Chapter 1

Victoria Bellini hated being late.

Not because she was particularly organized, and certainly not because she enjoyed following schedules. She simply hated the feeling of rushing somewhere while knowing that, no matter how fast she moved, she was still going to arrive looking like she had just survived a small natural disaster. She glanced at the time on her phone and sighed.

"Brilliant"

She had twelve minutes. Twelve minutes to get across the city, find the building, and make it to her appointment without looking like she has sprinted there. Her father had offered to drive her but she had refused. Now, naturally, she had regretted that decision.

Victoria tightened her grip around her bag and hurried along the pavement, her boots tapping against the concrete as she tried to avoid the Saturday crowd. Her phone buzzed but she ignored it. probably her mother, or her father, or Livia reminding her, for the third time, that they were supposed to meet later. She would deal with all of them after she stopped running against the clock.

She reached the crossing just as the pedestrian signal changed. Victoria stepped forward. A loud engine suddenly roared from somewhere to her left. She froze.

A black motorcycle shot around the corner, it was moving too fast. Victoria stumbled backwards as the motorcycle swerved sharply. Its front wheel barely stopped a metre from her. For one terrifying second, everything went silent, then the rider killed the engine.

Victoria stared at him. He was wearing a black helmet, black riding jacket and gloves. the visor was still down, hiding most of his face. Victoria's heart was pounding.

"you could have killed me!"

The rider slowly removed his helmet and dark hair fell messily across his forehead. He looked at her with an expression that was almost irritatingly calm.

"I didn't" his voice was as calm and nonchalant as ever. Victoria blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't hit you"

"That is your defense?"

He looked at the motorcycle, then back at her. "You stepped into the road"

"The light was green!" she said already boiling red with anger.

"For pedestrians"

"Exactly! because I am a pedestrian"

He glanced at the traffic light then at her. "fair point"

Victoria stared at him. He wasn't even apologizing. "You were speeding, you nearly ran me over"

"But I didn't"

"you are unbelievably arrogant" she commented and something resembling amusement appeared on his face.

"And you are unbelievably loud"

Victoria's mouth fell open "wow". He shrugged and she stepped closer. "do you always drive like that?"

"Ride" he corrected with a smirk.

"what?"

"motorcycles are ridden"

She stared at him in disbelief. "are you seriously correcting my vocabulary after nearly running me over?"

"yh", he said as he put his helmet back on. Victoria's frustration doubled.

"are you just going to leave.......just like that?"

He paused. "would you prefer I stayed?"

"I would prefer an apology"

He looked at her for a moment, then suprisingly, he nodded "sorry". It was so casual that I somehow made her even more annoyed. "you don't mean that"

"No"

Victoria stared at him and he looked back. then the corner of his mouth lifted "Have a good day". He started the motorcycle and the engine roared again. Victoria stepped back "Unbelievable!"

He pulled away and she watched him disappear down the road. for several seconds, she simply stood here then she muttered "idiot". She looked at the time. three minutes.

"oh, you've got to be kidding me" she hurried away.

Dante Valenti had already forgotten about the girl. By the time he reached the next set of traffic lights, she was barely a thought. he had other problems. His phone had been vibrating inside his jacket for the last five minutes. He didn't need to look at the screen to know who it was. His father. Again.

Dante stopped at the lights and pulled out his phone. Thirty-two missed calls. He stared at the number, then locked the screen. He had no intention of calling back, not yet.

He had spent the morning listening to his father lecture him about responsibility, the family company, appearances and the upcoming charity dinner. The same speech, the same disappointment, The same expectation that Dante should suddenly transform into the son his father wanted.

He wasn't interested, he never had been. His father wanted a future businessman. Dante wanted freedom. The problem was that freedom was considerably easier to enjoy when someone else was paying for it. He knew that, he simply didn't care.

The light changed and he accelerated. His phone buzzed again, this time he laughed.

"Persistent"

He slipped it back into his jacket and continued riding.

By six that evening, Victoria had forgotten most of the encounter, most. She was sitting at the dining table with her parents, pushing food around her plate while her father discussed something that apparently required far more seriousness than it deserved.

"Next Saturday", he said, "we're attending the Valenti dinner."

Victoria looked up. "The Valenti dinner?"

Her mother nodded. "They are hosting it at their house and they invited us"

"and we are going? why?" she asked and Her father gave her a look "it's important"

Victoria sighed. her father had a habit of calling everything important. Business meetings were important, Dinner invitations were important, people she had never met were also important.

"who exactly is going to be there?", she asked.

"The Valenti family"

"I gathered that"

Her father ignored her. "Mr Valenti, his wife, their son and a few other guests"

She shrugged. "son? what's his name?"

her father glanced at her "Dante"

"Dante.... not bad" she said and went back to pushing her food around her plate.

Across the city, Dante walked into his family's house and found his father waiting for him. He stopped. His father looked at his jacket, then at his boots, then at his son.

"where have you been?" he asked, his voice carrying that same authority he uses at boardrooms.

"Out"

"you ignored my calls"

"yes"

His father's jaw tightened. "we have a dinner next Saturday"

"I know"

"you will attend"

Dante took off his jacket. "we will see"

"no. we won't", his father answered and Dante looked at him.

His father stepped closer "The Bellinis will be there."

Dante frowned "The Bellinis?"

"Yes"