RANSOM GIFT: The Complete Collection Boxed Set (Commanding Proposal, Hidden Proposal, Ransom Proposal) Read online

  Commanding Proposal

  Ransom Gift Collection

  By Kristina Royer

  Copyright © 2015 by Kristina Royer

  The Ransom Gift Series

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including emailing, photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or locals or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

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  Chapter 1

  How did I even get here? I don’t really like gatherings like this one. God my dress was sucking the life out to me.

  Seriously, it was pretty obvious those people were so pretentiously laughing like they’re all having a good time with my father, who seemed to be stupidly enjoying their company.

  Well, maybe he knew that their attention and care for him were all illusory, but still, he’s feeding them all in his hands as if he’s not getting the slightest hint that all those were just sham. It was exactly why I never wanted to take his place someday. With all those people following me like lost puppies just to get into my money? Ugh! They’re all so annoying.

  Oh, well… that’s none of my business anymore, and it’s never going to be my business ever.

  I walked out of the ballroom hall and into the veranda of my dad’s hotel. It’s cold outside, and I felt so lonely with all these dressing up and business conversations. I wanted to have a way out.

  Oh, how I wish Clemente was here so that we could at least share something more alive than what was already going on in this four corners of walls.

  “And what are you doing here?” A familiar voice from my behind echoes inside my ear.

  I turned to face who it was, and I was so delighted to see Clemente!

  “You’re my hero!” I blurted out.

  He smiled, and he leaned towards to give me his most passionate hug. “How are you sweetie? Why are you out here, and not inside?” He asked.

  I didn’t have any intention of lying to him, so I told her the truth. “I got bored by all those pretending and shits, made me sick.” I sounded like a complete hater.

  Oh, right… I was a complete a hater of all those hypocrisy towards my dad.

  He nodded. And I knew that he got my point because he always gets me. There has never been a point in my life that this boy got the wrong idea of what I was feeling inside.

  But Clemente wasn’t the type of guy you fall in love with at first sight. He’s nice, sweet, gentle, and very loving, but he’s not the kind of guy that would break your neck trying to get a better view of him as he walks by you. In short, he’s not a Tom Cruise type, not even a Sean O’Pry, which for me was the younger version of hotness.

  But who cares? Overtime, I’ve learned to give him this special place in my heart for he’s everything a girl would ever want to be committed with in a relationship. He’s the guy a girl marries, the type you can trust with all your heart and soul, the kind you can always count on at any time of any day. He’s my Clemente, my hero.

  “Well then, let’s get out of here. Do you want to go get ice cream?” He offered as if he was talking to a little girl.

  See? He really knew me. “For sure…” I answered with a smile.

  As we make our way back inside the ballroom to exit out of it, my dad has caught both our attention. He called out for my name, and he gestured his hand for me to come to their direction.

  “Oh dear…” I whispered to Clemente.

  He let out a soft laugh. “I got you, baby.” He whispered, and suddenly, I felt so safe from all the harm I could possible get from this intoxicating conversation I was about to have with them.

  We started walking to come closer to my dad and with those six people circling around him, hoping they could get him to sign their business proposals anytime soon. I thought I was about to be sick.

  “Hello dad.” I greeted him.

  I felt so unfair for my dad, which was why I was dead mad to those people. My dad’s the kindest human being in the world.

  And even though I have tons of brilliant cousins who seemed to have burnt books and their eyebrows just to get to be his favorite, he has his full love and understanding solely focused on me. And I was the worst brat ever.

  “Hey, baby…” He greeted me. “Everyone, this is my daughter, Kristina.” He addressed those six people.

  “Buenas noches, hola… Encantado de conocerte.” I greeted them right with manners. I said, Good evening! It’s my pleasure to meet you!

  Ugh! I needed to tell a lie!

  Everyone was all eyes on me, and they were flashing their sweetest smile on me knowing that I have the biggest chance of being the next dad.

  We talked in Spanish, and I felt a bit constraint and worthless. I knew how to speak Spanish, it’s my native language for crying out loud, but I felt free with the English language.

  “Espero que estés disfrutando de la noche.” I said politely.

  I told them that I hope they were enjoying the night, which, of course, wasn’t genuine. God I felt like the most awful person in the face of the whole planet.

  I was hearing everyone trying to tell me things, and I was politely nodding at them. But to be honest, I didn’t even understand them. I did, however, understand what they were trying to say to me, but their motivation for being the crabs that they were has just astonished me so much.

  I was in the middle of my own different thoughts when the man stopped talking, and he looked at me. All of them were looking at me with their face expectant. Shit, he was asking something!

  I had no idea what it was about, and I couldn’t think of the safest answer. I felt so panicking because I never wanted to embarrass my father. Sure, I didn’t want to be the next whatever they call my father, but I never planned to embarrass him in order to do that.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you, Uncle Aurelio, Kristina’s not feeling well. Lo siento, ella no se siente bien…” Clemente told them that I wasn’t feeling well.

