CHAPTER 5

My face remained emotionless as I looked at him. He had already approached us and was now seated in the vacant chair he occupied earlier before excusing himself to leave.

"I thought you wouldn't agree to my offer," Antonio said with a smile.

"I'm only doing this for the safety of our clan, Antonio," and because I don't want your daughter to end up with someone else. I wanted to say that but chose to keep it to myself instead.

"It seems I have nothing more to ask of you except to marry my daughter. We've already discussed what will happen once our clans form an alliance. Your clan will gain many benefits from ours," he said, and I gradually noticed the sly smile forming on his face. "Especially with my daughter."

My brow furrowed at his last statement. It was suggestive, and his smile was peculiar. I closed my eyes and tilted my head slightly, hearing the subtle crack of my bones from the motion.

I clenched my fist and absentmindedly pressed my tongue against the inside of my cheek. Taking a deep breath, I raised my hand to call Matteo, who stood by my side.

"Draft a contract," I ordered him, my gaze darkened as I looked at Fiorella's father.

Fiorella... such a beautiful name. Her image flashed in my mind, unbidden. Her face was so gentle, like a doll. Her name, Fiorella, suits her perfectly. I blinked several times, lost in thought. I only snapped out of it when Matteo tapped me on the shoulder. I lifted my head and looked in his direction.

A faint, mischievous smile was noticeable on his lips as he looked at me, causing me to frown.

"What?" I asked him curtly. He still had the nerve to act like this despite the precarious situation our clan was in because of our foolish father.

He cleared his throat at my response before handing me the contract he had prepared. He worked quickly, and since we had all the necessary equipment in this small office, the contract was printed immediately.

"Here's the contract," he said to me.

I took it from him and retrieved a black pen from the drawer of my desk to fill in the required sections before handing the contract to Fiorella's father.

"This is the contract," I said as I handed it over after filling in the necessary details. "Since you're the one who needs us, there's one thing we do in our clan as proof that neither of us will betray the other," I added seriously.

"What do we need to do?" he asked as he read through the contract's contents.

"A blood oath ceremony," I replied, watching him closely. "It's a tradition in our clan when forming alliances. The reasons behind this are too sensitive, so Matteo will oversee the ceremony to finalize it."

His gaze remained fixed on the contract. Silence enveloped the room as we waited for him to finish filling it out. Once he was done, Matteo took the contract, and I rose from my seat to approach Antonio.

"This ceremony must take place before we grant your request, and you are expected to do the same," I said as I approached him.

We were now seated opposite each other, while Matteo moved my swivel chair aside and stood before us as a witness.

"Hand me the ceremonial dagger, Matteo," I ordered him.

"I didn't know your clan had something like this," Antonio remarked with a laugh, as if mocking the ceremony.

"We're merely following our traditions, Antonio. There's nothing amusing about it," I replied coldly.

It wasn't long before Matteo handed me the ceremonial dagger, black in color. It was a sharp blade passed down through generations of the Russo family.

As the leader, it was my responsibility to officiate the ceremony. The contract lay spread out on the table, placed there by Matteo for the ceremony.

I gripped the ceremonial dagger tightly and held it over my palm before beginning to speak. Matteo was the only witness, ensuring that the act was genuine and without deception.

"Tonight, I, Vicenzo Aldo Russo, Capobastone of the Russo Clan in the 'Ndrangheta, agree to an alliance with Antonio Schiavone, Capo of the Schiavone Clan in the Camorra," I declared with a serious expression, slowly slicing my palm. I felt a slight sting but ignored it.

I watched my blood flow and drip onto the space beneath my signature. Lifting my gaze, I met Antonio's eyes, which were now fixed seriously on me and our contract.

"No betrayal will be left unpunished. No violations will be overlooked. This blood shall serve as witness and bind our unity. Should either of us betray, it will be the cause of our alliance's destruction, and it will never be restored," I said coldly, emphasizing my final words.

I flipped the ceremonial dagger and extended its handle toward him. He took it, and I observed as he performed the next step. Slowly, he sliced his palm and let his blood drip onto the contract beneath his signature.

