Chapter 1.

(Lorenzo’s POV)

I stood by the door, watching as she trained. My father always pushed her to the limit, and she never disappointed him.

Her honey colored hair, tied up in a ponytail, left her neck exposed and you could see scar from where she got shot. 

It was sheer luck that she managed to stumble into my father, who saved her that night.

“You are not doing it right!” The man yelled at her, “Again!”

She sighed. “Kind of hard to concentrate with him standing there and watching me.”

She pointed at me.

I smiled and waved at her.

She smiled back, but before she could wave back, the trainer stood between me and her.

“You are always going to have one distraction or another.” He stated, “But your mind needs to be focused. Always.”

I was about to leave, in an attempt to eliminate the distraction, when the trainer stopped me.

“Come in here.” He stated.

I looked down at my expensive suit. 

“I am not dressed for the ring.” I replied.

“You never will be with your line of work.” He replied sternly as he gestured with his head for me to enter.

I took off the coat, my shoes, and rolled up my sleeves. I stepped into the padded cage.

“Are you sure she is ready to fight me?” I asked the trainer.

“I guess we'll find out.” He replied, “Don't go easy on her.”

I looked at her and smiled. “I don't plan to.” I got into a fighting stance.

I was ashamed to admit that she did manage to put me down more times than I could count.

“I was the distraction.” I asked when we stepped off the ring.

She smirked as she closed her water bottle. “Not my fault, you underestimated me.”

“I won't make that mistake again.” I replied as we went to clean up.

I got out of the shower as she was still soaking herself in ice cold water. Something she did occasionally after a training session.

“We have to meet with your father.” She said as she got out of the ice cold bath.

I picked up the ring that was on the dresser and said, “Wife?” I held the ring out to her.

“Husband.” She said while holding her hand out and batting her eyelashes.

I chuckled.

“Do you know what the meeting today is about?” I asked. I hardly ever got the news about what the mafia leader, my father, was up to, but Elisa always knew.

She sighed, “Something to do with our weapons distribution, I guess.”

I have to admit, I loved my wife, but part of the reason I asked her to marry me was because of how close she and my father got. I was starting to feel like I was the third wheel in this operation, yet I always thought that I was going to be the one to take over.

“How do you know that?” I asked curiously.

“I heard your father talking about it.” She replied with a shrug.

“Mm hmm…” I said not believing that for a second.

She sighed, “Please don't start.”

“What?” I asked.

“I know what you are about to say—that your father doesn't trust you enough to involve you in the business, or something like that.” She replied as she put on a pair of heels.

“He trusts you more than me. That is all I'm saying.” I stated.

“I happen to know things because the merchandise is transported through my restaurant.” She kissed me on the cheek and left.

I sighed as I followed her.

I always felt like my father wanted her to be the one to take over. But I was his son, and I deserved to be the one to take the reins. I believed that I would make a better Don than her.

“Ah, you two are finally here.” Bruno Messina, my father, said as he put down his Cuban cigar.

“Is there a problem?” I asked, trying to take charge of the situation. I couldn't believe I was the one who needed to prove themselves.

“I think Elisa should be capable of handling this.” He stated.

This is what I meant, I thought as Elisa and I shared a look.

“I am sure that he would be of great use to me.” Elisa chimed in.

Great, I thought; I'm one of those men whose wives have to step in to save them.

“Fine.” My father agreed begrudgingly: “There is a shipment of ours that happened to have mistakenly ended up with the Valentes; I want both of you to work on getting it back.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Elisa asked, “It could be a trap to ambush us.”

“Exactly,” I agreed, “after all, we have been at war with the Valentes for years now.”

“About that, we are considering a truce between the two families.” He added.

“What?” I barked, “why?”

Elisa sighed. “Their warehouses were raided, and they need to find new suppliers and new places to store their merchandise.” She replied, “Plus, a truce with them would mean expanding our market, giving us more profits.”

I could see the proud smile on my father's face, and I clenched my fists. 

Was she doing this on purpose? Trying to make me look like I couldn't run the mafia without her? I wondered, but didn’t speak up. Yet.

“How did you know?” He asked.

“How did you know?” I also asked.

Elisa smiled and said, “Let us just say I have my ways.” She gave him a nod.

He practically jumped out of his chair to hug her.

She looked at her watch and said, “I have to go. I need to run the books for my bar and restaurant.” She turned to me and asked, “Are you coming?”

I glared at my father and said, “In a minute. I need to have a word with my father.”

She nodded and headed out.

