Chapter 1

"Hey, come over for dinner tonight. Let's have some good time together."

Lia Moretti stared at the message on her phone, blinking once, then twice, before reading it all over again. Surely her eyes were playing tricks on her. There was no way she had just received an invitation to the De Luca family mansion just like that.

She read the text for the third time.

Matteo: Hey, come over for dinner tonight. Let's have some good time together.

Her mouth slowly fell open, and before she realized it, an excited squeal escaped her lips.

"Oh my God…..."

The phone nearly slipped from her trembling fingers as she sprang off the bed. She hugged it tightly against her chest, spun around in the middle of her room, and laughed like someone who had just discovered she'd won the biggest jackpot in history.

"No," she corrected herself with another delighted gasp. "This is even better than the lottery!"

Without bothering to put on her slippers, Lia bolted out of her room.

"Emma!" she shouted, her voice echoing through the apartment. "Emma! Where are you?"

The bathroom door creaked open just enough for Emma to poke her head out. A toothbrush dangled lazily from the corner of her mouth as she looked at Lia with sleepy eyes.

"Some of us," she mumbled, "are trying very hard to survive basic dental hygiene, can’t we do that in peace again?."

Lia paid absolutely no attention to the complaint. She practically shoved her phone into Emma's face.

"Read it!"

Emma sighed the exhausted sigh of someone who already regretted all her life's decisions. Pulling the toothbrush from her mouth, she took the phone and scanned the message.

For several seconds, she said nothing.

Her eyes moved from the screen to Lia's glowing face, then back to the screen again before returning to Lia.

Finally, she handed the phone back.

"You got scammed."

Lia's smile vanished.

"What?"

"I said you got scammed." Emma shrugged. "Congratulations."

"How is that a scam?"

Emma folded her arms and leaned against the bathroom door.

"Lia."

"Hmm?"

"Let's use the little common sense God gave us."

Lia narrowed her eyes immediately.

"I already don't like where this conversation is going."

Emma raised a finger.

"The sole heir of the De Luca family."

A second finger joined the first.

"The son of the infamous Il Re Nero (The Dark King)."

A third finger followed.

"The future Don of the richest and most feared Mafia family in the whole world."

She reached over and lightly tapped Lia's forehead.

"And he fell in love with a girl who apologizes to chairs after bumping into them."

Lia looked offended.

"They have feelings too."

Emma blinked.

"The chairs?"

Emma stared at her for another second before letting out a dramatic sigh.

Lia crossed her arms.

"My point is that he really likes me.”

Emma laughed. Not the sweet kind of laugh a best friend was supposed to give, but the merciless laugh that screamed, Sweetheart, reality is about to hit you with a frying pan.

"Lia……..."

"He confessed."

Emma's laughter died instantly.

".......He what?"

"He confessed his feelings to me"

"When?"

"Two days ago."

Emma's eyes widened.

"And you never told me?"

"I was trying to process it myself!"

Emma placed both hands on her waist and looked at Lia as though she'd just announced she was marrying the Pope.

"So we're talking about the Matteo De Luca?"

"The one and only."

"The tall one?"

"Yes."

"The annoyingly handsome one?"

Lia nodded before catching herself.

"...Very annoyingly handsome."

"The one who drives that black Ferrari everybody secretly takes pictures of?"

"Yes."

"The same Matteo every girl on campus has been crushing on since first year?"

Lia couldn't stop the proud little smile that spread across her face.

"That one."

Emma pressed a hand dramatically against her chest.

"I think I'm the one getting played because none of this makes any sense."

Lia laughed.

"You're impossible."

"I'm realistic."

Emma disappeared back into the bathroom, though her voice floated out a few seconds later.

"So what exactly did Prince Charming say when he confessed?"

Lia froze.

Her cheeks instantly turned pink.

"I…….."

Emma poked her head out again.

"Don't suddenly become shy now. Spill."

Lia covered her face with both hands.

"He said…..."

Emma folded her arms.

"I'm waiting."

"He said he'd been watching me for months."

Emma rolled her eyes so dramatically that Lia thought they might actually get stuck.

"Classic."

"And..." Lia mumbled, peeking through her fingers. "He said I blush too easily."

Emma nodded thoughtfully.

"That part, I believe."

Lia groaned.

"You're supposed to be supporting me."

"I am supporting you." Emma rinsed her toothbrush before turning to face her again. "I'm simply supporting common sense a little more."

Lia threw herself onto the couch with an exaggerated huff.

"You don't believe he actually likes me."

Emma walked over and sat beside her, gently nudging her shoulder.

"I believe one thing."

"What?"

"I believe you've been hopelessly in love with him since first year."

Lia slowly turned her head.

"...You knew?"

Emma snorted.

"Lia, every time Matteo walked past, you stared at him like he was the answer sheet during final exams."

Lia buried her face in a pillow.

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

"...Maybe just a little."

Emma laughed before clapping her hands together.

"Alright. Enough romance. What time is this famous dinner?"

"The text didn't indicate, but I guess 7pm?"

Emma glanced at the clock hanging above the television.

The smile disappeared from her face.

"Lia."

"What?"

"It's past 6 already…"

Lia's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"What?"

"We have less than one hour!"

Lia immediately looked down at herself.

She was still wearing oversized duck-print pajamas, fluffy slippers, and her hair looked as though it had survived a small hurricane.

She gasped.

"I can't meet the most feared Mafia Don in Italy looking like this."

Emma nodded with complete seriousness.

"No."

A brief silence followed.

"You absolutely cannot."

Lia jumped to her feet so quickly that she nearly tripped over the rug.

"What do I wear?"

A slow, mischievous smile spread across Emma's face.

The kind every best friend wore just before declaring herself the undisputed queen of fashion.

"Sit."

Lia obeyed without question.

"I'm taking over."