Submerged

Chapter 1

I don't bother with a response and refuse to smile. Am I acting childish? Maybe a little but having this choice taken from me makes me feel like a child so I may as well reap the benefits.

Her gray eyes glisten as she heaves a sigh and ushers me out of my bedroom and down the stairs without another word. Lorenzo, Luca, and Polina all wait in the foyer. Whereas I'm forced into a marriage with a man I don't even know my brothers have been able to choose their significant others and Lorenzo even went as far as choosing two. While I'm currently pissed at him I will admit Luca and Polina are perfect for him. They're the bookends that keep him stable, something he needs. He's always been a little different than the rest of us, finding out we have different fathers made sense in so many ways. Once he became the Don I assumed my chances of having an arranged marriage would lessen but I was sadly mistaken. I can't count on any of them anymore it seems, not even the unhinged one.

I keep my head held high and refuse to meet their eyes as I exit the house and slip inside the awaiting van. I stare out the window while everyone else converses with one another, wishing things for me had turned out a little different. Things like this are why Leo chose a different path, it hurts that I was never given that choice.

The drive is long, the van taking us out of the city and deep into the countryside. We turn off the main road and drive between a set of open gates down a long drive. Rows and rows of grapevines line each side of the drive. A building decorated in beautiful stonework comes into view. The lawn is manicured, plants lining the building and a set of glass double doors gleam at the entrance. The van stops and the doors open. Lorenzo takes my hand to help me exit the vehicle in my heeled sandals and I avoid his gaze as my shoes meet the pebbled walkway.

I try to slip out of his grasp as quickly as possible but he tightens his hold before I can manage. "Alessia." He snaps quietly and my gaze quickly meets his. His features are sharp, there's a severe cut to his jaw and cheekbones that make him look intimidating. Pair his facial structure to the chilling look in his eyes and most people fear him, but he's not cold hearted like he seems, he just has many layers that aren't easily penetrable. "You know I would never allow you to be in a situation that would endanger your safety. You haven't met him, don't even know his name, at least try and see if this is someone you can live with."

I scoff, anger filling my veins at his words. "That's rich coming from someone who gets to be with whomever he chooses, even when one of them used to be an enemy." I quickly snatch my arm from his hand and stomp away, guilt over my words already eating at me as I make my way toward the entrance.

Polina is a good person and a great match for both Lorenzo and Luca, she didn't deserve to be brought into this when she had no control over their meeting either. He and Luca kept her captive in Lorenzo's basement for months without anyone knowing. She's lucky that he fell in love with her, things could've ended much differently for her and the thought makes me feel bad for complaining. I've just grown so tired of them trying to encourage me to embrace this when they've never had to do it themselves. It would be different if the arrangement was forced on all of us but it's not.

"Alessia, wait!" Mamma calls from behind me but I keep walking.

The person manning the entrance of the building opens the double doors and I step inside, eyes taking in the room already filled with relatives, family friends and complete strangers who, I'm guessing, are my Fiancés family. Emilia catches my eye from across the room and gives a frantic wave, her dark eyes widening as she mouths something I can't make out. Emilia lives in Sicily full time, before Raf died I spent half the year there and most of the time I was with her, up to no good. We would sneak out at night and go to clubs we weren't supposed to be at, hang out with boys we weren't allowed to be around. In the late hours of the night we were free. Although I haven't been back to Sicily as often we text every day, she's like the sister I never had.