Prologue
Back then
Tiziana was angry.
Rightfully so.
She had to watch her best and only friend marry a man who was rumoured to be worse than her father. After she had pleaded with her father not to, he still decided that it would be best for poor Elisabetta to marry Dominico.
Luckily, Tiziana had managed to go the entire wedding without making a fuss. But enough was enough. It was during the reception that she had decided to run away.
Or her father might make her marry someone she didn't want.
For the last two hours, Tiziana had kept watch on the guard rotations and everything going on around her. Now was the time to run. Her father, who had just become Don a few weeks go, glared at her from across the room. He wasn't a fan of her attitude. Hadn't been a fan since she had been born.
Apparently it was because she was too opinionated. The same thing that had killed her mother, apparently. But Tiziana knew better.
Though, she couldn't run while her father was looking at her. He could smell deceit from a mile away, could predict it months before it happened. She raised her drink at him, and Capo Siciliano's wife, Loretta, lifted hers back.
Her son, Dante, gave her a smile that sent icy fingers over her spine.
And that was another reason to run.
Her father's frown grew deeper, more pronounced, sending a sliver of panic through her. Shit. Shit, shit! Was he on to her?
Luckily, Dominico stood, and pulled Elisabetta into his arms. It looked like Dominico was absolutely smitten with Elisabetta. What a lie. Everyone knew it only looked like that in public - until they were behind closed doors. Then the real fun began.
They walked to the cake but the guests - Siciliano's, mostly - started yelling Bacio. Her father's attention diverted away from Tiziana and to the rest of the crowd.
Now!
She quickly but quietly went to the bathroom then jumped out of the window. They were on the ground floor of her father's lavish estate so it wasn't much of a drop. Tiziana ran and hid behind a tree and a second later, a guard walked past. She calmed her breathing and waited for him to disappear before taking off her heels and sprinting to the back garden.
Now she just had to work through the hole in the fence. A few days back, Tiziana had noticed that one of the bars were loose, she hadn't reported it. With a few tugs, she would easily be able to break it and run to freedom then probably -
A red light in her peripheral stopped her. Heart pounding, she looked toward the light.
A man smoking.
"So, the princess decided to run." Another man muttered from beside him. With a start she realized she hadn't seen him. Which was weird because he was also smoking. "You owe me fifty bucks."
They bet on her? So then, her father was on to her.
Grumbling, the first man - Dimitri, she noticed - pulled a few notes from his pocket and handed them to his friend.
"You do realize you will be found." He said, pocketing the money. "And if not, your enemies definitely will."
She licked her lips. "I don't have enemies."
He chuckled, dark and threatening. Dimitri was going to become Capo of the Marchetti's, so why did it feel like his friend was in charge.
"Your father's enemies are your enemies."
"My father doesn't give a shit about me. I'm just a selling point for him, so why would his enemies even notice me?"
Why was she even prolonging this conversation? She had to leave, now!
He came closer. Dimitri finished his cigarette and stared at them with a dark smile on his face. "Trust me," his friend blew smoke into her face, "you're very noticeable."
Don't cough. Don't cough don't cou- she coughed and he smirked like he won something. She shivered. His gaze trailed down her body, dark and filled with. . .something. Lust? But unlike how Dante Siciliano's gaze made her fear for her life, this one's made heat enter her bloodstream.
"Leave me alone." She muttered and turned back to the fence. She was going to run with or without his help. Dimitri chuckled, threw up his hands.
"I'll keep watch." He said darkly. His friend walked with her.
"Don't run." He ordered.
She rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed was a man to give her orders.
"Trust me, it won't accomplish anything." He continued, she turned to him. What did he know of what she wanted? "You want to get back at your father for something. Running away won't give you that satisfaction."
"And what do you know of my father?"
He smiled and the next moment she was flush against the fence, his hand on her throat. She shivered. He could break her neck in an instant so why wasn't she fighting?
"I know he plans to sell you to Dante Siciliano." Her eyes widened as nausea bubbled up her throat. "I also know your father absolutely despises me."
What did that have to do with anything? She asked, causing him to laugh. It was deep and rich, making her think of whiskey and a crackling fire. He looked terrifying, but when he laughed he became a demon intent on destroying anyone in his path. Unfortunately, she was the only one on it.
"I'm saying," he started, finishing his cigarette and crushing it beneath his fine Italian shoe, "marry me."
