2 Prologue 2 - Gabriella

My teeth chatter as I'm freezing in the backseat of one of my father's cars. I stare at my phone screen, waiting for my uncle, Giovanni, to read my text. It's been ten minutes since the "sending" turned "delivered", but he hasn't read it yet.

[ Gabriella: Zio, please tell me you're still at The Manor? The car broke down and I will die frozen here if I don't leave right now. ]

The Manor is one of my family's nightclubs, and my thirty-four-year-old uncle has been in charge of it for a few years now. He's about half my Dad's age because my grandfather had him in his sixties. Anyway, I heard from the driver that Giovanni is still there, having a meeting with someone. If I reach him, I can hitch a ride with him so we can go to Nonna's for Christmas Eve dinner together. But he hasn't read my text yet and I'm bouncing my knees, getting impatient by the second.

My family would never let me ride a cab. They say it's too dangerous for me. So there's always someone driving me around wherever I need to go.

"Screw this." I get out of the car and stalk toward the driver. "Bert, I'm not waiting here. I'll just walk the few blocks to The Manor. It's not that far anyway."

Robert looks up at me and then back to his phone where he's contacted the other soldiers of my father, contemplating what to do. "I can't let you do that."

"I'm freezing my butt off! I'll be an icicle by the time they arrive." I rub my hands together and blew onto them to warm them up.

Grunting, Robert locks the car and reluctantly leads me to the sidewalk. "Fine. I'll let them know I'm walking you there. I'll just come back for the car after I make sure Giovanni's giving you a ride."

"You're such a sweetheart, Bert. I'll tell Dad to give you a big, fat bonus." I butter him up so he stops being grumpy.

That makes him chuckle. "My wife would love that. She's been wanting to get another heater 'cause the one we have keeps breaking every other day."

I purse my lips, thinking about his wife and their newborn baby. Robert is in his forties and has been working for my father for nearly two decades now. He's family. "Nah, you keep your bonus for baby Mikey. I'll get you a new heater first thing tomorrow. My Christmas gift." I smile at him and he falters for a second before walking again, his ears going red.

"I would decline if it was any other time, but I'll accept it for my Mikey. I won't forgive myself if he catches a cold because I'm too prideful. Thank you, little one."

Leaning slightly close but keeping a respectful distance, I whisper, "Just don't tell Dad I bought a man's gift today. Let's keep it between us, 'kay?"

"You get me into trouble all the time." Robert shakes his head but I see a smile on his face. "Don't worry, I won't say anything."

I doubt Robert knows who the gift is for. Or maybe he does, given the only one who would have the guts to wear a crazy suit—a Pac-Man suit to be specific—is no other than Jino, my best friend and the man I've been crushing on the past year. He always dresses in flashy suits and carries them with confidence like they were made for him alone. I chuckle at the image in my head of J wearing it. I'll ship it to Australia via express, where he's been since last year, as soon as I get the chance after Christmas. It would be a little late, but I hope he'd appreciate it.

It's almost five in the afternoon and Brooklyn is buzzing with people going home in a rush to get to dinner on time. We're not too far from Nonna's, but if we don't leave now, we might get stuck in traffic.

Rounding the corner, we see the club just a few meters away. It's closed for the holidays, but my uncle usually meets our family's business partners here. It used to be a warehouse with a large parking lot until my family turned it into a super club.

Robert leads me towards the entrance where my uncle's car is waiting. And I'm relieved to know that he's still here. His lieutenant waits for him by the car. It looks like Gio's meeting is almost over.

Just as we get closer, the front door of The Manor opens, and the air suddenly whooshes out of my lungs. A tall man with bluish-gray eyes stops a few feet away, staring at me just like I'm doing to him. Are my eyes playing tricks on me? How is it possible that he's here? Maybe it's someone who looks just like him? After all, the man I saw back when the Morellis kidnapped me three months ago was dirty and bloody all over. I could be mistaken.

"Gabby? What are you doing here?" my uncle snaps me out of my trance. I shift my stare to him and blink several times.

"You… I texted you."

"Shit." Giovanni retrieves his phone from his pocket and quickly swipes his screen, muttering an apology and then nodding. He speaks to Robert while my attention brings me back to the familiar man who came out of the club with my uncle just now.

"Miano?" I mutter, trying out the name that the man in the cell next to mine told me was his name. I could be wrong and this isn't him, but my gut and my racing heartbeat tell me it is. The man is wearing a black suit and black shirt with no tie, his face is clean from dirt and blood and he has a stubble—which is much tidier than the grown beard he had then.

The hair on my nape stands upright and my arms prickle with the way his piercing eyes smolder, still staring at me. It's him. I just know it.

"Ree," he breathes.

And I don't.

Shit. It's really him. My heart rams against my rib cage at his nickname for me. I'm rendered speechless, unsure what to say when he confirms my suspicion. A sudden excitement fills my chest at the sight of him just a few feet away. It's like I'm seeing a long-lost friend. What happened to him since I left?

"What are you doing here?" A smile threatens to show on my face and I start to walk toward him until my uncle's voice stops me, and I'm frozen in place.

"You two have met?" Giovanni questions with an angry edge to his tone that makes my head snap towards him. My uncle looks like he's about to rip Miano's face off for staring at me. I don't understand his aggression. Weren't they just in a business meeting?

Before either of us could answer, a black limousine rolls into the driveway and parks next to my uncle's car. A man and a woman climb out. I gasp when I get a better view of the woman.

