A week later...

Sabastien stepped out of the private jet and took a deep breath. The year and six months that he had been away from the Kingdom of Aldora felt like a century to him because of what he was doing. The intense training that he had been enduring for the past eight months hardened him and transformed him into un cane rabbioso just as they had dubbed him.

Sabastien removed a packet of cigarettes and placed one between his lips before he lit it and took a deep breath of the aromatic smoke. The Aldora sun was high up in the sky, beaming down with a vengeance. The air stood still as if it were holding its breath in Sabastien's presence. Sabastien loved the Aldora summers because he spent his time at the family house by the private lake they had. He enjoyed the long lazy days and the warm nights when everyone was out and about in the festive spirit.

Sabastien would have spent that last year in Aldora if not for the altercations he got into with the minor families, especially with the Moretti boys. Domenico thought Sabastien was out of control and he wanted his father to think that way so he would turn his attention to Rome instead of him.

Domenico and Sabastien viewed the family businesses differently. Though people feared Domenico, he was a softie when it came to family. Due to that, many of the family members took advantage of his fondness for family ties to rob him and disrespect him. There was nothing more Sabastien hated than being disrespected especially showing disrespect toward the hand that fed them. Domenico got physical with several of the Accardo family members. He broke bones first and asked questions later.

When Sabastien discovered the reason why some of the businesses were not doing well, he disappeared for a month and went on a hunt to weed out the perpetrators. Within three months of his rampage, profit tripled and everyone grew to fear him. He was like a rabid dog hence his nickname.

After the rampage, Domenico sent Sabastien away for further training. Sabastien felt that when the enemies saw that he was not around, they attacked the Accardo family and wounded the one man that kept all the Aldora families close. The difference in views between Sabastien and his father did not mean he hated the man so when he heard that Domenico was fighting for his life, everything stopped and he boarded the first flight out of Black Rock Island where the Accardo army trained.

Sabastien approached the four black Range Rovers that were parked a few yards from the private just as an older man came out to greet him. He was Domenico's most trusted man and his eyes were sombre. Sabastien saw new lines on the man's face. It must have been very stressful for him to keep everything intact while they waited for him to return and take over as the head of the Accardo family.

"That is new." The man gestured to the tattoo Sabastien had done on the back of his right hand.

Sabastien turned his hand around and looked at it pensively before he released the smoke from his lungs. "It's better than the knife scar that was there." Sabastien got the knife scar from his first training session on the island when he was suddenly attacked by the trainer and shielded his face with his hand. The knife went right through his palm.

It was safe to say the trainer paid for it dearly.

"I heard you were responsible for sending ten of our best men to the hospital. Un cane rabbioso, indeed."

Sabastien languidly stretched his large body and flashed his teeth at the older man. "They wouldn't shut up during my nap."

"Good to see you again, Sabastien." The older man patted Sabastien's shoulder fondly. "I am glad you are finally here."

Sabastien grunted softly and asked. "Have you spoken to Rome?"

"I spoke to him three days ago. We didn't want to tell him of the news but with the media buzzing about it, he learned of the attack via the news. He is on his way back."

"The media is a fucking circus." Sabastien ground out then finished off his cigarette. "How is Domenico?"

Vittoria sighed and shook his head softly. "His condition has not changed. We moved him to the main house so that we can take care of him better."

"Good. I want you to set up a meeting with the families tomorrow. There is so much to talk about." Sabastien instructed.

"Uh—there were far more important things to talk about right now apart from that." Vittorio opened the door to the middle car and allowed Sabastien to enter first.

Sabastien frowned as Vittorio settled beside him. "What is more important than making sure we find who is behind the attack and securing all our assets?"

"Uhm—the Moretti heiress," Vittorio said and it was as if he was expecting Sabastien to understand.

