All Chapters of Claimed by Don Vieri : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

I don't even know how I managed to get to the estate. I remember running at least two red lights I shouldn't have, and drivers honking and cursing at me as I cut across lanes without checking. My hands won't stop shaking on the wheel the entire drive.I pull up the long empty driveway, gravel crunching under the tires, and sit there for a second just staring at the house. Lights on in the foyer. Lights on upstairs. Normal. Untouched. Like my whole world hasn't just ended forty minutes ago.I get out of the car, my eyes scanning the front of the house on instinct, checking for staff. I don't want an audience for this. Whatever is about to come out of me, I need it to happen somewhere where word doesn't get around to anyone about how badly Ariadna Valdés fell apart tonight.The front doors are already open.I step into the entryway, and for a moment it swallows me the way it always does, marble floors polished enough to reflect the chandelier above, the ceiling stretching two stories up

"Cancel all of it."That's the only instruction I give Kim, my secretary, when I get to the office. Caterer, florist, venue, dress. No explanation needed. No eye contact.She stares at me like I just asked her to kill Santa, then nods and walks off with her phone already at her ear.I've barely sat down when my dad knocks on my open door. He's in the navy suit, the one that says serious business, and he's holding two coffees like a peace offering."Morning, baby."He hands me one of the cups."You're bringing me coffee now. Maybe I should call off weddings more often," I joke.He laughs, his own cup stopping halfway to his mouth."Too soon?"He nods. "Too soon.""The Vieri merger closes today."Now it's my turn for my coffee to stop halfway."Today? Really? After weeks of 'we'll circle back,' today?""They called at six this morning. Signing is at ten." He rubs his jaw. "Alessandro is coming himself."I put the cup down. Alessandro Vieri doesn't come to signings. His lawyers do. His l