  My knight in shining armor saved the day again. Awww…

  “Usted debe descansar un poco.” A lady in red told me to get some rest.

  I smiled weakly at her, pretending I was really sick. Had I been in the Hollywood, I would’ve won an award.

  “Gracias… dad, I’m just going to get some rest.” I told him.

  “Go ahead, amor…” He gave me the permission to leave.

  Clemente grabbed my hand, and he led me out of the ballroom. I was just so grateful to endure that torture moment. Had he not been too bold to do that, I would still be enduring god knows how many hours of embarrassment in front of those people. Poor, dad…

  We walked as fast as we could towards his car, and he tucked me in. He hopped in the driver’s seat after giving tip to the valet parking service, and we drove away. We were in the road for few minutes, until we reached our favorite cafe. It was the smallest, but it has the best coffee amongst the totality of Madrid. Besides, no one will ever suspect that the children of both famous tycoons were here having a cup of coffee right here.

  He opened up the door for me, and I felt the need to swoon. We eyed for our favorite spot, and felt really joyous when we found there’s no o
ne occupying it. He led the way to our spot, and he pulled the chair for me. It didn’t really surprise me since he has been doing it for the longest time.

  The face of the waitress we’ve both came to know and love has enlightened our night once again. “Hey, guys! Let me guess…. the same thing?” She asked, assuming we’re going to have the same thing we do over and over again.

  We both laughed at her. She’s such a lovely girl in her twenty’s, and the best thing about her was that she was the nicest thing you’d ever ran into the street of Madrid.

  She gestured to get us our orders, and we looked back at each other. “By the way, I need to tell you something…” He said, and for some reason, I felt this sting of panic attack threatening to come to life, like it’s on cue or something.

  “What is it?” I asked, looking and sounding so nervous.

  He seemed having a hard time finding the right words to say, and it just ruined my entire world apart. I knew it’s not going to be pretty; in fact, not going to be pretty was the simplest it could possibly be. I felt like it’s more than that, like it’s meant to break my heart.

  “I’m leaving for Seattle tomorrow morning.” He said.

  What? You can’t leave me… I tried to gulp the lump forming in my throat, but I wasn’t so successful. “What?” I asked, with obvious stress going on in my voice.

  He looked down at his fingers, and I knew him. Whenever he does that, there’s something even bigger deal, and it’s indeed going to make my world fall apart.

  “I need to—I need to—uhhh—I need to marry someone.” There, he dropped the bomb.

  What the fuck?!

  I couldn’t help it, even without so much details and knowledge about it, tears gone rogue, and betrayed my pride.

  “What?” I said, sobbing.

  OMG…This can’t be happening. It’s so painful.

  “I need to marry Mr. Fukushima’s daughter, Akiko Fukushima. My dad needs my help.” He gave out so little details.

  Wait, what? Uncle Alberto needed him to marry a Japanese girl? Why? Why her? Was it for money? Why not me?

  “Why did he choose her?” I asked. “What’s special about her?” I wasn’t able to hide my emotions. I felt so betrayed… so fucking betrayed.

  “Well, apparently, dad made an agreement with Mr. Fukushima when they were just starting off with the first restaurant. They made this stupid pact, etc.” He’s obviously pissed as well as I was.

  “Do you love her?” I needed to know. It’s going to hurt as hell if he answered it in the worst way possible, but I need to know.

  It took him seconds to answer. “I can’t let my father down…” He went with the safest answer.

  “So you love her, huh?” I accused.

  And before he could even say another word, I chose to hold my pride so high. It’s the only thing I was left with at the moment. “Go. Good bye.” I said, and then I tried to get out of the restaurant as fast as I could.

  What surprised me so much was the fact that he didn’t run after me. He knew how much he meant to me. Ever since my mother died a few years back, he was the only person I would go to whenever life’s not treating me kind. Now, he’s about to be some Japanese girl’s go-to-guy. It sucks.

  But what sucks the most in this painful scenario was that I didn’t have a car, I couldn’t spot any cab driving by and I was in my stilettos. He didn’t even care about me. Good thing, I had my phone with me, so I called my dad, and he had somebody picked me up by five minutes. I had no idea how he did that, I mean the restaurant was actually fifteen minutes away from the hotel.

  Twenty minutes passed and I was walking at towards penthouse of the same hotel where I was staying. I felt like a zombie walking. Well, not the zombie that has eventually gone back to life, no, just a zombie.

  What was I supposed to do?

  Chapter 2

  “Ms. Kristina, you’re father wanted to bring you these cupcakes.” Alma said on behind the door.

  Alma’s my twenty five year old nanny, yes, nanny. She was hired to take care of my needs, as if I can’t do them myself. In short, she’s employed to make me the biggest baby girl in the history of infancy.

  “Come in, Alma.” I yelled so she would hear me behind the door.

  She softly turned the doorknob, and she flashed her sweetest smile to me. “There’s red velvet here…” She said.