At the sound of the Moretti name, Sabastien gritted his teeth hard. He didn't understand how Domenico could work with them all that time. Domenico was a very compassionate man and even though there were so many times that the Moretti family did the Accardo family dirty Domenico looked past that because of his long-term relationship with Andrea Moretti.

"What about the Moretti Heiress?" Sabastien asked in puzzlement.

Vittorio went on a grunt of inaudible Italian curses before he rubbed his face as if the entire world had suddenly fallen on his shoulders. "You have no idea about the Accardo/Moretti oath, do you?"

"What the fuck are you talking about, Vittorio?" Sabastien's patience was wearing thin because he didn't like the expression Vittorio had on his face.

"I think you should take a rest first before we talk about the Moretti heiress," Vittorio suggested but Sabastien could see how distraught the older man was.

Sabastien didn't know anything about an oath but then again, he and his father barely sat down to talk to each other about such things. The Accardo and the Moretti families were the giants of the Kingdom of Aldora. The two families supported each other in business and they had a mutual agreement on how to divide their territories. Other minor families followed suit but Sabastien felt that they were collectively cooperating to kick out Domenico from the throne.

Something was brewing in the air and Sabastien smelled it the moment he stepped foot off that jet.

"Is there information of where Andrea disappeared to?" Sabastien brushed his black locks from his face but they stubbornly returned to his forehead.

Vittoria shook his head with an expression of sadness on his face. "After the shooting, Andrea disappeared. Everyone thought he was one of the dead members but that wasn't the case."

"Do you think he is behind the attack?" Sabastien speculated.

He had seen how greed for power drove people to do things that they didn't expect to do. It tore families apart and broke long-term friendships.

Again, Vittorio shook his head. "The man loved his daughter so much. He would never leave her in a situation that could cause her death. As it is, every male relative that the Moretti Heiress has is eyeing the Moretti throne. The only thing that is keeping a full-blown war from erupting is the fact that Matteo Moretti controls the Moretti army. It is said he is what is standing between the Moretti Heiress and her dangerous cousins."

The Morettis were troublesome. Sabastien recalled what happened between him and one of the Moretti boys, which was why he was removed from Aldora. However, he felt sorry for the Moretti Heiress. Since he and Rome never spent much of their time in Aldora, he barely got to meet and mingle but he heard the rumors that she was quite the catch.

"I am surprised she's alive until now." Sabastien mused.

"It is because your father protects Andrea Moretti and his daughter that she is alive. The families know what it would mean to go against un cane rabbioso." Vittorio smirked at Sabastien.

"My father made that decision, not me." Sabastien corrected Vittorio.

Vittorio sat up and all the amusement left his face. The seriousness Sabastien saw Vittorio suddenly made him consider returning to the jet and flying back to the Black Rock. "It seems like you don't understand one thing, Sabastien. Because of the oath that Domenico made with Andrea, the Moretti Heiress is now your responsibility..."

Later that Day...

The paper that Sabastien was holding crumpled into a ball against his fist. He didn't like what he read and though Vittorio tried to explain to him what was happening, it didn't make sense to him. Sabastien was not the type to keep old oaths for family ties. Hell, he was ready to burn down bridges with his family, let alone the Moretti family.

Sabastien didn't understand why his father had such compassion for the Moretti family. Sabastien could imagine his father rushing over to help the Moretti even though the Accardo minor families needed him more. There must have been something he missed about the Moretti family. Maybe they had information against Domenico that could ruin him and that was why they were blackmailing him. It wasn't surprising and so many families did that as leverage to keep on surviving.

After Vittorio assured Sabastien that he was the guardian of the Moretti daughter, he threw a tantrum. Sabastien would have stalked on out and gone back to the airport if Vittorio had not exposed the private document that Domenico and Andrea signed, urging the two families to take care of their immediate relatives in the case of the death or disappearance of either one.

