Chapter 2

Elena Ricci sat stiffly in the back of the sleek black limousine, her fingers curled into her lap as she stared out the tinted window. The grand cathedral loomed ahead, its towering stone facade casting an ominous shadow over the crowded street. The bells tolled, marking the hour of her doom.

Her wedding.

Her prison sentence.

Her hair had been curled to perfection by the best stylists int he country. Her makeup, flawless.

The soft lace clung to her skin from her neck, down to her waist, befor flaring out int the most beautiful wedding dress she had ever set her eyes on. Too bad it was for a day like this.

Between her father and her groom, they had spared no expenses.

She couldn't feel a thing.

Numbness had become her new favorit emotion.

It was the only way to forget what she had seen in that room that day?

Had she not been enough for him? She had given him almost everything he could have ever wanted?

Had she been that horrible of a girlfriend that he had opted for a threesome?

The thought made her stomach turn.

Her eyes burned as tears threatened to fall, but she held tight to her emotions.

"Principessa, you are too quiet," her father’s voice cut through the thick tension inside the car, drawing her away from her thoughts to the worser situation at hand.

Don Alberto Ricci’s sharp gaze settled on her through the rearview mirror. "You understand your duty. You will not shame me."

Elena’s lips pressed into a thin line. Duty. That was what her life had always been about. Not love. Not dreams. Just obedience.

Her father had made it his life's mission to cage her and bend her to his will, monitoring her evry move, all in a bid to keep her in line and not stain his very important name.

“I understand,” she murmured, her voice void of emotion.

It's not like she had any reason to object anymore. Her fatherhad hated Donavan, had tried his best to makeher end it, but she had been stubborn. Now she had lost, and he had been right.

"You know the reason why you are doing this." Her father's voice came again, when she hoped he would just shut up.

Elena nodded, but remembered she had to use her voice. "Yes father."

She looked up to see him staring back at her, with an eye color that matched hers. They held gazes, and for a mont, she thought she saw something flash in his gaze, but it was gone before she could even begin to read what it possibly meant.

"You will do his bidding, girl."

It was a command. One she already knew.

"Yes father."

One thing she had learned about Don Alberto Ricci, was the fact that he didn't want you showing even a bit of weakness. None whatsoever.

Weakness and defiance had earned her a slap.

~

The car pulled to a stop, and before she could steel herself further, the door swung open. The Ricci guards flanked her as she stepped out, her white gown cascading around her like a cruel mockery of purity. Her heart pounded violently in her chest as she lifted her gaze, locking onto the man standing at the altar, waiting for her.

Luca De Santis.

He was an imposing figure, broad-shouldered and exuding a dominance that made her pulse quicken in resentment. His cold, piercing blue eyes held no warmth, no affection. Just possession. A man used to taking what he wanted.

And today, he was taking her.

Dressed in the most elegant of suits, the man looked like he belonged in a magazine, not just for eligible bachelors, but one for dangerous people. What was left was a cigar in his damn hands and he was good to go.

Nothing about him screamed innoncence, and she should know. This was the world she had grown up in.

Elena let her eyes sweep over the man whom she was about to spend probably the rest of her life with.

From his dark charcoal hair that matched his suit, to his nose that wasn't completely straight, but was somehow perfect, and down to his full lips that shone in the light. A thought so fleeting, hut her, but she quenched it!

No she wasn't anticipating kissing the man.

But....

Memories from the day they had officaily met for the first time in her father's office, rushed thorough her mind.

He had leaned in so close to her that day, that she had almost melted. And for the life of hers, she could already taste him, even if he had not kissed her.

The way his fingers had traced her jwline, even if it was the most fleeting of touches, had made her feel things she had never felt before.

And the way those icy blue eyes, as she had come to realise their actual color, had straed down at her, commanding, and fdangerously so...

Her cheeks instantly burned, and she forced her gaze away, focusing on why she was here. A move that brought back her resolve back

She wasn't going to dwell on those things.

She needed to remember, and always focus ont he fact that what she should feel for him, was hate.

This life of hers, was like jumping from frying pan to fire.

She craved warmth. The warmth of Donavan's eyes, the warmth in his smile, the warmth in his arms...

But the blue eyes that met hers right now, had no ttrace of that. Which was sad, because this was her new reality.

Had he known then, when he had said those words to her, that Donavan had been cheating on her?

Elena lifted her chin, her spine stiffening as she took the first step toward him. Each stride felt heavier than the last, dragging her toward a fate she couldn’t escape.

But as she reached his side, standing inches away from the ruthless Don, she silently vowed. she might be his wife, but she would never belong to him.