Page 62 of Exposing Adonis

His eyes flicked toward me, and with all the seriousness in the world, whispered, “We’ll need two witnesses,” He looked down at me and contemplated. “So bring her brother too.”

He ended the call and looked at me.

“A priest?” My eyes narrowed. I swear, I could hear the sound of my stone heart cracking in my ears. “This is a mean joke.”

He wouldn’t do that to me. Would he?

“I’m not joking.” He stood in front of me, his hands in his pockets, as he stared down at me.

I got up from the bed, tired of this whole act, and put my jeans back on. Then the rest of my clothes. I was aching. Physically and emotionally. And this act of his … wasn’t kind.

“You’re bluffing,” I said, straightening my bed-mussed hair, and hoping tears didn’t stream down my eyes.

He fished something from his pocket and pulled out a tiny black velvet box. I hadn’t even seen or felt it through all of our physical exertion. He unceremoniously tossed it at me. I caught it in mid-air.

“I’m not bluffing.” His eyes pointed at the velvet box. “Open it.”

So I did. I don’t know what I expected. Maybe that it was empty. Maybe it had one of those penny candy rings that kids get from a vending machine. It could have been full of spiders. I didn’t know.

But what waited was a huge pearl, surrounded by five concentric semi-circles of diamonds on a gold band. Below it was an eternity ring, filled more, large, brilliant diamonds. The damn thing cost more than my parent’s house, I was sure. It was a horrid waste of money.

My mouth hung open, and I just tried to breathe.

“What is this?” I asked in a whisper, opening it to him to show him the ring as if he’d never seen it. As if he had given it to me by mistake.

“A Filipino Freshwater Pearl, surrounded by five carats of smaller diamonds, arranged to look vaguely like the petals of the jasmine you always smell like,” Callum said, as if he was reciting a grocery list. “The wedding band is just an eternity band with ten carats worth of diamonds. Nothing special about it. I just wanted it large so that people would see it right away. For my sake.”

I blinked at him, then looked back down at the box and its impossible contents.

“These must be fake.” I held it out to him. “Take it back.”

He chuckled, ignoring my comments.

“I was going to have matching earrings made, but then I realized that I didn’t know if your ears were pierced. So I commissioned a necklace and tiara instead…”

“A fucking tiara?” I screamed in disbelief, holding the velvet box out to him. “God, please, take it back.”

“You said you wanted to be a princess.” He shrugged without shame. “I’ll make you a Baroness. So I fall short on that. But at least I can give you a tiara.” He tilted his head, and that humorous glint returned to his green eyes. “Your mother would love it.”

I closed the box and dropped it on the bed. I turned away from him to stare at the falling night outside the window. What was happening? I rubbed my forehead, to ward off a headache. Next, to inflict some pain to show me that I wasn’t dreaming.

I rubbed my eyes. Then my mouth as if I was rubbing away sleep. I pressed my index fingers on my temples, warding away the mental fog that I couldn’t shake.What is happening?

“This is a dream,” I whispered to myself. “Or a really mean prank.”

My heart continued its downward spiral. The ground was falling from beneath me and no one could catch me. No one. Even my brother was distancing himself from me and the only person in arms reach was Callum, and he was fucking with my head.

“A very mean prank,” Callum’s voice was right behind me. His large arms encircled me and he took my left hand in his. In his right hand was the pearl, glistening in the moonlight as he slipped it on my ring finger. “Such a well-thought out prank that I measured your finger while you slept. Because I suspected yours would need to be custom-made, because you’re so small. And I was right.”

With the offending ring on my hand, I straightened my trembling fingers. It was so large on my hand. Noticeable. Just like he wanted it be. He was right, my mother would love this ring.

“You’ve known me a few weeks,” I said in a disbelieving whisper. “This is a joke.”

“Aye, a very sick, sick joke.” He placed a kiss on the curve of my neck, tender and loving. “Now, let’s keep the laughs going, and head to the chapel.”

Everything moved so fast. I was in a car. Then at a gray stone building with a steeple and stained glass. It was old and small. This was mostly Muslim country, so it probably had a tiny congregation. I heard whispers about a priest that had to be flown in. He came because he had no choice. The name of a Baron and a billionaire did wonders to grease the wheels and make the improbable possible.

“The priest was moved by helicopter, and he’ll meet us here.” Callum had explained in the car. But I don’t think I said anything. I was looking for signs of it all being a fever dream. Like the walls would start melting at any second. Maybe it was all a facade. Like a haunted house, that required mirrors and smoke to look scary, but when you turned on the lights, it was all just props and costumes.

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