To meet again

Vittoria

The room turns as I wake up with a start. 

Colorful stars and geometrical forms dance in front of my eyes as my brain tries to register where I am and what year we are in. 

I have really gotten out of practice if I can’t even withstand a bit of Grappa. 

Just as my head completes another spin, I hear the reason for my awakening and close my eyes, deciding to ignore it. 

They will be happy even without seeing me right now. 

I groan as the soft knocking on my door doesn’t stop. 

After another set of knocking, I turn to face the door in my plushy round bed, forcing out my voice with a rasping sound. “What is it?” 

“Vi!” Anna whisper-shouts as she pops her head into my bedroom. “There are some… men…”

I cough, my dry throat making my voice painfully hoarse, “Oh, babes. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you but there are a lot of them. And unfortunately, we have to share the planet with those.” 

Instead of laughing, she waggles with her hands nervously. “Please, this is not the time to be joking. They are not from here.” 

Closing my eyes with a deep breath, I let the meaning of her statement sink into my stomach. 

Guys from outside the territory? 

“Okay. Don’t worry. Everything is alright. Give me a minute.” I prop myself up, pushing my hair out of my face. “Is Franky already there? And wake up Alessio.” 

“No, just the Master.” She jumps slightly, “Maybe we can wait until you check if that’s really necessary?” 

“Sure,” I chuckle, knowing that she has a massive crush on my brother, and is too shy to be around him too much, not to mention troubling him if it’s not necessary. 

I hurry into my in-suite bathroom, freshening myself up, re-doing my make-up and slipping into a light summer dress before leaving my room followed by Anna. 

I can hear the deep voices rumble up to the second floor from the foyer and I shudder as a strange feeling passes through me. 

Feeling as if the voice is lulling me to the lower ground, like a siren luring sailors into the cold sea, I force myself to push forward through the long hallway. 

I gulp as I hear his voice, deep and smoky. “We would be eternally grateful, Ambrogio.” 

My nerves sizzle as if they recognize the voice immediately after it vibrates through my skin. 

Finally reaching the stairs, I start descending them slowly. My senses tipple over while I fight the urge to just turn around and drag Alessio out of his room to check on it instead of me, and I force myself to the middle of the stairs without stumbling over my feet. Staring at the three men talking to my father, my sight seems to be blacking out as I see spots of black wrapped around muscles. Everything around me fades as my gaze sets onto the only clear silhouette that is now sticking out of the molded confusion like a sore thumb. 

I must be having a panic attack as I take a deep breath, running my eyes over his strong features, dressed in a tailored suit. His black pants stretching over his muscular legs, his white shirt hugging his bulky chest. He meets my gaze annoyed as my father acknowledges my presence, his icy eyes causing a shiver to run through me as he lets them roam over my body. His hair is slicked back, his hands put leisurely in his pockets, his squared jaw clenching, rounding up his threatening demeanor. 

I fight the urge to run back up the stairs, my body screaming at me to get the fuck out of here out of some primary instinct. 

Bile rises in my throat as my heartbeat picks up, my nerves whispering his name over my skin with a constant buzzing, right to the back of my neck. 

Domenico. 

“Papà,” I finally push out, my voice nearly failing me as my body gets catapulted back to the time when they forced me to keep my voice down to a whisper. “Is everything okay?” 

“Yes, amore mio. Would you please fetch your brother, and join me and the gentlemen in the sitting room in the east wing,” his calm voice freaks me out as he shouldn’t be so calm in front of a devil like this. 

“Right away, father,” I answer, walking back up the stairs. Just as I reach the top of the stairs, I hear my father talking again, inviting the gentlemen to follow him before asking Anna to serve coffee. 

Her hurried steps to the kitchen mix with the stalking of the men’s expensive shoes clicking over the pavement as they follow my father, and I gulp down the lump in my throat painfully. 

As I finally reach my brother’s room, I barge in, my lungs filling with air again as soon as I’m enveloped by his soothing cologne. 

“Alessio,” I croak out as he sits up cursing as he rubs his eyes. “Alessio, you have to get up.” 

“What happened?” he groans, his muscles flexing as he reaches out to turn his phone towards him groggily. “Why can’t you let me sleep?” 

I look back down the hallway as if he would appear in it any moment, chasing me down. 

My stomach seems to have been set on fire as my guilty conscience gets the best of me and I wonder how I could have been so stupid to leave him alone with my elderly father. It wouldn't take him much to just kill him and come upstairs to get me. 

“At least you could have gotten Anna to wake me up,” he mumbles under his breath, and I take a deep breath. 

“Vespasianis!” It bursts out of me, my brain apparently not able to process any other word. 

He freezes and turns his head back to me, his eyes widening as he stares at me as it bubbles out of my throat, and his demeanor shifts radically. 

I sob lightly, fidgeting with my fingers as I take a step forward. "It's him," I whisper, making him destort his face. 

Throwing his blanket back, he gets up to dress himself quickly, before he storms out of his bedroom with his still disheveled hair. “I’ll break his fucking face!”