Ali watched as Joseph glared at her father, his eyes seemed cold – almost daring her stepfather not to let her go. But as soon as she was free, she followed him – keeping herself closer than she normally would have in case her stepfather made a quick grab for her again. As soon as the door clicked closed behind them, Ali jumped at the sound of a gunshot behind them – feeling Joseph grab her hand and tell her not to go back there. She hadn’t planned on it, but the sudden loud bang had her looking over her shoulder at the door. This was her new life, her stepfather had signed a contract, and she wasn’t able to get out of it – now as a matter of fact, she had no one to go to even if she could get out of it. 

There was no second gun shot, there was no screaming out in pain – it was either a faking his own death that he had planned out or he was shot dead with one shot. Ali doubted a mob boss would play along with someone who owed them money faking their own death and she doubted that her marrying Joseph would pay off the death her stepfather owed. She paused a moment as Joseph opened the door for her, slowly slipping past him and into the car as he gently shut the door once she was safely inside. A soft sigh escaped from her lips as Joseph walked to the other side of the car and slipped into the seat next to her, but the ride was silent – she didn’t think it’d be any different. 

Ali was lost in her own thoughts on the drive to a tall apartment building, it looked high class – richer than she ever dreamed of living. She quietly followed Joseph up to his apartment, all the way to the top floor – slowly entering his apartment. She carefully looked around, noticed the art on the walls and the fancy furniture – but when her eyes landed on a bra, she bit her lip. That's the last thing she wanted to do, was take someone else's man from them – she didn’t want to be the cause of a relationship ending. She tore her eyes from the bra, figuring it was best not to rock the boat with a man she would be marrying in forty-eight hours. She knew nothing about him, she didn’t know if he had a temper like his father and her stepfather. 

Ali paused a moment, studying Joseph as he poured whiskey into two glasses before offering one to her – explaining that he wasn’t a fan of what was happening either, but they could at least enjoy it. A small smile crossed her lips, she’d snuck out to quite a few parties when her mother was alive. She had even snuck out a few times after her mother passed, she of course was in that rebellious stage that most kids went through at the loss of a parent. Her stepfather of course lost his mind, and she felt the brunt of his anger. She still thought the parties were worth it to blow off steam, so she slowly took the glass from him. “Thanks, I guess that makes two of us that aren’t thrilled with this idea.” She said softly, using her free hand to brush her hair away from her eyes. 

“Seems like there is no choice, so I guess enjoying it and making the best of it is the best thing we have to do.” Ali added softly, meeting his eyes a moment before she took a small sip of whiskey. She could probably use it more than she realized, finally noticing her hand shaking. She bit her lip; her nerves were worse than she thought they were. She would be marrying a stranger in forty-eight hours, her stepfather was more than likely dead, and the family she was marrying into was a well-known mafia family. "I guess we could take this time to get to know each other a little better, I mean - seems like a good idea since we...I guess are gonna be getting married in, what? 48 hours give or take?" Ali asked softly.