Mateo's POV:
Ugh, my head was killing me with a throbbing headache. I couldn't remember how I managed to get back to my room or when I got there. Strangely, I found myself in different clothes, and someone had tucked me into bed. I shifted my gaze and spotted the 'eat me' and 'drink me' labels on the nightstand nearby.
I grabbed the pill and swallowed it with the lemon water, which felt cool and refreshing. After a quick moment of relief, I realized I needed to get up and start my day, whether I liked it or not.
I brushed my teeth in my bathroom and didn't bother changing into a shirt. None of my maids had a problem with it and Arabella will just have to get used to it.
As I descended the stairs, the faint sound of voices drew me towards the kitchen. When I walked in, the aroma of freshly made pancakes and the sight of Arabella's beaming smile welcomed me. She was standing amidst the maids, helping my mother with breakfast.
I coughed, and the room went quiet. My mother's eyes brightened as she turned to me, "Good morning, sweetheart!" I hugged her tightly and planted a kiss on Arabella's forehead. I was determined to keep our fake marriage a secret from my mother; she had always dreamed of me settling down, and I didn't want to ruin that for her.
Arabella's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure, and the maids resumed their work. As I looked over at my mother, I couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt wash over me. But seeing my mother's face light up with joy, I knew I had made the right choice. For now, we would continue to play our roles, and I would protect my mother's happiness at all costs.
She's the one woman in my life I love endlessly.
"What's going on here?" I questioned.
"I just wanted to see the newly wedded couple. Arabella was already awake when I got here." Thank God. Otherwise she would have found me and Arabella sleeping separately.
"Breakfast is ready, have a seat." She pointed at the table which was already cleaned, from the dinner I had with my men right before the wedding.
She started setting three plants instead of two but my mother stopped her. "Oh that's quite alright, I have to get going now. But I'll be back soon." She gave me and Arabella a quick peck and she was gone.
I sat at the table on one end, and she sat at the other.
The table could fit up to 10 people so they distance between me and Arabella was huge.
She was wearing yellow sundress, with a pair of short white heels. But why was she already dressed so early?
"You don't have to make breakfast, that's what the maids are for." I explain, as I take a bite of the food in front of me.
"I don't mind." She shrugged her shoulders as she stuffs her face with a bite of a pancake. She looks away, realizing her mouth was covered in syrup.
She took a napkin from the side and patted her face.
She takes a sip of her coffee and cleans her face off. We both eat in silence, but I don't take my eyes off her once. She would look up from her plate ever so often, seeing me stare at her.
"Did you change me last night?" She choked on her coffee. Her eyes widen and she shook her head.
"No, I think one of the maids must have. But the eat me and drink me signs idea was all me." She seemed proud of the kiddish thing she did.
"I'm taking you to meet the rest of Mafia today." She smiled and nodded, as if I was asking a question. I know my people will respect her, and if they don't. I'll kill them.
She had 4 pancakes on her plate just like myself, but when she ate her first one then pushed the tray away and started finishing her coffee.
"Finish your food, Arabella," I say in a stern tone, pointing at her plate with my fork still in hand.
She glanced down at her stomach and then back up at me. As she nibbled on her bottom lip, my gaze fixed on her lips with intense fascination.
"Eat." She thought about it again, and picked her fork and knife up and started eating her second pancake.
This food was so much better than the other food my maids would make. They would make me sandwiches, and eggs every morning. I was getting bored of it.
After finishing my food, I got up from my seat and left my dishes as they were. As I walked away, I heard the sound of plates clattering from behind me. I turned around to see Arabella struggling to carry both trays to the kitchen.
I try to stop myself, but before I know it I take my tray out of her hands and take them to the kitchen with her.
"Thanks." She smiled and handed her tray to the maid who insisted on it.
"Don't worry about it, be ready. We'll be leaving in 15 minutes." I turned around and walk into the direction of the stairs, and hear her heels running behind me.
Her body bumps into mine, and she quietly mutters a sorry, but I kept walking. Trying to catch up with my speed, she starts running again until she's at the top of the stairs in front of me.
"What can I help you with, Arabella?" I questioned as I got closer to her.
"Did you get rid of the rules yet?" Her tone was excited.
"That's why I'm taking you to work, today." I walk past her making sure to bump my shoulder into hers.
"Ok." The excitement fading along with her steps. "I'll be waiting downstairs." She muttered. I went up the stairs and into my bedroom.
I walk into the closet, picking out a pair of black slacks, and white suit shirt. I take my clean black blazer, just in case for meetings.
I like staying in professional attire, it makes me feel better and look better. I mostly only wear slacks and suit shirt. The blazers only for when I've got to be more professional.
