?ALL THE WRONG REASONS?
?EPOSODE THIRTY-SIX?
Justin and Adrienne arrived at a luxury hotel in Florence.
It was more like a luxurious, sophisticated home than a
hotel with its elegant townhouse façade, neo-clas-sical
furniture and centuries worth of art collections in a four-
story structure.
They were greeted warmly by all the staff dressed in
expensive suits and uniforms.
Adrienne blinked back at Justin, obviously in awe of
the VIP treatment they received. Justin smiled and
whispered to her. “I rented the whole place for the whole
week. So we are their only guests.”
Adrienne’s eyes wi-dened. “Justin!” she hissed. “That’s
too much!”
“What’s the point of eloping if you cannot have some
sort of privacy, right?” he asked, his eyes twi-nkling.
A couple approached them. Justin smiled at the sight
of his cousin. Mason. The only cousin that Adrienne hasn’t
met yet. His wife, Abigail, accompanied him.
“Justin, my man!” Mason greeted him warmly as he
approached them.
The two guys gave each other a manly hu-g. Justin
hadn’t seen Mason in almost a year and among his cousins,
Mason was his best friend. Sadly…he was…not in good
terms with his parents. Justin couldn’t forget the day he
pu-lled everything off so he could get their pri-vate plane to
get Mason out to Italy. And since then, Mason never looked
back.
In a way, Justin couldn’t blame him. Mason was black
and blue and being held for ransom by some poker sharks
he owed a lot of money to. Half a million dollars in exchange for his life. Mason’s parents refused to pay up. They didn’t
even believe him. They thought he was orche-strating the
whole thing to get more money from them.
Justin couldn’t let anything happen to Mason no
matter how many mistakes he made. So, he paid the money
out of his own pocket, took Mason to the hospital to have
him treated, and then boarded him on their pri-vate plane to
Italy to where his long-time girlfriend Abigail lived.
He felt glad to see that Mason learned his lesson.
Justin gave his cousin a fresh start. He ultimately gained his
own casino hotel in the city and from the looks of it, it did
quite well.
Gambling didn’t sit well with their family but Justin
loved that Mason made good use of his talents for a change.
Justin turned to Adrienne and said, “Mason, I’d like you
to meet, Adrienne. My fiancée.”
Mason smiled wi-dely. “Nice to finally meet the woman
who straightened my big cousin out.” He grinned. Then he
turned to the woman beside her. “And this is the woman
who straightened me out, Abi, my wife.”
Adrienne smiled at both of them and shook their
hands. “How many more of your cousins are you still hiding
from me?” she asked Justin.
“He’s the last one, I promise.” Justin chuckled. Then
he turned to Mason. “All set?”
“Three more days, cuz,” Mason replied. “Your last
minute requests are going to be the death of me.”
“plea-se do everything that you can. I don’t want
anyb©dy to come and put a stop to this whole thing, you
know,” Justin said.
“Are you scared that there’s someb©dy more powerful
than the formidable Justin Adams?” Mason joked.
“I know there is,” Justin muttered. “His name is Jac
Adams!”
“Oh, you’re right. How’s everyb©dy at home?”
“Still crazy,” Justin replied curtly. “But no one’s crazier
than you, of course.”
Mason laughed heartily. “I refuse to relinquish the
crown. Neither Jordan nor Gian seem fit to wear it.”
“Considering you took mischief to extremes, you’re
probably right,” Justin said. Even when they were growing
up, Mason got into a lot of things. Pot, drinking, smoking,
gambling, gangs, street fighting and some un-derground
stuff. He made Justin, Jordan and Gian look like angels.
“So which room do you wish to stay in?” Mason asked.
“They have twenty, all for your own disposal.”
“Justin…this is too much,” Adrienne hissed beside him.
He put an arm around her and gave her a gentle
squee-ze. “Just because we’re eloping doesn’t mean I’m
going to make it a rushed, less R0m-ntic experience for you,
honey,” he said, looking down at her. “Come on, we nee-d to
pick a room.”
They all entered the small elevator, which took them
to the top floor.
