The Return of the Mafia Princess

Chapter 3: Arianna POV

The mansion is huge. I feel my jaw drop slightly as I take in the property. The yard is massive and complete with a pool, basketball court, trampoline, and more. This is more stuff than I have ever dreamed of owning. It's weird though that they have a huge barbed-wire fence surrounding the property with bright lights lighting up the night sky. Guards holding large guns are stationed all along the property. It's probably just for protection since they are so rich. But do they really need that many, I think? After taking in the scene, I look over at Leonardo. He smirks at me and raises his hand to close my mouth.

"I take it that you like it here already?" He asks.

"Yes. Your house is very beautiful," I respond.

"Our house," he emphasizes, "Now come along, I am sure that your brothers are dying to meet you. They wouldn't shut up about who got to go and get you."

I nod my head and follow behind him closely. The front door opens up into a grand entrance. It is massive with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The chandelier lies between two stairways that open into the entrance. I cannot believe that I am going to be living here. However, the house is eerily quiet, which is surprising considering that I am supposed to have six brothers. But then again it is like 4 in the morning; so, understandably, everyone would be asleep. Leonardo glances at me and winks before walking over to a black box. Honestly, this has trouble written all over it. In one quick motion, he opens the box and pushes the button. Sirens blare throughout the house, forcing me to clutch my ears. Four boys stumble down the stairs with guns in their hands. Why would they have guns? Maybe it's for protection? I mean they do have a lot of guards so that makes sense, I guess. They all surround Leonardo looking around for a threat. They must not be very good at this because they fail to notice me.

"What the hell Leonardo? What's going on?" a boy angrily questions. He has brown hair paired with hazel eyes exactly like my eyes. But that's as far as the similarities go. He looks ready to punch the next person who crosses his path. I should probably avoid him in the future for safety purposes.

"Sorry not sorry, Riccardo. I have awakened you all to meet our sweet baby sister," he says whilst pointing at me.

All of their heads snap towards my direction. Immediately, I look at the ground and feel my face heat up. I watch their feet move closer towards me until someone is directly in front of me. He taps my shoulder and I cautiously look up at him. I come face to face with a strawberry blonde-haired boy with chocolate brown eyes.

"I can't believe we finally get to see you again, tesoro (treasure). I am Valentino, your third oldest brother."

He looks at me with a soft smile. He moves his arms to hug me, but waits for permission from me. I slightly nod my head. He goes to hug me, causing me to stiffen on reflex. It is a bit awkward, so I feel awful. I have never really hugged anyone before, since I didn't have any friends and my mom said hugging or any signs of affection is for the weak. He moves away and steps back to introduce my other brothers.

"This is Riccardo. He is the fourth oldest," Valentino explains.

He barely glances at me before stomping off back upstairs.

"Sorry about him. He is always grumpy, so just give him some time to warm up to you. Anyway next up are the twins, Niccolo and— "

"Alessandro. That's me, your favorite brother. I am the best out of these knuckleheads," he bows and kisses my hand.

I giggle slightly while Valentino's face contorts, exasperated. On the other hand, Niccolo gives me an angry glare as he walks back upstairs like Riccardo did.

"Ignore him, bella. (Beautiful) He just has some anger issues like Riccardo. Between you and me, both of them are a bunch of big softies," Alessandro laughs while making a funny face. He is definitely the jokester in the family.

"Well, now the only person you have yet to be introduced to is Lorenzo. He is our eldest brother. He wanted to be here but a work emergency came up," Leonardo explains.

I nod my head in understanding before a yawn overcomes me. I try to contain it but it's too late. Valentino laughs at my effort and pats me on the head.

"Haha! You must be very tired from the flight. Follow me and I will show you to your room," he says while grabbing my hand.

He leads me up the stairs and takes a left. We walk down the hallway and take another turn. There is no way I am going to be able to navigate through this house all alone. Hopefully, they will give me a tour later today. We finally stop in a hallway that is off to the side.

"This is where all of our bedrooms are. It goes oldest to youngest. It's Lorenzo, who is the oldest, Leonardo, me, and then Riccardo on the left. On the right, it's Niccolo, Alessandro, and then finally you," Valentino explains.

He leads me down the hallway giving me the chance to look at everyone's doors. Everyone has a nameplate on their door that I assumed was designed by themselves. Lorenzo's is very simple with just his name in black font. He must be a very serious person. Leonardo's is a bit more decorative with silver font and paint splatters. He seems to be either artsy or just lazy. The answer to that will have to be determined later. Valentino's is written in red with a stethoscope and first aid sign. I bet he is a doctor. Maybe he could help me with my injuries if I work up the guts to tell them. On the other hand, Riccardo's is written in black with skulls and knives. It definitely matches his personality. Niccolo's is just as scary with guns instead of knives. Alessandro's is by far my favorite and it perfectly matches his personality. It is black lettering with skateboards all over, but that's not what caught my eye. His door is covered in awful photos of everyone. It appears they have all been victims of his pranks at one point. I try my best to not giggle at the photo of Riccardo. His hair was dyed a hot pink and his eyebrows were completely gone. I will have to ask Alessandro about that later and how he possibly made out of that prank alive. Finally, we made it to my door. My name is written in a rose gold color. There are no decorations around it like Lorenzo's.

"You can decorate your name later like others did," Val tells me while opening the door.

"Well, I will leave you to it. Someone will come and get you for breakfast at 8. Get some rest." And with that he leaves me in my room.

I close my door and slowly turn around. The room is absolutely gorgeous. The walls are a simple light gray with white accents.There is a four poster bed with a pink canopy. The bed looks so soft and fluffy that I immediately jump on to it, which proves to be a horrible mistake. I bit down on my lip to not let out a yelp of pain. Slowly, I lift up my shirt to see the state of my ribs. There are purplish almost black-colored bruises covering the area. I let my shirt fall and grab my painkillers out of my bag. After swallowing a couple, I continue to investigate my room.

There is a window seat with bookshelves on both sides of it. It's like a dream come true. That will be the perfect place to read and do homework. Not too far from the window seat there are two French doors. I walk over and open the doors to a balcony. It gives an overview of the yard, but it is hard to make out all the details due to the nighttime sky. A sense of calm washes over me as I look outside and breathe in the fresh air. With one last look, I head back inside. There are two doors that I have yet to investigate. I open one and find a huge walk in closet. My clothes would barely take up an inch of that space. Still, I like how spacious it is. Closing the door, I walk over to the other side of the room and open the final door. It is a bathroom complete with a massive bathtub and double sink. This bathroom is bigger than my bedroom at my old house.

I exit the bathroom wondering what to do next; however, my yawn answers that question. Losing my battle against exhaustion, I get into my bed without changing into pajamas. I can't believe that I am finally away from my wretched parents. I really hope that my brothers will be better than them. With that thought, I close my eyes and let sleep take over.