I stepped into the shower and let the warm water wash over me, but it was a quick in and out. Five minutes was all it took to feel refreshed and invigorated. I grabbed the towel and quickly dried off before slipping into my clothes. I walked over to my bed and picked up my watch, wrapping it tightly around my wrist, feeling the cold metal against my skin.
As I was about to leave the room, I remembered the new packet of cigars I had purchased the other day. I fished it out of my side table drawer and tossed it in my jacket pocket, knowing I might need it later in the day. I also grabbed my revolver from the drawer and placed it in the waistband of my pants, within easy reach.
Still in the process of tying my tie, I stride down the stairs and find Arabella on the couch waiting patiently.
"Ready?" I questioned. She sat on one of the single couches, reading a book I had in the living rooms book shelves.
I shamelessly stare at her, fuck am I glad that I have a pretty wife. She yawned as she turned the page of the book, and the boredom in her eyes vivid.
"I don't got all day. Let's go." I fiddled with the sleeves of my shirt then turn my attention back on the skippy material around my neck.
I've been wearing ties for God know how many years, yet I have no idea how to tie them. I usually watch a video and get one of my maids to do it, yet none of them are in sight. And I'm not watching a YouTube video in front of my wife.
I thought I'd be able to do it based off memory, but I was struggling.
"Here, let me." She walked up to my and put the tie back around my neck. She fiddled with the material until it made a perfect tie. She smiled then looked up at me, patting my chest.
"Ready?" I check my pockets to make sure I had everything and nodded.
"Yeah, let's go."
With a sense of purpose, I walk over to the key rack and reach out to grab my keys, my hand closing around them with a satisfying jingle. As I turn to leave the house, I can feel her presence behind me and a small sense of realization flows through me knowing that I won't be alone in the car.
We exit the house and I lock the front door, enabling a couple more locking systems to ensure the safety of my house. I take care of my things and people around with great care. I wouldn't let anything happen to any of my workers, no matter how little I know them.
I unlocked the car doors a while before we even get there, so there isn't the awkward tension to wait and just stare at each before the doors finally open. We drove to the warehouse in complete silence.
One hand on the steering, my other arm rest in the middle. My fingers fiddle with the volume button, sometimes making it loud and others making it quiet. I changed the radio station a couple of times since nothing sounded appealing.
I was driving a couple miles more than I should have because Arabella was grabbing her seatbelt as if she was gonna die. I suppress a laugh and pull into the parking lot. There were so many cars but I always had a designated spot up front.
I parked the car and my wife jumped out as fast as she could. She's a little dramatic. I got out of the car and slammed the door shut, clicking the locks a couple times and joining her on the road.
"Remember, they have to believe this." She nodded her head. I grabbed her hand and we started walking inside.
I opened the warehouse doors, where I had some of the most important Mafia members come. I wanted to show Arabella how it worked.
She doesn't know how being in a Mafia worked, so it's a good way for her to meet some of the members and get taught the way we work. She smiled as all the people looked confused, staring from me to her.
"Alright listen up." My voice banged through the warehouse, having gotten everyone's attention.
"This is Arabella Salvatore, my wife. And the woman that's gonna stand by me. She's new to our Mafia, so I want some of you helping her out. Learn what her best skill is, and heightened it."
They all nodded and started their conversation, again. I held her hand walking her over to my office.
We walked into my office and Diyore was already there. He worked more with paper work and computer things. He makes himself sound like an idiot, but when it comes down to work and business he's feared.
"I need you to do something for me." I say and Arabella takes a seat on the empty chair beside Diyore.
"Who's the chick?" He smirked looking her up and down, and back at me.
"The chick's, my wife. Watch your mouth." He looked at me confused until realizations hit his face.
"YOU GOT MARRIED YOU FUCKER!?" He jumped up from his seat looking back and forth at both of us.
"Sit your ass down, yes." He looked at me disappoint and sat back down.
"And you didn't invite me?" He held a hand over his heart acting as if he was really hurt.
"It was small wedding, only family and shit."
"I thought I was family." He stated dramatically which made Arabella laugh.
"You're making a mad impression on my wife, she's gonna think you're a weirdo." Dyiore rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I didn't invite you here to chat, I brought you here because I need a rule changed."
"Rules." She said correcting me.
"Oh I like her." He smiled like a cunt staring at her.
"I need you to change some rules."
"We haven't changed them, in so long. Why now."
"Mrs. Salvatore here, disagrees with them." He kept staring at her. These rules had been reinforced for generations and no one has ever stood against them. If they were any other rules, I doubt I would have let her change them.
The two she picked were stupid ones, so it doesn't matter.