There were only two rooms on this floor. And they
were both elegant, covered with cream-colored wallpapers
with gold trim. Both the rooms had a four poster king-sized
b£ds, crystal chandeliers, walk-in closets, fireplaces and
sitting areas with lavish couch sets. The big balconies
provided astounding views of the city.
“Which one do you want to stay in, honey? I’m okay
with either of them,” Justin said to Adrienne.
Adrienne had her back on him. She was looking at the
view of the city. Then she spun around and looked at Justin.
Her eyes were twi-nkling and she gave him a dazzling smile.
Justin had to blink back. He felt his heart skip a beat and he
still wondered how she could steal his breath with just a
simple glance or a s-xy smile.
Justin felt that familiar feeling of de-sire creeping
throu-gh him again, and suddenly, he had this urge to push
Mason and his wife out of the room so he could have his way with his fiancée. It had been three weeks since he last
made love to her…three weeks since his de-sires has been
catered to. He didn’t mind being celibate for that long. For
the previous weeks, his only focus had been how to get out
of the prison his parents se-nt him to. Funny how the thought
of marrying a girl he didn’t love was enough for him to stop
thinking about s-x at all.
“When are we getting married?” Adrienne asked him,
her eyes sparkling and he could tell that she was up to
something.
“Three days.” Justin whispered uncertainly. He was
trying to figure out what was on her mind.
Adrienne smiled at him wi-dely. “I’ll take this room. And
you can take the one across the hall.”
Justin didn’t think he heard that right. “I’m sorry,
what?”
“I said, I will take this one. And you could take the
other one.”
Behind him, Justin heard Mason snickering.
“Why?”
Adrienne shrugged innocently. “Because we’re not yet
married. Surely, we couldn’t share a b£droom until then.”
Justin stared at Adrienne as if she had completely lost
her mind. He couldn’t get why she asked for that. Wasn’t
she counting? It’s been three weeks!
“Adrienne…” He took a de-ep breath, trying to keep
calm. “Honey…we’ve sle-pt in the same room before. In fact,
we’ve almost been living together until…you found out what
my parents set me up with!”
Adrienne gave him a small pout. She approached him
and put her hands on his che-st. Her tou-chalmost burned
him. He took a de-ep breath to calm his nerves.
“Well…you rented like twenty rooms,” she said
innocently and he knew she was doing this deliberately. “It’s
a shame if we don’t maximize it as much as we can. If only you rented one room, then we wouldn’t have a choice to but
to share, right?”
Behind him, Mason couldn’t help laughing. Justin
wanted to punch something and he’s climbing high up on
the target list.
“Honey…” Justin took a de-ep breath. “This isn’t funny.
I’m serious.”
She stared up at him. “So am I, Mr. Adams,” she said.
“You’re going to have me for the rest of your life. That’s in
three days. Surely, you can wait, right?”
Justin took a de-ep breath. Then he inclined his head to
the right. “Can you leave us, plea-se?” he gently asked
Mason. He and his wife, closed the door behind them.
Justin turned to Adrienne again. He wanted to ki-ss her
and throw her on the b£d and make her scream his name
over and over. But now…she’s saying to him that not only
were they going to stay in different rooms, but they were
going to wait until their honeymoon to do the things he
wanted to do to her in b£d.
Justin drew a frustrated sigh. “You’re killing me,” he
whispered to her.
“Do you really love me or are you just after the s-x?”
she asked. “Because if that’s the case, then let’s not get
married. Let’s just stay in b£d all day for a week and then go
back home.”
He pu-lled her to him a little too rou-ghly that startled
her a little bit. “You little minx. You know I love you. And
you’re not getting out of Italy until you become Adrienne
Adams.” He gave her a pas-sionate ki-ss on the li-ps. He
traced her li-ps with his ton-gue and invaded her mouth in a
ki-ss that left her breathless and wanting more. When he
pu-lled away from her, her face was flushed and she looked
disoriented. Her breathing was ragged and Justin knew she
was as lost in de-sire as he was. He grinned at her. “I lasted
three weeks. Surely, I can last three more days.” With a mischievous smile, he added, “But I will make sure you’ll be
begging for it, too.”
Then he released her. Adrienne had to lean on one of
the couches for support. She looked disoriented and
innocent and Justin just wanted to take her right then and
there. But she asked for three days. And the gentleman he
is…he will give it to her. But he refused to be the only one
hurting and burning every time they to-uched.
