Entangled

Annora POV

My parents are scum. How can they do this to me and claim it’s for honor. Honor my ass. It’s because they are broke. They want me to honor some silly betrothed contract that was made up when I was a baby. My parents are money grubbing scum. When they had money they were happy, but after a couple of bad investments and Ponzi Scheme they are broke and get most of their support from me. I run a web designing business and they are trying to suck every penny from it. I consider myself a nice person, but I have low tolerance for dumb shit.

If I wasn’t afraid to go to jail I would finish both of them off. They are a drain on this economy. Leeches. That will do anything for a quick buck. They better hope our city never has a purge. Just some damn leeches. Sometimes I feel like a parent. My ex boyfriend left me because of them. He said I will always be stagnant until I get rid of them. That really hurt but Chase has a point. They have ruined their lives and working on mine.

“Dad I’m not doing it so find another way to scam.”

“They’ll ruin us.”

“Dad, you’re already ruined. None of your friends have called you in years. Plus if it’s money to be had it will come to me. You’re not getting it, I am. I’ve lost count on how much you owe me.”

“I raised your ungrateful black ass. I don’t owe you shit,” he said.

“The hell you don’t. I pay your damn rent and bills so you owe me plenty.”

“Well, you could move in here that way you won’t have two separate rents to pay.”

“I wouldn’t dare put myself through that torture, plus you’re missing my point.”

I hear the doorbell ring. I look over at my parents. They never have company.

I say, ” what did you do?”

“Nothing,” says my mom, finally joining the conversation.

I walk to the front door and open and look up, and up and up. It’s two men at the door. They must have the wrong house.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, Marlon please,” says the first one. Damn he’s fine. He’s tall around 6′2 with long hair that he has in a ponytail at the back of his neck. He looks like Jason Mamoa fine ass. The next one resembles the first one but he has a Mohawk.

“Dad, someone is at the door for you,” I breathe out becoming breathless. Damn. I know a man that looks like him wouldn’t be interested in someone like me. My sister is more his type. She’s light skin with weight in all the right places. A small stomach with a big ass. Me. I’m short, rail thin and dark skin. My best features are my hair and eyes. I gave up on trying to guess the color of my eyes. My hair is long and thick and reaches the center of my back.

I get it from my dad. He’s from the island. Before he came to America and met my mom he had a psychic shop. Everyone went to him because of his odd eye color and his mother had the sight. My grandmother was said to feel things and can tell people if something bad was coming their way.

Unfortunately for my dad he didn’t have the sight and when the people of the island found out they ran him from the island with sticks and torches.

My thoughts are interrupted because my dad pushes me out the way to greet his guest and invite them in.

My father says, ” Annora this is Marius and his brother Gideon.”

“How do you do,” I say and shake Gideon’s hand then Marius’s hand. When I got to Marius I snatched my hand back fast and tried to play it off. I felt a strong wave of something. I’m not sure what it was, but it got me feeling horny and strange. My father always suspected I had the gift like my grandmother from the island, but I always argued against it in case he tried to buy a psychic shop and put me in it. I don’t have the sight, just a strong feeling or a strong sense. But I never felt this when I touched someone. This man is evil as hell.

“I’m well. Marlon I brought the documents so if we could move this alone that would be great.”

“What documents dad,” I ask shortly and sharply.

He says, ” nothing to concern yourself with.”

My dad looks over at Marius. ” I will have these ready for you first thing in the morning.”

The brothers nod and leave.

“Dad who were those men and what were they doing here and what is this old looking scroll.”

“It’s your betrothed agreement.”

“What!!!”

“Dad, send that back to them. Where did you even meet someone like them? You must’ve met them back in the day when you had money.”

“Yes, and if you fulfilled this contract we get your betrothed money.”

“What do you mean we? Well it doesn’t matter anyway I’m not doing it.”

“They will kill us for going back on our word.”

I sit up at this, could it be, could my wish be coming true. Like I said I consider myself a nice person, humbly even, but they have just run me through the ringer and I just as well be rid of them. I know it’s mean, but they are draining me dry and sucking the life from me.

“They will kill us all. You, me, your mother and Asia.”

Shit, well there’s a wrench in my plans.

“What do mean kill. What type of people go around killing people.”

“The are the Romanian mob,” my dad says sacredly.

I gasp. ” Dad you want me to marry the fucking mob.”

“Stop being such a baby,” my mom says. ” You’ll have endless money and won’t have to work. You can sell your business and help pay your sister’s tuition. Stop being so selfish.”

I look over at her dismissively. She never really cared for me since I’m not light skin and don’t follow in her footsteps and do what she says blindly like Asia. I look more like my dad but darker. My dad is tall, dark and handsome with an indiscernible eye color. Except I’m not tall. I’m short and little.

I think long and hard trying to find a way out of this. I should run and leave everybody on their own. I can’t be with a mobster. That man I met earlier isn’t interested in marriage either. He must have a good reason for going alone with it.

I wonder if I can talk him out of it. ” Dad what’s his number...”

“Annora why do...”

“Dad, number now or I walk away.”

He gives me the number and I call. He picks up on the 4th ring.

" Hello.”

" Will you really kill us if I don’t sign these papers.” I get straight to the point.

He says, ” in this business nobody breaks their word.”

" You must don’t know my dad,” I grumbled low. ” So what’s your plan with me?”

" Simple. You do what I say when I say it and we won’t have any problems.”

" How often will you say.? I’m not a call girl, I want some respect.”

" Respect is earned Annora.”

Damn his accent makes me want to drop my panties and pounce.

" Vise Versa,” I say.

" I plan to earn your respect, but you will do what I say. No buts about it.”

" But, but...”

" No buts, you will be my wife and the mother of my children. I need you to carry yourself as such. Most of all like a Mateescu.”

" What the hell is a Mateescu.”

" That will be your new surname.”

I hang up. I can’t do it. I won’t do it. A text comes through on my phone and I look down at it and curse. I should have blocked my number.

It was a text that read: Big mistake.

I text him back and say: I’m not doing this.

He doesn’t text back and I become nervous. I put my phone in my pocket and grab my bag and leave my parents house ignoring their screams and protest. Fuck them and their contract.

Don’t nobody get married by no damn contract these days. They will not decide my fate. I will go get Asia and haul ass. I make it to my apartment 15 minutes later. Thanks to my parents I can only afford one worker so I mostly do everything myself.

I work on designs until I’m sleepy. I then take a shower and get into bed. I started thinking about Marius and grabbed my phone off the nightstand and texted him.

Annora: Give me time.

Marius: Time to run away?

Annora: My father doesn’t speak for me.

Marius: The contract remains the same .

Annora: I don’t want this or you.

Marius: Same here

Annora: Then why

Marius: Like I said. We keep our word. You have one month to get your affairs in order.

Annora: I don’t want this life.

I wait for him to text me back, but he doesn’t. I sat my phone down then picked it back up and googled him and what I read scared the shit out of me.

Racketeering, money laundry, selling women, murder, bribery. His reach goes all the way to the senate. He’s not had not one conviction, he hasn’t even been to jail. His family is a big deal and important, here in America, but mainly in Romania. If I don’t go through with this he will kill my family. If I cut and run they die. Shit. What if we all run. If we all run we will have an entire family on our backs. But we don’t have the resources to hide. The alternative is to marry this mad man and be his submissive.

I don’t do the submissive thing. My mouth is too smart. I give up and fall asleep.