but I heard people rumor he’s a member of the mafia. I didn’t confirm the news.” He dropped his head. “He’s dreadful and hates it when people go against his will.”

“Really, dad?” Scoffing, she got up from the couch and hurriedly paced the room. If Darian was a member of the mafia, they were in trouble.

"How did you get involved with him, dad?" She continued with her questions.

He heaved a weary sigh. Folding his arms together, he rested his back on the couch and shook his head in regret. She needed answers and not a pity party.

"I met him three years ago," He began, "You were in college and your mother just passed away. I got fired from work, it was all hard for me. I took to drinking when I met some men. They were bad associates, but I felt like I needed them. We would go to the club every night and gamble, and that was where I met Darian for the first time."

Lena stared at her father, her eyes filled with surprise. She had no idea her father was so depressed he had to do all that.

"He was young and intelligent. I envied him and just wanted to know about him but the friends…”

She didn’t remember her father introducing any friend to her since she was old enough to comprehend how life worked. She wondered about the friends he was talking about.

“What friends, dad?”

“The friends I made then told me about a business I could involve in that would fetch me some money." He sighed again and sipped in some water from the can. "They told me I needed a huge amount of money to start the business and eventually cajoled me into lending some money from Darian because he was a regular at the club where we gambled."

Lena stared surprisingly at her father —she had no idea her father was into that shady stuff. When she lost her mother while in college, she had proposed the idea of coming back home to stay with him, but he had opposed it and told her he was doing fine. She had no idea he was moving with bad friends.

"What happened after that?" She asked, impatience laced in her soft voice. She needed to know more before she decided on what to do.

"I approached him and he challenged me to a pool game. I won.” Gavin avoided his daughter’s gaze. He felt so ashamed to look at her. “He gave the money to me the first time.”

“The first time?” She gave him a tired look. “It was more than once?”

Gavin knew he was doomed and didn’t have to hide anything from his daughter especially if she was going to save him from Darian. “He gave me for winning against him the first time but he lent me the second time. I shouldn’t have gone back to him again but I needed a lot of money.”

“What did you do with the money?" She asked him again. "And how much was it?"

"A huge amount, over a hundred thousand dollars." He said softly and Lena screamed before she could control herself.

That was huge. Her father had never seemed to her like someone who owned such an amount of money. She even had to take up a barista job to help him out after her mother died. What did he do with all the money?

"Such huge amount of money? What happened to it? What did you do with it?"

"I gambled with some.” His first response threw her off but she remained quiet. He sure had more to say. “I invested with some and when it was time to get my money back, I didn’t find my friends. Helena, the investment was never real. They tricked me to take money from me and left me in debt.”

"Dad, how could you be so gullible?” Great chagrin was fused in her voice. She used to look up to her father as a man of great wisdom but he just disappointed her.

"Yes, I was foolish, I agree, but the situation at hand now is that. . ." He paused again. "I need to pay back his money. He would make sure he kills me if I don't." He panicked as he thought of ways to solve the payment, but nothing popped into his head.

"What do you plan to do, dad?”

"I don't know of anything. I have no money with me, and the only way we have out of this is..." they stared at each other at the same time. She already knew where he was heading with that and she hoped he would just change his mind and look for better options. She looked away from him before his pitiful eyes rested on her for too long. "Please, Helena, you have to do this for me." He begged her, "Darian is a vicious man. He would render you homeless, kill me and take everything from you. Please, consider all of these and help your old man."

She perfectly understood what he meant but feigned confusion. "Dad, I still don’t understand what you want me to do. Do you want me to work for him?"

"He gave us conditions, Lena. He gave us conditions. You either become his wife or I pay my debt." He bowed his head and rubbed his temples.

Shutting his eyes, he felt a sharp burn in his chest. He breathed hard and opened those eyes again, and they burned into his daughter's gray eyes.

"You want me to get married to him?" She asked surprisingly. “A dangerous man?”

"That's the only way to save me from this, Lena," Gavin stared apologetically at his daughter.

Lena sat down and stood up simultaneously. Turning to her father, she shook her head in disagreement and walked a few steps away from him.

"How can you, dad?" She lashed out, "How can you tell me to marry a man I barely know? I saw him for the first time today and..." He held her shoulders, rubbing them gently. Her heart softened, and she stopped talking.

"I regret this mistake, Lena. Depression led to all of these, and I'm so sorry. Please, Lena, save me and the family. I promise that you won't even have to be with him for too long." He led her to the couch but she shook herself off his grip.

"How is that possible?" She settled on the couch, fury burning in her eyes as she glared at her father. “How do you plan to repay him a whole sum of a hundred thousand dollars?"

"When you become his wife, you will have access to lots of things, and within a short period, we will get the money and pay him back, and then, you can file for a divorce." Lena shook her head and was disgusted with her father's idea.

She wondered when he started to build up those ideas and how he even managed to get himself into that mess.

"And you think he would be so foolish to let me get such an amount of money?" She scoffed. "Father, I can't do this. I'm sorry." It was hard to accept that she would get married to a man she didn’t know.

"Then, do you want to watch me die?" He held her hands and stroked her fingers. "Darian is merciless, he has strong connections all over the states.” He paused and didn't talk further. "Maybe it's time to go join your mother in heaven." He relaxed on the couch, letting his thoughts completely control his mind.

Lena gazed at her father; she had adored him since she was little. He loved her so much and cared for her. Growing up as a child, he made sure he gave her all that she needed, and ever since her mother died, he had been the only one for her.

She didn't want to watch him suffer when she could help him but getting married to a stranger was never part of the plan. She shut her eyes, and tears dropped down her cheeks. She had plans, great plans for her life, with her best friend, not this.

She wished she could turn back the hands of the clock and do some things right. Her father had made a lifetime mistake, and now it would even cost her own life. Lena was not ready for marriage —not to a stranger, but then, she had to save her father and herself.

"Lena?" Gavin called her again. She looked at him pitifully, and he was close to tears. She knew she couldn't watch him die in the hands of Darian.

They had just twelve hours to decide if her father would die or if she would be handed over to that ruthless man. And so she thought, she would do it. She would marry Darian but for her father’s sake.

"I will marry him." She blurted out without hesitations.

"You will?" There was a mixture of little excitement and more sadness on his face.

It wasn't his joy to give his daughter away, but sometimes, when life hit hard, we have to move with the train.

"Yes, for you, father, for you." She sobbed, and he pulled her into an embrace. She cried slowly.

"I'm sorry, Helena. I'm so sorry." He hoped that she would be able to forgive him someday.

-

After the conversation with her father, Lena returned to her tiny room. Collapsing into the bed, she carefully reevaluated her decision again. Fears crept into her mind. She wasn’t certain she still wanted to do it but she had already told her father that she would marry Darian to save him.

When she was little, she planned to get married when she was twenty-five, and now she was just a year before that. She sighed and rested on the massive teddy bear she got as a birthday present from Lisa, her best friend.

All her life, she'd never had a boyfriend. She had never loved a man, and now, she wasn't just going to love a man, she was getting married to a total stranger.

She heaved out a weary sigh and grabbed her phone from the bed. She swiped the screen to place a call across to her best friend.

"Hey, baby!" Lisa's voice rang loudly in her eardrums. She sighed again, wishing Lisa could stop yelling whenever they were on a call.

"Lisa, I'm getting married." Out of nowhere, she broke the news to her, quickly ending the call before Lisa started with her unending questions.

Tossing her phone on the bed, she rested properly and shut her eyes in pain.

That was it.

She was going to marry Darian Dawson. She couldn't back out now, she had to save her father.