Adrienne looked up at him. “We won’t make love until
we’re married,” she said but her voice no longer carried
much conviction. “Do we have a deal?”
Justin took a step closer to her. She took a step back,
as if she feared that her defenses would crumble if he
to-uched her.
“That’s the only thing we cannot do, okay?” he
confirmed. “Consummate the marriage before we say our
vows.”
She smiled and nodded.
Justin grinned at her. “You’re pla-ying with fire,
Adrienne. It’s a dangerous game.” He narrowed his eyes at
her and gave her a devilish smile. “Are you sure you want to
pla-y against me? I am, after all…Justin Adams. What did you
use to call me? Manhattan’s most notorious pla-yboy?”
Justin didn’t miss her ha-rdintake of breath and he
smiled at her. He took a step closer to her. She took a step
back. He took a step towards her again, and she kept
backing down, until she hit the wall behind her. Justin took a
final step towards her, tra-pping her against the wall and his
b©dy. He caught her, wra-pping his arms around her wa-ist.
Adrienne put her hands against his che-st, giving him a
gentle push that wasn’t convincing.
“Justin…” she whispered.
“Can you really stop me, Adrienne?” he asked her.
“Justin, plea-se…” she whispered.
He smiled at her and then he leaned forward and took
her mouth in his. She opened up to him like a flower. And Justin reveled in the fact that he had so much effect on her,
the way she had so much effect on him.
Soon, they were ki-ssing each other like they wanted to
make up for all the weeks that they lost. Justin nuzzled her
ne-ck and made her mo-an. He felt himself completely falling.
She was getting softer and softer by the second, making it
easier for him to break her resolve. And Justin knew he, too,
was gently drowning into that trance. One more ki-ss, one
more pu-ll will make it impossible for him to control himself.
There was a tap on the door. They both stopped,
realizing that Mason and his wife were probably still waiting
for them outside. Justin leaned his forehead against
Adrienne’s. He took de-ep breaths. Then he looked into her
eyes and smiled gently.
“You’re putting us both throu-gh hell, you little sadist,”
he said to her and gave her a ki-ss on the li-ps again. “God,
it’s going to be so ha-rdto put my hands on you and then
stop halfway throu-gh.”
Adrienne giggled. “It’s tradition, Justin,” she as-serted.
“The bride and groom are not supposed to do it until the
honeymoon, remember?”
He inhaled the scent of her. “Hmmm…” he murmured.
“I’m not really one for traditions.”
She laughed. “You’re not the only one suffering, you
know. It’s ha-rdfor me, too.”
“And yet, I’m not the one who made the rules!” he
muttered.
She laughed and ki-ssed him gently on the li-ps. “Three
days, honey.” she whispered. “And I’ll be all yours.”
He pu-lled her to him one last time and ki-ssed her
forehead. Then he took a de-ep breath and said, “I can
ha-rdly wait.”
***
They had dinner with Mason and his wife in one of the
garden restaurants in the hotel. They discussed the
arrangements for the wedding.
Mason knew some people and used his connections to
ensure they got quick approvals for their marriage license. It
would be a garden wedding to be held in one of the largest
estates in Tuscany. Justin used the word ‘estate’, but it was
slightly more than that. He wanted it to be a surprise for
Adrienne.
Abigail gave them all the details about the flower
arrangements, venue decorations, famous photogra-phers
and videogra-phers who will be flown in from the States. And
of course, Adrienne’s gown.
“Wait!” Adrienne interjected. “This sounds like a grand
wedding.” She turned to Justin. “I thought we were going to
have an inti-mate and simple one.”
“It’s going to be inti-mate. With just you and me, and
these two as our witnesses. But I want it to be as amazing
as it could be. Like your dress… I want you to wear a
wedding dress like you’ve always wanted. You will only get
married once, Adrienne. Sure, we can renew our vows in a
couple of years, but this is your wedding. And I want it to be
close to what you’ve dreamed of.”
