Mirabella's pov
I observe every inch of myself through the mirror, detesting my appearance. This illusion—the make up, the dress, the jewelry, my eyes, it's all so disgusting. A lie. My sister and father have successfully made me into a clone but I'm not about to make this easy for them.
They need me and it's obvious, so this? This might be their game but they'd have to play by my rules.
I begin to wonder how long my father had this plan thought out as I take off my dress, cleaning off the heavy makeup on my face. There has to be something he's not telling me.
Could it be the reason he made certain I never got introduced to the underworld? Because he didn't want people knowing he had two daughters who were nearly identical? Because he intended on using me when I became an adult?
It had to be, considering how meticulous he was in making sure I remained hidden.
But why me?
"What is keeping you so long, Mirabella?" The door to my room swings open and I eye my father through the mirror.
Of course he's boiling in rage, seeing how I changed out of his perfectly planned outfit into something more comfortable and lightened up my makeup.
"This is not how Annabella would be dressed for this dinner," he grits through his teeth and I scoff.
"Quite unfortunate that I'm not Annabella. Didn't you say he knows little or nothing about her? Well, I'm certain he'll observe nothing."
"Don't push—"
"We're late father." I shove him aside and walk out the door.
Like I said, their game, my rules.
. . .
I walk into the restaurant hand in hand with my father and as we approach the private area, I spot my soon to be husband's silhouette, perfectly seated at the head of the table in the dimly lit room.
My heart begins pounding hard against my ribcage the moment we connect eyes and I fidget with the hem of my dress.
Papá pulls out a chair, urging me to sit by Matteo's corner as I exchange pleasantries with his parents who seem very friendly and welcoming.
"You're late. And one would think you were making an effort to look good." Matteo's deep, intimidating voice reverberates in my spine and I suck in a breath, turning around to find him leaning forward, exposing himself to more lighting.
A scanty breath escapes me as I begin taking in his features.
One would think that a man with a reputation such as Matteo's would be disgusting to look at but that is not the case. This man seated by my side, looking at me disgustingly with his extremely intimidating, hazel eyes is a very breathtaking man.
If there is another word greater than beautiful, that'd be the word most suitable to describe this man. His shirt unbuttoned, his inked chest out in the open, broad shoulders, Adams apple bopping, perfect, full red lips, chiseled jaw...
"Are you going to say something? Or are going to keep gawking at me the entire night?"
As beautiful as my soon to be husband might appear, he seems to a man with ego—unhealthy ego. With the way his eyes glaze over me insultingly and the manner at which he exerts his authority on me, making me feel small.
With a clear of my throat, I relax better on my seat and begin digging into my plate, ignoring his burning stare.
He breathes out an annoyed breath, causing my lips to tip up at the corners.
Powerful men like him, they hate the taste of their own medicine.
After we've finished with the main dish, I immediately fall into a conversation with Matteo's mother and sister—Maria and Julia—answering their many questions robotically.
How did a bubbly person like Maria birth a man like Matteo? The question plays at the back of my head.
How am I supposed to exist with a man like Matteo for six months? A man whose presence is unnerving and whose entire demeanor is clouded by darkness?
How am I expected to survive through this?
Finally having had enough of Matteo's burning gaze, I excuse myself to use the restroom, intending for a quiet time—even if it were for a minute.
The instant I stand in front of the mirror in the restroom, my hands grip onto the marble counter tightly as I shudder. I release all the tension I didn't realize I was holding in and the feeling is exhilarating.
"You seem nervous," that familiar, deep voice echoes in my ears and almost immediately the restroom door jams shut with two clicks to it. My heart goes ballistic. Sweat immediately trickling down my forehead, my throat tight with a lump.
Matteo holds my gaze through the mirror for some time before quirking a brow, nudging me to speak. I gulp, turning around to face him. He crouches down, his eyes narrowing into slits as though attempting to observe my facial features and I immediately return my gaze to the ground.
"I-isnt it normal for a bride to get nervous once her big day is nearing?"
Matteo chuckles dryly, motioning towards me. With each step he takes towards me, I take the same step backward until my back is against the marble counter. He hums. "Except that bride wanted this wedding so desperately."
"Don't you want it? Matteo?"
"You have no idea, Annabella, the idea of getting married repulses me. And you, I detest you for agreeing to this. But if you could make a deal with me," his fingertips trail across my cleavage and I back myself up more into the counter as if an exit would magically appear. "You're the only person capable of ending this absurd arrangement, whatever you want, just name it and it'll be yours. But I need you to go out there and call off this bullshit."
Yes, Matteo, there's nothing more I'd love to do than that but I cannot. I could lose my life.
"You're too close, Matteo," I whisper. My gaze remaining on the ground, how could I ever meet my eyes with the eyes of this intimidating man? I'll be made to naught in an instant.
"You had no complaints the other time, Annabella."
What? The other time? What happened the other time? Why was this part of their meeting kept away from me?
Think Mirabella, think.
"Look at me for a second, Annabella." It's a command, a command so gently spoken, leaving me with no choice but to obey. Slowly, I lift up my gaze to meet his.
