Ricardo waits out of Gabriel's house as the gates were not opened for him, he waits outside waiting for Gabriel as it was a clear indication that he was not welcomed in the house.
The gates of the house rattle a bit before it opens, and he stands straight when he finds Amelia walking out of the door.
"Would you like to come in?" she asks him, and he nods his head surprised to see her.
"Gabriel can be difficult at times, but I guess any father would be when it comes to their daughter" she states as he walks towards the gate.
"Thank you" he speaks as they walk slowly towards the house.
"Gabby, she is not just his daughter, she is his pride. And I know, she has lots of flaws in her but that is what makes her beautiful...
He was so stunned, surprised and very happy when we found we were having her. He would not even leave her side and he take full responsibility of how she turned out" Amelia laughs shaking her head before both stop to talk some more.
"He knew she would be spoiled, stubborn and strong, everything I was not, he did not want her to grow up as anything like me...
And because he did so many wrongs to me at the beginning of our marriage, he does not want that happening to her, he wants her to be able to fight back the wrongs...
And you know she would ask him to jump off a cliff and I know he will...
That is how much he loves Gabby, among the five of our kids, he has the softest of spot for Gabby...
Because she is the one who taught him many of his firsts, it was not just Gabby but him as well growing up along, with every step she took, with every word she spoke, he learned along with her...
So, it is not easy for him to give Gabby away not as easy as giving Lily. Because she is not just his first child, but a hope for him, hope that everything will be fine between us, that he can be a good father, that he no longer must run away from his responsibilities...
She has always been the light of hope for him and you are here to take it away, so bear with him" she smiles as she touches his arm lightly before informing him where he can find Gabriel as Gabby was getting ready for their date.
*******
Ricardo waits outside of the door before he knocks twice, the wait seems like hours before he hears the command of Gabriel to get in. With a deep breath, he walks in the room before he narrows his eyes a bit because of the darkness.
"Take a seat" Gabriel's voice makes him hesitant before he walks to the nearby chair and sits down.
None of them speak a word, so he waits for Gabriel to start knowing well this meeting can go in two ways, either his or Gabriel's.
"If I am correct you wanted to talk to me about the papers that man in the restaurant handed you over, yes?" he questions, and Ricardo clears his throat.
"May I?" he asks for Gabriel's permission before getting up and walking towards where Gabriel was sitting behind his desk.
Gabriel frowns as Ricardo pulls out the stack of papers and puts it in front of Gabriel who shifts a bit as Ricardo turns it around for Gabriel to reads the first few lines.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asks without even touching the paper.
"I would like to keep myself as a collateral for the treaty between our families" he responds finally, and Gabriel gets up from his chair as once.
"And you think I will happily accept this knowing you have my daughter's name on it as well as this so-called collateral" he hisses.
"Pre...your daughter is the only one reason we both know I am standing in here"
"But you are not her only reason, Russo. Now get the fuck out of this house your extended presence has now crossed its limit" Gabriel blazes.
"You have not even read the contents inside" he tries.
"I do not need to see what's in to know that saying yes to this is as equal to selling my daughter to you, that does not work inside of my house...
I don't sell my children or use them in anyway for little power games" he warns Ricardo who sighs.
"I know that better than anyone else, but I still suggest you read it once..."
"And I asked you to get out"
"I will but before that I would like to know why, why can you not give me a moment and check the papers?" he dares and Gabriel narrows his eyes at the man standing in front of him.
"Because we are Price and there is no Price in this world that can buy us, so take away your contract as my daughter is not for sale"
"I am not asking you to sale her off nor am I asking for your permission, I just want your blessings. If there is anyone in this world that cares about her beside you is me...
And no matter what you cannot argue on it" he speaks and Gabriel raises a brow in surprise.
"Give me name of a one man who can keep her happier than me, just one man" he demands and when Gabriel does not speak a word Ricardo sighs as he touches the contract.
"I love her, I have loved her even before I knew the meaning of it and every moment with her makes me realize that love is too small of a feeling to describe what I feel for her...
Being her friend was never enough just as being her husband will never be enough, I want her to be bind with me in every possible way and this is just my second step towards it" he finishes.
"What has been your first?" Gabriel asks quite speechless.
"Being her best friend" he smiles making Gabriel chuckle.
"Will you step back if I said no?" he asks and Ricardo grins.
"As you said I never asked your permission when it came to Precious and I am not changing my habit" he replies as Gabriel turns the page.
"I will have to talk with Nicholson, even if Gabby is my daughter this is something her should be well aware of"
"I have sent the copies to him as well"
"You have been well prepared" Gabriel comments.
"Nothing is final yet, she has yet to see it for herself. At the end of the day, she is all that matters" he states and Gabriel nods his head.