  Red velvet, really, Alma…? “Go eat it. I’m not hungry…”

  “Ms. Kristina, do you need someone to talk to? Estoy aqui para escuchar.” She offered her ears to listen to my sentiments.

  “Que es tan dulce de tu parte, but I’m alright.” I told her sounding so appreciative of her sweetness.

  She nodded, looking so terribly in pity of my misery. I hated that feeling of being weak and helpless. But as much as I want to be strong for all these who care so much about me to see, I couldn’t. It felt like there was this giant hole inside my chest, and I wasn’t able to breathe. It was like every time I inhale air, a massive canyon ball was what’s trying to force itself in my chest. It was so painful.

  “Si, déjame saber si necesitas algo.” She said to call her if I need anything.

  I flashed a weak smile at her. “Gracias…”

  But before she could walk out of my pent, I managed to change my mind.

  “Esperar…! Alma!” I called her attention.

  She walked closer to me with a face so innocently expecting of whatever it was that I needed from her. “Si, Ms. Kristina?” She asked with a soft smile.

  “Could you sit here for a while, please? I need someone to talk to…” I begged.

  She smiled sweetly at me. “That’s what I’m here for, Ms. Kristina.” She said.

  “Please, just Kristina.” I insisted, and she nodded.

  She sat close to me, and I held her hand. I could tell she didn’t expect me to reach out like that, but she managed to reciprocate the gesture with her other hand.

  “It’s so painful, Alma. I can’t eat, sleep or breathe properly. I miss him so much…” I vent my pain to her.

  She looked so concerned but also clueless, since I’ve never told anyone this news, which was why she had no idea what to tell me.

  “Okay, I’m going to tell this to you, but do you promise not to tell anyone? Es importante…” I demanded.

  “Si, Kristina. What has happened?” Her voice sounded so concerned and caring.

  I started sobbing. Just remembering the fact breaks my heart into shattered pieces. She softly rubbed my hand, and I felt her concern.

  “Clemente is getting married to a Japanese girl.” I informed her.

  Her eyes grew bigger, and I can tell that she was so shocked by this news. “But, Ms. Kristina, I thought you and him—” She was smart enough not to finish her sentence knowing she might just hurt me even more.

  “I thought so, too, but apparently, his father made a pact with the Japanese girl’s father. So they’re just going to get married.” I explained my sentiments to her.

  She didn’t say anything, which made me talk even more…

  “I can’t seem to get over, Alma. It’s so hard. I’ve been thinking about him so much.” I went on. “I have no idea what to do, and this place just isn’t helping.”

  It took her a few seconds before she could speak… “What do you want to do, Kristina?” She asked.

  “Honestly? I want to get out of here. Maybe start a new life. Pursue what I want. For once, do things for myself…”

  “Well then, do it.” She encouraged me. “If it’ll make you happy…”

  “What about dad?” I asked her.

  “Oh, right… I’m so sorry, Ms. Kristina. I was just trying to make you feel better. I didn’t know you were serious.” She took back her encouragements.

  Really, Alma…? Are you kidding me?

  “And Mr. Mora will surely be heartbroken.” She tried to talk me out of it.

  “Then I’m just going to have to tell him properly.” I said to her. “Maybe even
just for a year.” I told her.

  She’s not giving away anything with her facial expression. She’s playing it safe. She didn’t want to encourage me into something I might blame her for. Her face was very noncommittal.

  “It might break his heart…” She’s good at this.

  I stood up at my feet, and it took her by surprise. “Where are you going, Ms. Kristina?” She asked.

  “A mi padre…” I answered her.

  As I rushed out of my room and into the hallway, I felt so nervous and clueless of how I was supposed to break it to my father. He’s a good man, I’m sure he can understand.

  As I finally reached his office room, I softly knocked at door. “Dad, que soy yo.”

  “Entra, cariño…” He said.

  I gently opened up the door, and I saw his face lightened up as he saw me. “Come on in, sweetie. What is it?” He asked.

  “Papá, I need to tell you something, y es mu importante.” I said to him.

  His facial expression turned to being curious, and I tried to gather up all my courage to break his heart. Of course, I know that it’ll break his heart. I know him, he’s my papá.

  “Go on, sweetie. What is it?” He asked with so much love.

  “Papá, I want to leave Spain.” I said to him.

  His eyes widen with shock, and the smile on his face was long gone. “You mean head out to a different country?” He asked.

  “Si, papá.” I answered him, resenting the fact that I needed to do this for myself.

  “Does it have anything to do with Clemente’s engagement? Va a ayudar a sentirse mejor.” He said as if asking for a confirmation that if it was going to help me be better.

  “Si, papá.”

  He took a desperate sigh, and he looked at my eyes with so much care and love. I wish mom was here, she’d definitely know what I should do.

  “How long?” He asked, and I knew I was already halfway there.

  “Un año.” I informed him that I was going to be there for a whole year.