"I am Antonio Schiavone, the Capo of the Schiavone Clan of the Camorra. I agree to an alliance with Vicenzo Aldo Russo, the Capobastone of the Russo Clan of the 'Ndrangheta. Anyone who betrays will not only lose their name but also lose the rights to what we have agreed upon regarding the alliance I seek. Betrayal is equivalent to death," he said, lifting his head to meet my cold gaze.

"And with the blood on this contract, we seal our alliance in front of a witness. From this moment on, the Russo and Schiavone Clans are united—in blood and in peril," I said firmly, speaking without emotion.

Our gazes fell to the contract, now stained with both of our blood beneath our signatures. I extended my hand to shake his, as this was the final action of the ceremony before Matteo spoke.

He accepted my hand, and we shook, both of us tense, as if anger simmered beneath the surface of our gazes.

"This alliance is now sealed. Starting tonight, the Russo and Schiavone clans are united. Betrayal will never be an option in anything. The blood you have placed on this contract will serve as a guide, proof, and shield against any threat to our unity," Matteo said seriously to both of us.

Once he finished speaking, Antonio and I finally released our handshake. Matteo then took the contract and stored it in a drawer.

"Welcome to the Russo Clan, Antonio," I said to him.

He nodded and glanced at his wristwatch. "Welcome to the Schiavone Clan, Vicenzo. You're free to visit our compound anytime, especially if you want to see my daughter."

I turned my back to him and pulled my swivel chair closer to sit, while Matteo went to the other drawer to retrieve a black envelope for our contract.

"When is the wedding you want to happen, Antonio? So we can all prepare and I'll know when the date is?" I asked him.

I took a clean cloth from the drawer of my large desk and first cleaned my wound before wrapping it with a bandage. When I finished, I handed another extra clean cloth to Antonio and followed up by bandaging the wound on his palm.

"Three days from now," he replied quickly before standing up and excusing himself. "I'll go ahead, I still have things to take care of. I'll handle the wedding arrangements for the two of you—"

"Why? Are you the one she's marrying?" I interrupted him, unable to stop the clenching of my jaw.

I saw him stop in his tracks because of my comment. He turned towards me, and I saw the mischievous smile on his lips as he shook his head at me.

"I'll send you the wedding coordinator's details via email, and if you have any other questions about the wedding, just email me," he said before turning his back to me again.

He started walking toward the closed door, but I stopped him.

"Wait. Does she know about this?" I asked as I stopped him. "Does your daughter know she's getting married to me? Does she know everything you've done?"

He only smiled at me faintly, which made me furrow my brow before he turned away again, unlocking the door to leave, and spoke just before he exited.

"No. She doesn't know yet, and I plan to tell her tomorrow morning that she's marrying someone," he answered.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

I quickly turned the steering wheel as the large gate of our compound opened, allowing us to reach the entrance of our house immediately. Matteo and I hadn't had a wink of sleep due to the endless tasks after Fiorella's father left.

"Good morning, Vincenzo," greeted one of the soldati as he stepped out of the house.

I nodded at him and walked past, heading straight to my father's room. Matteo followed closely behind me. My footsteps were heavy as we ascended the grand staircase to the second floor of the sprawling house.

"Vincenzo, you've just arrived. Breakfast is ready in the dining area. You should eat before resting," Rosa greeted me as she approached. She was the Capo Cameriera, or head maid of the house.

She had been working for our clan for as long as I could remember, and from what I knew, she had grown old serving us.

"We'll head down later, Rosa. I just need to talk to Father and inform him of something," I replied as I glanced back at her.

"There might not be any food left if you wait until later," Rosa responded.

"Matteo and I will cook something for ourselves later. For now, call the other soldati and the rest in the nearby quarters so they can have their meal," I said, turning away to continue up the stairs.

"If that's what you prefer, Vincenzo. I'll tell Lorenzo to prepare something else since I know you might run out of food later. I'll get going to set the table."

"Thank you, Rosa."

She gave me a slight bow before leaving. I went upstairs, motioning to Matteo to follow as we entered my father's room.

I pushed the door open forcefully, and we immediately saw my father standing on the balcony of his room, smoking a tobacco. He must have sensed our presence because he turned to us with a smile on his lips.

"Matteo, Vicenzo. My sons! I'm glad you both are home—"

He didn't finish his sentence when I stormed toward him, grabbed his collar, and pulled him close to my face. Matteo didn't intervene and simply allowed me to do what I was about to do.