"And to answer your question, I do not have any names Ricardo because you never gave any of us the chance to seek someone better for Gabby" Gabriel states before he pulls his hand out to shake with Ricardo who stares at his hand in surprise before shaking it.
"I won't make any threats towards you on about how to treat my daughter because I have raised her well, she knows where it hurts the most" he grins before he picks up the papers and walks towards the door.
"Ricardo" Gabriel calls and Ricardo turns to face the man.
"Just don't hurt her" Gabriel requests and Ricardo nods his head once.
*******
"Pretend I look beautiful" Gabby's voice makes Ricardo turn to face her and a smile escapes his lips watching her walk towards her in her dress.
"I can never pretend when I am with you" he replies and she grins before she hands him her necklace, turns her back to him as she pushes her hair to one side.
"You pretended to not be in love with me" she points making him pause before he clasps the chain around her neck.
"Or you pretended to see my advances just friendly"
"Kisses on the forehead is romantic but getting kissed there all the time is not" she retorts as she turns to face him.
"Kissing you anywhere else while I was engaged to someone else would have been an insult to who you are" he replies and Gabby tilts her head to a side.
"I don't see a ring on your finger, now" she comments with a raised brow.
"And I don't want to ruin your lipstick" he whispers as he runs a finger at the side of her cheek and she moves closer to him.
"I will happily let you ruin me" she breaths as she closes her eyes.
"Mom, Gabby is going to get kissed" Angelo shrieks startles the couple making Gabby jump away from Ricardo before she searches for her brother.
"You..." she starts before holding onto Ricardo's arm as she pulls her shoes off.
"Whoa" Ricardo holds her wrist stopping her from throwing her wedges on her brother.
"I love you Rare, always protect me from my sister" Angelo laughs as he peeks out of the couch.
"You stay right there, I am going to kill you"
"Oh no" Ricardo grins as he wraps his arms around her waist.
"He ruined the perfect moment" she whines turning to face him.
"We will create new ones, now come on we are getting late" he reminds her as he drags her out of the house.
*******
"So, what did you and dad talked?" Gabby asks as she moves closer to Ricardo as he drives away from her father's house.
"This and that" he mutters as he checks on the rearview mirror before speeding up.
"And what is this, this and that?" she asks as she fully turns towards him and puts her hand on his thigh.
"Let's talk about it later" he asks as he touches her knees and squeezes it a bit.
"Thanks for the suggestion on the designers"
"You liked something of hers?"
"Everything, do you know she designs some lingerie as well?" she asks as she slowly moves her hands up on his thigh and Ricardo turns his head towards her raising a brow.
"You want to go there?" he asks in amusement and she smiles.
"There or there?" she asks as she glances at his crotch area before his face.
"Whichever it is, that a bad topic to get into" Ricardo chuckles as he grabs her wandering hand and intertwines their fingers.
Gabby grins as she slowly shifts before she climbs on the seat and kneels before she whispers in his ears.
"I brought few from hers"
"Okay" he nods as he keeps his focus on the road.
"Are you not going to ask me which colors I got?" she giggles biting on his ear and he tilts his head away.
"I am sure they will all suit you"
"Do you want me to send you some pictures in it?" she teases before she turns his steering wheel a bit and a horn blare from behind them while Ricardo tries to control the car and stops it at a side just as Gabby lands on his lap.
"Precious" he chides while she smiles at him.
"I want your attention"
"We are driving"
"Not now"
"Precious" he sighs as he shifts her a bit.
"I wore a strapless bra for tonight" she smiles as she pulls the thin strap of her dress down to show him.
"And it comes with a set of underwear" she grins as she touches the length of her dress and starts to push it up but he grabs her hands.
"I did not bring you for that" he stops her.
"But I bought it all thinking about you" she pouts.
Ricardo glances at her naked legs before his eyes slowly moves towards her body sprawled on his lap. His eyes meet hers as he pushes her hand away and his own moves under her dress.
"What is the color?" he asks as he moves his hand slowly.
"Black" she breaths heavily.
"Is it?" he asks as his finger grazes the lines of her underwear.
"It got laces it in" she breaths.
"I can feel it" he replies as he moves his hand to put on her ass before he pulls his hand out of her skirt.
"The front is see-through" she hurries as he pulls his hand out.
"Tonight, I am not looking at it, but you" he smiles as he bends his head to kiss on her forehead.
"You sure know how to make a girl feel unsexy" she groans pushing away from him while he chuckles helping her to get on her seat.
"That's my charm" he grins, and she rolls her eyes hearing him.
*******
Ricardo stops the car in the parking lot, he walks out to open to open the door for Gabby, he holds her hand helping her out before locking the car.
