"Princess." I hear Han say, his warm hand caressing my cheek, causing me to groan and try to roll over. I''m not ready to wake up yet.
He effortlessly lifts me out of bed, carrying me in his arms to the bathroom, where he sets me down on the sink. "Brush your teeth." He says, handing me my toothbrush, which he already put toothpaste on. "What time is it?" I ask, barely able to keep my eyes open. "Three AM." He says with a smile.
"Why are you waking me up at three in the morning?" I ask, confused.
"We have a flight to catch." That is all he says before tapping the toothbrush in his hand. "Flight? Where are we going?" I ask, shocked. "Brush your teeth." He tells me before walking away. I brush my teeth and walk back into my room, seeing that he laid out a soft pair of black leggings, a white T-shirt, and my favorite black sweater, as well as a pair of socks and my Adidas. I quickly get dressed, wanting to go downstairs and get answers to my questions. Mainly, where are we going? And why am I finding out at the last minute?
I put my hair into a high ponytail before making my way downstairs, still half asleep and grumpy.
"Where are we going?" I ask, plopping down on the sofa, barely able to keep my eyes open. "Korea," Kai answers from where he sits next to me. "Why?" I ask, leaning against him. "It''s on the list of things we have to do before you go back to school. You want to go back to school, right?" Kai asks, causing me to nod quickly.
When we get to the airport, we don''t have to go through TSA. We pull right onto the tarmac and get directly onto a private plane. My family isn''t well-off at all, so this is a whole new experience for me. The plane is large, with lush reclining leather seats. Kai guides me to a seat next to a window and I sit down. Han and Jae sit across from us. There''s a table in between the two sets of seats. It isn''t long before the flight crew gets on board and we take off.
"Can I get anyone anything? Drinks, food?" A beautiful blonde woman asks, her hand on the back of Jae''s seat as she smiles at the men, completely ignoring me, making jealousy erupt in my chest.
"Coffee, black," Jae says. Han and Kai add that they''ll have the same. "A pillow and blanket for our girl, and some hot cocoa," Kai says, his hand coming to land on my thigh. The woman nods with an eager smile. "Of course." She says before turning away. The guys miss it, but I see the look she gives me when they turn their attention away from her. I roll my eyes in annoyance.
Kicking off my shoes, I try to get comfortable.
"Kai, why are we going to Korea?" I ask him softly, looking up at him as I lean my head on his arm. "We have some business to take care of there. It will only take about a week. Then we will come back and everything should be taken care of for you to start school again." He tells me with a smile. He leans down and kisses my forehead.
I fall asleep and wake up sometime later and Han and Jae are sleeping, while Kai is gone. I look toward the back of the plane and see him standing at a small counter where there is a coffee machine. The flight attendant is standing there with him, laughing at something he says. I don''t bother putting on my shoes. I walk over to them, bedhead and all.
The woman is tall. Way taller than me, especially while I''m barefoot. "Hi, Pip," Kai says to me as soon as I walk over. He wraps his arms around me, smiling. "What are you two talking about?" I ask. "Nothing to worry about, hon," the woman says before walking away.
I glare at Kai, and he chuckles. "I like you a little jealous, princess. But she was just trying to make my coffee for me. It''s her job, but I said no, don''t worry." He says. "And that made her laugh?" I ask him, raising an eyebrow. "She was a little flirty. She laughed at everything I said." He told me with a shrug. "I don''t like that," I say before picking up his freshly made coffee and returning to our seats. He laughs as I walk away with his cup.
I slept most of the thirteen-hour-long plane ride, except for the three hours that Han and I watched Netflix.
When we finally get to Korea, we take a black SUV to an estate in Seoul. "Princess, we have a lot of work to do so we can''t help you settle in," Han says, running a hand through my hair as we all walk into an enormous suite on the third floor of the estate. "Be good. We will be back in a few hours. Have a warm shower and watch some Netflix." He tells me, leaning down and pulling me into a kiss.
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I nod, kissing Han back before walking over to Kai and Jae, giving them each a kiss before they all leave the room. I find myself wanting to touch them all the time and missing them when they''re gone.
It''s almost six hours later when they come back.
