Intrigued

~Alessio~

I watch as he takes my bride, places her on his bike, and takes off like a shooting star. Never has anyone disregarded me like this, pulling a fucking gun right in front of my eyes. That pure arrogance of his got under my nerves, and I resist the urge to end his life. Who is he? 

More importantly, I'm impressed that he used a bat to knock down my guards, who are well-trained special forces.

A fucking bat. My favorite weapon. God, I'm intrigued. 

"Boss, what should we do?" Dimitri asks.

"No worries. I have my plans," I say, maintaining the calm facade that I've learned to put up since I was born. 

Calm, be calm. Stay calm.

 That was what my mother told me before she died in her bedroom. At night, like a ghost had strangled her. Nightmares ensued after that day, but I learned to act like everything's normal. Going fine, okay. It's all okay.

Marrying Cesare's daughter isn't just about getting back what he owed us. That little money is nothing to me. It's just one of the many plans I have in my head after I took over from my father, fully breaking out of his control. In addition, I have another motive for doing so, one I risked my life to keep from the public and the sly bastards eyeing my position and business.

Wedding ruined and my bride taken from me, I make my way back to my office, ignoring the stares from the guests. It looks just as bad; the head of the New York Mafia, bride snatched and insulted. 

"Right about time someone gets under your skin," a voice calls out. I didn't need to look up from my desk to know who it belongs to. My younger brother, Giulio Vito.

He breezes into my office like he owns the damn place, smiling with his hands tucked in his pockets. Giulio looks as if he is dressed for a party. Suit, tie, glittery shoes; skull rings decorate the fingers on his right hand. Tattoos dance all the way to his fingers on the left hand. Flashy, flamboyant, a motherfucking show-off. An ugly cat tattoo that looks like it was drawn by a kid wraps around the left of his neck.

"Finished?"

His awful perfume is strong. It takes everything in me not to sneeze.

"Investigating? Yes. But the results aren't what you hoped. From what I see, Cesare knows who that fucker is."

It's a negative. The fucker obviously stays under the radar. It takes more control than I have not to fling everything off my desk. I want to find out who has such guts to go against me, even to snatch a bride from under my nose. Everything about him.

I recall the look in Cesare's eyes when he saw his daughter leaving hand in hand with that man. Recognition, and a softness that betrays the front he's trying to put up around me.

The man's face flashes through my mind. His eyes are a fascinating shade of blue. Vivid. Electric. It's strange how I can remember his eyes clearly, clearer than any of the documents sitting on my desk.

He's arrogant and cocky. A playboy or one of those useless jocks who depends on their parents' trust fund.

I'm not interested in Jeanne, but in that man right now. And his guts. Did he have a fucking death wish? Surely he does. Because I'm going to find him and dig him out from wherever he's hiding, and I'm going to make him pay. No one crosses my path and goes off scot-free.

"You've been cooped up here long enough. Let's go party," Giulio walks around the desk and stands beside me, inclining his neck to look at what I'm writing.

"Busy," I tell him. 

Fuck him and his perfume. I can't break the routine I've spent years depending on to keep my mind sane and busy.

"You're always busy. Come on," he tugs on my sleeve like a child, giving me a coy smile. 

Giulio and I don't look anything alike. While Giulio inherited my stepmother’s blond hair and green eyes, I take after our father. Dark eyes, dark hair; everything about me is either dark or black.

 Even my clothes match the monster I've kept hidden underneath—not that no one knows what kind of monster I am. On the outside, I'm a monster who kills without batting an eyelid. On the inside, I'm far worse. Terrible, horrifying, merciless.

Under his persuasive power, I agree, reluctantly. Giulio drags me to a club. Anyone would have gotten high on the music blasting from the DJs and speakers, but not me. If anything, they give me headaches. I don't get why people could dance to this kind of music.

But I'm here to let it out. My stress. Worries. Anger and frustration. As Giulio puts it. But it doesn't work. Though I acted like it did. I couldn't bring myself to tell Giulio or he'll be dragging me to every single club in New York just to let me release that stress. I couldn't have Giulio messing up my schedule. Just this once, since I have an hour of free time on my hands.

I ignore the advances women and men make at me, heading straight to the bar. I flag the bartender down, order vodka before making my way to the VIP area. Giulio heads off into the crowd to dance, leaving me with Dimitri. 

I'm sipping on vodka when I spot the one man I have been thinking of for the past few hours.

A head of blond hair and fucking blue eyes that look like they could electrify anyone on the spot breezes past me. He doesn't spot me; I blend into the shadows, doing the one thing I excel in—becoming one with the darkness.

Beside him is my bride. My supposed bride, Jeanne. She is smiling at something he says, talking and laughing. They know each other. My chest somehow twists. 

Fuck.

Did Cesare, that old fool, let me marry a woman who's taken?