"The Moretti Daughter will be here tomorrow," Vittorio said as he watched Sabastien keenly then turned to the man sitting next to him. "Since I am still under your father and I am obligated to oversee his treatment, my apprentice will be your right-hand man. Ottavio has been trained and groomed to support you where his assistance is needed."

Sabastien snapped his eyes at the younger man sitting beside Vittorio. He had a calm demeanor and a pleasant face that was almost easy to get fooled by but Sabastien saw past the mask. It was also reflected in the way he sat down. Ottavio was ready for anything. Vittorio would not have assigned him such a task if he wasn't the best. Moreover, he must have been brought to speed about what was happening.

Ottavio didn't flinch under Sabastien's intense gaze like others did. One side of Sabastien's lips quirked up into a smirk. They all started that way but after a few days, they aimlessly shuffled about and kept their eyes down whenever they spotted him.

"I did not return here to babysit, Vittorio." Sabastien got up from his seat and went to stand by the window overlooking the front garden, parking space, and the main entrance to the estate. "The last thing I need is to have a Moretti Heiress all up in my business. She's been kept alive till now which means her uncle is doing something right. I suggest he continues doing it."

"Matteo is keeping her in a safe house under lockdown. According to our laws, if she is not pledged in, within the week, the Moretti legacy would cease to exist and she will have nothing, That could bring a war to Aldora because we all know how important the Moretti assets are to Aldora." Vittorio explained. "Having her close will allow you to control the assets which are beneficial to us."

Of course, Vittorio always knew how to build an argument. It would have not made sense that he spent all those years with Domenico and not learned the ropes of the business. Sabastien knew that Vittorio was more than capable of taking Domenico's place but the laws plainly stated that a blood-male relative of immediate descent was supposed to take over.

Sabastien placed his hands in his pockets and stared at the distance in that hot summer morning of Aldora. He was not made to lead. He was made to fortify leadership. He was the kind that kept everything running in the background. He straightened the creases and snapped off anything that stood as an obstacle to Domenico's rule. Taking the chair meant he needed to have reliable people to delegate to. He didn't trust anyone else other than Vittorio. Just because Ottavio was hand-chosen and trained by Vittorio, it didn't mean that Sabastien trusted him.

He had seen what happened when someone held everything too close to them. At the end of the day, they always backfired.

Sabastien was no fool when it came to the game of power. He knew how influential the Moretti family was especially when it came to logistics and the harbor in Aldora. The Moretti family controlled the essential infrastructure that moved merchandise around the kingdom. Without the cargo transportation and the Harbor, The Accardo family would lose out on a lot of profit. Until that moment in time, none of the families came forward to take responsibility for what happened, which meant it could be a foreign attack.

Two funerals were being held that coming week and as the new head of the Accardo family, Sabastien had to attend them both. He wanted to attend the funerals because those were the hotspots for information. The family members would discreetly discuss what happened on the night of the attack and Sabastien would have information to start hunting down the people responsible.

Sabastien was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the quiet muttering that Vittorio added about how grown up Gia suddenly was.

Sabastien turned to him and leaned against the window frame. He ground his teeth and asked. "What am I supposed to do with her? I am not in the best position to look after someone like her." He gave the older man a side glance and said. "As it is, her father is being hunted and we still don't have any leads. We don't know who is behind it. I am not saying that she will not be safe here but without a proper plan, she will die."

His father was reckless to make such an oath with his friend and business partner. The worst part of the whole thing was that, according to the paper he crumpled earlier that morning, such oaths were honored and it didn't matter how or with whom but the members of the family had to honor the word.

"Then marry her." Vittorio got up from his chair and approached Sabastien.

Sabastien's dark eyebrows snapped up to his forehead and he looked at the older man as if he had grown a second head. That was the most absurd thing he had ever heard in such a long time that it was almost laughable. Ottavio made a small sound too to express his surprise.

