CHAPTER ONE (1)

ISMERALDA

Most girls her age would be thinking about graduating and going to college in two years and were most probably planning out their future and their careers. Ismeralda Romano had known that getting married was inevitable. That was how things worked in their world. Every girl was supposed to have been married before they turned twenty and they were to be engaged before they were eighteen. Ismeralda was sixteen and it hadn’t taken her father long to find a husband for her. 

Ismeralda stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had been looking at herself for almost ten minutes. She was dressed and made up properly in a navy-blue dinner dress that was super long. She was wearing a diamond necklace around her neck that was a bit too heavy but her mother had insisted that she wear it. Thankfully, the diamond earrings she had on were not so heavy and they would be bearable for the evening. Her mother had allowed her to wear flat shoes because she knew that if she wore high heeled shoes, she would fall and make a fool of herself because although she hated to admit it, Ismeralda was hopelessly clumsy. 

The make-up on her face made her look way older than she was. It was probably for the best since her fiancé was over 5 years older than her. 

The reason for all the dress up was because today was the official engagement party for her and her soon-to-be husband, Adriano Ferrari who was also the capo of the Lato Oscuro mafia organization. 

Adriano was every girl’s dream and, in all honesty, Ismeralda too had developed a crush on him when she had first seen him at a party at his house a year ago so she wasn’t all that annoyed at the fact that she was getting married so young. 

Adriano was incredibly handsome. He had nice, thick, black hair. Thick, curly brows, piercing, dark grey eyes and nice tanned skin. He was six foot and five inches and obviously from his body structure, you could tell that he worked out a lot. 

He was quiet a lot and didn’t say much of anything. Even during parties, he tried not to mingle with people but she knew he wasn’t shy because he had an air of confidence around him. Everybody knew it and that was why nobody ever dared to cross him.

She wondered how a girl like him could ever survive in a house with a guy like him. 

She had once heard her father complaining that he was a control freak and that he hated to relinquish control to anyone. If he could be controlling with her father who was his consigliere, then there was no reason why he wouldn’t control her. And nothing upset her more than someone trying to control her. She could hardly even tolerate it from her father. 

“Mom told me to tell you that Adriano is here and that you should come down now.” Her little sister Sienna said, breaking her out of her thoughts. 

“Okay, tell her I’ll be right there.” She replied without taking her eyes away from the mirror. 

She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. She hoped her hands would still by the time she got downstairs because she felt really shaky. Again, thank God she wasn’t wearing heels. 

With one last glance at herself in the mirror, she turned around and left the room. 

When she got to the staircase, she saw that her parents were already deep in conversation with Adriano. They were probably telling him all the sweet things about her and most of what they were probably saying were exaggerations. 

She descended the staircase slowly and her movement probably caught his attention because, Adriano looked up at her immediately. She was hoping to get some form of reaction from him but all she was met with were cold grey eyes. But his face wasn’t hardened, she’d just have to console herself with that. 

When she was one step away from them, he brought his hand out to her in invitation. He was being a gentleman because courtesy demanded that he be one. 

“Good evening, Ismeralda.” He greeted her in a soft voice. She was surprised with the sound of his voice because she had expected his voice to be cold like his face. 

“Good evening, Adriano.” She replied before he linked their arms together. 

“Well, come into the hall, the guests will start to arrive soon. “

They both followed her parents into the event room of their house. 

“My parents extend their apologies. They had a matter to attend to but they will be with us soon.” Adriano said. 

“Oh, it’s alright.” Her mother responded with a smile on her face. 

~*~*~*~

The room was filled with guest and Adriano and Ismeralda had to stand at the entrance to receive greetings from the incoming arrivals. His parents had arrived an hour after the party had begun and they were now in deep conversation with her parents. It wasn’t really a surprise that Adriano and Ismeralda were engaged because her father had been consigliere to Riccardo Ferrari for years and was now consigliere to Adriano and when he retired, her brother Gabriele who was nineteen would take his place but that would be after he finished his initiation process and he was deemed fit to be consigliere. 

Adriano’s mother and her mother were also longtime friends. Ismeralda suspected that since from the beginning they had already planned that their two children would get married. 

As the party progressed, Ismeralda felt herself getting drowsier with each passing second. 

She slept so little the night before just thinking about the and now that she had gone through the party and she was able to calm her mind, her tiredness was taking over. 

“I think you should go and rest now. You look exhausted.” Adriano said. She felt embarrassed she was so tired that it was obvious. 

“No, I can manage.” She smiled at him sweetly sort of expecting his to push further but all he did was shrug with the same blank look on her face. 

How was she supposed to be in a marriage with someone who was so hard to read? Wasn’t the most needed thing in a relationship communication? How could she communicate with someone who had a big, impenetrable wall up 24/7?

She had so many questions in her head that had no answers. She guessed they’d figure it out when they got married. Hopefully. 

~*~*~*~

ADRIANO

There was nothing Adriano hated more than parties or get-togethers. They annoyed the hell out of him. But it was part of Mafia cultures to make a big fuss out of parties. 

This whole engagement was not even something he wanted. Left to him, he would be a Capo without a wife but his parents would hear none of it. They said that it was in poor taste for a man to be a leader without a wife. 

So, he had to go through the torturous process. At least he had two more years before he was sealed to marriage for life. 

To make matters worse, his parents chose the most innocent-looking girl they could find to marry him. Ismeralda screamed innocence and naivete. He didn’t know how in hell a man like him was supposed to be married to a girl like her.

Yes, he knew that every man that was part of the Lato Oscuro mafia was dangerous but everyone knew he was the worse of the worst. He knew their marriage was because of the good relationship that their parents had but it still didn’t make sense. As much as he hated it, there was nothing he could do about it. He hated that he had no control over the situation. 

The only thing he could do was hope for the best in this situation and pray that he doesn’t pull this innocent soul into his dark world. It would be unfortunate for both of them.