Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Annalisa

I could barely recognize the blue-eyed brunette staring back at me in the mirror. It was me, I knew. But at that moment, I felt like a prisoner preparing to be judged. Tomorrow, I would marry Giovanni Rossi, the man who controlled my father's business and soon, me. I couldn't complain because I had been raised for this; Marrying him wasn't about love, it had never been. This was simply a business deal where I would be the sacrificial lamb. 

A knock on the door to my hotel room interrupted me from overthinking like every other time. “Anna? It's me,” the voice of my elder sister, Bianca came through the door. “Can I come in?” She asked.

I had no idea how, but Bianca always managed to escape from my father's dark decisions. It was always me, all the time, sometimes I even began to question if I was truly his child.

“Come in.” I forced out as smile as I stood up from the chair, waiting for her to come in. 

Bianca entered in the usual way she had always been, her brown hair was curled up and the glint in her hazel eyes whenever our eyes met was still there. She had a bottle of wine in one hand and two glasses in the other. “I thought we should celebrate,” she said, closing the door with the back of her leg. 

“One last sister night before you become Mrs Rossi?” She grinned, hinting for me to take a cup from her. 

I glanced at the wine, unsure if my stomach could handle it. “Bianca, I—”

“Oh come on,” Bianca interrupted, already pouring into one of the cups. “Just one glass. It'll help you to sleep well tonight.”

I hesitated before finally letting out a sigh, knowing Bianca wouldn't take no for an answer. “Okay, just one glass.” I wasn't much of a drinker, but I didn't want to disappoint Bianca. The wedding preparations had been stressful for both of us, this was likely her way of relieving the stress. With one finally look at the wine, I took the cup from her. 

“To your new life,” Bianca toasted, clinking are glasses with mine. 

“To a new life.” I echoed after her, taking a sip. The wine wasn't that bad. The warmth of the liquid was more relaxing that I had expected and before I knew it, I was asking for more as we chatted casually.

“Have you ever thought about what it'll be like?” Bianca suddenly asked, her voice dropping into a more serious tone.

“What do you mean?” I asked back, unsure if she was referring to my marriage or something else.

“Being with Giovanni,” she replied almost immediately and then, I noticed that she had been swirling the wine in her glass the entire time instead of taking sips.

I set my glass down on the table nearby, feeling funny all of a sudden. “Its… something I haven't really thought about.” That was a lie. The thoughts of having a life with a man like Giovanni had always been in my head ever since the engagement was finalized.

“You know, we met in the hallway when I was on my way. He wanted to see you.” Bianca said, her smile fading slightly as she watched me.

My eyebrows furrowed for two reasons. The first, because I was feeling uncomfortable under Bianca's gaze and the second, because it suddenly felt like I was on fire. I thought something might've gone wrong with the Air Conditioning system of the room but Bianca seemed to be doing perfectly alright.

“Are you sure he wants to meet me?” My words started coming out slurry. “Like right now?”

She nodded. “Yes, he's just two rooms away. It might be good to… see him before tomorrow.” Bianca's eyes shined with some kind of urgency that I couldn't quite understand.

“I… I feel drunk right now, I don't think this is the best time to meet up with him.” I wanted to wave the topic off but she didn't seem to be having any of my words.

“Isn't that better? Don't you feel more confident now? Come on, I'll lead you if I have to. You need to get to know the man you're going to spend the rest of your life with.” At this point, my vision was getting a bit unclear but I knew one thing, she was right.

Even if I was getting sold, I should at least know who I was getting sold to properly. Giovanni and I had never shared a good conversation. And right now, being under the influence would help a bit from being intimidated by him.

“Alright, fine. But you have to lead me, I can't see properly.” I admitted. 

I thought I heard Bianca mumble something like, “Even better,” but when I asked what she meant by that, she said it had been nothing.

Before we left, I gulped down an extra glass of wine for more courage but I guess I shouldn't have, because as we neared Giovanni's door, my inner thighs started feeling slippery. 

“Bianca, I don't think I can do this. Let's go back.” I turned but she pulled me back by my arm. 

“We're already here, it's no fun to back out now.” She grinned, and before I could protest she had opened the door with a key card that I never noticed in her hand. 

“Wait—” I never got to ask her where she had gotten the key card from, as she opened the door and pushed me inside.

I didn't know whether it was my vision or something else, but the room was completely dark. We must've gotten the wrong room, I thought. But when hands from the darkness groped me from the back, I froze in my place.

Couldn't he wait till tomorrow before doing this? I wanted to push him away. I really wanted to. But when his lips met the sensitive side of my neck, it was like fuel being added to an already burning fire. Maybe it was the influence of the wine or maybe not, but I was unable to control myself from not giving in. What use was waiting when we were going to experience the same pleasure eventually? It was as good as starting now. Once he turned me to face him, kissing me on my lips this time around, I badly wanted to start at that moment.

Hot, I was on fire and I desperately wanted him to pull down the zipper at the back of my gown, allowing our bare skins to come in contact.