007

Serafina De Luca:

“Ma’am, the Don has ordered you to move into the Main Residence.”

I blinked at the maid in confusion.

“The… main residence?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

For a second I simply stared at her while my brain struggled to catch up. I had genuinely assumed I would remain hidden away inside the guest villa forever like some embarrassing mistake no one wanted near the actual family.

Apparently not.

The maids moved quickly after that.

My dresses—well, the few things that actually belonged to me—were packed neatly into boxes while several staff members carried them across the estate. No one explained anything. They simply escorted me through hallways so enormous and luxurious they barely looked real.

The main residence was breathtaking.

Not in the warm welcoming way beautiful places usually were.

No.

This place looked powerful.

Dark polished floors stretched endlessly beneath glittering chandeliers while expensive paintings lined the walls beside antique statues and massive windows overlooking the cliffs below the estate. Everything smelled faintly of cedarwood, smoke, and money.

Old money.

The dangerous kind.

I stayed quiet the entire walk.

Partly because I was overwhelmed.

Partly because I was terrified touching anything here would somehow cost more than my entire existence.

Eventually the maids stopped in front of a pair of enormous double doors at the very end of the hallway.

One pushed them open.

“This will be your room, Lady Serafina.”

My mouth fell open slightly.

Room?

This was larger than the entire upstairs section of the De Luca mansion.

A massive bed sat near the center beneath silk curtains while a fireplace crackled softly along the far wall. There was a private sitting area beside the windows, a marble bathroom bigger than my old bedroom, and an entire wardrobe already filled with clothes I had never seen before.

I turned slowly in place.

“Oh…”

One maid smiled faintly at my reaction.

The other looked impatient for me to stop staring at everything.

After they left, I spent nearly twenty minutes just washing up and trying not to panic every time I accidentally touched something expensive.

The hot water alone nearly made me emotional.

At the De Luca house, warm baths were considered a privilege.

Here the bathroom floor itself was heated.

By the time I changed into a soft cream nightdress left out for me, my nerves had settled slightly.

Only slightly.

Then guilt started creeping in.

Because no matter how terrifying Vincenzo Marazona was…

He had moved me here.

Not Donna Marazona.

Not the staff.

Him.

I stared at my reflection nervously before chewing lightly on my thumbnail.

Maybe… maybe I should thank him.

The idea alone nearly made me sick with anxiety.

Still, after several minutes of internal suffering, I finally stepped outside and found one of the maids arranging fresh flowers nearby.

“Uhm…”

She turned immediately.

“Yes, Lady Serafina?”

“I wanted to ask…” I swallowed awkwardly. “Where is Don Vincenzo’s room?”

The maid froze.

Another maid farther down the hallway looked over instantly.

The silence that followed made me regret being born.

Finally the first maid cleared her throat carefully.

“You wish to see the Don?”

“I-I just wanted to thank him,” I explained quickly. “Only if he’s not busy though! I mean—it’s completely okay if he doesn’t want to see me—”

“We will escort you.”

Before I could panic properly, they were already leading me upstairs.

And dear God.

His floor was somehow even more intimidating.

The lighting was dimmer here.

The hallways quieter.

Security guards stood near certain doors with the kind of expressions that suggested they had buried people professionally.

I suddenly understood why the maids looked nervous.

One finally stopped outside large black double doors at the end of the corridor.

“This is the Don’s private suite.”

Suite?

This looked like the entrance to a government building.

One maid pressed the bell beside the door.

Silence.

Then a deep voice sounded from inside.

“What?”

I nearly jumped.

The maid straightened immediately. “Forgive us, Master, but Lady Serafina requested to see you.”

There was a pause.

A horrible pause.

I immediately started panicking.

“I mean—if he’s comfortable,” I blurted nervously. “It’s really not important, I can just leave—”

“Send her in.”

The doors opened instantly.

The maids stepped aside.

One gave me what looked suspiciously like a pitying glance before I walked inside alone.

The doors shut behind me with a heavy sound that nearly stopped my heart.

The room was enormous.

Dark.

Elegant.

A low fire burned quietly near the sitting area while rain battered softly against the massive windows overlooking the cliffs below.

And then there was him.