"I hope we can get in easily" Gabby comments as she touches his arm and walking towards the door.
"Stop that" Bo's voice makes the couple pause to search the girl to find her fighting with Gage.
"What are you two doing?" Gabby asks the couple, and both come to a halt.
"Hey" Bo smiles as she pushes Gage away from her side.
"I hope you two are not having sex in public because the idea of you two is still a bit weird and don't make me think of the day I caught my baby brother naked" Gabby grumbles making Bo laugh.
"If I am not voicing my thoughts on your relationship, I think I can expect the same from you" Gage points out and Gabby groans.
"What are you two fighting about anyways?" Gabby changes the topic.
"About my dress, he thinks its too short" Bo rolls her eyes before she goes to hug Gabby.
"You look superhot" Bo whispers in Gabby ear who giggles.
"Not as much as you, I can see why Gage is trying to cover you up" Gabby grins as she points at the jacket tightly wrapped on Bo's waist to cover her legs.
"Shall we?" Ricardo asks as he wraps his arm around Gabby's waist pulling her closer to him.
"You look over dressed" she checks him out before they make their way inside of the club and as soon as the bouncer sees Gage, he lets all of them walk in.
"You come here often?" Gabby asks as Gage fist bump the bouncer.
"No"
"Then?" she asks her brother.
"We know each other"
"How?" she narrows her eyes not moving.
"The obvious, we are the Price, we own the city" he groans as he pushes his sister inside of the club while she threatens him to tell their father about it.
"Yeah, yeah" Gage grins as they keep on walking.
"And where are we going?" she asks when they stop near a spiral ladder.
"VIP" he shrugs his shoulder as he puts his hand out for Bo who jumps to get to his side.
"You drop that jacket and I will tear that dress apart later" Gage warns Bo who laughs as she takes the stairs while he follows.
"I do not like the sound of it" Gabby cringes before jumping when Ricardo touches her arm.
"Get over it, at some point he would have had sex with someone don't you think it's better with the person you know?" he asks, and she gags.
"No, would you say the same if it was one of your brothers?" she asks, and he shrugs his shoulders, uncaringly.
"Sorry, let me rephrase what if it was your sister" she asks and grins in victory as he frowns.
"Exactly" she grins patting on his cheek before taking the stair.
*******
"Am I allowed to get drunk?" Bo asks as she waves at the waiter.
"I am not carrying you" Gage points out.
"You will carry me out yeah?" Gabby asks Ricardo who stops the waiter before giving him the order on drinks on everyone's behalf.
"Hey, I wanted something else" Bo complains.
"I will carry you anywhere, but I want you sober tonight" Ricardo ignores Bo as he answers Gabby's question.
"Are we going somewhere after this?" Gabby asks.
"Yes" Ricardo replies before he unbuttons his coat and pulls it off.
"Oh, stop ogling him" Bo groans as Gabby keeps on staring at Ricardo who was busy folding his shirt sleeves.
"What?" Ricardo smiles as he glances at Gabby who shakes her head before glaring at Bo.
"If we cannot get drunk then we shall dance" Bo announces as she gets up from her chair.
"I am not interested on dancing" Gage grumbles but steps away from him.
"Who said anything about dancing with you...sometimes I want to dance with girls" she winks his way before they walk downstairs to the dance floor.
*******
'Sometimes I just want to kiss, girls, girls, girls,
She is getting down with me, yeah, yeah' the songs blares in the club as the girls dance on their own.
Ricardo stands near the railing with a drink on his hand as he watches his girl dancing freely, he chuckles as he watches her moves rubbing her body with Bo as the girls dance along the music putting on a show.
"We are never doing this again" Gage words makes his turn around to face the man.
"First time?" Ricardo asks as he raises his brow at the him.
"You mean you have seen this before?" Gage asks as he stares at the dance floor where Bo was really getting down on the floor as the lyrics were with his sister.
"They are a very interesting duo" Ricardo chuckles once again.
"I knew these two together was trouble" Gage sighs shaking his head as he goes back to sit down.
"All these years with your sister and you have not chilled out?" Ricardo asks as he turns around to face Gage.
"All we did was fight" Gage shrugs his shoulder.
"Pretty much" Ricardo nods as he remembers all the time, he had to take Gabby away from her brother before she did something.
"Did you inform her that it's your last night in here?" Gage asks, and his silence gives Gage the answer.
"You should not give her wrong signals" Gage narrows his eyes making Ricardo raise his brow.
"You know nothing about us to say that" Ricardo replies before sipping on his drink.
"Then make me understand" Gage waits making Ricardo chuckle.
"You will soon" he smiles with a reply before turning to watch Gabby.
