I locked myself in my office for the rest of the day choosing to focus on what my Underbosses and Capo's needed from me to keep the cities in line. I wasn't willing to make marshal law a staple of this period or it would raise alarm bells but no outsiders were allowed in and if found were told that they were in the wrong territory though if anyone were found and had not good excuse I'd be willing to investigate them further.
The problem was my future mother in law was Tommaso who had been crossing my border.
What the purpose was we hadn't figured out but my Capo in Casalbore had reported that suspected Tommaso Soldiers were there which was of concern since they were thirty kilometers from Benevento and two hours from Naples where Victoria was Underboss and pretty much as ruthless as I was. If my family ever had debates on who was whose favourite sibling it would be Matteo and Victoria.
Victoria was also known for being the most compassionate of the Salvatorini Familia until it came to her job as Underboss. Then my youngest sister was capable of doing things that had made Luca of all people not even bother trying to be the wittier of them.
If Tommaso was going to try and infiltrate Salvatorini territory then it would become a problem. I didn't want a Familia war, we'd had two before and it led to assassinations and open conflict. My father had seen it and I wouldn't have put it past him to have used it as a ground to make himself move up the ladder since he'd have been an Underboss by the end of the war, there was questions though on how the youngest out of three boys had become Don of the Salvatorini Familia.
My fathers rise was more well known people had seen it and knew about how much blood was spilled to make him so powerful, though like me his ascension to Capo Dei Capi was mysterious as his brothers had been found dead in a basement of another Familia's house, it led to the treaty with all other Familia's though the back dealings had existed until I became Boss.
When my siblings and I entered the scene we had transformed Italy, I'd killed to have territory across Europe, I'd committed to war with Familia's, with other factions until I had what I did under control. Thousands died because I wanted to be the largest Familia in Europe and I only ever had to compete with the Spanish Mafia, the Bratva, the Sorenko Family, and the other factions of the Italian Mafia from time to time.
I wasn't stupid though, just because I had an empire with six thousand members within just the Salvatorini Familia, and associates that ballooned that number to about fifteen thousand; I hadn't forgotten that I was the head of the largest international organized criminal empire which made me a wanted man most places. The other part of that was other Mafias saw me as a threat, since I had so much power and influence.
Many of us had spoken and discussed places we were allowed to operate. The Romanians held the Eastern section of Europe, the Spanish had the rest of their country and Portugal, the Greeks held parts of their country and many ports along the Mediterranean. The Bratva were a pain in my ass something I'd been dealing with for years and it had turned to several bloodbaths that had to be made into accidents.
As time passed and my order to put groups of Capo's and their soldiers on preparation for dealing with them I sent a message to my sister to do whatever was needed for warning Tommaso about inciting a war with the Salvatorini Familia.
I need to unify Italy badly.
The problem would be dealing with all the micro factions that would rise up when my marriage to Arianna went through because Valentino Territory would become Salvatorini, and that meant Tommaso would have to decide on if they were going to also submit or simply exist out of the way.
Then I got a knock on the office door and stood from my desk and rounded it before pulling open the door where Aria stood on the other side of it with a blate of food.
"It's seven o'clock, you need to eat, I made steak with mushroom sauce and conchiglie pasta," she says handing over the food which I stared at and smiled softly.
"Have you eaten?" I ask and she blinks before pressing her lips together, a sign she hadn't and was considering lying. "Let me clear my desk, we can eat together, and don't bother trying to tell me you did already," I add before turning and setting down the blate before moving all the paper and note books back to where they belonged, and turned back to Aria who I watched jog down the hallway as quietly as she could by sliding as she landed.
She was too pure at times, too free to not allow herself to enjoy all the things the life provided that was beneficial while I faced all the negatives, I could do that for her even if she knew that I'd done horrible things, that I'd shot and killed thousands, that I had buildings bombed, that I had assassinations framed on others and had rings of dealings that made me unknown by the public as the Don of the largest Familia of La Cosa Nostra. I knew of them all of them and that also meant that at any point any other Mafia could try and come for me and the easiest way would be to go directly for Aria. Which reminded me that I needed to get a personal bodyguard for Aria who would because I didn't trust other men would be a woman, though I had a very large contingent of women who were highly trained solders.