His knuckles rests beneath my chin, keeping my head up as his thumb strokes my jaw. His eyes are steady on mine as if searching for something. Satisfaction soon flashes his orbs, causing him to breathe out a scoff, giving his head a shake.
Matteo moves out of the way and gestures me towards the door, urging me to leave. I nod, rushing towards the door, a breath of relief escapes me but my relief is short lived because just as my fingertips connects the door knob, his voice resounds in my ears.
"Mirabella?"
The name is spelt out like he knows who I truly am. I halt my movement, a cold sensation settling in my spine. A few seconds pass and I'm still unable to utter a word or even walk away.
He chuckles maniacally.
"Isn't that your twin? I'm sure you're wondering how I know about her but shouldn't I at least get familiar with all the members of my wife's family?" He tsks. "Will she be in attendance? You know, at our wedding."
I twist the door knob and pull the door wide open before answering, "I'm certain she has more important things to concern herself with."
Yes, Matteo, she'll not just be in attendance, she's going to be your wife.
I hurriedly storm out of the restroom but I hear Matteo muttering 'sure she does' before letting out a very disturbing laugh—confirming the rumors about him.
He's a maniac.
A psychotic maniac.
After dinner with the Denaro's, Matteo opted to drive me home saying 'I should learn to care for my wife after all'.
. . .
After hours of being on the road and having Matteo tease me in the most annoying ways possible, he finally brings his car to a halt in front of my family's mansion.
As the car door swings open, I'm met with my boyfriend Simon, who seems to be drunk out of his mind, screaming my name frantically.
I immediately dismiss Matteo and rush out of the car, slamming the door shut before Simon can say anything that might land me in trouble.
"Baby," Simon hiccups, "I've been waiting here all evening. Tell me the text you sent wasn't true. You didn't send that text, did you? How can you ever break up and inform me of your wedding through a text. It's so unlike you." He slurs.
I go to ask him how he found me but Matteo's voice cuts me short. "Is there a problem here? Wife?" Simon looks up at him and back at me. I shut my eyes tightly, hoping that this's a nightmare. But it's not.
"Wife? Wife? So it is true then? How can you do this to me, to us," Simon grits through his teeth as he stretches his arm out to reach for me but I push back.
"You're probably looking for my sister but she's not home. I'm sure if you went to her Lab—"
"I'm not looking for anyone else, it is you Mira—" he gets cut off by a bullet in his head and almost immediately another to his heart.
A loud gasp tears out of my throat and I shudder.
I dive my bottom lip viciously to stop myself from screaming and fist my dress on both sides to stop myself from reaching for the lifeless body of my boyfriend.
"He was beginning to piss me off with the too much talking and slurring and I love some peace and quiet, wife." Matteo chuckles like a man who has no grasp on reality as he tucks back his gun into his waist band and almost immediately, my father appears out of nowhere, questioning me about what happened but I'm unable to get any word out.
I'm frozen in place, watching my boyfriend's body as tears brim my eyes. It's one thing to lose someone so dear to you in this manner and it's another thing being unable to grief in the way you should because you're pretending to be someone else.
I am playing the role of Annabella an assassin, how could I ever show any emotion because of a dead person whom I'm not supposed to know?
"Get into the house, now." Papá orders in a whisper. I nod my response.
"Why do you seem so distraught? Aren't you the infamous assassin, Annabella?" Matteo asks from behind and I gulp.
"You shouldn't have done that," I breath out.
"Why not?"
"That's my sister's boyfriend, how do I tell her that her boyfriend was killed by my husband to be right in front of our house?"
I push my shaky legs to move and force my gaze to remain forward, knowing that one more glance at Simon's dead body and my cover will be blown.
"I didn't think you cared so much for your sister." I hear Matteo's faded voice as I walk into the living area of the mansion.
I'm definitely in for a rough ride.
