Chapter 4

Somehow, drunken Marco has managed to get Mariana safely to bed. Of all the comments he kept throwing her way, there was only one that was stuck in her mind making her smile before going went back to bed.

“Happy Valentine’s day, beautiful,” he had said while walking out of the room, leaving her to stare his way with surprise, a simple smile finding its way on her lips.

It was somewhere in November, and he was drunkenly wishing her a happy Valentine’s day. She was now yearning to know his name.

He had helped her and then got her a place to leave. He may act cold, but deep inside him laid a good heart.

Mariana drifted back to sleep. To think of it seriously, it had been a long night.

***

Marco groaned as he got out of bed. His head hurt like a bitch, but how could he blame it when it was all his fault. Drinking was starting to become a habit. He was starting to stupidly rely on it.

He hit the shower, wondering whether Stephanie had arrived yet. She was used to spending most of every day at his house since Larissa wasn’t back in town.

Stepping out of the shower, he walked into his wardrobe, putting on a fancy suit and fixing his watch.

He hated spending most of his days at the hotel, but with everything going on, Gianni needed him by his side more than anything.

He grabbed two guns from his bedside safe and then walked out of his room, looking inside Mariana’s room only to find it empty. A scowl took over his face as he walked inside, his eyes roaming around. 

“Mariana,” he called out, but there was no reply. Rethinking, he then decided to head downstairs. His strides fast, and long as he worried, the girl didn’t really speak. What if something bad happened and she screamed but couldn’t be heard?

Or was he just overreacting?

He came to a halt in front of the staircase, catching sight of her. She was seated on the couch in his shirt only. Marco wondered how many of his shirts she had used ever since the day she had agreed to come along with him, but how could he deny that they looked good on her and were a little fitting but too long?

She looked up, her eyes locking with his. The force he felt pulling him towards her through those eyes was far too strong for him to understand. A simple smile took over her lips.

She was dangerous, very dangerous for him.

Her face was simple and beautiful, but something else didn’t click. He knew he had seen her somewhere before, but where?

How is she involved in the world that revolves around him?

He descended the stairs quietly, staring at her as she looked back down at the notebook in her hand.

“Gift,” he said, moving over to where she was. He sat down beside her feeling her eyes on him and only him.

She wrote down something and showed it to him.

‘Good morning, Valentina.’ His eyes went a bit wide, looking up at her. She managed to notice his confusion and showed it to him once more.

‘I will always call you Valentina because you wished me a happy Valentines last night instead of a good night.’

“Don’t call me that,” he replied coldly, and she shook her head. Marco felt the urge to smile but stopped himself, she may be silent, but this girl was something.

His heartbeat had changed unnecessarily due to their closeness. Nothing could be said. Both really didn’t know what to say. Marco wanted to ask her about her past life. Maybe he could remember where he saw her from, but how?

Mariana was also curious about the girl she saw in the photos last night but was afraid to pry into his life. Catching her off-guard, he placed a gun on her lap, earning her eyes on him.

“You will go with Stephanie to do some shopping. Keep the gun with you at any cost,” he said with much authority. It really sounded more like an order.

Mariana grabbed the gun in her hand, bringing it close to her face. Her fingers lightly moved over the surface. She removed the magazine in a blink catching him by surprise, before putting it back and smiling up at him.

Her actions showed she knew how to use a gun now that’s something he didn’t expect.

He thought he would spend more time with her teaching her more.

Now he was so sure that he had seen her somewhere before, but where and who was she exactly?

‘Thank you.’

He nodded before standing. 

“Stay alive,” he replied, heading out of the house. It was time to face work for a day, leaving her to her thoughts.

She unassembled the gun, thinking about her past life. She had grown up in this kind of life being her father’s best sharpshooter though all that stopped when she was sold to Valente Russo.

It seemed this man participated in the same business as Valente. She wondered if he also practiced human t******** but didn’t give it much thought as a girl walked through the doors.

Mariana stared at her beautiful blonde hair and blue-hazel eyes. Somehow she found herself feeling ugly and wanting to hide in shame due to this girl’s beauty.

“You can call me Stephanie, sister to the three stupid Di Martinos.” Mariana’s eyes widened in surprise, her heart skipping a bit as she froze.

“Where is Marco Di Martino? Um, I mean the idiot you’re staying with?” Fuck, she was staying with Gaetano’s right-hand man. Her palms started to sweat in fear and nervousness as she wiped them on the cloth she was wearing.

How could she not have known or noticed she had stupidly found peace in the enemy’s empire?

She knew now that she had to get out of this place sooner. If these people get to know that she is Valente Russo’s wife, then they would never spare her life, not even for a second.