"What do I change?" He pulled a note pad out of his pocket putting it on the desk helping him write.
"Get rid of rules 7 and 22."
"About damn time." Dyiore mutters a couple words then smiles looking at me. "Gonna be throwing the best surprise parties." He said eagerly. He scribbled down what I asked of him and looked up putting the pen down.
"Anything else?" I thought about it for a second before sighing.
"And find a new name for the rule book." Arabella's straight face turned into a smile. Dyiore nodded and wrote what he needed on the paper.
"Alright, let me just go do this. And I'll be back here later tonight."
"Okay, see you then." He left the room, but not before blowing a kiss at my wife.
"Watch it fucker." I yelled so he could hear, I heard him laugh outside of the door.
"Your friend's nice." She got up looking around the office, going mainly over to the book area.
She picked a book, flipping through the pages of a couple different book. "You need to get some better books." She bite her bottom lip, scanning her eye over the shelves.
Every book on those shelves was something I read when I was much younger. When I had nothing to do. That entertained me, so she'll just have to deal with it.
"I want you to start training with Madison. She's one of the members who trains recruits, and she could help you learn your special skill." She turned her attention to me and smiled. Every one of us has one special skill that we can do better than the rest. For example, mine is having incredible aim.
I've never missed.
She now needs to figure out hers.
"Do we start today?" She took a seat in front of me again, having our eyes lock.
"Yeah, here she comes." The door opens revealing Madison, in some very concerning clothing. She bite her lip seductively and walked over to my desk.
"You wanted me sir." She made sure to wink once she said the word sir. Me and Madison fucked a couple times. I get shit faced drunk and call her over to my house. I try telling her it's nothing more, but she always tries to find something more.
"I want you to train Arabella, she's my wife and our new recruit." She smile dropped at my words and she looked over at Arabella who was casually staring out the window. I made it clear to Madison that I was married now, so maybe she'd take a hint.
"Is she learning her special skill, or she still gotta figure that out?" She looked Arabella up and down, then turn to me smiling all too giddy.
"She still needs to learn her skill."
~~~
Arabella's POV:
I stared at both of them, while she practically flirted with my husband in front of me. Whilst he didn't stop her. He talked to her for a couple minutes while I completely zoned out.
"Alright let's go." He stood up and started towards the door with me and Madison behind him.
She kept giving me dirty looks, observing over me ever so often.
"Here is where we train." The room was big, it had a boxing section to the right. While the left had a guns, and knife boards. In the centre was a boxing ring, where two men fought each other.
One of them was covered in blood, while the other didn't look too good either. The man covered in blood, look as if he was gonna pass out. But the other didn't stop throwing punches.
They kept hitting their opponent until they fell limp, going unconscious while the other man cheered victoriously.
I cringe at the sight and look at where Mateo was. Without his jacket, and tie. She stood behind him with a smirk staring right at me. She held his clothes in her hands and settled them down in a chair nearby.
I rolled my eyes and walked to them.
"First, let's test knives. Everyone good at knives. Careful." His body behind mine, one hand on my waist while the other on the knife in front of me. Both my hands took the knife from him making his hand go to my shoulder.
He faced me towards the target and asked me to throw it at it. It's like throwing a ball right. Expect this thing can kill you.
I throw the knife into the air just as he had told me, but it ended up landing at a completely different area. Madison snickered at the side and Mateo took the knives away from me.
"At least we know knives aren't you thing." He said before moving on to the next station. I looked at the station and there were a couple of swords lined up and I already shook my head.
"Absolutely not, I'm not touching that thing." Mateo sighed and moved us to another station.
"Let's try guns." He handed me a gun and took me to the target.
I squinted my right eye as I aim for the target in front of me. I felt Mateo move down my body, having his hand at my ankles.
"Lift your right leg." I did as he asked and he moved it further away from the target.
"Now your left." Lifting my left leg, he moved it closer to my right but kept it in the front. Once he was happy with my stance he picked his body up having his hands travel up my legs and back to my waist and shoulder.
"Now shoot." He pointed at the target, and I squinted my eye moving the gun where I wanted. My finger over the trigger ready to push whenever I felt right.
Once I was positive with the way, I felt and how steady my body was. I pressed my finger into the trigger making a roar leave the gun, and a crash at the other end.
I look over and the bullet hit the target. It didn't hit anywhere near the middle, but at least I didn't completely miss this time.
Mateo looked slightly impressed and told me to take another hit once he moved the target a little closer. I hit the target a couple more times until the gun's bullets were all done. Not one of them hit the red dot in the middle, but you can clearly tell I was getting better.
"I think we should pick your skill as shooting, you're learning fast."
Shootings my skill...