"Stop this bullshit while you still can, Father," I said, trembling with anger. "I know what you're doing. Aren't you ashamed? You and the only daughter of the Don of the Cosa Nostra have something going on between the two of you?" I said, laughing mockingly.

His brow furrowed as his gaze shifted back and forth between Matteo and me. He grabbed my shoulder, still holding onto the tobacco in his fingers.

"What do you mean, Vincenzo?" he asked, his brow furrowed. "Did you really come to my room just to tell me this?"

"You fucked her, didn't you?" I pressed, my voice heavy with accusation. "You slept with her, didn't you? You had sex with the Don of the Cosa Nostra's only daughter. Have you lost your mind? What are you playing at? I thought you'd changed!" I roared at him.

His questioning eyes flared with anger. His brow furrowed, his gaze darkening as he stared at me. He shoved me hard, but I didn't budge.

"You're the one who's crazy, Vicenzo! Why would I do that!? Why are you asking me such things!?"

I turned to Matteo, who was standing behind me, holding out the folder of photos Antonio had given me. I snatched it from him, pulled out the printed images, and hurled them at my father's face.

"You don't have to lie anymore, Father!" I raged. "All the evidence is right here. Don't you realize that if the Valentari's find out what you've done to her, there will be chaos? You're not thinking straight, because you're using your head down there!"

We both watched him closely as he went on with his actions. He took the photos and examined the others. I didn't miss his reaction of disbelief before he quickly changed the subject, trying to hide that we had caught him.

"That's not me!" he shouted at me.

I gave him a sharp look. I raised my hand and removed the bandage to show him the wound on my palm, which Antonio and I had made the previous night during the blood oath ceremony.

"Stop explaining. The evidence is already here. All you need to do is admit it, but you're still lying," I said firmly, meeting his angry gaze.

"Vicenzo is getting married, Father," Matteo said as he stepped closer to us. "He's marrying the daughter of the Capo of the Schiavone Clan of the Camorra."

I saw him gape at us because of what Matteo said. I quietly laughed and shook my head at his reaction.

"Three days from now, the wedding will take place," I said coldly. "There's no turning back, because the blood oath ceremony was already conducted last night—"

"How many of you were there when the blood oath ceremony was done?" my father cut me off.

"Just three."

My father sighed heavily before speaking. "You know that it's forbidden to conduct a blood oath ceremony if there are too few of you—"

I grabbed his collar again out of frustration and brought my face closer to his. "How are we supposed to do what you want when the reason we did this is to protect the reputation of our clan? Do you want our men to know that Antonio found out about you and the Don's daughter and used that to blackmail me into agreeing to his wish for the wedding? Is that what you want? Do you want our men to know your dirty little secret?"

"Vicenzo..." I heard my father call me.

I chuckled softly and simply let go of his collar, causing him to step back. I looked him up and down before turning away from him. Matteo followed me, and we both walked out the open door, waiting outside.

"It can't be changed, Father. What's done is done, so we just have to accept it. I agreed to Antonio's terms for the sake of our clan because if I didn't, he would tell the Don what he knows, and it would start a war between Russo and Valentari."

I glanced at him over my shoulder. "Just be thankful I saved our clan, and stop this bullshit that you do."

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

FIORELLA CARLA SCHIAVONE

I just stayed sitting in the cold room that served as my art room. There was some sort of pain in my chest as I looked at the things I use for painting.

"Are you okay, Fiore?"

I glanced at my large iPad because I heard Ornella's voice. We were on FaceTime because she said she wanted to see me. Since no one else was talking to me, I agreed.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why?" I signaled to the camera so she could see it when I got closer.

She just shrugged and sighed. "You seem so sad," she sighed and gave me a small smile. "Sorry if I haven't visited you. I've just been too busy here at home, and I've been staying with my father."

"It's okay. I understand that you're busy there, and I'm fine with this as long as we can talk and understand each other," I signaled back to her and smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll visit you when I have time. Go ahead and take care of what you want to do there, and I'll just be watching here," she said to me.

I nodded and started putting the art materials I no longer used into a box, planning to donate them to orphanages so other children could use them. It would be a waste if they just gathered dust here.