Before Sabastien could shut the thought down, Vittorio held his hand up and stopped him from speaking. "No one is feared more than you at the moment, Sabastien. You are the head of the Accardo family; the most powerful family in the Aldora Kingdom and all of the south region. Taking that girl under your protection like the way Domenico asked you is not enough to ensure her safety. Marry her."

"No one will dare try to harm an Accardo wife, especially one married to the Mad Dog." Vittorio concluded and Sabastien could see the sense behind it but he wasn't the marrying type.

He couldn't see himself taking a wife any time soon. There was still too much that he wanted to do before he finally decided to settle down. As it was, the life that he was living was not fit for a family. Yes, he happened to come from a powerful family but that did not mean his family would be completely safe. There were bound to come dangers from all sorts of places that could hurt him or use his family against him.

It was what happened to Domenico and it left him fighting for his life.

"All you have to do is accept it and we will send the contract proposal to her right away. She, too, will see sense in it." Vittorio commented.

Sabastien turned back to the window and couldn't help being curious about the woman who had everyone talking about her. His silence prompted Vittorio and set up the proposal to her and Sabastien didn't have the strength to deny the older man.

The Next Day...

Sabastien turned grimly back to the window and watched as the Moretti entourage made its way into the premises. Three black cars drove up the driveway and stopped at the entrance of the house before someone got off the back car and approached the centre and opened the door to let the Moretti daughter out.

Rocco.

Rocco looked around the premises with his men as the Accardo guards moved forward and started chatting with them.

The first thing he saw was the midnight locks that danced hypnotically in the breeze. Then he saw her hauntingly beautiful face as she pushed the shimmering locks away and greeted the valet and the guards with a polite smile. She looked very important in the black pencil skirt that she wore that reached her knees and a black chiffon blouse that buttoned up to her neck. Her hands were clad in leather gloves and she wore black heels that made her gait very sexy when he walked.

Sabastien noticed net stockings that she wore under her skirt that triggered a memory he quickly pushed to the back of his mind. The solid man standing beside her was none other than Matteo Moretti.

Sabastien could tell that Gia did not want to be there as much as he didn't want her there. He still had bitter memories of the night he got into a confrontation with Rocco. He saw red when he noticed the man come forward and speak something to Gia. Gia gave him a small nod and allowed him to lead the way in as Matteo stalked behind Gia.

"I think it is time to go down and meet your fiancée, Sabastien." Vittorio announced.

A grim smile curled up on Sabastien's lips as he followed Vittorio out of the office with Ottavio behind them. Marrying her didn't sound that bad if that was the wife he was going to get.

Gia recalled the last time she was in the Accardo main house was when she was quite young. After she grew up, her papa no longer allowed her to go with him to his business meetings with Domenico because he feared the Accardo sons might take a liking to her. How ironic it was that it was the Accardo sons that were going to give her the protection she needed.

Gia didn't understand why Matteo wanted to keep her there but when he explained about going after her papa and bringing him home safely, she reluctantly accepted the proposal. Matteo had trust in his men to keep Gia safe but the Moretti family still had a debt to pay to the Accardo's and through the oath the two fathers made, Gian didn't have much of a choice in the manner.

She had to be under Sabastien Accardo's protection until her papa was found and brought back home.

The relief that went over her body when she discovered that her father was not dead was beyond measure. However, that was quickly replaced by uncertainty and anxiety as to where he might have disappeared. There was no ransom note to tell them that he might have been kidnapped nor did anyone come forward and claim the attack. Everything was still very vague and her zio assured her that he was going to get to the bottom of it.

Not much had changed in the Accardo main house. It was still as impressive as it was back then. The valet escorted them to what looked like the formal lounge before a woman in her mid-forties came to them with a friendly smile on her face. Rocco refused to leave her even though their zio gave him strict orders to return and ensure everyone else was alright.

Rocco kept on surprising Gia time and again because for the entire week, people were running around trying to figure out what was happening, Rocco stayed beside her until the day Matteo arrived and gave the announcement about the oath her papa and Domenico made years back.

