9. Already Mine
Already Mine
Ishoved out of the lift and into my penthouse, restless on my feet as I waited for my security system to scan my face.
Adrenaline, frustration, and disbelief surged like poison through my veins, making me increasingly agitated.
I stormed down the corridor towards my living area, tearing my shirt off my arms and tossing it on the sofa.
Arianna Caruso. The Mayor’s fucking daughter?
“Signor Buccini, I wouldn’t have thought this was your scene?” Piero sneered when he cornered me at the bar. “You won’t find your confiscated illegal shipment in a respectable establishment like this.”
“Mayor Caruso,” I smirked, turning my back slightly to the stage.
“We’ve crossed paths enough for you to know that I never miss a good party.
Especially one for such an important cause.
” I clinked my glass against his. “You never know when you, or someone you love, might be in need of medical assistance, no?”
His eyes turned to slits as his posture tensed. “Are you threatening me?”
My smile widened as I relaxed against the bar. “Of course not. Threats are warnings, and I don’t bother with those. I prefer arrangements. Or action. I wanted to congratulate you on your success yesterday. You must be feeling… untouchable.”
The veins in his forehead pulsed as he leaned in closer. “It’s only a matter of time, Buccini. Your family are leeches. You bleed this country dry, and you think you’re unstoppable, but the day will come when everyone will see you for what you are.”
“And what’s that?” I grinned, taking a sip of my brandy, enjoying this exchange thoroughly.
“Murderers. Thugs. Criminals. Fraudsters.” He spat every word under his breath like venom.
“You’ve quite a wild imagination, Caruso.
You should be careful throwing accusations like that around with no proof to back them up.
Not everyone is as forgiving as I am. The last I heard, convictions need proof, and proof needs…
people who remember names.” I smirked, cocking my head.
“How are the police interrogations going?”
“Leave. You’re not welcome here.”
“I have an invitation, and I think I’ll be very welcome here in a few minutes.
Just like you, I want what’s best for this city.
I believe we both know that we can reach a mutual agreement that benefits us both.
So why don’t we put our differences aside for the evening and enjoy the beautiful view?
” I nodded towards the stage, my gaze drifting to Aria standing at the edge, looking adorable as hell, bouncing nervously on the balls of her feet.
“She has nothing to do with this,” he hissed under his breath with pure rage. “Stay away from her.”
At that exact moment, Signora Valtibino introduced Arianna Caruso to the stage, and my little rebel stepped forward.
My whole body froze as everything clicked into place.
Arianna Caruso, the Mayor’s daughter. My chest tightened the way it does when a plan is about to fall apart because of an unexpected variable.
“I mean it, Buccini,” Piero growled. “Stay the hell away from my daughter, or I’ll make sure you regret it.”
I tore my gaze away from Aria to look at the man next to me, noticing the slight resemblance now that I knew.
Forcing a slow, calculated smile onto my face to hide my surprise, I replied, “Now that sounded like a threat, Mayor.” I leaned in closer. “Depends who’s doing the regretting. I think it might be you, because what happens when she can’t stay away from me?”
His nostrils flared, fists clenched at his sides. I had found his weakness, and he knew it. But he didn’t realise that we had that in common. When Arianna read out my donation, the entire room’s attention shifted to us, and it couldn’t have been more perfect timing.
“To mutual interests,” I husked, extending my hand to him as the camera lights flashed in our faces, feeding the story into the world; Caruso and Buccini, partners in philanthropy.
He was backed into a corner, his reputation as a supportive and grateful leader hanging in the balance as he glared at my offering.
He finally shook my hand, leaving us both knowing it guaranteed nothing but implied everything.
He stormed away with his jaw set, and I watched his security team sweep Aria off the stage.
Pacing back and forth in front of my living room windows that looked out over the city, a mosaic of rooftops and dimmed lights, I dragged my hands down my face and let out a strangled groan that turned into a manic laugh.
Of fucking course the universe would scribble my name next to hers and light the whole page on fire.
Hilarious. She couldn’t have been anyone else, could she?
She had to be the daughter of the most uptight man in Rome, who was dead set on destroying my empire.
I wanted to snap something–a chair, a neck, my sanity–but what I wanted more was for Arianna Caruso to be mine.
I laughed, dropping onto the sofa and throwing my head back to stare at the ceiling.
Her lipstick was still smeared all over my stomach like the claim I’d put there.
That was the problem. I was already hers in every way that would ruin us both.
Would knowing who her father was stop me from going after what I wanted?
Hell no. Was it inconvenient? Absolutely.
It’s going to be awkward to buy flowers for someone whose father wants you buried with them.
