I ended up getting married to a handsome but crazy bastard____
Rachel's POV
Cameron had long stepped into the room and was on the stage with a microphone, to his right was Laura who was in a red long sleeved dress that flowed from her waist to her ankles in a print style.
Anabelle, Lorenzo's sister was not missing as she was stood beside her mother in a thin strapped fitting gold dress that halted at her knees and black stilettos. Behind the family were the men and women from the board meeting all in black suits and white shirts underneath.
Xander was acting the role of the competent manager that he was as he moved around making sure everything was in place, while Cameron was saying something I didn't care to hear.
A minute or two went by and Cameron seemed to have rounded up his speech. He diverted his stare in our path, Xander noticed and gave us a a sign to come in. I felt a squeeze on my side and peered upward to sight Lorenzo offer me an encouraging smile that did wonders by easing whatever anxiety I was feeling.
"Let's go babe," he blurted. I bobbed my head and mirrored his smile. One foot after the order, I squared my shoulders and strutted confidently as the camera flashes threatened to blind my vision.
Debby was situated in a corner on my left and when my eyes met hers she sent me a fistbump to which I couldn't help but chuckle. We ascended the stage and I bobbed my head in greeting at Laura who gave me a tight lipped smile while Anabelle gifted me an eyeroll.
"We are ready to take your questions," Xander declared to the group of journalists.
"Mr Lorenzo, how does it feel to be the CEO of this great company?" A blonde man with glasses interrogated from the 2nd row of seats.
"Overwhelming," Lorenzo replied lightly, that charming smile of his flashing as he spoke. "Very overwhelming.
"Turns out you weren't bluffing when you said you'd take over from your father," a middle-aged man from the back stated.
He nodded, microphone in his left hand while his right palm still remained on the small of my back, the spot buzzing as I watched him speak. "Of course, I wasn't bluffing. I thought you would all know by now, I don't say things I don't mean."
That definitely shut the man up. I noted Cameron beam in approval at his son while I gave a small smile because what Lorenzo implied was true. Since I had known him as an actor and public figure, he was one to never back down from his promises and statements.
He always gave off an easy going vibe and a ready smile, however I'd learnt as a devoted fan of his for almost half a decade not to let that fool me as he was known to be ruthless, very determined and brutal when the situation called for it.
"Is it confirmed that you will be taking time off acting to focus on your new job?" A young woman with a bob cut from the 6th row interrogated. "Also, will you be returning to the acting scene anytime soon?"
"Yes, I decided to take time off acting as it would help me get accustomed to the new position and carry out my responsibilities properly," he explained in retort. "Also I plan to return to acting once I'm fully adjusted and wait to handover the job as soon as my sister is done with college and is qualified enough to assume the position.
"Speaking of qualifications," another woman with brown hair began. "Do you think you are qualified enough for the position of CEO?"
"Why? Because I'm an actor?" He cocked his head to the side, his lips curling slightly. "Miss--"
"Baron," she replied to his hanging question.
"Miss Baron, I don't think it's good to judge a book by its cover, am I wrong?" He implored, his mouth stretched in a smile. From where I was standing, I could see the ice growing in his grey irises.
Everyone went silent, the hushed murmurs stopped as the atmosphere became tense while his vision remained focused on the lady.
"See? I'm not," he chuckled like he didn't just cause us to seize our breathes. "I might not have said this but I have a degree in business management. That was before I decided to explore my talent as an actor."
That caught me off guard as I was certain it did everyone except for his family and Xander. My jaw unhinged and my eyes widened in surprise. If I had tried to speak, I was convinced my voice would have come out croaked.
"I might not have experience in the business world hence after I got my degree, I discovered it was not my cup of tea. However, I have a degree to back it up and promise to do my best to keep P-Textiles Ltd. running and grow it to the best of my abilities," he further explained a determined expression on his face.