"Good morning, I am Anitha and I am the housekeeper." The woman introduced herself. "Sabastien will be with you shortly so could I serve you some refreshments while you wait?"

"We are fine." Matteo managed some resemblance of a smile back to the woman and though Gia was nervous as fuck, she had to bite back a chuckle.

She had only seen the Accardo sons from afar and was never around to know anything about them. They were very illusive and though the guy she was in love with got engaged to her friend instead was from the minor family, he never got to see his cousins that much too.

From the little information that Gia had was that while Rome was the designated 'negotiator' of the family, Sabastien was the 'strength' of the family. They called him the Mad Dog and all sorts of rumours were flying around that particular nickname. The rumors were so scary that mothers in the community used Sabastien's character to scare the naughty children.

Her zio warned her that it was Sabastien who they were meeting that day. He just reminded her to remain polite when she was addressed by him and bite her tongue every time the man said something that she didn't like. Gia never liked ninety percent of the things the men in her community said or did and she wasn't the type to bite her tongue so she felt that, that day might be the last she ever saw the sun.

She didn't care anymore especially ever since her papa disappeared without a trace and her entire world was turned upside down with everyone targeting her head. Sabastien Accardo was her last resort and when her zio told her of her fake marriage to him, she wanted to break something but apparently, Sabastien had no interest in her and the marriage was nothing short of a way to keep her alive. The Accardo wives were the most protected women in the Aldora community and they were allowed some measure of freedom which was what Gia wanted.

The conditions were simple; she needed to take his name until her father was located and brought back to the community. In the meantime, she was allowed to live in one of the many houses owned by the Accardo family but didn't have to deal with her fake husband directly. However, the downside was that Sabastien would help oversee the Moretti assets which meant every Moretti family member that was working for the family companies was temporarily going to answer to Sabastien.

There were a lot of heated arguments when that aspect came up but the fact that they were powerless to do anything because the contract was written on paper and signed by both Domenico and Andrea made their loud barks harmless. There was nothing anyone could do about it.

"Welcome to the Accardo main estate." An older man said as three Accardo men entered the room.

Though the three of them were formidable competitors when it came to how dangerous they were, one stood out the most and Gia was sure he was Sabastien; the Mad Dog. He was the tallest among the men with large and broad shoulders. His dark hair locks populated his forehead and almost made him appear boyish but his eyes looked as old as time. They saw too much in that world, Gia was sure. She held her breath as he entered the room with his hands casually in his pockets. He was dressed in black slacks and a black shirt that was folded to his forearms and revealed the tattoo running down to the back of his hand.

Gia didn't know she took a step back until she felt Rocco behind her. He was like a solid wall of support. Her zio slipped subtly in front of her as he extended his hand out to the older man. Gia's heart thundered loudly in her ears that she was surprised no one else heard it. There was something about Sabastien that left her breathless. No doubt that he must have been the most good-looking man she had ever seen but that was not what made her mind numb. Every time she stole a glimpse of him and met his eyes, they made her tremble in trepidation.

"I am Vittorio. I was Don Domenico's right-hand man. This is Sabastien, the new Don of the Accardo family and his right-hand man, Ottavio." He accepted Matteo's hand in a tight handshake then turned his attention to Gia. "You've grown so much since the last time you stepped foot in this house, Gia."

Gia tried to smile as her zio allowed space for her to greet the older man. "I am sorry but my memory of my experience here is a little hazy—so..." she tilted her head so better see Sabastien. "You are to be my husband?"

She watched as one of Sabastien's eyebrows arched up slowly in surprise. Though her zio warned her to behave, she was not going to allow him to treat her poorly. He needed to know what he was getting himself into.

THIS IS AN ONGOING STORY EXCLUSIVE TO INKITT, UPDATED WEEKLY AND FREE OF CHARGE. ENJOY. My INKITT username is the same, Faddiemanzi.