~~~
Mateo's POV:
We'd spent a little over 2 hours at the warehouse furthering Arabella's knowledge about the way guns work. She's a fast learner to say the least, and she takes interest in many different things.
There I sat in my office at home, trying to concentrate on the paperwork which had been pending for a while now.
The way she does everything is so different, it fascinates me deeply. I'm staring at her again, she's a woman of many talents which doesn't go unseen. She's sitting on one of my sofa's with a book from my collection, reading it with intense eyes.
Those books are from, when I was a child. My father forbade me any sort of electronic device, saying it wouldn't help in the future.
So my mother finally got my father to agree on getting me books. I have all kinds of books, from adventures to romance. I was a kid with a wild imagination.
Anything that would seem interesting, I would grab it and check it out. I spent a lot of time reading, which help enhance my vocabulary greatly.
If I recall correctly, the story held in her hands was about a wolf. A savage wolf whom learnt to love the evil world. He tried seeing the glory of everything that seemed awful.
I read it when I was 9 years old.
A knock at the door made both our faces turn to the door where the sound originated from.
"Come in." One of my maids walked in, fearfulness vividly in her eyes.
"Dinner should be ready in a few minutes, so if you and Mrs. Salvatore could get ready?"
Trying to sign the paper in front of me, I nod dismissing her. The door slams shut since it's one of those sound proof ones.
"You didn't have to be so rude." Arabella looked at me, and when I returned the eye contact she rolled her eyes. I didn't say anything, how is that me being rude. "She was only being nice and doing her job."
"I didn't say anything, what's wrong in that?"
"You pretty much ignored her presence. You could have said 'We're coming in a minute' or something. But instead you're nice to the only people who don't give two fucks about you. Or should I say the only people who want to fuck you." Her last sentence was out quick and was whispered.
"Watch it." She might fascinate me, but that doesn't mean I'll allow any sort of disrespect.
"Or what?" She stood up trying to intimate me, but she only looked like a foul. She doesn't know what I'm capable of, she's hasn't been in the Mafia world for a longer than a day.
"You better watch you mouth. Just because you're my wife, doesn't mean I won't hesitant to put a bullet between your fucking eyes."
"I'm not afraid of you." Liar. Her hands are quite literally shaking. But let's see how long she can keep this facade up for.
"And why is that?" I step forward towering over her body. Her face might show zero fear, but her body language said otherwise. Her shoulders flinched when I came closer and she swallowed a deep breath.
"If I recall anything from the rule book, it's that it's Mafia before anything. Meaning killing your own kind is a type of betrayal. And you said it yourself, you follow the rule you don't die. Fail to do so and you might just have a bullet between your eyes.
As your wife I am apart of this Mafia just as much as you. And if you were to kill me, then expect yourself to be right after me. And you don't seem stupid enough to do something like that. That is of course if I'm mistaken Mr. Salvatore."
"Dinner's ready." And she left.
~~~
Arabella's POV:
It all happened so quickly. One minute we were being called to dinner and the next the surge of confidence comes back to me.
He was right though, he wasn't being rude. It's just a little disrespectful when you're talking to someone and they dismiss you completely. This morning she was such a sweetheart. She taught me where everything was and I could tell me and her would get along.
I don't regret standing up for Julie. Of course standing so close to him I was petrified. But I know he won't and can't kill nor hurt me. I sat in my seat, the one I sat for breakfast this morning.
His shoes make the whole house quiet, his maid whom chatting stops. The way he could make a whole room quiet with just the sound of his footsteps was impeccable. It's crazy to think someone could have that much power.
But he loves every ounce of power he gets.
Two trays, one in front of mine chair, while another in front of Mateo. I sat with my back straight ready to argue, if that's what he wanted. But I knew all this confidence would be gone in a couple moments.
But he came and took a seat on the table saying nothing. He started eating and my shoulders drop. He had nothing to say. Of course. This was the one thing that was true from the stories. Mafia men don't solve problems. And for once, he can't kill his problem.
We eat our dinner in silence, but not without the tension. The tension is so surreal, it makes me feel like I was suffocating in the air.
I look up to see him already staring at me with dreadful eyes. I can feel the confidence seeping through me just with his threading gaze. Yeah he couldn't hurt me, but why were his eyes so terrifying.
~~~
BAD BITCH ARABELLA IS ALL I SEE!!!!
Anyways here's another chapter, and I posted two chapter in one day. One for FOREVER MINE and one for this story.
I got rid of the stupid bed making scene since everyone hated it so much.🙄
I really liked the idea of a strong female lead and that's what I'm gonna do.💋
STAY HOT ASF SEXY HOES
Sincerely, A