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Chapter 1 – Arianna
“Ari!”Myfathersnappedhis fingers from the seat opposite mine. “Are you listening to me?”
“Yes, Papa.” I answered on autopilot, the phrase was simply muscle memory at this point in my life. I forced myself to look at him and my mama sitting on the leather bench seat of the limo as it drove through the unfamiliar countryside.
“Good. Because we do not have much time left before we get to the estate and you need to be on your best behavior when we do.”
“She will be, dear.” My mother's calm and melodic voice assured my father as she patted his knee, “This is what we’ve spent her entire life preparing for.”
My father smiled at my mother and put his hand on top of hers before looking back at me with a pointed stare. “You are the future of this family Arianna. If you do not fulfill your duty to this family, we will go extinct.”
The future of the Rosetti Family rests upon my shoulders.
Yeah, I’ve heard that same bull shit line since I was old enough to process the words he spit my way.
Arianna, the dutiful and docile daughter of Emilio and Mina Rosetti, the third child out of five, was going to be the saving grace of the entire familial line.
Puke.
I let my eyes fall away from his to look back out the window at the vibrant red and orange leaves on the trees mixed with the green ones as we drove by.
I’d never seen fall foliage in the north before.
Perhaps living here wouldn’t be so bad after all.
The limo slowed and I craned my neck for a glimpse of the estate as we rolled into the massive gatehouse. Armed men with menacing glares and even scarier guns strapped to their chests circled the limo as our driver spoke to them. The windows in the back rolled down and my father nodded to a guard as he looked first at him, then my mother, then across the space to where I sat on the bench seat facing backward. He was massive, far over six feet tall, and nearly as wide as he was tall with dark eyes and a strong jawline. He was the absolute definition of scary and I fought not to wilt under his stare.
The man’s eyes traveled from my head to my toes and back before he nodded to me and stood back up. I shivered from the brute power I felt rolling off the men surrounding us as the limo started rolling up the driveway again.
I blew out a silent breath and deflated into the seat, trying to steal my resolve again.
Seconds on the infamous Capasso property, and I was already balking with fight or flight urges. I felt like with each foot of the driveway that the limo ate up, I was getting closer to my execution.
My mother smiled brightly as she commented on the expansive grounds with the immaculate landscapes and designs and my father smirked into his scotch glass.
Everything was falling into place for them.
Yet for me… I was doomed.
The car stopped and staff from the massive mansion walked down the steps, lining up to receive us as my parents got out of the car and signaled for me to join.
I took a deep breath and smoothed my hands down my light pink dress and forced my body to slide off the seat and follow them.
I tried to make my face relax and look more approachable, standing next to my mother as the eyes of all the staff fell onto me in morbid curiosity. I hated being the center of attention. Not once in my life had I been the important one in the room, and I didn’t like that I was now.
“Mr. Rosetti,” A man in a suit stepped forward with a slight bow to my father, “Mrs. Rosetti, my name is Manny, I am the head butler here at Armarow Estate.” He didn’t acknowledge me as he stiffly turned, “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms so you can freshen up before dinner, and your meeting with Mr. Capasso.”
“That would be wonderful,” my father said, placing his hand on the small of my mother’s back leading her forward to follow the butler, leaving me with no choice but to dutifully follow after them.
The staff lining the many steps up to the front of the mansion were mostly maids in traditional black and white uniforms and butlers in crisp black tuxedos. Some looked above the heads of everyone, and some looked at me with curious glances, but every single one of them bowed their heads when I walked past.
As we stood in the front foyer, I looked for the face of the man I was to marry tomorrow. I’d never met him before and knew absolutely nothing about him, but soon he was supposed to be the most important person in my life. Out of the men in the room, I could tell he wasn’t one of them. I knew that when I did see him for the first time, I’d know it was him.
Men with power like Nicolas Capasso, were hard to miss.
I followed my parents up the large, curved staircase to the second floor and then down a series of halls and corridors until we came to a wing of the house that seemed devoid of any other guests.
“Mr. and Mrs. Rosetti, your rooms are to the right, and your room,” he finally looked at me, “Ms. Rosetti, is to the left.” He indicated two separate hallways across from each other with ornate carvings in the archways. “Dinner will be served at seven in the west dining room. Your meeting with Mr. Capasso, Mr. Rosetti, will be at six. The rest of your family should arrive shortly.”
