Prologue
LUCA
The wheels of the jet touch down on the tarmac with a jolt, waking me up. Opening my eyes, I let out a sigh because just like that, I’m back home, after being gone for a week on business.
I had to go to New York to check on my business, to make sure everything was running smoothly and on time because I was getting ready to send out a huge shipment of high-quality, expensive wine.
This particular business is solely mine, so my father has no claim over it, which is something I’m highly pleased over.
I think the man would have already run it into the ground if he was the one in charge.
He isn’t though, because when I first brought forth the idea, he said that I wouldn’t make any money from it and I proved him wrong.
Besides being a mafia prince, my other ventures— this being something I’m very passionate about— is the wine and distillery business.
Notte Oscura is the name of my company and there’s a winery and vineyard side to it, plus a distillery that produces whiskey in New York and cognac in France, which has earned me billions in revenue already.
Though he had no faith in me in the beginning, he sure does reap the rewards of the business now because he’s the head of the family.
In addition to producing and selling wine, whiskey and cognac, I also dabble in the smuggling of rare goods.
Then I have a side business where I work with Enzo Andretti to smuggle some of his weapons out the country through my wine ports though my father does not know about this particular gig and it’s a story for another time.
I love being in New York and working on my business because it’s something I truly own, my baby, you could say since I watched it grow from something small to the big powerhouse it is now.
Every time I leave home to go there, I never want to come back.
Although, I make it a point to never stay away for too long, because I still have a job to do here, but more importantly, I always come back for my sister.
The only reason I don’t really like being home is because of my father.
The man really tests my patience daily. He’s as arrogant as they come and he makes certain decisions I don’t agree with most of the time.
His position as the head of the family, makes him feel like he’s invincible and never wrong even when it comes back to bite him in the ass and dealing with that every day gets pretty fucking old, real fast.
So yeah, my sister is the reason I’m here for this unnecessary party that my father is throwing tonight. She’s the only person in this world I truly care for.
I can’t wait to see her since I’ve been gone for the past week, leaving her alone with our father. I would have taken her with me but our father was against that, the asshole.
When the doors to the jet opens, my right-hand man Alonzo walks down the aisle and stands in the doorway, inspecting the tarmac looking for threats, before looking back at me and giving me a nod that the coast is clear.
We always have to be aware of our surroundings in case there’s an ambush because my father and his asshole friend Salvatore Rossi are always making enemies out of people and I’m sure one of them wouldn’t mind taking out Bernardo’s heir…
I get up and head for the door, following him down the stairs.
Two black SUVs with my men are already waiting for us.
Thomas, my driver opens the door and I get in the back.
He closes it behind me a moment later before getting behind the wheel, while Alonzo gets in the passenger seat and a moment later, we’re heading for home.
My jet landed late, so by the time I make it home it’s close to the time the party’s supposed to start. I head towards my father’s office to greet him before I need to go up and change.
“Come in,” I hear him say from the other side after I’ve knocked. I open the door and walk into the room, taking the seat across from him in front of his desk. I look at him and see there’s a genuine smile on his face at the sight of me. “You’re back.”
I wish he cared for my sister this way and this is one of the reasons why I hate the man.
“Yeah, I just got in,” I tell him.
“How was your trip? It went, okay?” he questions.
“Yeah. Everything’s good and on track for the next shipment,” I inform him.
“That’s good. What’s the estimate for this shipment?” he asks.
“About a million,” I tell him, a surge of pride in my voice because this is all me and my team at Notte Oscura.
He lets out a whistle, nothing but dollar signs filling his eyes. “That’s amazing son! I’m so proud of you and how far you’ve taken the business.”
“Thanks dad,” I murmur. “What time is the party starting?”
“In about an hour,” he states.
“Alright, I’ll see you in an hour. I’m going to get changed,” I let him know.
“Yeah, we’ll talk about business later,” he murmurs.
With that, I walk away and make my way up to my room, taking a long and hot shower. Once I’m finished getting dressed, I head for my sister’s room. I step in and see that she’s sitting in front of her vanity.