<hr>
Three days later, the guys and I go to a large building. It looks like a courthouse of sorts. We take an elevator up to the seventh floor. "What are we doing here?" I whisper to Jae, fidgeting with the white sundress that Han picked out for me today. The elevator was full of people in suits. It was really pretty, with lace at the bottom. "We have a meeting." He tells me, smoothing out my hair and using his thumb to wipe a bit of lip gloss just underneath my lip.
"Why am I here? I never come to your meetings." I say, suspiciously.
"You''ll see," Jae says with a small smile. None of them are meeting my eye, which makes me nervous. The elevator dings and we step out. I follow them to a door where a man meets us, shaking each of their hands and bowing. He speaks to them, glancing at me every so often before inviting us into the room. The office is enormous, with a window that overlooks Seoul. Jae hands the man a stack of papers and they continue to speak for a few minutes before the man turns to me and Kai, as we stand at the front of his desk. He speaks for a while, and then Kai speaks. The conversation lasts only a couple of minutes, a casual-sounding conversation. I zone out, looking out of the large window that overlooks the city. Kai leans down and signs a piece of paper on the desk.
"Jagi, sign this please." Kai says, pointing to the paper he just signed.
"What is it?" I ask him, taking the pen from his hand. "We will talk about it later, hurry we are in a rush." Kai tells me.
I trust him, so I sign the paper.
The man turns to me and smiles. "Congratulations." He says in very accented English before shaking the men''s hands once again and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
"What just happened?" I ask, confused.
"Well." Kai begins nervously.
"We just got married." He told her with a smile.
"Excuse me?" I ask in disbelief.
"That paper you signed..It was a marriage certificate." He tells me.
"You tricked me into marrying you?" I ask, my breathing coming faster.
"Yes, but for good reason." He tells me.
My legs give out and I collapse on the floor at his feet. Married, I''m married!
Kai squats down in front of me, wiping away my tears. "Your life can begin to go back to normal now. You can go to school." He tells me. "In the mafia, there''s a code." He starts. "Family is off limits. Wives, sisters, children. But not girlfriends." He tells me.
"I won''t forgive you for this," I whisper. "I don''t need your forgiveness. We did what we think is right. We will always protect you, even if it means you''ll hate us." He tells me, standing up.
Han and Jae help me up off the floor, and we leave the room. Kai walks with his hands in his pockets, not looking at me. I don''t speak as we begin the drive back to the estate.
Once we arrive, I make my way back to the suite where the four of us have stayed for the last three days. There are three bedrooms in the suite, and they have taken turns sharing my bed. I''m still in shock when we get back to the room and Kai walks over to me, taking my left hand and slipping a gorgeous diamond ring on it. It sparkles beautifully even in the dim light.
I push on his chest, letting my tears fall. I don''t even care if his alter ego comes out as I bang my fists on his chest over and over. But Kai stands there and lets me pound on his chest, letting my frustrations out until I am too tired to continue, then he wraps his arms around me and pulls me close, whispering calming words into my ear.
"Why you?" I ask quietly. "How did you guys pick who would marry me?" I ask as Kai leads me to the bed to sit down. My tears are still falling. "Kai has a certain... reputation," Jae starts, walking over to me. Han comes to kneel in front of me, using his hands to wipe away my tears. He kisses my hands and smooths my hair.
"While all of us have reputations that would prevent people from messing with us, Kai has a reputation that keeps most people far away from him. No one would dare mess with his wife." Jae explains.
"So because he''s the scariest, I have to be married to him?" I ask, glaring at them.
"Basically, yes," Kai answers this time, as he moves to the closet and starts stripping his clothes. "Let''s get you into house clothes," Han tells me, pulling me to stand. I pull my hand out of his, before moving to my closet and grabbing the first two things I see. A pair of pink pajama shorts and a tank top. It is very humid in Korea, causing me to opt for cooler clothes.
The rest of the afternoon is spent with all of us in the suite watching Netflix, while I do my best to ignore them all. I understand they are trying to keep me safe, especially since those Italian mafia guys saw me. However, that doesn''t make tricking me into marriage okay.
Eventually, I go to my bed and fall asleep, waking up sometime later to find Kai crawling into bed with me and pulling me close. I try to pull away, but he pulls me closer. "Let me hold my wife tonight." He whispers in my ear, causing me to shiver. I''ve always secretly loved when he called me that. Not that I''ll ever admit it to him.
I let him hold me as I fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.