I smiled to myself as I placed the things in the box and set it aside. The old canvases I just put to the side, intending to store them here. I walked around the room until I found one canvas I had painted.

The colors I used were vibrant, and the painting was full of life. Even I felt pleased with how it turned out. It was an image of a cradle with white and pink small flowers circling it. The background was a garden with a small white gazebo.

There was a baby in the cradle. I couldn't paint the face because it was blurry in my dream. The lace swaddle was pink, and I had dreamt of it a long time ago, so I decided to paint it to keep it in my memory. To keep her in my memory... I didn't know it was Stella. It took me months to realize that I had dreamt of her gender back then.

A bittersweet smile crossed my lips. I ran my hand over the canvas, blinking a few times because tears threatened to fall down my cheek.

My Stella... I missed you so much. I'm sorry if I couldn't protect you, my little girl. I'm really sorry, and I always remember you... I always and forever love you.

I just sighed and quickly turned to look at the iPad on the side to see if Ornella was still there. I shook my head when I saw that it was turned off. When I got closer to check why it was off, I realized that it had run out of battery.

I set it aside and started cleaning up. I didn't know how many hours I spent tidying up the entire art room until I found myself sitting on a small chair, facing a canvas that already had paint on it.

I remained staring blankly at my painting. I never thought that my hand seemed to have a mind of its own, painting the man I bumped into when we were entering the Valentari mansion.

Vicenzo...

I never thought I'd be able to paint again, especially since it was him I ended up painting. I know I've been having a hard time with my art, but why does it feel like this? Could it be that I'm finding inspiration again, which is why I finished his portrait so quickly?

Without thinking, I traced his long hair on the canvas. Dark brown hair that reached his neck. It seemed so soft... I wondered if it smelled nice too. I felt like my fingers would get tangled in his long hair if I were to comb it.

Would he let me? Would he allow me to put cute little flower hairclips in his hair?

I shook my head and closed my eyes, trying to stop myself from thinking that. Why are you thinking about that, Fiorella!?

I lowered the paintbrush I was holding and stared at what I had created. His hair was loose, his eyebrows thick, and especially his lashes. His face was so handsome, and his gaze, though emotionless, had a strange effect on me.

I raised my hand and gently pressed my thumb against his closed lips. In person, they would probably be red, but here, I only used one color, black, aside from white as a highlight. His lips were red, and I thought they would be soft.

If they were to touch mine, that's when I'd know for sure if they were soft or not—

I jolted when I heard the sound of the door opening. A wave of anxiety hit my chest when I saw my father entering the room and walking toward me.

"I've been looking for you. You've been here this whole time?" he hurriedly said. He grabbed my arm and dragged me toward my room.

I couldn't signal because of what he was doing. I gasped as he quickly walked me to my room. Once we got inside, he forcefully pushed me onto my bed, making me sit down.

"What's going on?" I signed, my hands trembling in front of him.

"You're getting married, Fiorella. Three days from now. What I want you to do now is get everything in order starting today because I want you to look presentable in front of your future husband when you walk down the aisle," he said firmly.

The corners of my eyes warmed, and I couldn't help but cry in front of him.

"Married? Who am I getting married to? I don't want to marry a man I don't even know, Father," I signed through my tears. My hand was shaking with each movement.

His hand raised, and I instinctively closed my eyes because I knew he was going to hurt me, but that didn't happen. Instead, he cupped my chin and brought his face close to mine. My vision was becoming blurry from the constant tears running down my cheeks.

"You have no right to refuse, Fiorella. We've already discussed what needs to be discussed, and all you need to do is obey me and follow everything I want. Don't even think about running away because I'll find you anywhere in Italy. Do you understand me?" His voice trembled when he said it.

I couldn't stop myself from sobbing, and along with it came the sharp pain in my throat. I held my neck as it hurt while I cried in front of my father.

I closed my eyes and grasped his hand that was holding my chin, and he spoke again.

"Fiorella. Do. you. Understand. me?" he asked, his tone firm.

I quickly nodded in front of him, and once again, my warm tears fell down my cheeks. He seemed satisfied with my answer and just released my chin before walking out of the room.

I stayed quietly sobbing on my bed.

SHANGPU