*Valentina*
"Good morning, Mrs Nevarro." I screamed. As loud as I could and for all to hear. "Mrs Nevaro!!!!" The first rays of dawn seeped through the heavy curtains, casting a dull light across the room. And a lady was staring down at me. Where was I? "Mrs Nevarro!!!" She tried again, and then it all came back to me. Matteo Nevarro, the wedding, the wing. His love for my sister. It was like a never ending dream. My prison. I had barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Matteo's blue eyes staring at me with a cold and calculating gaze, the weight of his expectations pressing down on me. And now this lady. She was tall and elegant, dressed in a sleek blue dress, her hair pulled back into a neat bun. A tray filled with breakfast - fresh fruit, pancakes, and a cold cup of juice - was at my bedside table. "Good morning, Mrs Nevaro." She said, her voice polite but distant. "I'm glad you've stopped screaming. I'm Caterina, Mr Nevaro asked me to assist you with anything you might need during your stay." Stay. The word tasted bitter in my mouth. This wasn't no stay. "Thank you." I murmured, unsure of what else to say. Matteo had mentioned the servants would be here today. Now, they could gossip about me screaming my head off. Caterina placed the tray on a little table she placed over my thighs before turning to me, her expression unreadable. "Mr Nevaro will see you in his office once you're done." The thought of facing Matteo again made my stomach churn, but I nodded. "Okay." He was supposed to give me the wifely duty arrangements today. Caterina gave a small nod and then left the room, closing the door softly behind her. I stared at the tray of food, my appetite nonexistent. But I forced myself to take a few bites, knowing I needed to keep my strength up. If I was going to survive this, then I had to eat. As I ate, my mind raced with thoughts of how I might satisfy Matteo sexually. He looked like a man with a lot of experience. I was a lady with little experience from the one boyfriend I had two years ago. One of the driver's sons. Before Isabella ratted me out to our parents. I finished my breakfast and quickly got dressed in clothes that had been laid out for me. A simple black dress that wasn't my style but would do. Matteo's office was at the other side of the estate, so it took me a while to get there. Especially with all the corridors and hallways in this place. It was a labyrinth. Made to intimidate, and remind anyone here how insignificant they were. Matteo's office held a set of large double doors, flanked by two stern-looking men in suits. They nodded at me but said nothing asthey opened the doors to reveal his office. The room was as vast as any bedroom in this place, with walls lined with bookshelves and expensive artworks. A large mahogany desk took over the far end of the room. "I thought you ran away, too." He said without turning around. "If you had, I would likely think it just runs in your family genetics." I stepped closer to him, my heart pounding in my chest as the doors closed behind me. Had that being a joke? "Did you sleep well?" He asked, his tone almost casual. I hesitated, unsure of how to respond. “Not really.” He nodded as if he expected nothing else. "Well, I think we should get started with what i called you here for. I am a busy...." "Why didn’t you search for her?" I asked, my voice firmer than I expected. "You love her, yet you can't risk a few men to find her and bring her back." He didn't answer right away. Instead, he walked over to his desk and picked up a small, ornate box, turning it over in his hands. "Because I have a replacement." "A replacement you would never love. Never care for." I said, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. "You could have found her and made her see reasons." Matteo's eyes flashed with something - anger, maybe frustration - but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. "I can't fault Isabella for her choice. She doesn't love me, and she never would." "She never would?" I echoed, incredulous. "And so, you pick the one sister that wouldn't fight back" "Yes." He said bluntly, setting the box on the desk. "You took her place, and in return, I will ensure that your mother remains....secure." And alive. I stared at him, the weight of his words sinking in. This wasn't about me or Isabella. This was about power, control, and his desire to maintain his position at all cost. A girl had run away because she didn't want to marry him. The all-powerful Don of the Nevaro mafia gang. I was just a means to an end. "And if I refuse to give you heirs?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. Matteo's gaze hardened. "You'll learn what happens to those who defy me." A chill ran down my spine. He was right. I had no choice in this. My mother and Isabella had seen to that. “So, what happens now?