"There have been rumors of you having a new arm candy and certain pictures are all over Instagram of you being spotted with her on two occasions, one of which was posted by you, care to explain?" A man in glasses started off and pointed at me. "Also, is she the same woman in the rumors and pictures?"
"Yes." His fingers on my back slid to my waist to grip me and tug me to his side such that my right palm was on his chest, half of my body leaning on his. "And she is not an arm candy but my wife."
My breath hitched at his utterance, my orbs threatening to bulge out of their sockets as murmurs rose in the congregation. Hitting his chest as hard as I could due to our proximity, I narrowed my eyes at him in disapproval, rather the bastard only grinned down at me.
"What do you mean by wife Mr Peters?"
"We had no idea of any wedding Mr Peters."
"So the ring was not a joke."
"When was the wedding?"
"Who is she?"
"When did you two meet?"
All these questions were shouted at the same time from every corner as cameramen roamed around the stage, trying to catch a better picture of the new shocking couple.
"I mean what I said, and the ring was no joke," he adjusted my posture to clap my left hand in his and raise both our palms for the eyes. The diamond ring which I seemed to usually forget about, glistening.
"The wedding was barely a week ago," he beamed at me. A mischievous glint suddenly appearared in his eyes that had my heart skipping a beat in fear.
'Please don't say it,' I pleaded with him silently through my gaze, rather he only smiled in return.
"And we met the same day of our wedding," he went ahead to assert, inciting me to lower my head in defeat and shake it while I muttered under my breath, "I ended up marrying a handsome but crazy bastard."
If I was worried about the uproar caused by his words and how crazy of a person Lorenzo was, then I was in for a surprise as I was yanked around in the most unromantic way and pulled in for the most mindblowingly unexpected kiss of a lifetime.
My lips crashed with his, my arms involuntarily gripping the back of his jacket. His hands trailed their way to my ass as his mouth pressed on mine, robbing me off every ounce of oxygen.
Before I could react, his lips moved on mine sensously, my lids closing of their own accord as I permitted him to lead the kiss. The camera flashes were long forgotten together with the questions and everyone as my body gave in to him.
His tongue darted forward and grazed my bottom lip, his teeth nipping on the plump flesh. The action elicited a moan from me that allowed his tongue meet mine, making the kiss more intense as they danced in a way that set my whole skin on fire.
My fingers launched into his hair and tugged, producing a groan from him that made me smile in to the kiss, only for it to backfire into a surprised and aroused gasp from me as his hands that were dormant on my ass made a bold move and squeezed my cheeks.
"Fuck!" He hissed in my neck. "I can't wait for the moment to claim this ass."
^^^^^^^
"Fuck you are crazy," I blurted the instant we stepped foot into his penthouse. I was fuming and panicking all at once as I discarded my heels.
"I know," Lorenzo grinned at me, shrugging of his suit jacket.
"Why the hell did you do that?" I implored and released my hair from the band, letting it cascade down my shoulders.
His response was to lift a brow which made my blood boil more. Groaning, I slid my fingers into my hair and shook the strands as I muttered. "I'm doomed."
"You aren't doomed babe," he smiled and tugged on his tie.
"Easy for you to say," I scoffed and retrieved my phone from my bag which was pinging non stop from notifications. "My phone is about to explode."
"You should learn to turn off your notifications," he suggested, his tie tossed on the couch as he went to unhook the botton on the sleeves of his black shirt.
He paused in his actions as he noticed the expression on my face. "Wait, are you mad?"
"Ding dong ding," I let out in a sinister smile. "You finally realized."
His facial features straightened, his head tilted to the side as he spoke. "I wanted the whole world to know this beautiful woman as my wife. Tell me if there's something wrong in that."
"Wow," I chuckled wryly and shook my head. "Of course there's nothing wrong, but it would have been nice to let this beautiful woman know what you had planned beforehand."
"Oh, that," he grinned. "It wasn't planned."
"Shit," I laughed, my emotions getting all mixed up at the appearance of his killer smile. "You think this is a joke?"