Meet the Armanis

The door was opened for me and I stepped out of the back of Giovanni's black Jeep. I found myself standing in front of an old, beautiful mansion. I was stunned by the beauty of the huge building, about three times the size of my father's. I looked around the enchanting place. There were hundreds of beautiful flowers, tall trees, and the greenest grass I had ever seen. Despite the gorgeous scenery, my body shook uncontrollably as I entered the Armani residence with Giovanni, two bodyguards closely walking behind us.

"Papà!"  a girl smiled as she came out the large oak front door to meet us.

"Princess," Giovanni said as he hugged the girl tightly, kissing her on the cheek. "How are you feeling?"

She sighed heavily, stepping back. "I just can't believe he's gone," she breathed in shakily. "I'm gonna miss him."

She turned her attention to me and smiled. "Mia cognata! It's a pleasure to meet you." (my sister-in-law)

She hugged me and planted a kiss on each of my cheeks. So she was also Giovanni's daughter. She was very pretty, with long brown hair and blonde streaks. She was simply angelic and had a beautiful smile.

"Molto bella," she grinned at me, gently squeezing my shoulders.  (Very beautiful)

I smiled sadly at her. "I'm sorry about Emilio."

She put her arm around me as she led me inside. "I'm sorry too. I can just imagine the storm that's in your head right now."

Well she got that right.

My heart pounded wildly as we walked into the mansion. Unlike so many big fancy homes, it didn't feel empty. Much to my surprise,  it actually felt like a home. It looked like a home. Beautiful pictures of the family covered the walls. Most of them were of Giovanni and his sons and daughters from when they were very young. There was no sign of any motherly figure in their lives.

Weirdly, the home gave me a sense of security and warmth, something my father's house lacked. The mansion had high ceilings, and was spacious and airy. It was very well decorated and had great interior design.

"Mala," Emilio's sister smiled, "welcome to our home. This mansion is almost two centuries old."

"Her name is Bela Luna," Giovanni's deep voice entered the conversation. "It was built by my great-grandfather in the late 1800s for his wife, which is why it was named after her. My grandfather lived in this house ever since he was born, I did and my children as well, although most of them have moved out. ”

"È fantastico," I genuinely marvelled. (That's amazing)

"Aurora, mostrale la sua stanza," Giovanni asked his daughter.  (Aurora, show her ro her room. )

So that was her name. Aurora.

"Sì, papà," Aurora nodded as she turned to me. "Come along."

I followed Aurora upstairs, the two bodyguards carrying my bags. Aurora opened the door to a large room done in all shades of blue. There was a king sized bed in the corner, two door; one leading into a walk-in closet and the other into an en suite bathroom.

"This is Vito's room whenever he's here," Aurora explained after the two men had left. "He's only landing tomorrow morning though. Plus he won't be allowed to share the room with you until after the wedding anyway."

I walked over to the bed and sat down, exhaustion creeping into my bones. I hadn't slept in almost more than 24 hours.

"I can see you're tired so I'll leave you to rest," Aurora smiled. "I'll send someone to call you down for dinner okay?"

I nodded, laying back in the massive bed. It was soft and unbelievably comfortable. Within seconds, my body gave out, and I fell fast asleep.

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“Miss Gia? Miss Gia?”

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I sat up. The room was unbearably bright and it hurt my eyes. Someone handed me a glass of water and I gulped it down immediately.

“Good morning, Miss Gia. I apologize for waking you up from your sleep, but Mr Armani requests your presence in the dining hall. Breakfast will be served soon.”

I looked up at the young girl wearing a uniform.

“B-Breakfast?” I mumbled stretching out my arms, beyond confused

“Yes Miss.”

“W-What time is it?” I asked as her words sunk in.

“9am, Miss Gia.”

“Oh my God,” I gasped, slapping my hand over my mouth. "Nobody woke me up last night?"