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. "Now." Matteo said, his tone softening slightly. "You begin your new role. You will accompany me to events and host sometimes. You will learn what it means to be my wife with a bit of a modification." "What sort of modification?" Alarm bells rung in my mind. He plucked out a piece of paper. "How to satisfy me. I assume a girl like you doesn't have any experience with that world, but you'll learn." The smirk on his lips widened. "I'll come to your room four times a week, every night at eight, so you can get used to it." His words were like a slap to my face, cutting off any hope that I wouldn't have sex with him. Though mother had made it clear I was to give him a child within two years of our marriage or the alliance is over. I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “I understand.” “Good.” Matteo said, his voice smooth again. “You’ll find that this life isn’t as difficult as you might think. There are rules, of course, but once you learn them, you’ll see that it can be... rewarding.” Rewarding. The word felt hollow, a promise of something that I knew would never come. But I didn’t argue. There was no point. “Do you have any other questions?” Matteo asked, his eyes searching mine. I shook my head. “No. Not right now.” “Very well,” he said, a slight smile curving his lips. “Caterina will continue to assist you. She’ll ensure you have everything you need.” “Thank you,” I murmured, though I wasn’t sure what I was thanking him for. "Remember, Valentina." Matteo continued, his voice smooth as velvet. "Any attempt to behave like Isabella would show you a side of me you don't need to know." His words hung in the air between us, a reminder of the delicate balance I walked. “Understood.” I said, forcing the word out even as my mind screamed at me to run, to find a way out of this nightmare. "Good. You may go now." I was out of the room before he could change his mind and decide to start the marital process there. Something had happened between Isabella and Matteo. Something he would never tell me or anyone else. As I reached the door to my room, I paused, taking a deep breath as I realised something. Someone was watching me. The goosebumps in my arms only got bigger at that revelation. And apart from my duties as the wife of Maverick Nevarro, I knew I had to find my sister.Matteo"She's beautiful."Black had always been my favourite colour. Hidden. Silent. Deadly.I felt at home with it, like siblings whose bonds grew stronger every day.Yet in the span of a second, Valentina had upended that as she had every other thing in my life.Heat poured down my body as Valentina mixed various colours in a flat disk, creating a mixture to paint across the canvas. She was colour and chaos, a whirlwind of unpredictable energy I should have stayed away from.I hated it.I hated how she made me question everything. How she made me wish I didn't give up on my search.And I hated how much I wanted her.She wasn't supposed to be mine. She wasn't supposed to be anyone’s.But fate had always been cruel.The art gallery in the estate was small, almost quaint, but it had become a place of refuge for her. A sanctuary where she could lose herself and hide from Caterina, I guessed.Isabella had been the brain behind the idea. She thought it would be nice for me to have a plac
*Valentina*"You have to learn the names of everyone that would attend. Who likes who, who hates who." The days blurred together in a haze of unfamiliar routines and uneasy silence. Caterina, true to Maverick words, was always nearby, guilding me through each task like with a strict efficiency even my mom never had. She left no room for conversation. "Isn't that too much? Who they liked or who they hated? How am I supposed to learn that?" I asked. She gave no reply. The next day, a large book on the history of the Nevarros was lying beside me, and I had to learn about each member of the family. By the time the evening of the first event I was supposed to attend with Matteo arrived, I was well grounded on everyone in the mafia world. I was also numb. It felt easier that way. Like I was an actress playing a role, that this wasn't my life. However, standing in front of the mirror in my room, dressed in an elegant black gown that hugged my body in all the right places, I unders
Valentina"You look beautiful." The red-haired woman in front of me gushed. "Ravishing, really." Luciana Blythe, a woman known more for her connections than her charm, smiled at me as though I was the most important person in the hall.The thirty years old seductress was the latest wife to the sixty years old Chris Blythe, a man infamous in certain circles. He never attended these kinds of events himself. Rather, he sent whoever was newly married to him to handle whatever unpleasantness waited for him.Sometimes, the wives were able to leave. Sometimes, they weren't.I forced a smile, matching her enthusiasm. "Thank you, ma'am." I added a small, practised giggle. "But you're too kind. You look like an angel yourself."If Caterina was here, she'd have given me a thumbs up for the performance.It didn't take her a minute to find someone more important than me in the grand scheme of things, and she shuttled away.I let out a sigh of relief. "And some say you wouldn't be able to do this