Don Vincenzo Marazona sat lazily against the large sofa near the fireplace wearing loose grey joggers and an oversized dark brown polo that hung comfortably against his broad frame.

For the first time since meeting him, he looked less like a terrifying mafia lord dressed for war and more like an exhausted dangerous man trying very hard not to murder somebody.

Which honestly felt worse somehow.

His eyes lifted toward me slowly.

I swallowed hard immediately.

“I uhm…”

God.

Why was speaking suddenly impossible?

Vincenzo stared at me for several painful seconds before speaking flatly.

“If you came here expecting sex, the answer is no.”

My entire body malfunctioned.

“Sex?!”

He looked completely unimpressed by my horror.

“Yes. Sex. That is generally one of the reasons wives enter their husbands’ bedrooms at night.”

My face burned so violently I thought I might actually die.

“N-no!” I squeaked. “Oh my God no—I didn’t come for that!”

“Good.” He leaned back lazily against the sofa. “Because you still look medically unstable.”

I stared at him in complete mortification.

“I came to thank you,” I said weakly.

A pause.

Then one dark eyebrow lifted slightly.

“For what?”

“The room,” I answered nervously. “And the clothes. And… not sending me back.”

His expression remained completely unreadable.

“That should not impress you,” he said calmly. “Your standards are concerning.”

I bit my lip nervously.

Honestly?

He looked unfairly good like this.

The loose dark polo stretched comfortably over his broad shoulders while the grey joggers somehow made one of the most terrifying men in Italy look dangerously relaxed. The low lighting from the fireplace cast warm shadows across his face, softening absolutely nothing about him.

If anything, it made him worse.

My eyes drifted unconsciously around the room.

The massive windows.

The dark furniture.

The expensive whiskey sitting beside him.

The quiet crackling fire.

A small smile tugged at my lips before I could stop it.

“Beautiful room.”

“Get out.”

My eyes widened instantly.

“Oh! Right. Sorry.” I started backing toward the door awkwardly before stopping halfway. “Actually… no, wait, not sorry because you told me to stop apologizing and now I don’t know what the correct response is and—”

Christ.

I was doing it again.

I pressed my lips together hard.

“Gosh,” I muttered under my breath. “I’m talking too much.”

To my absolute horror, I realized he was still staring directly at me.

Not warmly.

Not kindly.

Just watching me with that same unreadable expression like he genuinely could not decide whether I was strange or simply defective.

My face heated again.

“Well…” I gave a tiny nervous smile. “Goodnight, Don Vincenzo.”

Then I bowed my head quickly and escaped before my dignity could suffer further casualties.

The second the doors shut behind me, my heart began beating so fast it felt dangerous.

Oh God.

Oh God he was handsome.

Like offensively handsome.

And tall.

And terrifying.

And rude.

And somehow that combination was making my stomach behave strangely.

I pressed both hands against my burning face all the way back to my room while the maids walked silently behind me pretending not to notice my embarrassment.

By the time I finally crawled into bed later that night, I was still smiling stupidly into my pillow.

Maybe marrying into this family was not entirely terrible.

---

The next morning, I woke earlier than expected.

For a few confused seconds I simply blinked up at the expensive ceiling above me before remembering where I was.

The Marazona Estate.

Right.

Still terrifying.

After washing up and changing into one of the soft dresses left in the wardrobe, I carefully made my way downstairs expecting awkward silence and perhaps another near-death experience involving Donna Marazona.

Instead, the dining hall was empty.

No Vincenzo.

No Donna.

No guards glaring at me over breakfast.

Just staff quietly preparing the room.

One maid approached politely the moment she saw me.

“Good morning, Lady Serafina.”

I still was not emotionally prepared for people calling me that.

“G-good morning.”

“The Donna has instructed us to escort you to the salon and spa this morning.”

I blinked.

“The what?”

“For your hair, skin treatments, massage therapy, wardrobe measurements, and general body care.”

I stared at her.

Body care?

Another maid stepped forward holding what looked suspiciously like a schedule.

“The specialists are already waiting, Ma’am.”

I looked between both women slowly.

Then down at myself.

Then back at them.

“Oh.”

A tiny smile slowly appeared on my face.

Maybe…

just maybe…

marrying into this family was not entirely bad after all.