“Seriously?” I asked the moment the door closed.

“Son...”

“You do this intentionally, don't you?” I asked angrily.

“The kind of business we are in isn't something that can be taught, but you need to learn it, and Elisa seems to be thriving.” He said proudly, “You married a good one.”

I scoffed, “I used to be so in love with her, but that's not why I married her. I hoped marrying her would make you realize that I could be a leader, but you don't even notice my efforts!”

“What efforts?!” He asked, “Elisa went to college, got a degree in accounting, and started her own business, without my help, that has become so successful that she is even considering opening a new branch. What have you done that’s so exceptional except marry a very hardworking lady?”

“You never gave me the opportunity to...”

“Again with the excuses.” He said as he lit a cigar, “Do you think I got to where I am because my father handed this life to me? No!” He blew out the cigar smoke, saying, “I had to fight, claw and kill to get to where I am, and if you expect me to just hand it over to you, you are very mistaken.”

I took a deep breath, and then realized that I was right. I just needed to prove myself.

“Fine. I will show you what I can do.” I stated, “I am going to prove to you that I can be just as hardworking as Elisa, if not more.”

He gave me a small smile that immediately disappeared. 

“I guess I'll have to wait and see.”

I walked out of the house to find Elisa still sitting in her car.

She smiled at me and said, “I thought that I should wait for you.”

“You have to deal with the issue on your own; I have something else I need to handle.” I said as I walked to my car.

“Okay.” She said and immediately drove off.

I had talked a big game, but I had no idea where to even begin. I did want to prove myself to my father, but how do I go about doing that?

I dropped by a friend's house; I need to brainstorm ideas. Or maybe just let him give me one.

“I don't see why you are complaining. If you are in a loveless marriage, you can certainly do worse than Elisa; that lady is smoking hot and badass.” Felix commented as he handed me a drink.

I sighed as I loosened my tie. “It’s not that I don't love her anymore; it's just that every time my father smiles proudly at her, I can feel myself slowly start to hate her for no reason.”

Or maybe I just never loved her as a partner but more like a best friend, I thought.

Felix shrugged.  “I mean, I get that. Not easy hearing your father praise your wife,” he chuckled. “That never sounds better, each time I say it.”

“She is so oblivious to it, which only makes it worse.” I stated.

“You know what you need to prove yourself with?” He asked.

“What?” I asked as I gulped down the entire drink.

“A business that allows you to move merchandise just the same way Elisa does it,” he replied. “If you can manage to move a large shipment at once, trust me, your father would barely notice Elisa.”

“I know that, but what kind of business?” I asked.

He shrugged, “You could start with maybe restoring old cars?” He suggested while pouring himself another drink, “You will need to import the parts, and guess what you would be tagging along with?”

“Holy shit!” I cursed, “that is actually not an awful idea.”

“I give good ideas.” Felix congratulated himself.

I stood up and grabbed my coat, saying, “I have to go.”

I needed to put my plan into action. I needed to find people who would work for me, and I needed to at least find a mechanic shop I could buy. But I decided to keep my plans on the down low for the moment until I was sure everything was going smoothly.

“The Valentes will be here tomorrow at around nine in the morning. Be ready.” My father told me when I walked into the big old mansion.

“Sure.” I agreed as I went to my study. 

The house was large enough that everyone had a study, with the exception of Elisa who worked at her bar and Arianna, my sister.

I must have been working for a long time; what woke me up was the banging on the door. It was my sister; she definitely didn't understand the ‘knock once’ rule I had been constantly trying to implement.

“What?” I asked groggily and annoyed.

“Dad wants you downstairs in thirty minutes.” She stated as she turned and went back to her room.

I groaned as I recalled the meeting with the Valentes, it seemed like I had spent the whole night in my study. I went to my bedroom, Elisa wasn’t there, probably working late, I thought. I got ready and went downstairs only to meet with Elisa, who still had on the clothes from yesterday.

“Where have you been?” I asked.

“Working late.” She replied, walking past me.

She was behaving differently, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Father and I had breakfast, silently.

The doorbell rung, one of the many house help that were needed to maintain the mansion opened the door. An older man and a younger one walked in.

“This is my son, Enrico Valente, and I'm trying to groom him into taking over.” The older gentleman introduced himself just as Elisa was coming down the stairs, and Enrico's attention shifted to her.

He stared at her in awe, his eyes clouding with desire. He wanted her.

Now I had to make sure that this gentleman didn’t take my wife away? This couldn't be happening, that was all I could think of.