All my love..

Chapter One,

Amari's POV

"You don't have a choice Miss. Brown", my hand maiden takes my dress into her arms and throws it over the top of my head, "Mr. Castillo has given me strict orders to have you dressed in this gown and this gown only". I grunt and groan as the corset is pulled tight against my waist and laced up.

"But Mallory how is this fair? I am just about to turn eighteen, I am being forced to attend a ball in hopes of finding a husband. My father tells me its a birthday party but I know the truth".
A fallen piece of hair falls over my face so I tuck it behind my ear. I can feel the tears begin to well as I try my hardest to not let them fall. God forbid if I ruined my makeup. "My father is the most feared man in America, alongside the Nevada's of course". I roll my eyes and sit on the ottoman, placed in front of the balcony. "How on earth will I ever find true love if it is being forced upon me? It's simply unfair Mallory"

"It may be unfair Miss. Brown but on orders of the Crypto boss, I do as I say" Mallory lifts the ends of my dress and helps rolls up my stockings. "You never know Ri, you could fall in love anyway"

"I guess so" I sigh once more, looking out the balcony to the land surrounding my castle. Being the daughter of the biggest crime boss in America, it had been hard growing up. My life was far from the normal lives of other girls my age, but I was used to it by now. The only thing I could never get used to, was the hope and longing of finding true love. 

A voice begins to call from the distance as Mallory finishes fastening up my heels, then comes a knock at the door. "Come in" I call. Looking flustered and nervous, my lifelong friend Milena enters the room.

"Oh Ri, I did something silly" Milena sighs, my heart drops as I know this only means bad.

Milena was the only person I'd ever been able to stay friends with in my lifetime and that was purely based on the fact that she was Mallory's daughter. Mallory had been my mother's handmaiden during her pregnancy with me, before she then became mine. Me and Milena had been born weeks apart but lived very different lives. Milena had had 3 boyfriends this year, let alone in her entire lifetime compared to me with none. She also was on strict orders to only be allowed to stay my friend if she followed three rules: She wasn't to introduce me to boys, she had to only speak of me as being Amari Brown (my real last name was to be kept a secret when out in public) and she had to put her life before mine, given any circumstances, no matter what..

I stand up from the ottoman and walk to her side, my face full of worry as I couldn't risk ever losing Milena. "What have you done? Tell me!", I place my hand on her shoulder and her eyes meet mine. They're full of worry.

"I accidentally sent out an invite to your 18th addressed to the wrong place" She gasps, "I'm worried it will end up in the wrong hands"

My heart drops once more. This was a dangerous situation, one example being if that invitation ended up in the wrong hands and my father's address was leaked.. any rivals could turn up and cause heartache. However the second example being, if my father found out about Milena's mistake, I'd be forbidden from seeing her again.

"Don't worry", I pull Milena to her feet and wrap my arms around her neck, "the only people who know about this are me and your mum. You know it's safe with us but we need to pray the invitation gets thrown out without being opened"

She nods and wipes the tears from the corner of her eyes, Mallory takes Milena's hands into hers and strokes the top of them before placing a kiss onto her cheek. "Well girls, the party begins in an hour, let's finish up with your hair"

 AN HOUR PASSES

Following Mallory and Milena down the hall, I wait at the top of the room that joins onto the stairs where I'll be making my grand entrance. Mallory and Milena join the party as I slick lip gloss along my lips, check over my hair in the mirror and stand in front of the door, ready to make my arrival. 

"It has and will always be a pleasure to entertain you all given whatever circumstances we celebrate, however tonight's reasonings, happen to be my proudest achievement. I thank you all for attending my sweet girls 18th. With no further ado, I proudly present to you, my Amari Montana Castillo". The doors are swung opened and I begin my walk down the steps, the crowd of people who I barely even know gasp as their eyes lock onto me. I'm wearing a £3 million dress and god knows what price shoes, for a bunch of my father's associates and potential husband's. It's ridiculous I know.

I reach the bottom step and my eyes wander, before locking onto the gaze of another. I examine his face in awe, his eyes are a shimmering green like mine, he has long brunette locks that are  pushed back onto the top of his head, full lips as red as a rose. I also took note that he was wearing a blue suit compared to the rest of the attendee's wearing black. Our eyes stay locked onto each other as I take the end of my father's forearm and we begin our father-daughter dance.

Is this what love at first sight means?  Who is this boy?