Chapter 21: The Omerta Ball

Chapter 21

“All done, ma’am,” the voice instantly woke her from her trail of thoughts, her eyes stared at her own reflection in the mirror.

She was draped in a black, flowing chiffon dress—armless—and it left her back completely exposed. It had a strap which was tied around her neck. Her blonde hair was styled beautifully, with the two sides clipped to the back and two thick strands of hair curled in the front. Her hair was straightened to have it fall at the top of her waist.

A beautiful diamond necklace sat on her neck; matching diamond rings adorned her ears.

She mustered a small smile of approval, her eyes lingered on her own reflection, not even believing a day would come when she would look this good. She had refused the maid from applying any makeup on her face; only a light pink lip gloss was added to her lips, yet she still looked absolutely beautiful.

Anna turned back to look at the maid, who was no one else but the same girl who had almost lost her life that day because of her. The girl had been turned into her personal maid, which she very much approved of.

“What is your name?” Anna asked the girl, who was in no way short of beautiful. Her big brown eyes stared back at her, her chestnut brown hair packed up into a neat bun.

“Chiara,” the girl answered with her head bowed politely.

“Thank you, Chiara.”

Anna took the pair of heels and began wearing them herself. The maid, Chiara, offered to help, but she blatantly refused.

She was given an expensive black purse and, with that, she finally felt ready. Although she looked beautiful, the uneasiness at the pit of her stomach still stayed.

She was uneasy, anxious, and unsure about this, but she couldn’t refuse—they were the dictators of her life after all.

As she left her room, Chiara tailed behind her, following until they got outside of the mansion.

Five guards in black tuxes stood outside, waiting for her, and then she saw him—Leone. Time seemed to have paused as his eyes lingered on her for a fleeting second.

He was dressed in an expensive and stylishly designed black tux with a white inner shirt, a diamond ring on his finger. His hair was combed backwards, with two rebellious strands hovering at the front.

Anna’s eyes trailed down from his smooth, pale neck to his hard, sturdy chest, which peeked out from the button that was left undone. Not to mention how tall he was—certainly the wrong person had been blessed with beauty here.

She tore her eyes away from him. The guards opened the back door to the sleek black car. Anna got in first, and then Leone. The door was shut afterward.

Anna dug her nails into her palm. She didn’t know why the Don had told her to attend this party—the Omertà Ball.

She had only heard whispers of it. She had seen a blurry clip once on the news, but that was the most she had heard about it.

The Omertà Ball was the most prestigious ball held in Italy—a ball only the richest of the rich could attend, a ball not even the president could leisurely walk into without an invitation.

Her father refused several invitations to the ball because of the first treaty between the Lorenzo and Vicenzo mafia groups, long before he was even made Don, where the Lorenzo mafia group was not to cross the borders of Italy and the Vicenzos were not to cross the borders of Russia.

This had stopped her father from attending, regardless of the fact he was one of the wealthiest humans in the world. But with the new treaty, did it mean her father would attend? Was there a higher possibility of seeing him there now? Her face paled at the thought.

Obviously, there was no way she could avoid him forever, but that didn’t mean she was ready to see him so soon.

The driver revved the engine and began driving them out of the clan. Anna stylishly turned to stare at Leone; his eyes were fixed on the tinted glass. His side profile gave her a good look at his sharp jawline.

“Stop gawking at me, Anna.”

His deep voice made her turn back to look at the window at her side. She cleared her throat. “I wasn’t staring.”

He said nothing more, but that didn’t erase the redness from her cheeks. Certainly, with looks like that, he should be used to people staring at him a lot.

Her mind drifted back to the ball. She had been a servant all her life. She hadn’t been to anything as grand as that—scratch that—she hadn’t even managed to get herself invited to a toddler’s birthday party, much less a party this grand and sophisticated.

She didn’t know what to expect. She knew nothing, much less how to act once she got there. Domenico had gone on another business trip. Why did she have to attend it with Leone instead? Seems like they wanted to show her off to the mafia world since she would be Domenico’s wife—or so they thought. Odd to say, but she was at least glad that she was going with this psychopath rather than attending the function with Domenico.

As the drive continued for minutes, Anna felt even more anxious, and it all settled in the pit of her stomach. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, despite the air conditioner being on. She clenched her thighs, running her hand through them to control the unsettling feeling.

“Why don’t I help you with that?” she gasped sharply as his hot breath fanned her earlobe. She slowly turned, only to come face-to-face with him.

She had been so lost in thought she hadn’t realized how close he had scooted towards her, and before she could say anything more, she felt his large hand on her thigh, squeezing the soft flesh.