That will be a tomorrow focus.
When Aria came back into my office I set down two glasses which she seemed surprised by but then Lino entered with a bottle of my favourite red wine.
"A wine dinner in your office," Aria smiles pressing her teeth into her bottom lip as she smiled.
"Yes, it's my apology for earlier, I have a feeling I'm going to be apologizing a lot based on the two week history between us," I say as Aria sat and I filled out glasses to be even with the curve's height.
Lino then left, shutting the door behind him as he did and I could faintly hear the footsteps disappear down the hallway.
"Why do you pull away, you're holding me and kissing me one moment, and then pulling away, why?".
"Because you aren't mine maritally yet," I reply, "you are only allowed to be kissed, and made love to on our wedding night. No sooner". I then watched her sigh in reaction, even as she took a bite from her food.
If only she knew how badly I wanted her in return.
"I'm already promised to you Alessio, and you don't seem to have a problem kissing me," Aria states her tone more clipped, and absent of the softness I'd grown so used to.
"Because I don't know how else to show you appreciation. You don't seem like the kind of woman who likes expensive gifts, but you are used to expensive things. I'm not your boyfriend or even someone you've met before Arianna, I've been imposed on your life," I reciprocate in equal verb before lifting my glass to my lips and taking a long sip before setting it back down.
"I've been imposed on yours as well, my family clearly didn't tell you the reason for the visit. In less then a few hours I was your promised bride. Something you weren't pursuing because of Violetta," Aria says in a tone like velvet, and I swallowed the bitterness in my mouth at hearing the name of my late former friend and Fiancé. I'd had seven and a half years to move on from her and still I hadn't been able to rid myself of the fear of caring for anyone but family, and Familia ever again.
"I wasn't pursuing a partner because my father loved to take away anything that made any of his children happy. I watched my betrothed wife's body be rolled out on a carpet, in the dress I helped her pick. I can't lose you too, not when it's my duty to protect you," I say looking deep into her juniper green eyes.
"People don't protect others with a compound of bodyguards unless they care Alessio, and we both know the day I went out to get clothing you were worried, you get angry when worried," she says staring back and I watched as her pupils dilated under the inquisitive gaze I was giving her.
"I care sure, but I still stand by my words to you, I will always respect you and protect you," I recite because I'd told myself that was all I would allow myself to do with her, and for her. It couldn't be more, though I suppose having dinner together in the one room I'd initially told her was off limits made that slightly untrue.
"And I want to know you Alessio, all of you even if it scares you, it'll scare me to let you know me, when no one but my family ever was even let close to me, my sister Gabriella was my only friend as a child, especially after an incident when I was eleven," Aria says and I nod slowly, "people also normally don't kiss people, they aren't attracted too, you're not bitter to me, you're just hiding behind what you want people to believe about you. That you're a monster, yet you invited your family to live here in this massive estate with you, your brothers respect you, and trust your judgement, or else they wouldn't still be by you. The vow on your back proves that".
"I am a monster Arianna, I was born to a monster, molded into a killer as a child, Matteo's teasing also wasn't wrong, I did play with knives as a child, and I'm the youngest Don in the history of Cosa Nostra. It takes a special breed of a man to orchestrate his rise to Boss of the Familia," I say taking another bite of my meal as I thought through what else she'd said, "what was the incident when you were eleven?". Her face froze, like it had when I'd told her about the things that were considered a nosebleed problem or situation.
"I was kidnapped on the day of my birthday, and kept in a cellar with no light, fed once a day, I watched the Bratva do all kinds of things to the other women there, I didn't understand what it was but now I know I would have been trafficked out of the country," Aria recounts and I nod remembering very similar pieces of information.
"You were saved by the Familias group effort to get you back in under a week, and I'm sorry to know that you went through that," I say sticking my fork in my noodles along with stabbing a piece of steak.
"I'm here now, and they didn't do anything to me, just starved me, which I think is how they made all the victims weak enough to move," she adds and I nod.
"They also drug the victims, and do various other things a girl of eleven shouldn't witness to them. That fiasco is what led me to being so clear cut about my treatment rules of the women in this Familia, and how marriage should be approached, I even have a rule that the woman chosen for marriage or the man if they have a mistreatment dispute they can come straight to me and I will sort it out, if it's a lie I order some kind of punishment by the marital partner, nothing violent. If the violence occurs it's an immediate execution," I explain, "another reason I will never force anything on you".
