He walks over to Badessa’s desk and sits down. “Please, have a seat, Principessa.”
“You keep calling me that,” I say as I lower down into the chair next to him. “It’s too much of an intimate nickname and I don’t know you, Signor.”
Leaning back in the chair, he chuckles again and sighs. “Ah, Alberto would be proud,” he says, lacing his fingers together over his stomach. “You look like Catalina and have her fire, even as you look timid.”
“You keep saying that name but I have no idea-”
“Your mother was Catalina Moretti, wife of Alberto Moretti, a Camorra Underboss,” he says and I immediately jump out of my chair and take a step back from him. “Your name is Lucia Moretti and you’re their only daughter.”
I have heard of the Camorra; they’re a criminal organization that rules parts of Italy. Italian Mafia, to be exact. They’re ruthless…and apparently, I am borne of that blood. This is why he calls me Principessa…
“W-what?” I stammer, shaking my head. “That can’t be! They left me on the steps-”
“On the steps? Is that what the nuns have been feeding you?” he interjects. “Your father left you here to keep you safe from his enemies. It was your mother’s dying wish to keep you protected and away from our life…until the time came.”
I swallow deeply at his words, too scared to know what he means by that. But he can see the question as if it’s etched on my face and offers me another one of his smiles.
“Until the time comes when your father’s oath to the Cosa Nostra comes into effect,” he starts. “You’re betrothed to Giovanni Vittori as a way to end the bloody war between our families and in three years, he will claim you as his wife.”
Still shaking my head as if the act will push away the glaring truth in front of me, but he continues. “We tasked the sisters here to teach you everything you need to know about being a good Mafia wife. How to cook, clean, and be obedient, amongst other things. Haven’t you ever wondered why?”
“It’s a lie! It has to be!” I say, defiant tears slipping down my cheeks. “There’s no way… I can’t be a Mafia Princess!”
But even as I say these words, what he has just mentioned breaks any wall of lies. They did, in fact, teach me all those things and warned me about speaking when spoken to, not speaking out of turn, and always having food ready on time. My eyes widen as I realize why they never taught me anything Sicilian… but Italian instead.
“Who… Who is Giovanni Vittori?” I ask as I wipe my tears away. “And who are you?”
The man, who hasn’t even introduced himself to me yet, gets up from the chair and pulls a handkerchief from his top coat pocket.
“My name is Vito and I am your father’s closest friend; his second in command, if you will,” he says, handing the handkerchief to me. “Giovanni is the eldest son of the Cosa Nostra Capo Dei Capi, Emilio Vittori.”
The son of a Mafia Don. I am betrothed to the eldest son of a Mafia Don. No wonder my family left me here, it wasn’t for my safety but to train me to be a good wife and remain pure for my husband.
I suck in a deep breath and try to remain calm. “And I am to leave when I turn 21, to be married to Giovanni Vittori?”
The man, Vito, nods. “Yes. If you do not believe me, I have left a crate of your mother and father’s belongings in your bedroom.”
I can’t help but scoff at him, and this entirely absurd thing. “Why couldn’t my father come here to tell me this himself? Why send his right-hand man to deliver this blow?”
A pained look crosses his face and, he breathes out a long sigh. “Your father made me promise to do this before he disappeared a few years ago. No one has seen him since, but he was adamant this arrangement with Franco remains in place.”
My eyes widen. “Disappeared? What do you mean? He’s just gone?”
Vito nods. “He is, and I have since taken over as Underboss in his stead, but that is all I am permitted to say,” he says and he takes a step back from me. “I’ll be back here the night before your twenty-first birthday with the gift your mother left for you. But the following day you are to leave with Giovanni.”
“Do I have a choice in this?” I ask, knowing the outcome already.
Vito’s lips are a thin line when he shakes his head. “A ring on your finger or a bullet in your head, Principessa.”
That’s how it is, then. If I refuse, I die, and from what I have learned about myself in these last few minutes is that I don’t want to die. Even if I have to marry this man… from one prison to the next.
“I understand,” I say, because what else was there to say? This man has just shattered the life I knew and given it a bigger purpose. A purpose put in place for me before I was even born, a purpose I did not want.
With a kiss placed on my forehead and a small key put in my hand, Vito leaves and I rush up to my bedroom to wallow in peace. But even that is taken from me when I see the crate on my bed, just as he said it would be.
I wipe my tears away with the back of my hand and walk towards my bed to have even more of me stripped away. It’s wooden and the size of a shoebox with a small padlock on it; I realize then that’s what the key is for.
