Strangers
Octavius
I smiled as Esther walked by once again.
She knew what she was doing—the hold she had over me.
Actually, she may not have.
She was humble and kind, not usually a woman I doted on, but I definitely doted on her.
We were two people from rival families in the middle of Rome together, celebrating the passing of a mutual enemy.
It was morbid, but the man, Emmanuel Lucci, had made all of our lives miserable.
Esther Costa of the Costa mob dynasty wasn’t interested in such parties and neither was I.
We’d grown up together as my mother Maeve Moroni insisted.
At first, I loved Esther—then I hated her because her father Ric Costa was a piece of shit human who’d tried to sabotage all of the families a few years after the incident involving my mother and I.
We went legit—as legit as we could—but my father could never hold back what was truly in him:
A made man.
It was when we were around 17 when Esther and I started fooling around.
She didn’t fall for my tricks and I was brought up never to fall for hers.
Ric didn’t seem to care—he wanted his daughter to be with me.
My father said no on the spot, but we decided to continue seeing each other anyway.
Esther
I wanted to watch him all night long, but I knew my father was watching me instead.
He’d sell me off to the highest bidder, but that highest bidder would have been Octavius.
The night I fell in love with my enemy was like any other night.
We’d both been called to perform our duties as mafia offspring and make appearances at some senator’s daughter’s wedding nuptials.
I caught Octavius staring at me from across the room.
He looked so much like his father and Alessio Moroni was a complete catch.
Octavius hadn’t changed his name—he’d just wanted a bolder approach to his legacy and decided to start going by his middle name.
I enjoyed teasing him and calling him Xavier from time to time. It seemed as though I was the only one besides his Mother, Maeve, who could get away with it.
“Nice night..” he said, coming up to me out of the blue.
“Yes..” I nodded, “Are you having a good time?”
“Absolutely fucking not,” he smirked, “But I like watching you so I guess the night isn’t so shitty after all.”
He’d been my first kiss, my first...everything.
I knew I hadn’t been his—not with the connections to other girls he had, but I didn’t mind.
“Well..” I sighed, “If you don’t want your balls chopped off, I’d suggest you go back to your side of the room.”
He smiled, “I’m not afraid of your father, bloom.”
Bloom..
He’d called me that since we were little.
He said it reminded him of how I’d blossomed into a beautiful woman in every way possible and I continued to make his heart grow with affection for me.
It wasn’t until we were about 19 or so when I fell in love with him.
Octavius
If my Father wasn’t on to how I felt for Esther, my Mother certainly was.
“I’m sorry, X..I mean, Octavius,” Mom sighed as we griped back and forth with each other after she caught me talking to Esther at a party I wasn’t even supposed to be at, “You’re your own man, but you cannot see her.”
Even though I knew my parent’s love story well, I also knew that the years of peace had waned and we were once again warring with the Costa’s.
“Can’t we have an alliance between us if I marry her?”
“Son..”
I knew the answer.
He didn’t want an alliance—not Ric Costa.
He wanted my father’s entire life, including my mother.
“Don’t make this any harder than it already is,” Mom had told me with all compassion, “I love you so much, son. I do not want to see you or that wonderful young woman hurting, but this is for the best.”
Now, we fucked on occasion and saw each other whenever we could.
We had both just celebrated our 25th birthdays and I knew her father would be marrying her off soon.
I was wrapped up in my father’s work and mine—having decided to study law and become a part of the family’s firm.
“Hey...bloom..” I said, passing her by and not stopping.
I could feel her fingers find mine as we brushed up against each other on purpose, but always trying to make it look accidental.
I felt her eyes on mine when I passed, heading for the nearest exit.
She knew where I was going.
She was going to follow me and then we’d be together for a brief time before she was exiled once again into her father’s home in Rome and I would go back to Ravello and pretend as if we barely knew each other.
