hello my lovelies,
I hope you had a great day today and if not, I promise you there will be better times.
Have fun reading and always remember that you are amazing and enough.
I love you, bye.
Boring and short as hell chapter so we can move on to the good parts.
Amara Thorne
I exhale as I step on the first stair to get off the plane. I am immediately surrounded by the atrocious heat, the sun rays hitting my skin. The sudden temperature difference causes me to feel dizzy and my sight starts to get blurry. I have to grip the metal railing of the stairs tightly to not lose my balance. It seems to me forever that I was last in Sicily but that much time has not passed since my visit. I was a completely different person back then.
But that's actually a stupid sentence to say because you're always a different person.
Every day, every moment, every word you hear changes you.
The person I am today will be a stranger tomorrow.
But why the fuck would it even matter?
People would describe us as pure evil and think that we could only become better.
They are wrong.
We will always get worse.
As soon as I am on the ground, I look around me, taking in my surroundings. I missed this. I missed Sicily, my second home.
Fuck. What an irony considering that I avoided this place at all costs.
Too many memories. Too much history.
Too much happiness.
My father's men put the luggage in one of the black cars that are parked in front of me. Adriano is now standing next to me, waiting for me to get into the car. My parents got out of the private jet before us, and we watch them driving away, already heading to the castle. I walk towards the black car and the driver opens the door for us. As soon as we get in, I lean my head against the window, closing my eyes.
I am so exhausted.
The last two weeks were horrifying.
Thoughts about the upcoming ball flooded my head. I couldn't sleep or eat properly.
I am not scared.
I would never give those people this power over me.
But I know that everything has to be perfect.
Every step I take, every little move must be well-considered.
I know those individuals.
Most of the people who are not part of the Organized Crime have no idea who they are. Still, they are of indescribable importance.
They are the ones with the real power. They rule the world out of the shadow.
Their biggest advantage is that people always overestimate themselves. Most of the gangsters who want to get their power think they can defeat them, but these are only amateurs.
Little drug dealers think they can make a difference because they have a gang with a few weapons, but the truth is, these people are laughing at those wannabes.
They underestimate the system that has been built over the last few decades.
Neither these little gangs nor the police could do anything about it.
They own them.
They are too strong.
Too smart.
Too manipulative.
They are the perfect criminals.
They are feared but underestimated.
The perfect combination and their greatest asset.
I and Adriano have to face these people, our enemies, tonight.
I'm not stupid. I know that they won't believe for a second that we are in love, nobody in our world is but we have to be so good that they have no proof that we are not.
They are careful because they have so much to lose and when they attack us there must be no doubt that we are not sticking together.
So, we will make them doubt.
Every step we make, every word we say will make them less confident.
They can't do anything about us as long as we stick together.
Together nobody can hurt us but ourselves.
I open my eyes again, looking out of the window.
We drive through the avenue of cypress trees but the darkened window only lets me see the outlines.
I love it here.
I should have never left because maybe, just maybe everything would've been better.
Or it could have been worse if that's even possible.
I hear a deep exhale.
I turn my head away from the glass and travel my gaze to the man sitting next to me.
Adriano avoided me the last two weeks at all costs. The only time I saw him he looked at me with pure hatred in his eyes.
I know it sounds stupid but somehow in the last month it felt like some of the hatred has left his eyes but I was wrong.
It was an allusion. Now the rage towards me is back and that's exactly what I want.
I knew that his talk about trust and sticking together was bullshit.
He probably wanted to throw up while saying those words.
It was exactly as I thought it would be.
First, he tried to confuse me and now he is ignoring me.
What did I expect from him other than that?
He stares out of his tinted window. I travel my gaze over his tense posture. One of his tattooed hands is tightly clenched around the gun in his pocket, only the handle of the weapon looking out.
I study it more closely and suddenly the world stops.
My breathing hitches and I start to frown as I read the engraving.
Elijah
I gulp.
What?
Why-
Why the fuck does he have it?
Why the fuck does he have it here?
I quickly turn my gaze away from the weapon and look back out of the window.
Stop fucking with my brain like that.
My heart is racing, and I can hear the blood rushing through my body.
I close my eyes trying to control my breath.
Elijah
Elijah
Elijah
What games are you trying to play?
Does he want me to be so irritated and confused that I mess the ball up?
That's his plan, isn't it?
Confusing me?
Trying to manipulate me so I will lose control?
He is just like the others.
Like my father.
Always has been, always will be.
Obviously, he finds the thought of making me his wife so disgusting that he would rather be dead than with me.
Of course. He already told me at our first dinner alone, that he wants me to kill him, so he doesn't have to marry me.
I fucking hate you, Adriano Calvetti.
I fucking hate that I have to act like I wouldn't.
I fucking hate that I don't understand you.
And I fucking hate that I need you to stay alive.
My eyes slowly open as I realise that the car has stopped. The driver steps out and opens the door for me. I put one foot on the floor and then push me up to get out of the car. I breath in the warm air and try not to think about what I just saw.
I won't give him this power over me.
Never in a million years.
Nothing that you could say would ever change how much I hate you.
I hear the crickets chirping in the grass and Adriano's car door closing. I walk down the gravel path, my eyes fixed on the building.
It looks exactly as it did in my memory.
Even the same flowers and trees still adorn the huge gardens around the castle.
This is the opposite of what I actually like.
I love huge cities and skyscrapers.
I love the cold and hate the sun.
I love busy streets and the sound of a night in New York.
But still this place attracts me magically.
Even though I hate everything here so much it gives me everything I have always craved.
Freedom.
And still, the time I have spent here couldn't even come close to the things I have experienced in our theatre.
It's a place where I can find the best version of myself and the only lovable one.
The gardeners nod and give me a little bow as I walk past and head for the huge metal gate.
Two guards stand in front of it and straighten their posture as I approach them. I can hear Adriano walking behind me but I decide to fasten my pace so we don't have to walk next to each other.
"Miss Thorne, Mr. Calvetti, it's an honor to see you again." One of the guards greets us before opening the gate. The other gives me a nod before stepping aside.
The moment I step in we meet hundreds of employees who are in full swing making the final preparations for the ball. They greet us without hesitation before they get back to work.
Our luggage is brought in and apparently on its way to our room. Then a man who appears to be in his 50s approaches us.
"Mr. Calvetti and miss Thorne, it's a pleasure to meet you. I would like to show you your room if that's possible." The bald man says, giving us a blank face expression.
I nod and the man takes that as a yes.
We follow him as he leads us up to the second floor. We walk down a long empty corridor, the floor covered with a red carpet. At the end of it is a huge dark door. We stop right in front if it and he turns around to look at us.
"This is your room. If there is any problem, you can call me and I will immediately be on my way." He says and then opens the door.
We step in and I look around, taking every little detail in. In the middle of the enormous room is standing a wooden king-sized bed with red satin sheets lying on top.
Wait.
I frown and then turn around.
"I am sorry? There is only one bed?" I ask, confused.
"Eh- I-I am so sorry. I assumed that you two are sleeping in one bed because you are engaged. I will immediately talk to the manager to tell him that you don't want to sleep together." He answers, looking confused and nervous.
Fuck.
"No. Thank you. That won't be a problem at all. You didn't make any mistakes. I was just surprised." I reply, putting on a fake smile.
"Alright. Then I-I will leave you alone." He stutters before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.
I turn around and look at Adriano who hasn't said anything the entire time.
He has a smirk on his face but his expression is filled with so much hatred.
"Look at that." He says, letting out a chuckle.
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