Matteo's povI was strongly against this arrangement but I see now how interesting it might become.They want to play? I'll give them a good game.Fucking bastards.The Marcelo's.I have a few words that would describe them perfectly.Lying.Cunning.Deceitful, pieces of shits.And I wonder how they've successfully fooled everyone and made it to the top.Unfortunately for them, I'll be Don soon and I'll make sure to bring their name to the ground.But unfortunately for me, becoming Don comes with a price.Two months ago, while I was away on business in Spain, I had received a call from my father asking me to return home for some emergency and I did return, only I could never have guessed the emergency to be a marriage arrangement between I and the daughter of that greedy bastard—Marcelo.After I'd returned from Spain, I went straight to my father's estate in Sicily where I was met by my mother and sister. But even after so many years, I was still unable to look them in the eye.I went
Mirabella's povWhen my mother would dress me up as a princess and tell me that all I had to do was want something and it'd automatically be mine, I didn't believe it to be true until today.This very day that has me nauseous; this day that I somehow loathe with everything in my gut happens to be my wish come true.It has always been my desire, a grand wedding of this manner, this wedding dress and a man whom I love and who adores me. But I got the wedding, I got the location, I got the dress but the man who's going to be waiting for me at the top of that altar is going to be my worst nightmare.And my mother? She's not even here to witness this. A part of me feels grateful that she doesn't get to see her daughter handed over to a maniac, but a part of me wishes that she's here to hug me and tell me that everything will be fine.Standing hand in hand with my father outside the grand door of the St. Peter's Basilica Rome, hearing the priest and the congregation sing the last line of th
Matteo’s Pov I only brought this escort in here to suck me off but my wife had to wander around and is now staring at me with those fake eyes of hers and I'm immediately interested in giving her a good show. I lean down and whisper into Helen's ear, "I guess you got lucky tonight, go bend over on that desk." And of course she giggles and does as she's told without question. I mean when you pay well and fuck good, they would always say yes to every command. Fucking whores. Fuck, I hate this. Why am I doing this again? Ah yes, to spite my beautiful wife. "Do you want to join us? Wife?" I ask her as I roll the condom down the length of my cock and of course my wife stays silent but I see how startled she is. Has she never seen a dick in her life? Or she probably hasn't seen two people making out. Fuck, if only she can take those contacts out and let me look into those eyes of hers; the real ones I mean. I push into Helen and she screams from how hard I'm slamming into her fro
Mirabella’s Pov The moment I was informed about this marriage and whom I'll be marrying, I knew there and then what and whom I'd be signing my life off to; The fucking devil. But the naive part of my heart thought that perhaps this devil will somehow show a great deal of restraint when dealing with me but that is very far from the truth and my reality. Just less than twenty four hours of being married to this maniac of a man, he has already attempted taking my life and cheated on me right under our roof. Fucked up, don't you think? And now he has brought me to my laboratory, affirming his interest in the land. My fucking land? There's no way in the world I'd sell off my land to that asshole. That's my thirty fucking million dollars and it's not even about the money. It's the fact that I've built my whole life here, it's my home. Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm rich. I'm so rich, sometimes I forget how rich I am and how much money I have scattered around different offshore acc
Matteo’s Pov I didn't think marriage could be this thrilling. Bella is like the devil born to me; she mirrors me in the weirdest, unexpected ways. She's the challenge I need, the war I love, and the hate I seek. It has not been longer than forty eight hours since we said our vows and she's made me aware in more ways than one how much she'd complete me. She's truly my better half. She gets to trigger the monster I keep chained, and the monster answers her call and swallows her whole each time. This is all I've waited for a really long time, and now, I have it. One slap and she's on the floor whimpering, crying with her eyes closed while she mumbles a few words, chanting them like a mantra and that tells me a lot about her. It tells me she has been through something, a certain kind of trauma that goes beyond physical abuse; she has danced with the devil one too many times. But who could it be? Who could have hurt my wife? It certainly isn't her father seeing how much of a good r
Mirabella’s Pov Tears uncontrollably roll down my cheeks as I observe myself in the huge mirror, and I ask myself what wrong I've done to deserve this level of punishment the universe has chosen to deal me. This is my life; misery. One month since I've been married to this monster, and every day, I'm one step closer to death. A death I know will be delivered to me by my husband. Matteo. In one month, I've been buried alive and made to stay underneath the earth five hours each day for three days. I've been stripped and flogged with a leather flogger until I passed out. I've been locked up in a dark room with no food for so many days until I was close to losing my sanity. I've been pushed into the pool and left to drown by Matteo after he found out I couldn't swim. This has been my life with Matteo for a long one month. He doesn't talk to me but whenever he does, there's always punishment accompanying each word. Punishments that seem too extreme and well thought out as though h
Matteo’s Pov There's power in self reflection, to take a moment and look at how far you've come, how you have transformed into a better or a ridiculously worst version of yourself. To give yourself credit for conquering all your demons and waking from that nightmare. As I stand by this window and try my best to self reflect, the only question that plagues my mind is, where has my head been in the past month? I watch my wife as she trembles from the cold, I look at her and see how much damage I've done to her both physically, emotionally, and mentally. I ask myself how much of a monster I truly am to have done this to an innocent woman. The same woman I saw her pictures and felt the need to be close to; the same one I wanted to become my wife and I have an opportunity to have her as my wife but look what I've done to her. What differentiates me now from the people I detest the most? The people who derive pleasure in hurting others? The people who hurt me. The people who hu
Mirabella’s Pov A fist drives into my gut and knocks me out. I choke and cough, my hand clutching tightly onto the part of me that seems completely ruptured. I fall face down and sob, there's not a part of me that is whole; at least not anymore and my father made certain of it. "Enough with your whining!" Father's voice thunders as he forces me on my knees. "Tell me exactly what it is you saw that day," he orders and I shake my head 'no'. "I don't remember anything." I lie; but I do it to protect myself. "Maybe she's telling the truth. we've broken her in unimaginable ways, yet, she still stands by her word," my father's minion whispers to him but I pay very close attention and I hear him. "Have we? There's still one thing that is yet to be done to her." Father sneers and the man's eyes widen. "She's a kid! She'll not survive it. Isn't she just ten years old?" "I don't care if she dies. Ready the chair, no questions asked." Father orders as he stands by the side with Annabella