Chapter 1

ISABELLA

My shock when I laid my eyes on the dark green-eyed man was great, the beast that would hold me captive was a man of peculiar beauty.

But unfortunately, what the man had in beauty he had doubled in pure arrogance, imagine the worst person in the world, he was that kind of person, I cried from the rage I felt from him, who never missed a chance to humiliate me by mentioning my father.

I suffered emotionally in the beginning, I was never touched physically, but I wanted to get out of that place and get back to normal with my father and I cried wishing that would happen every night.

It was not good, but it was not as I imagined it, they didn't keep me locked up in one place or tie me up, it was the other way around, they put me up in one of the rooms of the mansion located in a secluded and reserved area of the forest.

I said that the story resembled the story of Beauty and the Beast, with the time I stayed in the mansion I could see the side of the man I hated most in the world, he was dangerous, I saw him do things imaginable, but the strange thing was that no matter how scary he seemed, I could not feel an ounce of fear from him and that angered him because he was used to everyone around him being scared by just his name.

But that's not what happened to me, I started teasing him every chance I got, I hated him with all my might and loved to make him angry.

The story between Lorenzo and me is very long, but I will try to summarize the most important parts, the imaginable ended up happening when I fell in love with this cold man who was completely losing his coldness around me.

We fell in love with each other and now I am engaged to one of the most dangerous men in the country, but I can't stop loving the caring and thoughtful man he has become to me.

***

TODAY

One of the things I love most about living in a rural area surrounded by nature is that I can feel the fresh morning air and wind coming through the bedroom window and the usual sound of birds singing.

All this and more are part of this morning too, I open my eyes feeling the brightness and the sun rays hitting my face, I turn to the side of the bed and as expected Lorenzo is not in bed beside me.

My fiancé has important obligations as the head of an Italian family, they are obligations that I don't like at all, but I can't change who he is, I tried...

I stretch out on the bed before sitting up in bed and noticing that I am still naked from the night before when Lorenzo gave me some of the best sex, it's always like that with him and I love it too much.

I stretch out my arm and grab my robe before getting out of bed and making my way to the balcony of the bedroom, the whole mansion is everyone's dream, but this room is my favorite of all the rooms in the house.

It is a spacious room with an incredible view of the expanse of forest and the garden that Lorenzo makes sure he has on his property.

I rest my hands on the railing on the balcony and close my eyes smiling as the morning wind hits my face and messes up the strands of my hair.

It is today.

Today is a special day and I woke up more than willing to start preparing everything until tonight, it is Lorenzo's 33rd birthday and one year since he and I declared ourselves to each other for the first time.

And in celebration, there will be a masquerade ball at the mansion that night, Lorenzo doesn't like to celebrate his birthday, but he wants this party to happen just because he says that it was on this day a year ago that I lit up the darkness in his life.

But I also want to celebrate another year of the life of the man I love and today I woke up determined and with an idea in my head about what to give as a gift to a person who owns everything.

I have thought a lot about this gift and knowing Lorenzo's tastes and personality I know he will like what I have to give him on his big day.

Our wedding is scheduled to take place in six months, but I already feel married to him and can't wait to make official our union that started in a wrong and peculiar way.

I open my eyes looking again at the beautiful landscape that stands out with the morning sun rays, my eyes meet the high walls and the gates that are always being watched by Lorenzo's men.

He is an important man and has many enemies, but he is not only a mafia boss, Lorenzo and his brothers own a company and chain of imported and luxury watches, although he is the CEO and runs the chain, it is his younger brothers who make the decisions and take care of the other matters while Lorenzo is away taking care of his problems.

I hate all kinds of violence and guns, Lorenzo knows this very well from the beginning and does everything to hide the pistol that he always carries on his body and always leaves me out of the matters that he finds too heavy for me, and I thank him immensely for this always.

Lorenzo always strives to spend the most amount of time with me and feels very bad when he can't do that, but I can perfectly understand his side.

I leave the balcony and head for the bedroom bathroom where I take a relaxing bath to start the day feeling good, choose a light dress and leave the room then head down the long hallway.