Taking a deep breath, I draw my hand to the lock and open it, unsure of what I would find inside. My heart shatters into a thousand pieces when I see the picture on top; it’s a Polaroid picture of a woman who looks just like me.
Curvacious, full chest, dark hair, almond-shaped brown eyes, and tanned skin. She’s smiling with a hand placed on her swollen belly and behind her is a tall, handsome man kissing her cheek. They both look so happy and a tear slips down my cheek onto the picture when I read the writing below.
My Lucia, 7 months.
Alberto and Catalina Moretti. These two are my parents and as I rifle through the other pictures and letters, I see how in love they were. You can’t fake the look in my father’s eyes as he gazes at her unaware in certain shots, and my heart is pounding as the reality of everything sets in.
They’re my parents; my parents, who are part of the Mafia and who promised me to the eldest son of their enemies in hopes of stopping a war. They bartered my life as if I were nothing but a chess piece and now I will never get to meet them because my mother is dead and my father is missing.
Instead of sadness taking over my heart, it is anger.
I rush towards the kitchen to find Nonna Lola and when I burst into the room, she looks at me with that same sad look in her eyes.
“You knew,” I whisper, shaking my head as a cold wave of betrayal washes over me. “All this time you knew!”
Nonna Lola’s tears stream down her face as she slowly nods. “They made you teach me to cook…so I can be a perfect wife to a terrible man!”
“Lucia-”
“No!” I exclaim, crumbling to the floor and shaking my head. “No, everyone has lied to me! It's no wonder they all look at me like that; I have the blood of murderers and rapists running through my veins!”
Even as I reject her, she gets down on her knees and embraces me. Her familiar vanilla scent feels like home as I break down in her arms. “They all lied to me, Nonna…”
She strokes my hair. “I am sorry, Tesoro, but they made me promise,” she says as I feel her tears on my arms. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t do it with my family’s life in their hands.”
I turn my head. “They threatened you and your family?” I ask and when she nods again, fresh tears spring into my eyes. “Oh, Nonna!”
“I just wanted you to feel loved, even as I knew where your life would lead. You became like my own, and I have loved you since. Please don’t forget that,” she says, trying to console me as I stay wrapped in her arms.
“Please let this year be different.” The wish I have made since I turned ten years old has finally come true.
Three years after my life was changed forever, I am sitting in the church pew with a single luggage bag containing my belongings. Today I am to meet the man my father promised me to, today my life takes a turn.The nuns were even more strict with their training, making sure I knew how to behave like a woman. Only this time I was forced to walk in heels for weeks on end and someone was sent in to teach me how to do my makeup as my husband would expect of me. Yesterday Vito brought me a gift I haven’t opened yet, and this morning Nonna Lola and I had our traditional birthday cupcake. But even as I blew the rose petal, I didn’t make a wish.Wishes are for children who have futures, not for brides who have never met their fiancees.“Tesoro,” I look up when I hear Nonna Lola’s voice and frown when I see her walking over to me. She’s wearing a bright smile and her eyes are shining with tears. “Oh, I am so happy to have caught you in time!”“Nonna?” I say and get to my feet to meet her as s
For the last twenty-two years I have done nothing but seethe in my own hatred and for the last twenty years, I’ve been plotting my revenge against Alberto Moretti and the Camorra.A rickety bridge of peace might have been put into place with my marriage to Moretti’s only daughter, but it means as much to me as his life does. I have no intention of playing nice with the woman I am to wed.They’re the reason I no longer have a twin sister, the reason my mother drinks herself into oblivion, the reason my father became even more heartless, and the reason Dom, my youngest brother, can no longer walk.Play nice with the Moretti bitch? No fucking way. I plan on sending her back to the Camorra in tiny little pieces and igniting the flames of war once more. You don’t take from me and decide to offer a virgin as a sacrificial lamb. A pawn to ease the flames.Sangue per sangue - blood for fucking blood. I had planned meticulously, calculating every detail, and anticipating each outcome, all to
The past week went by way too quickly and even as I stand in this church, staring at myself in the floor-length mirror, I can barely believe it’s the same Lucia staring back at me. My makeup is done to perfection, my hair curled and pinned beautifully, and this dress… It’s a girl’s dream come true. A delicate lace bodice adorned with intricate hand-embroidered floral patterns, accentuating my curves. Subtle beading and shimmering sequins catch every ray of light, giving the dress an otherworldly glow. A modest sweetheart neckline frames my chest, cap sleeves at my shoulders, and an A-line skirt flows seamlessly from my waistline.Layers of feather-light tulle and soft silk, create a dreamy, cloud-like effect without looking absolutely poofy and ridiculous. The dress is completed with a long, cathedral-length veil, edged with matching lace appliqués around the border, and finishing with a veil over my head.This is it. This is my wedding day and I feel absolutely awful.“All done, Ma’
