CHAPTER 1

The music screamed loud in my ears, the burning sensation from the alcohol kept me alive as I moved my body to the beat of the music. Surrounding me were friends, people I’d spent the last 18 years with. Each and every one of them knew me by heart. We all grew together, in our small town where everyone knew everyone.

My best friends Kylie and Lu were dancing with me, both of them clearly drunk as they grind their bodies against boys they weren’t even dating. Something to definitely laugh about when we are sober. My feet were starting to hurt from all the dancing so I decided to go sit on the couch to rest a little.

The party was happening at my house. It wasn’t really a big mansion, but it was big enough to house 40 People. My parents were upstairs just chilling and keeping my little brother Lucas away from the party. It wouldn’t be ideal to let a 13 year old party with us while we drank alcohol. Don’t get me wrong, my parents would never allow us to serve alcohol at a party under their roof, that’s why we snuck it in.

Something else was bothering me, it was time to introduce my boyfriend to them. Chase, the sweetest person I’d ever met. I walked over to him while he was dancing and whispered “It’s time.”

I held his hand and guided him upstairs to finally meet my parents.

I stood in front of the door, my heart beating so loud I could even hear it. What if they don’t approve, what if they think Chase is not good enough for me, do I really want to defy them?

All that should matter is that I love him, right?

I glanced at him and saw him watching me closely. He held out his hand and gave me a reassuring smile. I held his hand and felt a tiny wave of calm in my stomach and honestly that was better than nothing.

After a while, I braced myself and opened the door. My parents were sitting beside each other and there was an empty sit opposite them. We often used the balcony for important family meetings like this. The cool air and the view somehow made things a little less serious and awkward and we’d feel like we are safe to talk about anything without consequences. Times like this were really important to us, they helped us grow and understand each other better.

I sat on the couch opposite them, and Chase sat beside me.

“Mom, Dad, thank you for this incredible party and for being such amazing parents.” I figured being grateful was a great way to open the floor.

“Anything for you darling.” My dad answered, although his smile did not seem so genuine. Like he felt uneasy about something. I looked over at my mom and she was having a hard time masking her expression. She looked really uncomfortable and worried. Hopefully it has nothing to do with Chase I told myself.

“So, Mom. Remember we had that talk about me not having a boyfriend until I turn 18. I kept my word. And I’m 18 now, so here’s Chase Murphy, My boyfriend.” I said excitedly, the sound of the word “boyfriend” made my ears tingle and my stomach filled with butterflies.

However, I was the only one smiling in the room. Chase looked so nervous, his palms were sweaty, which was completely understandable, it’s not very common to be introduced to a family as someone about to shag their daughter. I couldn’t quite place my parents' expressions. It was a mixture of so many negative emotions in one and something was nagging me that it had absolutely nothing to do with Chase at all.

“Anna, there’s something you should know. I’m afraid Chase will have to excuse us for a few minutes. Then we can be formally introduced properly.” My mom said, while trying to maintain the awkward smile she was able to muster.

Nothing was making sense, why wait until now before they tell me whatever it was? Why the hell do they look like someone just died or they killed someone?

“It’s okay, Anna. I’ll be right outside, maybe downstairs. You can come fetch me when you’re ready.” Even he sounded off, while he tried to free his hand from the very tight squeeze I was giving it that I didn’t even realize.

Finally, he left the room and there I was, face to face with my parents. At that point, my legs were shaking from anticipation.

“Well, let’s begin. For you to understand what really happened, we’re gonna have to tell you everything, the circumstances that led to your birth and who we really are.” My dad was the first to speak. What does he mean by the circumstances that led to my birth? It was very obvious I was theirs, So it can’t be that I’m adopted. I decided to let him finish before asking any questions.

“It all happened a long time ago. When we were once one of the strongest mafia families in the world. Your Great great grandfather Jackson Rossi, was the Capo and it’s been passed down through the generations. I was the last Capo. I married your mother….”

“wait, hold on. What do you mean by Mafia, what’s Capo? What the hell are you talking about, Dad? I know you, you can’t even hurt a cockroach, mom does. And now suddenly you want me to believe you were some gang leader?” I was freaking out. None of it made sense. I looked at my mother, expecting them to burst out in laughter and tell me they were joking, like a sick birthday prank.

“Alright, since no one wants to tell me what’s actually going on, I’m just gonna leave and get a drink.”

“Anna, you are going to sit down and listen to your father. We don’t have much time and certainly none to spare for your teenage drama. You have questions? Wait until he’s finished.” My mom had never spoken to me that way before. She sounded like someone I didn’t even know. Suddenly I felt really scared, what did she mean by there’s no time? I sat back down and faced my dad.

“I’m sorry Anna, I understand that you are finding all this strange, but you have to understand we hid everything from you to protect you. There are many Mafias in the world, more than you can count. And of all of them, our Family was the third strongest.”

“After I married your mother, there was an attack, and it nearly claimed her life. These attacks were normal, considering the nature of our jobs, but soon we realized your mom was pregnant and she lost the baby. We were devastated, for the first time, I felt the pain of losing a child. It was horrible. Your mom had it worse, she nearly lost her mind. So after she got pregnant again, I got scared.”

“I was scared we’d lose you too, and the only way to keep you safe was if I left everything behind, be an ordinary person and give you a normal life.”

“But it wasn’t going to be easy, one does not just wake up in the morning to quit being a Capo. And even if we did manage to run away, whoever became the next capo would hunt us down until we were dead. The best thing to do was to trade.”

“The Moreti Family were close friends of ours. They were the strongest gang and only they could offer us maximum protection. But being friends alone wasn’t going to cut it. A deal had to be made, in addition to handing over the Familia, we had to offer something as proof that we would never break our agreement. We were ready for whatever they asked of us until they demanded you as the peace offering.”

“ Giving up that life was solely because I needed to give you a normal life, there was no point in all that if you were going to grow up with them. We begged for another alternative, and finally the best we could get was to agree to a marriage between you and their son Lucious.”

“The agreement was that, once you turned 18, they would pick you up and you’d be married to Lucious. We tried our best to fight it, but if we declined it would have led to war and we would have lost.”

“We are so sorry, Anna, but you’re getting married tomorrow.”

“What The Fuck?!!!!!”