“Why aren’t you dressed yet, sis? You need to get moving. We don’t want to anger Father now, do we?” I ask from behind her.
Our father is an ass on most days and though he wouldn’t dare say a word to me, I know he yells at Aria whenever I’m not around.
He verbally assaults her when he’s angry and I fucking hate that shit, though he wouldn’t dare to do it when I’m here.
I try to shield her from our father as much as I can.
The last time we had a fight with Father was a few months ago when someone tried to attack Aria while she was coming home from school.
The asshole made it seem like it was her fault for being attacked, which was a total dick move on his part.
He claimed it was the Andretti’s but I know for a fact it wasn’t them.
My father is still keeping the rivalry he has with the Andretti family alive and well and if I’m not mistaken, it was for some asinine reason like jealousy or something.
As the heirs to our family, thank God Enzo and I have enough sense to work together even if it’s in secret.
Out of both our father’s though, I’m pretty sure mine is the only irrational one.
Building alliances is the best way to make sure you survive in this world and Enzo and I know that.
There have been some rumblings about Salvatore’s businesses but I can’t be certain because I haven’t had a chance to look into it yet.
But, even without hearing all that shit, I wouldn’t form an alliance with him because the asshole disgusts me.
Anyway, our father made my sister stop school after that day and she’s essentially been a prisoner in this house ever since. I can’t even do much because according to the rules his word is law.
I can’t wait until I’m the head of this family and my word will be the fucking law.
I’ll take my sister out of this house so fast he won’t be able to say a word.
I hate seeing her be treated like a damn prisoner in her own home.
Though, I did set up homeschooling for her.
A tutor comes to the house twice a week so she can continue learning.
At the sound of my voice, she turns to look at me, a genuine and happy smile on her face. Though, I don’t miss the sadness that still lingers in her eyes. Sometimes, I feel so guilty because of all the restrictions our father has placed on her.
Whenever I’m home, I try to take her out to dinner or shopping or we do something else just so we can spend some time together and I can get her out of the house for a while. One day I’ll get you out of here, I silently promise.
I know my father thinks of her as useless but she’s smart as a whip. I also know that the asshole wants to arrange a marriage for her but I’ve put my foot down on that. She won’t be getting married until she’s ready and it’ll be to someone she chooses.
To say father was angry at my threats of what would happen if he did something I didn’t approve of where she’s concerned would be an understatement.
“You know I would never risk Father’s wrath for no reason. I’m almost done. I only need to pull my dress on,” she says, in her soft voice as she stands up.
She rushes over to where I’m standing and I open my arms wide. A second later her small body is slamming into mine as she hugs me tight. I hug her back, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Looks like somebody missed me,” I joke. “How was your week? I missed you while I was away.”
“Of course, I missed you, you big oaf. Same old, same old. Nothing too dramatic. It felt like you were gone for a lifetime,” she says, pouting. “I thought for sure you were going to miss the party and leave me all alone to deal with the creeps.”
“I would never! What kind of brother would I be if I did that?” I ask. I honestly wanted to skip this party but I did think about the creeps and knew that there was no way in hell I’d miss it and let her deal with that.
“Honestly, you’d be the worst!” she laughs.
“How was Father while I was away?” I ask.
“Fine…” she says. We continue talking for a little longer, her words making me remember that time I found her crying in her room a couple of times. I asked her what was wrong and she tried to lie to me a few times until I realized and that was when she had to tell the truth.
I know that our father uses his words to put her down and it angers me so much. Like who the hell hates a little girl for something she had no control over? Talk about fucking delusional.
After a while I finally speak again. “Go finish getting dressed so we can head down before our dear old dad loses his patience.”
“You’re right,” she says, walking away and heading into her closet. When she comes back, she’s wearing a blue ball gown, holding the front up as she turns around for me to zip the dress up.
“You look gorgeous as always little sis,” I tell her, a genuine and happy smile spreading across my face for the first time today.