As the smoke from the explosion began to dissipate, the aftermath of the long-anticipated mafia wedding stood as a dark, twisted monument to chaos. Entangled amongst the debris and empty stare of terror on the guests' faces, I can feel my blood boiling with rage. It was supposed to be the first day towards my path to retribution; the day I made Lucia officially mine. Instead, it had become a macabre nightmare with probably a few important, high-ranking members probably dead. Someone had planted bombs at my fucking wedding, a wedding both secured by Famiglia and Camorra alike.“Frankie! Dom!” I exclaim, calling to my brothers. I have to know if they survived!The trembling figure in my arms snaps me out of my thoughts and I see the wide eyes of Lucia staring up at me, clutching at the lapel of my tuxedo. I want to push her away from me, but instead, I push my thoughts down.I threw her to the ground and covered her with my body without thinking, protecting her with my life without a
To say I am trembling in fear is an understatement. One second I was dancing with Giovanni, my heart beating so close to his, and the next I was thrown to the ground, shielded by his body. My ears are still ringing from the explosion and the palms of my hands were tender from scraping them against the floor as I went down. Now I’m in the back of an armored SUV, sitting next to a mean-looking woman wearing a scowl similar to Giovanni’s. She’s wearing a red dress and high heels, is tall and slender, with short blonde hair and tattoos that look like feathers creeping into her neck. I hug my body and feel the ripples of fear still coursing through me. I suspected that a lot of people weren’t happy about this marriage, but I didn’t expect a hit right on our wedding day. Wouldn’t this be the highest disrespect to pay the son of a Capo dei Capi? Wait… wouldn’t this cause a war? As soon as we hit the cobblestone driveway, I know we’ve arrived at Giovanni’s estate. I don’t think I’ll ever
My heart is thudding so loud in my ears that I can barely think, and when he puts the tip of the weapon to my breastbone, I flinch and close my eyes.“Relax, I’m not about to murder my bride on our wedding night,” he says and when I hear the tearing of fabric, I open my eyes to feel the fabric of the negligee pool at my feet. “That’s for later.”Later? What does he mean that’s for later?!Cutting off the straps of my thong as well, he takes a step backward and removes his bowtie, which was already loose and hanging around his neck. As he gets to work unbuttoning his shirt, his eyes do not leave mine and even as they’re filled to the brim with anger, I can see the hunger.I was right about his body being covered in tattoos, but in this case, only his back and sides, save for one tattoo over his left pectoral, right over his heart. It is a black heart with a dagger with the words SANGUE PER SANGUE.A shiver shoots up my spine as it feels like an omen meant just for me.“On the bed, Mice
I wake up and stretch, hyper-aware of the soft body laying at my side. Opening my eyes, I see Lucia still asleep and laying on her back with one leg over mine, her bare pussy still exposed. One hand is over her full, gorgeous chest while the other is splayed above her head.She must have fallen asleep while still covered in my cum and her blood, and I don’t know why, but that doesn’t sit right with me. Actually, it pisses me off at what I’ve done.When I came back to the room, I had every intention of sleeping and not touching her after what we discovered. Especially since I was so angry about the entire thing. Dom is alive, just shaken up, and no one died at the scene except for the server pouring wine.But seeing her in that little white negligee had me thinking with my fucking cock. Why did my enemy’s daughter have to look so fucking beautiful?I get up from the bed and walk over to the bathroom, but something on her nightstand gets my attention - a pill. When I pick it up, I notic
When I finish in the shower, I hear the bedroom door closing and know Giovanni has left for the day. Careful of hurting myself, I dry off and wrap the towel around my body before walking to the closet.The bloodstained blankets catch my eye and I push down the shame threatening to strangle me. I don’t ever want a repeat of last night… I’d rather die.My mind is a mess. From what happened last night, to the rough way Giovanni took me and now finding out his father was killed last night, presumably by my missing father. I don’t know what is going to happen now, and I don’t want to find out.I catch my naked reflection in the mirror and my eyes widen when I see blue dots on my thighs, right where Giovanni held me. There are three similar-looking dots on my cheek when he had his hand over my mouth. I swallow hard while trying to keep my emotions down, then I walk to my clothing rack.I am not going to cry; I will not give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he truly terrifies me.Aft