Chapter Four

Sofia

I woke up with a terrible headache that wasn’t from a hangover. What the fuck happened last night? I wondered sitting up in my bed. In a few seconds it all started coming back to me, gunshots, Alessandro holding me in place, me screaming at Josh to find Tabitha, getting manhandled by some stupid beasts, Alessandro keeping me from leaving, his jacket over my half naked body..

A gasp left my mouth as I stared at my almost bare chest underneath the covers as anger washed over me. I started to frantically search the bed for my phone when I saw the blade I intended to use to kill him under my pillows. What the hell-

My train of thoughts was interrupted with my phone ringing somewhere across the room and as I made a beeline to pick up the call, I began looking around my room, feeling uneasy as the man I planned to murder had just been in there. “Sofi, hey, are you doing okay??” Josh asked on the other line as I drew out a breath, bringing my fingers to my temples. “Never better. Did you find Tabitha?” I asked and he hummed a response, “Yeah, she was with Kaizen but we’re all together now”

“That’s great to hear” I muttered, still trying to come to terms with what happened the previous night as I strolled out of my room, still with the weapon in my hands. “Last night was crazy though, like-” “Did any of you get hurt?” I asked out of the blue “No, we’re fine. Um, Sofi, why are a hundred men outside your house..?” He asked and my hands paused as I ran to the windows to see about 15-20 men stationed in front of my penthouse “What the hell? I’ll be down in a minute.”

There was only one word to describe how I felt and it was confused as fuck because what in the hell was going on? I threw on an ugly sweater and grabbed my gun from my desk before heading outside. “What are you doing on my property?” I asked with my gun pointed towards them. “Good morning Miss Bianchi. I’m the head of security of Don Alessandro Russo and we are acting on current orders to guard your house especially after the attack last night.” He had an accent that I couldn’t really place where from but I was still enraged that that psychopath thought he had a right to do all this.

“You’re trespassing. Leave now. All of you.” I ordered, seeing Kai, Tabitha and Josh get down from a car and start walking towards me. The men acted like they didn’t hear me and continued in their positions. “Didn’t you hear me? I said you should all leave!” I fired a gunshot as if to scare them but they still didn’t move. What did I expect? A little gunshot to scare off the soldati of the most powerful man in Europe? Even if I had started shooting them, it was highly unlikely that they’d move still.

The gunshot however managed to frighten josh and Tabitha as they were crouching on the ground already. Kai took slow strides to my side, oddly creating ample distance before speaking, “Let me call Luca to get this sorted out. You should go in and get some rest” He spoke and I let out a frustrated sigh, before heading into the house with my friends following behind me. After a few calls, the men disappeared into their SUV s and Kai came in. I normally wouldn’t have questioned this but the he asked to talk in private.

“What’s up?” I asked immediately and he stared at me for a moment before speaking. “Sofia, what happened last night was reckless.You could’ve gotten caught up in something that doesn’t concern you all because of this childish obsession you have with Russo. You have to stop trying because not only is it dangerous but because you’re getting married to him, sooner than expected even-” “What the fuck are you saying?” I felt the bile rise up my throat as I projected my glare at him. He gave a long sigh before continuing.

“I’m acting on the Don’s orders. He asked to get your list of conditions ready by tonight because Russo has arranged a dinner date for you both to talk about the wedding arrangements-” “You’re fucking kidding me! Kaizen, I swear-” “Sofia! You cannot do anything about this. This is not some fucking joke man! Luca has pulled all the strings to get you safe and this man is relentless. Stop being fucking selfish for once and listen to me. You have the grace of even setting conditions when Bianca didn’t have that luxury. Use that to your advantage. You really cannot say no now Sofia. He saved your life last night and took a bullet for you. Bled until he was sure you were safe here. I genuinely don’t know his game plan but if he wanted to hurt you, he could have by now.” Kai sighed, walking closer to me as I tensed up, my mind in search of what the hell to do.

Should I run? Use the money I have saved up to start a new life and forget about the whole mafia shit? “I don’t know how else to explain it to you Sofi. I know it’s the not the life you wanted, but it’s not exactly a terrible life either.” Not a terrible life? I’d have to live, sleep and eat with the bastard who killed my parents and almost killed my siblings and I. He turned me into the monster I was and I sure as hell would make him feel the impact. “And can you please stop trying to kill him? He’s a powerful man, stop playing with fire because you will get burned Sofi.” I’d get burned? I was already marked, If anyone was going to get burned, it was Alessandro Russo.

“I’ll have my conditions ready. Text me the details of the dinner location and time” I walked out of the room and headed straight to take a shower to wash of the filth from last night.