I immediately leaped out of bed, rushing to my suitcases in the corner and scavenged for a dress suitable for the funeral. I took the quickest shower I had ever taken in my entire life, hurriedly dressed up, did my makeup and my hair.

When I was done, I stood for at the top of the stairway.as I heard the people downstairs engaged in a lively conversation. I took a deep breath before slowly descending. As I entered the dining hall, silence befell the room and all eyes were suddenly on me. Everyone was dressed in black attire for the memorial service, and I silently thanked God my own dress that blended in perfectly.

"Gia, come sit next to me," Giovanni smiled, raising his hand to call me over.

Relief washed over me as I scurried over to him and took my place at his right hand side.

"Everyone, this is Gia," Giovanni introduced me. "Gia, this is your new family. I want each and every single one of you to treat Gia with utmost respect. She is one of us."

I timidly looked up at everyone. There were 20 people at the table in total, each face more intimidating than the last.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," I forced myself to smile bravely, my voice quiet, "although I wish the circumstances were different," I said, referring to Emilio's passing.

Some nodded, some carried on eating, ignoring my existence, some smiled and some frowned.

"Welcome to the family Gia," a petite middle aged woman smiled at me. "My name is Dina. I'm Aurora's mother. "

I smiled back. "Thank you. It's very nice to meet you."

Then that meant Emilio and Aurora didn't have the same mother then. I wondered if Vito also had his own mother. Dina was a carbon copy of her daughter, just the older version.

Giovanni gave me a brief introduction of everyone during the meal. Only five of the people at the table actually lived here at the mansion; Giovanni, Dina, Aurora, Giovanni's second son Massimo and Leticia, Giovanni's fiance. She looked way too young to be his fiance. She could've been his granddaughter.

I had managed to force down some bacon and eggs by the end of breakfast. Everyone left the table and headed to the garden, where the service would take place.

Aurora linked arms with me as we walked outside.

"Ciao bella!" She chirped. (Hello beautiful)

She looked lovely in a seamless black bodycon and diamond earrings. Her hair was slicked back onto a ponytail and adorned with tiny gems. I found it strange how she seemed chipper at on the morning of her half-brother's funeral. Come to think of it, no one seemed to be going through any kind of grief whatsoever. It was strange.

"Why didn't you wake me up last night?" I asked in a harsh whisper.

Aurora shrugged. "I figured you were tired."

I frowned. "Well I feel like I made a bad first impression. I didn't show up to dinner then I was late for breakfast. "

Aurora chuckled. "Don't sweat it. Papà seems to have warmed up to you real nice and that's all that matters."

"What matters is for Vito to warm up to me," I disagreed.

But she was right. Maybe Giovanni, or the Armanis in general, weren't as bad as I had thought.

"That's gonna be a tough one, " Aurora warned me. "Vito is...well, you'll see."

Up until then, I hadn't been nervous to meet Vito at all, but now I felt very uneasy. He wasn't at breakfast because he was apparently late.

"Gia," Giovanni smiled down at me as he approached us. "Vito is here. Come meet him."

My heart pounded fearfully as Giovanni took my hand and led me across the garden. We were walking towards a tall man whose back was turned to us. He was engaged in a conversation with four men in all black suits.

"Vito," Giovanni called out as we approached him.

Vito turned around and looked down at me with cold empty gray pools. I looked away immediately, as if looking directly into his eyes could kill.

"Here is your beautiful bride, my son," Giovanni grinned.

The gray eyes met mine again. A gunshot left a mark reaching from just under the right eye, scarring the almost perfect face. Dark stubble graciously complimented his cheeks, and his chiseled jawline would make any woman swoon. He was well built, not too muscular, but very well defined. He was the definition of beautiful. Terrifyingly beautiful.

He frowned down at me,I think. Cold sweat pricked my skin as I squirmed under his gaze. If looks could kill, I'd have fucking collapsed and fucking died. I felt a rush of all kinds of emotions as I looked into his eyes, electricity coursing through my veins. Fucking hell.