My phone vibrated against my leg, and I pulled it out of my pocket, already knowing who it was. My brother was waiting for an update on how tonight went, but I let it ring, giving myself a few extra minutes to decide what to tell him. The whole truth or just part of it?
Opening my private chat with Raya, the person I trusted most in the world, I hit send.
I have a problem.
What have you done now?
Not what I’ve done.
What I’m going to do.
Easy. Just don’t do whatever terrible idea your brain is telling you to do. Problem solved.
Remember that necklace?
The one you stole from your oblivious fiancé?
Well, it belongs to Mayor Caruso’s daughter.
Is that a joke?
Sani, if you’re being serious, stay away from her.
It’s too late for that.
Cristo. Of course it is.
Want my advice? Pick another woman to ruin your life over.
Literally anyone else.
I’m going to make her fall in love with me.
You can’t force love on someone, Sani.
Have you met me?
This is going to end badly.
Gio is going to lose it.
Which is why I’m not going to tell him yet.
You mean you won’t tell him until you’re in too deep so he can’t force you to stay away.
You’ve been to the hospital during your nursing degree, right?
I hate where this is going.
How do I get in without being seen?
You don’t.
All exits are locked from the inside except the main entrance. Only personnel have access.
Hypothetically?
Hypothetically, you’re an idiot. You’ll get caught and arrested for stalking.
Why am I the only logical one in this family?
Ti voglio bene, sorellina.
Love you too, asshole.
Our conversation was cut short by my impatient brother, and I sighed as I answered the call.
“Pronto, Boss.”
“How did it go?”
“Pretty well, all things considered,” I replied, as I pulled out Aria’s stolen lipstick and rolled it between my fingers.
“What does that mean? Did you speak to Caruso?”
“Si. He went in harder than I expected, but his daughter is definitely his weakness. Her name’s Arianna Caruso, and she works as a night administrator at the hospital.”
And I’m slightly obsessed with the way she moans for me.
“Was threatening her enough to make him drop this?”
I sighed, rolled up the lipstick, and checked the name of the colour. Stoned Rose. Pretty. I brought it to my nose and inhaled. It smelt like fuck all. But just seeing its softened shape, knowing it had skated across those full lips countless times, made me groan.
“Sani?”
“No. It wasn’t enough tonight. It needs action, not words.”
“And what action are you planning to take?” Gio exhaled.
We had only one rule we stood by in our family: never harm innocent women or children.
But Caruso didn’t know that. I’d never threaten Arianna’s life, even with empty words.
I had a different plan. A smirk tugged at my lips, knowing Caruso would do everything he could to keep his daughter away from me and fail miserably.
“I’ll make sure he believes she’s in my sights until he agrees to work with us. But I’ll also be discreet and subtle. I won’t get caught doing anything he can use against me.”
“Discreet and subtle are not your strengths, Sani. Can you handle this?” Gio asked. “The last thing we need is the mayor’s daughter filing a restraining order against you.”
I scoffed. Not in this lifetime.
“Fratello, have faith. I’ve got this.”
After our call, I checked the profiles Nero had sent over of my little rebel and the man she’d been with at the hotel.
He turned out to be one of Piero’s bodyguards called Damiano, and not her dickhead ex, which was a little disappointing because I would have liked to have known where he lived so I could pay him a visit.
But at least I had the most important details on Aria: her place of work, her address, full name, and phone number.
She’d been living in Italy for nearly five years.
She’d lived at two addresses during that time, and I’d put money on the first being her father’s.
I spent the rest of the night pacing my apartment, thinking and devising scheming plans, while casually flipping my knife open and closed.
Ensuring Arianna fell for me while also threatening her father enough for him to abandon the investigation wouldn’t be easy.
But nothing in life that comes easily is worth having.
It’s the things you have to pour your soul into, give everything to achieve, that reap the most rewards.
I glanced down at the broken antique Rolex on my wrist and smiled.
Arianna was on the right side of the law.
But so was my mamma once—until she met Papi.
One chance encounter, when she had to represent my papi as his lawyer against the murder charges he faced, changed her life forever.
Mamma always said that from the moment they locked eyes over that bolted metal table, she became his. And he knew it, too.
It wasn’t something you could explain, only feel.
The split-second realisation of your truth staring back at you.
The kind that tears away all reason and leaves nothing but certainty.
Mamma always said you only get that one-of-a-kind love once in your life if you’re lucky, and when you find it, you never let it go.
Even though she had found happiness and security with Marco after Papi’s death, it was a different love.
A gentle and supportive love she needed after what she had been through.
But Vincenzo Buccini would always remain her soulmate.
Standing across from Arianna in that ballroom tonight, like a man staring at the one thing he was never meant to touch, I finally knew how my papi must have felt that day. Because Aria might be on the right side of the law, but she was already mine.