Adrienne smiled at him and nodded. Her eyes were a
little bit teary and it broke his heart just a little bit to know
that she wished she could have some of her loved ones with
her on this day. Justin took a de-ep breath and pu-lled her to
him. He ki-ssed the top of her head and whispered, “I love
you.” Right now, that was the only thing he could do to
make her feel better.
“I love you,” she whispered back to him.
“We’re going to go look at some couture tomorrow,”
Abigail said. “You will have to try on some dresses, choose
one and finalize everything so they could get it re-ady in
time for the big day.”
Adrienne nodded. “Okay. Anything else we nee-d to
do?” She let out a sigh. “I’m nervous now.”
Justin chuckled. “I’m sure these two got it covered.
They’ve been working on it for weeks.”
Adrienne stared up at him. “Weeks?”
Justin nodded. “I’ve been asking them to make the
preparations while I made… my arranged fiancée’s life
miserable enough for her to reject me.”
“What happened to that anyway?” Mason asked.
“How’d you successfully get out of it and sooner than you
planned?”
Justin shook his head. “I didn’t.”
Mason’s eyes wi-dened. “Shit, man! Your parents are
going to kill you! Don’t get me wrong. I love this whole
rebellion thing going on with you. But I worry about how
Uncle Jac is going to react.”
“He’s going to get pissed for a while,” Justin stated,
smiling. “And then I’m hundred percent sure he will forgive
me.”
“He loves you,” Mason as-serted. “Wish my parents
were as forgiving.”
“You cannot get what you do not ask for, Maze,” Justin
said.
Mason just gr-unted. Then he asked, “How sure are you
they would accept you guys?” He looked at Adrienne. “No
offense, Adrienne.”
But Adrienne smiled and answered for Justin.
“Because our parents are going to find out that I and the girl
they arranged for him to marry are one and the same.”
Mason and Abigail stared at both of them for a long
while, unable to believe their ears.
“Seriously?” Mason asked.
Justin nodded. He gave Adrienne as gentle squee-ze.
“Destiny, isn’t it?”
Mason and Abigail nodded in disbelief.
“So why are you eloping? Everyb©dy at home will be
delighted to be at your wedding.”
“I don’t want to give our parents the satisfaction that
they were right to meddle with our lives like this. It gave me
hell for a long time. I just want them to know that they can’t
do that to me. Even if I liked how it all ended.”
“That is one hell of a love story.” Abigail smiled. “Then
let’s make the wedding as magical as possible.”
“I don’t un-derstand this arranged marriage thing,”
Mason informed them. “When Justin first told me about it, I
warned him. That’s going to be his life imprisonment.”
“You were almost right. During those times, I
contemplated why I didn’t run away with you three years
ago. It was our grandfather’s wish, I think. He felt that…he
owed the family’s fortune to Adrienne’s grandfather. When
he was penniless and all he had were great ideas,
Adrienne’s grandfather financed his first venture. And he
never asked for anything in return. Our grandfather always
felt indebted to him. They were like brothers. They wanted
to connect our families together throu-gh marriage. But he
never had a son. Neither did Adrienne’s grandfather. When
they learned of our existence they just decided that we’ll be
the ones to make their dreams come true for them.”
Adrienne’s head snapped back at Justin. “Learned of
our existence?”
Justin shrugged. “I meant, when we were born and
they knew they have a boy and a girl on either side. That
meant a marriage was possible.”
Adrienne let out a sharp breath. “I was my mother’s
daughter from her first…relationship. At first, my mother
thought her father wouldn’t be able to forgive her if he
found out about me. I think…my mother told me that when
my grandfather heard about me…that I’m a girl…he forgave
her and asked her to bring me home.” She sighed sadly.
“And I thought he really did want me to be p@rt of his life.
Maybe he accepted me because finally…he had something
to offer to your family.”
Justin saw that Adrienne had suddenly gotten upset.
She felt unwanted all her life. She was raised by a woman
who wanted nothing to do with her. And she just realized
that her grandfather accepted her because she had value.
She was a bargaining tool.
Justin wanted to deny that, but he couldn’t lie to her
or speak for her grandfather. Maybe that really was his
intention, but Justin didn’t know. And the last thing he
wanted was to lie to her just to make her feel better.