"I'd fight you if you tried to harm me," Aria says with a smile though her tone was calm with an edge of caution as if she'd spent her whole life learning how to be proper for the future she now found herself trapped in.
"I'd personally kill anyone who ever harmed you Aria, the crimson hall would need to be burned down after what I'd do to them," I say knowing my face had become a mask of restraint though I knew just behind it was my Hyde to the Jekyll of the civility I tried to present.
"Sounds like you're used to protecting the people around you especially when they are in harms way, even if it makes you seem bad," Aria says setting down her fork as she avoided my gaze.
"I would protect my siblings from my fathers beatings I failed once, and my word became truth," I admit and a shiver passed over her.
"What do you mean by that?".
I pause realizing that I'd admitted to how I'd handle someone I cared about being harmed, and my fathers death was still a mystery with nothing but a rumour on who had done it.
"I told him that if he ever touched Amara again he would find his control over the Salvatorini Familia much smaller then it used to be," I reply which wasn't entirely wrong in it's effect, though I hadn't said anything at all when the beating had occurred.
"Then he was killed?".
"Yes, by traitors within the Familia, the rumour was I did it to become Don but really I was left with a disorganized city, and people that had been unfit to remain in the Familia, including the traitors who had been behind my father whispering poison in his ear over the years," I say before taking another bite.
"This is excellent by the way Aria, thank you", she smiled up at me as she too took a bite and I took to enjoying my meal with Aria.
"You're welcome, I would appreciate help in the kitchen or do you have staff for that?" she prys and I eye her.
"There is cleaning staff but I have a rule that they stay as out of sight as possible, the exception is if they need to be in a room to clean it then people can be moved though they often will do occupied rooms during the night," I explain.
"Okay, well I want to clean up the kitchen like I usually do," she says and I nod.
"I will help you then," I agree before we went through the rest of our meal.
After we had finished eating her and I walked to the kitchen and as I said I helped her clean up the dishes and pots and pans, along with wiping down the counter tops until we were satisfied with how clean the kitchen was. Watching as she put the plates and cutlery into the top of the line dishwasher I walked over to her and stopped behind her and cleared my throat.
"Yes, Alessio," she says turning around and raising her eyebrows as she stared up at me before I wrapped my arms around her and leaned down pressing my lips softly against hers for a few brief seconds to not end up getting lost in the connection like I'd found myself doing when her and I kissed for too long.
"You're right people don't kiss other people unless the person is perceived as attractive," I say as I pulled away from her to stare down at her with a small smile rising to her lips.
"Even if it's not allowed," she challenges.
"It's not fun unless it's breaking some rule, and you and I are promised to one another, it's practice for the wedding day," I muse and she pushes herself up and reconnects our lips before dropping back down to stand on the flats of her feet.
"There's more practice," she beams with a light blush before turning to rinse out our wine glasses, and my smart mouth and mind that seemed to have two gears regarding her chose the one I kept locking away at that moment, and listening to it I leaned down close to her ear as she tipped the water out of one of the glasses.
"There are other things we could practice but I don't want to make Italy jealous," I smirk watching her reaction in the window which showed her eyes go slightly wide and the blush deepen as she bit her lip.
Letting go of her waist I took the glass from her hands and placed it in the dishwasher before taking the second one from her and put it beside the first. Shutting the stainless steel machine I looked over at her as she remained in her blushing state even as she dried her hands.
"I'm going to bed Arianna, I will see you in the morning," I bid before turning and walking towards the doorway.
"Do you want to tell me if my mind is imagining what you just said to me correctly?" Aria asks staring at me from across the room.
"Your mind isn't imagining even half of what it would be like," I say and disappear towards the foyer to go up to the second floor so that I could go to sleep and rid myself of daydreaming about what I'd do to make Aria feel like she existed on cloud nine as I claimed her as mine.
So that was definitely a long one, I hope you all enjoy it, and I am leading up to a series of scenes and planned event's in this story, also yes I made the aesthetic for the entire Salvatorini Family which is indeed how I imagine them, comment, vote, and share, Anyways
Peace✌