Chasing Gravity ( BOOK 1)

4

The lunch was served on a private terrace, there were just 4 seats on a small cozy dining table, Gravity like the setup, and the view of beautiful gardens and fountains in front. They were served with various dishes that were Gravity's and Fabian's favorite, along with the duo's most favorite red velvet cheesecake. This made Gravity look at Leo and his father in suspicion, thus Matteo, Leo's father explained" well you see we have been following you guys pretty closely since the last four years, so yeah we even know your bank passwords" this made Gravity chuckle, she looked at fabian as if assuring him that they were safe here, and elegantly placed the napkin on her lap before digging into the miso soup. Halfway through the lunch Gravity spoke" So what is the task that requires the Righello family to ask for our help?" looking quite skeptically towards the father and son duo, noticing Matteo gulped down the whole glass of champagne and said" well there is indeed a task that only you can do, I hope you will not decline this offer" listening this Gravity felt quite confident in her skills thus she crossed her arms and asked Matteo, " don't worry Mr. Righello, we, after all, have a repution to maintain, tell us the task confidently" This made matteo smile and he said, " well you see child, last week I had a surgery to take out cancer that is there in my lungs, but they ended up stiching me up since everything is already rotten in there, I don't know how long I have left to live, my beautiful wife was addressed as the most powerful woman ever before she died in that bloodshell, since that time I and my son have been avenging her death and taking back everything that had been looted from us, we have got everything back except just one thing that only you can give us." This made Fabian jump up towards Gravity, he held her shoulders and asked "did we ever sell anything that had the righello court of arms symbol on it? did we ever con them?" at this Gravity shook her head in confusion, then Matteo continued" well it is not a thing but a person! Mr. Fabian Miller, we see a striking resemblance between my late wife Siena and your sister, the same level of confidence, thinking, attitude, and beauty, moreover a perfect lover for a mafia king, someone bad without a cause, strong and smart enough to protect her family, and the perfect candidate for the title of next mafia queen. " Gravity didn't react to what Matteo said, she just looked at him with a poker face, on the other hand, Fabian stared at Gravity and Matteo like an owl, seeing how calm Gravity was Matteo continued" well you see, in our families women play a really important part, the more powerful a woman is the more powerful and respected her man is, you are an ideal candidate for marriage among all the mafia families here, to be specific you have 7 suitors waiting to kidnap you and marry you since I already am in a bad condition I wanted to hurry your marriage, you see we even went to your parents in Texas to ask your hand in marriage only to see you both dead for the whole city, they even told us the interesting story of you both drowning in the sea at 15 yrs of age during a school trip. Well that saved our time of convincing your parents, moreover, we have been following you for the last four years after you caught mine and Leo's eyes at the party where you stole from Andrew, trust me child we are your fans since then"At this Fabian asked Leo" you don't mind this arranged marriage?" this made Gravity look at fabian still with a poker face, then she turned towards Leo as if waiting for his answer, Leo replied, "in our family, it the fathers who have always chosen the daughter-inlaw, I have grown up to respect my family traditions, moreover I agree with my father, I feel your presence in my life can be my biggest asset." This was the first time that Leo spoke since the time he came into the picture, and since that moment Gravity felt disgusted by him, she wanted to kill him in his sleep at that very moment. But keeping in mind the situation, she gulped the glass of the champagne she was drinking and said in a mocking tone " are you guys binge-watching Netflix these days? what was the last thing you guys saw? 365? seeing the way you guys are going, I am sure Mr. Leo will come in my room tonight and say baby girl you have 365 days to give me a child"There was complete silence in the room and all of a sudden Matteo exploded with laughter, slowly controlling his laugh he said " well that is the attitude of a true mafia queen, well seeing how you have not rejected the proposal, I will take that as a yes", this made Gravity stare at him and she said"what if I say no?" at this Leo answered in a casual voice, " well the treasure that cannot be ours must be destroyed! you have a week to think, marry me or die the next week with your brother, you see the garden in front of you, choose a place in this week's time where you will like to get buried along with rest of our victims." Saying that he dashed off the lunch table. At this Matteo shouted" Common Leo! that's not how you treat a beauty" saying that he faced Gravity and said," well though he said it quite directly, what he said is true, you both have a whole week, till that time, I have prepared the rooms for you both with a beautiful pool view, its Leo's private villa, you both will stay there, hope you enjoy your stay and think about the proposal in a positive way!"Saying that he left too, leaving a shocked brother-sister duo in the terrace, soon after some female servants came and walked Gravity to her room, the room that may either become her jail for life or the room where she spent the last 7 days of her life. The father-son duo was seeing gravity go from the side corridor, after she went Matteo placed his hand on Leo's shoulder and said " you know the love story of me and Siena, right son, you know how she wasn't an easy catch, even though she was poor, you here have an even bigger challenge, Gravity already is the queen of her world, you have to show her what an empress she will be with you, show her that what she deserves is right with you." Leo nodded but then he knew what bad fate his mom met with, he knew how broken his father was after his mom's death, he also knew that he had to keep the promise he made with himself, to never love any woman the way his dad loved his mom, he didn't want to commit the same mistakes, he didn't want the same heartbreak.