He pu-lled her to him and ki-ssed her forehead. “Well…
he didn’t have to offer you to me, you know. I’d take you
even if it’s against his will. I’d steal you away even if he
promised you to someb©dy else or you belonged to
someb©dy else.” He paused and said, “Wait, I think I
actually did that.” He smiled at her. “Because I want you to
be p@rt of my family…my life. That’s how much I love you,
hon.”
Adrienne smiled at him. Then she leaned forward and
rested her head on his shoulder.
“You said you were trying to make her miserable.”
Mason asked. “What did you do?”
“I actually se-nt Jordan to pretend to be me and be a
total as-s!”
Adrienne laughed. “It worked! My God, I wanted to kill
him! He’s…despicable!”
“But he didn’t find you hateful, actually.” Justin said,
remembering that day that Jordan first met ‘Andrea Blanc’.
Jordan called him immediately after the meeting.
“Dude, are you crazy?” Jordan asked on the other end
of the line. “This girl is beautiful!”
“Don’t really care,” Justin said to him.
“Not just cute. Not just gorgeous. But beautiful! And
she’s not even wearing makeup!” Jordan said. “And she’s…cool! She wasn’t even rude to me, although I un-derstand
she just tried her best to be polite.”
“Again, I don’t care,” Justin said. “Don’t tell me you’re
backing out of this deal?”
“It’s just that…” Jordan sighed. “She doesn’t deserve
this, man,” he said. “Can’t you at least get to know her? You
might like her. Hell, I like her and I’ve just met her!”
“You like her? Then you marry her instead!” Justin
snapped.
“Dude, I’m too young for that stuff! But if her folks can
wait five more years, yeah, I’d take her. I am a p@rt of this
family, too. So it’s basically the same thing.”
“Jordan, just do what you’re asked to do!” Justin said
in a more authoritative voice. “Or I’m keeping my 911!”
That threat actually made Jordan work on irritating
Andrea Blanc even more. And it worked. It brou-ght Justin
comfort that even if the ruse didn’t work, he would still be
marrying Adrienne one way or another. But he really did
prefer it this way. Here. In one of the most R0m-ntic cities in
the world. Just the two of them.
“I was being nasty to Jordan!” Adrienne said, bringing
Justin out of his thoughts.
“Men generally like feisty girls,” Mason said. “When
you think you were repelling us, you are actually getting us
intrigued. And when we’re intrigued, we tend to come back
for more.”
“Oh my God. Then I should be thankful that Jordan
was a fake!” Adrienne rolled her eyes.
“Did your mother tell you, you were engaged to him
before you met him?” Mason asked.
Adrienne shook her head. “I told her I would try to
befriend her friends and their kids. I told her I was waiting
for my fiancée to set himself free.” Then she stared up at
Justin. He pushed a lock of stray hair away from her face.
“I’m glad you still fought for us after I set you free.”
Justin smiled at her. “I would never give up on us,
honey. I would never take another woman for a wife. I want
to be as happily married as my parents.”
Adrienne sighed. “I planned to be happily married. My
own parents separated even before I was old enough to
remember my mother. And the mother I’ve known had a
twisted concept of love and happiness.”
Justin leaned forward and ki-ssed her li-ps. “I promise
you will be happy, honey. Your happiness will be my top
priority. You’re done being sad now. Your stepmother and
your stepsister can no longer tou-chyou…or do anything to
hurt you. If they do…they will pay the price. And it’s not
going to be cheap.”
Justin’s voice held a hint of a threat. And he meant
what he said. Adrienne has suffered too much at the hands
of her family. They belittled her and crushed her. In
becoming Adrienne Adams, no one could question her,
doubt her or look down at her anymore. Well, she is an
heiress by her mother’s family anyway. Becoming an Adams
just sealed her place in the world of the privileged.
Justin smiled at the thought. He didn’t believe in
destiny before. But now… he couldn’t help thinking that
Adrienne was born to be with him. And he was born to love
her for the rest of her life. Even if they didn’t meet each
other at blus-h or live next-door to each other…or even if Jin
Starck didn’t find her. They still would find a way to be
together. They would still fall in love with each other. He
would still choose to marry her and spend the rest of his life
with her. Because Adrienne is and will forever be his
destiny… his choice.
Tbc