"Malia!!!" I call out, rushing towards her and engulfing her in a big hug, forgetting everyone else around me.

"Oh, my god, Gabby? Look at you… You've grown more beautiful." She leans away at arm's length to examine me and I can't help giggling. It's been many years since the last time I've seen her. She's like a sister to me.

"I can't believe it's you!" In my surprise, I suddenly remember who she is and my smile falls. I look over to my uncle, his gaze locked on the woman holding me. Malia is Giovanni's ex-girlfriend, and she's…well, she's a Morelli. And the Morellis are our family's enemy.

I swallow, tentatively stepping back a few steps just as she catches sight of my uncle. I swear I can hear the fast beating of her heart, but that's not what's making mine move just as fast.

In the corner of my eye, I see Miano walking toward us. I turn my head and watch him approach Malia, my heart raging in my rib cage as I wonder how they know each other. Oh, no... Are they together? My wild thoughts are put to a stop as soon as I hear him speak.

"Sis," Miano greets and gives Malia a peck on the cheek.

What the heck? Sis? As in sister? What?!!!

And then it dawns on me… This man…is Malia's brother. I openly stare at the two and I see it now. There's a slight resemblance between them. My hands flew to my mouth. I don't know why but my entire body trembles, the organ in my chest beating at an impossible rate.

I must look like a deer caught in headlights because he cocks a brow when he turns to me. Malia and the man who came out of the car with her turn to Giovanni, the three of them having a conversation while Miano comes closer to me and I grit my teeth. No wait, damn it! Is he Mariano?! I've heard of his name but I've never seen his face. "You lied to me? That wasn't your name. You're Mariano, aren't you?"

He tilts his head to the side as if studying me, his demeanor from three months ago totally different from the one he's showing to me now. He's not smiling, but I can see the mirth dancing in his eyes. The asshole is having fun with me right now. He probably thinks I'm the idiot who fell for his lies. And that sort of pisses me off because he may just be right.

"Lied?" His tone is calm and so is his expression but I swear I see a glint in his gaze. "Hmm… The only thing I held off was my name. Does that upset you?"

Actually, I'm not sure what I'm feeling. It's not like he owed me anything. Just that, the last time I saw him, we were both prisoners in that dungeon. I thought we shared the same circumstance in that we hated the Morellis for putting us there—except he is a Morelli! Did they put him there to gain something from me? To gain my trust and spy on me, was that it? Were all the things we shared in that short moment just his way to get into my head?

No, that couldn't be right. I saw him. His wounds were real. I heard his pain. I felt his blood on my fingers. Felt his feverish skin with my hand as I held his. I thought he was going to die. Fuck. I really thought he did. And when the guards came for me and took me out of that dungeon, leaving him still a little out of it, I hoped someone had gotten to him to help him out.

Call me crazy, but when my family rescued me, I worried about the stranger whom I spent time with down there that I didn't want to leave him. I had asked the guards to get him checked but they just kept ignoring me. So when it was my time to leave the dungeon, I hesitated even though I didn't know who he truly was. I just knew he made my time there bearable. He must've sensed what I felt back then because he smiled at me, a little chuckle coming out of his half-dazed state when he muttered:

"Congratulations on getting your freedom. Don't worry about me, Ree. I'm getting out of here soon. I'm not meant to stay here for long."

That was the last thing he said to me before I was hauled out of the cell.

Since then, I think about him from time to time, wondering if he'd really gotten out like he said he would. It's ridiculous that sometimes, I close my eyes at night and my mind brings me back to that place. Then my hand would feel so warm as if it remembers holding him when he got sick. I couldn't tell if he was haunting me because of the thought that he had died, or if I was traumatized by that experience. But I never told my family about him—not even my friends, J and Trigger.

I don't know why I kept him a secret. I think I'm ashamed to admit that some stranger…a man…made me feel safe during that time when I felt so scared. That even after three months, I still remember him sometimes when I close my eyes.

Now, realizing that he's a Morelli, the grandson of Don Mario Morelli, I feel so betrayed. I can't accept the fact that he's an enemy. I find that difficult to grasp.

I know I'm biased when I say Malia, his sister, isn't an enemy because as far as I know, she and her mother had been cast away and she's just…she's different. Okay? I knew Malia when I was in my teens and she's really like a sister to me despite what happened in the past that led to my grandfather's demise. I don't believe what they say about her. This man in front of me, however... My gut is telling me that he's more dangerous than he lets people on.

"Me being upset would mean that I care. And I don't care about you." I swallow, and his eyes follow the movement in my throat. Perfect. He just caught my lie.

"Hmm... Well, I'm glad to see you alive and well."

I have so many questions, but I settle for one. "What are you doing here?"

"Finalizing the arrangement regarding the council's order."

My eyes narrow. "What's the council's order?"

Mariano looks at me pensively for a few seconds and then he scoffs. "I can't believe they kept you out of this."

It's not a surprise. My family tries to keep things from me that have anything to do with the family business. "Kept me out of what?"

His sister calls to him and Mariano gives her a nod before turning back to me. He leans in and I can smell his woodsy scent that's making me heady. His lips move to my ear and his hot breath fans my neck, causing goosebumps on my skin as he whispers, "The council orders our families to marry to stop the war between us. And you're my bride, Ree."

My eyes widen, and my jaw hits the ground. He backs away. A contained smirk ghosts his lips, shooting a blazing arrow through my chest. But before I can gather myself, he is gone. What the hell just happened?