Sold to the Capo

ADRIANA'S POV

"I hope you know what you're getting into," the old man at the registrar said to me for like the hundredth time in one minute. It seemed to be his mantra of some sort.

My blonde hair fell in layered waves across my face, my brown eyes shining brightly as I stared at him

"There's no need to worry, Mr Lambert… I'm perfectly fine. This was something I chose to agree to. He didn't force me into it" I assured the man who seemed genuinely worried for me. My voice was barely above a whisper because Vincenzo's henchmen were stationed all about me and their ears were perked up trying to listen to us.

The man muttered a few things but immediately turned his gaze away as one of Vincenzo's men who I had come to recognize as his right-hand man called Henry walked to me, his cold blue eyes fixed on me.

I sighed and left the presence of the old man who had begun to feel uncomfortable so that I could talk to Henry.

"Finally, my presence has been acknowledged," I said with a mocking tone

His gaze hardened but he smiled.

"Mrs LaRosa" His tone was filled with what seemed to be mockery too. Mrs LaRosa…I would never get used to that. "We've not been properly introduced due to the bustling activities lately…I'm…", he began to explain when I cut him off.

"Henry Lombardi. The right-hand man. 25 years old, became the consigliere 6 years ago at the tender age of 19 making you the youngest consigliere in the LaRosa family…" I paused to take a breather. "I did my research"

His jaw dropped slightly but his composure was quickly regained and there was something like respect in his eyes. I must be seeing things.

"Why are you here? Came to keep me Company?" I asked sarcastically.

He quickly shook his head. "No, Don Enzo wants you to wait in his office"

Don Enzo? That was what he went by? Not the devil? That was a more befitting title. He was a devil after all.

I looked around me briefly. "He has an office here?" I asked in disbelief.

He nodded and motioned for me to stand up. "let's go".

I followed him up the stairs of the building and a couple of minutes later, I was standing alone in a small tidy office. It seemed normal at first glance but I could faintly scent the expensive cologne of pine that seemed to cling to his very being, stacks of paper were piled neatly on the oakwood desk and not to mention, almost everything was black. Yep, it was his office.

Henry had warned me to just sit down and wait for Vincenzo and that was what I had in mind. I couldn't wait to get out of here and back to the mansion that I had been living in for the past two days since I made the deal with Vincenzo.

"Don't touch anything. You'll only hurt yourself" had been Henry's parting words before he left me alone.

That was certainly a very beautiful way to make me feel at ease. His words were cryptic but I had a nagging feeling that he was hinting at something that I wasn't getting. Not sure if I wanted to find out.

I sighed and was about to sit down when my eye caught the envelope lying separately on the table. With my name on it. In bold letters. It literally read "Adriana Rossi"

My hands trembled as I picked it up, looking at who it was addressed to. It was addressed to Vincenzo by someone called Lord LaRosa. His father.

Holy shit. What the hell was this?

Slowly, I opened the envelope and began to read through the letter. I froze, my heart skipping several beats as I read it over and over again until I could recite it by heart. My legs began to tremble as the letter fell to the ground and I stared straight ahead.

No, it couldn't be.

The door to the office opened and someone walked in but I was too starstruck to move from the spot I was glued in. Hot tears rushed to my eyes. I should have known that this was too good to be true.

God, I was a fool. I always was. Tears began to drop and I wanted to just fall to the ground.

"Tesoro?" Vincenzo's voice sounded behind me and my anger tipped over the edge to fury.

Spinning on my heels, I stormed to him and almost slapped him but I just clenched my fists by my side.

"What's the meaning of that letter?!" I yelled, tears streaming down my cheeks.

He took one look at the letter on the tiled floor behind me and looked back at me with an indifferent expression.

"It is what you saw," he said almost casually.

I lost it and I gripped his shirt, his ironed suit creasing as I balled it.

"Let go, Tesoro" his voice was warning but I didn't flinch until he pried my hand down with ease and crossed his arms.

"Surprised?" He asked when I didn't say anything.

"My father owed you? He owed you and said you could have me if he didn't pay up?!" I yelled, not believing what I just saw.

My father fucking sold me in exchange for his debts and the most painful part was that the deal was made almost 10 years ago. How long had he been owing them? Shit, that didn't even matter.

Vincenzo was just watching me with that cold expression that I wanted to smack off his face.

"What does this mean now?", I asked, struggling to breathe while I waited for him to answer.

"It's simple…" He said huskily. "It means I own you"

My legs gave out and I fell to the ground. No…no…no…I wasn't his toy. It couldn't be but the letter sitting on the ground was enough evidence. I was his. And I had no choice.