_

It was 8PM and I had just finished getting ready for the business meeting I had with Alessandro Russo. As if to mourn the occasion, I was dressed in a black dress with a low back cutout and a pair of red heels. I had Josh drive me to the restaurant and after telling me 20 times to call him if I sensed anything was off, we finally got to the location and I walked behind Ferdinand who led me to where his boss was.

The restaurant seemed like it was cleared out for our meeting and I inwardly rolled my eyes in the absurdity of it. Disregard people who had reservations and were looking forward to eating at a nice place just because of one man? Fine, he was a relatively important man, I’d give that to him but still incredibly stupid.

“Miss Bianchi.” A voice I could recognize as his called out to me and I lifted my chin to look at the Alessandro Russo, already sitting at the table, waiting for me to arrive. “Mr Russo.” My lips managed to form a tight line and I felt him struggle to hide a smile that followed. “Please sit.” His request seemed more like an order and I found myself obeying him, taking a seat opposite him as Ferdinand held out my chair.

“You look stunning as always” he said as a waiter came up to us and I reminded myself to go over how many times he had seen me before. My eyes searched his blue ones before wandering down to his exposed collarbones and chest. He was dressed in all black as well, not very uncommon for the men in our world but it still irked me how we were matching and how I didn’t think ahead. His suit jacket was with Ferdinand and the first 3-4 buttons of his shirt were opened, leaving his chest on full display. My eyes soon started to wander to the sleeves of his shirt which were rolled up to his elbow, exposing a set of very toned forearms.

I hadn’t even seen a hint of any tattoo, not that tattoos were a symbol of grit and strength but most men in his line of work had a bunch of them. The waiter soon brought us a glass of white wine, carefully pouring it into our cups. I cleared my throat before speaking, “How’s your arm?” He looked at me for a minute before responding “It was just a graze so it’s fine. That was the first time I’ve been shot in 7 years” He took a sip of his wine and I couldn’t tell if he was being cocky of he was just like that in general. He didn’t seem like the type who could hold a proper conversation.

“Do you have the conditions your Don mentioned ready for me Bella Mia?” He asked and when I turned to look at him, his eyes were dead set on mine. I cleared my throat, shifting uncomfortably in my seat as I took a sip of my wine before bringing out the file.

“Conditions for arranged marriage to Don Alessandro Russo. One, Ms Bianchi gets to keep all my friends and see them whenever I want. Two, She will not be forced into sexual relations with Mr Russo until she is ready and will hence be sleeping in a different room. Three,-” I felt Ferdinand raise his brows in silence as I continued to speak but Alessandro just kept his eyes trained on me, not even looking at the dip of my dress at my chest area or the slit that revealed my thighs. His eyes remained on mine.

“-She gets to keep her own money, assets and accounts. Four, Ms Bianchi can continue to work as a pediatric nurse . Five, Mr Russo will never lie to to Ms Bianchi regardless of the matter in question and is to never have a mistress outside this marriage.” I rounded up and put the document down to find him still staring at me. Okay, not creepy at all…

“Is that all Miss Bianchi?” he asked, finally looking away with no expression on his face. One second ago, he was listening so intently that I was scared I’d fold under pressure, the next, he seemed so disinterested that I couldn’t read his body language. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Did I manage to rile him up with my requests that Tabitha screamed were outrageous and he’d never agree to or what could be going on in his mind?

“If that’s all,” Ferdinand took the document from me and I refrained from letting my jaw drop as I felt my heart sink when Alessandro signed the documents. “Because of the nature of my work and how important I am and you will be when we’re married, you might not be able to maintain your job as your life and safety will be at risk,” I attempted to speak but a raise of his finger cut me off and I almost popped a vein. I hated how badly that action irked me.

“You can however work there till Marco is done with his treatment and then I will assign a spot for you in our infirmary at the Russo mansion, if you still want to work.” He looked at me, expecting an immediate response and I huffed, irritated. Calm down Sofi, best behaviour tonight…

“I’ll think about it when the offer opens. How the hell do you know about Marco?” I raised a brow defensively and Ferdinand tensed at my bluntness. “I saw his file on your desk last night. While, I’d love to continue this date, I have some urgent work to attend to. I’ll keep in touch Bella Mia” he gave a faint smirk before standing up to leave. Ferdinand was still beside me as I pondered my thoughts. He snooped through my room??! Why the fuck did he refer to this MEETING as a damn date?? And what the hell was that smug smirk??

I stood up after taking a few breaths in and walked to the car stationed for me outside to take me home. It seemed like the Don left by himself since Ferdinand was still around to escort me to the car. I got into the back of the car but before Ferdinand closed the door, I spoke “You will both die in my hands.”