*******
"Why did you not join?" Gabby asks breathlessly as she grabs the glass Ricardo offers her and she gulps down before sitting on the sofa.
"You two seemed having fun" he replies as he picks up his coat.
"Are we leaving already?" Gabby asks sadly and Ricardo frowns before he checks on the time.
"You do realize that you two have been dancing like maniac for the past one and half hour" Gage points out and the girls frown.
"But it was just few songs"
"Yes, now we need to feed you two" Ricardo replies as he grabs Gabby's hand pulling her up.
"No need, we are heading back home. Mom has dinner ready for us"
"And you know how?" Gabby frowns.
"I texted her" Gage shrugs his shoulder.
"You are such a cheapo, making mum cook instead of going out" Gabby sighs as they start to walk out.
"So, you mean you would rather eat out instead of a cooked meal from your mother's hand?" Gage asks his sister who sighs in reply.
"Thought so, mom is the best cook" Gage grins as he holds Bo hands who laughs as she walks away.
"I am not taking you to your parent's home though" Ricardo informs as they walk out of the club.
"I would not even imagine you taking me" Gabby grins wiggling her brow and he shakes his head at her intentions.
"We are not going to my place" he adds and she gaps slapping on his arm.
"Oh, you naughty, we are doing it in the car" she grins which makes his laugh loudly.
"Get you head out of gutter, Precious" he chides as he opens the door for her.
*******
"Why are we here?" Gabby asks as she steps out of the car to see where they were.
"I have something for you" Ricardo speaks as he walks and stands next to the car bonnet.
"What is it?" Gabby asks as she checks on the paper that he puts on the bonnet of the car before he grabs her waist and put her next to it.
"There are many times I and Nick, we come here and share some drinks, talks about our work and differences out"
"Please don't tell me you are breaking up with me for him" Gabby wonders.
"Actually, I broke up with him for you" he grins making her hit him on his chest.
"Don't joke on these things" she warns him.
"Then stop assuming it" he grins before he hands her the papers.
"I cannot believe you are making her read on our first date" she grumbles.
"This is the only date you will ever have with me and I want it the most memorable one.
"You are speaking as if you are dying, what's in the paper?" she asks as she holds it but does not read the content.
"You have been asking me why I am not signing the treaty"
"Are you saying this is the treaty papers?"
"Better than that"
"What is it?" she asks as she reads the content before turning the page and reading it carefully.
"Every treaty ends after a few years or has to be renewed and I did not wanted that with your family. Because I no longer had any reasons or desires left to be a treaty between our families...
I want to tie our families together not throught my dealings with Nicholson but through you"
"These..." Gabby gasps as she looks towards him.
"This is a treaty between you and I, a treaty for life. I do not want to be just your bestfriend Precious, I want to be a man to you...
I want to be able to have every acess to be with you without asking anyone's permission, I want to be yours lawfully...
And what other way than you marry you"
"A contract marriage?" she asks him.
"A contract for life. I want you not just physically but lawfully as well. I want to have you by papers and in front of everyone"
"Are your proposing to me?" she asks shocked as she reads the lines once again.
"Signing this contract, you will be my wife in papers. Never do I have to ever again wonder when the treaty will end...
Never do I have to make things up to see you"
"And the power of..."
"Everything I own inside of Price territory is now yours. I am giving you the power of attorney to every mall I have started, to every business I have in this very land we stand" he smiles stepping closer to her.
"Why?" Gabby whisper asks not believing her ears.
"A small wedding gift for my wife-to-be" he smiles grazing her cheek.
"What if I do not want this, I don't sign?" she questions.
"Then I will have to break every man who stands on the border line stopping me to reach you" he grins.
"Will I have to leave my home once I sign?" she asks him.
"I am not taking you away from your home without giving you a really wedding, Precious"
"So, I can be your wife on papers as long as I want and not leave my home until you take vows in front of everyone?" she asks, and he nods his head yes.
"You give me too much of power Rare" she smiles as she puts the papers away.
"Because you hold too much of me in your hands, Precious" he breaths joining their forehead.
"So, I will be your wife?" she asks as she pulls out the pen from his breast pocket.
"I never saw anyone taking that place except you" he confesses.
"And everything you hold will be mine as well"
"Always" he promises watching Gabby sign the papers.
"This is not the way I thought I would ever get married but there is no one I would rather be with except you" she smiles as s he hands him the papers.
Ricardo kisses on her forehead before he signs the papers as well.
"Is this legal?" Gabby asks as she stares at the paper with their signature fresh on it.
"We got two strong witnesses for us"
"We do?" she frowns before staring at the turned page with her father along with his signature on it.
"When did dad..." she asks.
"Let me kiss my wife properly, first" he interrupts her as he dips his head and kisses on her lips.