🔆THIS BOOK IS CURRENTLY UNDER EDITS TO BE PUBLISHED AS A HARD COPY🔆
Book One in the Mafia's Flower series
THIS IS A DARK ROMANCE MEANT FOR MATURE AUDIENCES TRIGGERS ARE LISTED ON THE FIRST PAGE
As the daughter of a Don, my life has always been ove...
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Chapter Four Rosaelia
As promised, my father's guests arrived precisely at six. My parents greeted them while I waited in my room. Per tradition, I was expected to be presented once they were seated. My mother's voice carried up the staircase as she welcomed our guests into our home. Although she was trying her best to be sincere, I could still hear the hostility that she hid behind her smile.
This family was not our friends. They were not even acquaintances. They were competitors until today. Now, we would become business partners. This was just a business deal, and we all knew it. We only had to make nice and pretend that we genuinely wanted to be around each other long enough to seal the deal. Then we would return to our own lives, uncaring for the other. Except mine would be entirely different.
After my father finished adding to his empire, I would be sent away. No longer a part of this family. We would only be tied to each other through business. The thought of being so far away from my mother scorched my heart. I had spent the past four years in New York, but at least then, I still had the option to call and visit her whenever I wanted. That would not happen after I left this family. The only person I could probably ever see again would be my father, and that was only on the occasion that he traveled to me for business. Although he wouldn't be doing business with me, it would be with the family he practically sold me to.
"My sweet girl." Alma, the head of staff for our estate, peeked her head into the open door of my bedroom. Her soft smile warmed my heart. It had been too long since I saw her. Her chocolate eyes gleamed with love as she extended her arm. Much like my parents, she had aged in my absence.
As she stepped into my room, I stood from my vanity and closed the distance between us, "Alma." I smiled into her shoulder as she embraced me. Her perfume flooded my nostrils. It was the same scent she wore since I was a child. I breathed it in before pulling back.
Her hands slid down my arm, taking my palm in hers, "They are ready for you lia."
I nodded, allowing her to guide me to the staircase. I took a breath, breathing in that sweet smell one more time and began my descent down the stairs.
I could hear the mix of masculine voices as I neared the kitchen. Easily, I made out my father's and Gabriele's. The other two were difficult to separate as they sounded almost alike. Deep and rough. As soon as I stepped into the room, my father's eyes snapped to me.
"Ah, Rosaelia." Raising from his seat, everyone else followed. I greeted both of my parents with a forced smile. My mother's eyes softened as I looked at her. I felt her encouragement even without hearing it.
"Ciao, Rosaelia. I am Imelda," The first to speak to me was the woman seated beside my mother. She was very short compared to the two men that accompanied her. She was almost as short me spare a few inches. Her blonde hair fell just to her shoulders, similar to my mother's, "This is my husband, Lorenzo."