Valentina"Is she the one?" Surprise crossed his face when he saw me."Hey! Did you wow him...." His sentence was cut off when I closed the distance and wrapped my hand around his arm. I had learned to read subtle cues in his body language, and tonight, he was on high alert.I didn't need him for anything else than to provide a front for which I would find my sister. He had no right to cheat on me so easily."Valentina, meet Sophia," Maverick said, his voice taking a softer tone that I rarely heard. "My half sister."She looked nothing like him. Her raven black hair cascaded down her back in loose waves, framing a pale face with sharp, striking features. Sophia’s eyes met mine, and for a split second, I saw something flicker in them. Recognition, maybe. But it was gone as quickly as it came."It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Valentina," Sophia said, her voice smooth as velvet. "Maverick has told me so much about you. And so did your sister."I kept my features plain to hide the
Valentina"This life," Caterina started, her voice clipped with precision. "is not for the faint of heart. As the wife of Matteo Nevarro, your every move will be watched, scrutinized. You must be strong and calculating."I sat in the grand, dimly lit library, my back straight, my hands folded neatly in my lap. Caterina sat across from me, speaking in a measured tone.She knew what happened yesternight, and she didn't approve of any.She didn't approve of my discussion with Luciana.I nodded. "What if I don't want to be cold and calculating?" I asked, my mind not even close to present.Caterina had been relentless, arriving at the stroke of dawn, then proceeding to cover everything from the proper way to address certain men to the subtleties of surviving this harsh world I found myself in.Where were those lessons when I needed to talk to Sophia, Matteo's sister."Then you should consider the next possible option. Divorce."The silence between us stretched, the only sound in the room
“Teach me then. Teach me how to defend myself.”There was nothing hotter than my grey eyed wife, standing before me while asking for things like she had nothing to lose.I couldn't help but chuckle.I had spent the night staring at the little Instagram post she made yesternight from our ride to the party.My hand on her bare thigh, the black gown complementing my black suit.Some photos were meant for aesthetic purposes. I knew the reason what that one meant.But just one word kept replaying in my mind.Mine.I let out a low chuckle. "You think you can just demand for something, and I would simply hand it to you on a silver platter?" A part of me admired her boldness, her refusal to cower for her mother, and in the face of the storm that was our marriage.But another part of me knew better.Her jaw tightened, and she took a step closer. "I'm not asking you to hand me anything, Matteo. I'm asking you to teach me how to protect myself," She said. "Everyone talks about how being the wif
Valentina"Let me go then. I'm never going to be Isabella."My eyes narrowed. My breaths had finally evened out, and I could feel the hot flush in my cheeks."Let me go. End this misery for both of us."He allowed a soft laugh to slip free.My anger came and went like flashes of lightning. One minute, it was there, and the next, I was just tired of it all.He didn't break his gaze as he stepped closer. "Then I wouldn't find you at home waiting for me in my room."The way he looked at me was something I had always wished to have. A look of longing, desire."I thought you didn't want that." I whispered, my body practically electrified from nerves.He rolled his eyes. "Don't assume what I want, Mrs Nevarro." He replied, his voice placid. Disinterested.Just one touch. One touch from him, and the room would ignite."Noted." I curled my fingers around the hem of my shorts as tightly as I could to stop the embarrassment flushing through me.It had taken a lot from me to walk to his wing and
“Where would I even go?” The rain poured down relentlessly, drenching me as I stepped outside the estate gates, but I didn’t care.I was getting away from Matteo, from his estate, from Caterina and all her rules.Each drop of the rain pelted my skin like tiny needles, a reminder that the world would never be fair to me, no matter what.“At this point, I can hardly think.” I muttered to myself as I stepped onto the gravel path, the darkness pressing in around me.I walked faster, driven by a need to escape the weight of it all. “Don't let me find you in my wing without being called again, or you’ll discover there are limits to my kindness.” Matteo’s cold words echoed in my mind, his commanding presence looming over everything like a storm swirling above me.I knew this path was unfamiliar, and I didn’t care. I just needed to be far from him as best as I could. The further I went, the more the estate disappeared behind the trees, and soon I realized I had where I was anymore.But I di