𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝

6

valentina

Today's the day I start working for the Italian mafia.

Kinda nervous not going to lie.

I'm wearing a white top, black pants and my hair hangs on my upper back in it's natural waves. My eyelashes are curled and my eyebrows have been brushed through with some gel as well as light brown eyeliner extending my eyes outwards and to finish, clear lip gloss.

I look very put together if I do say so myself.

The Marchetti family can't really have a headquarters with the word mafia signed in big bold letters so instead they have a cover.

A chain of hotels across the world.

To the average person, they are nothing more than a wealthy family who stay out of the press and the news as much as possible. But to everyone else, they are one of the most dangerous families in the world.

With four out of the six family members trained to kill it's no wonder they have such a reputation.

Sliding my phone into my my back pocket and opening the door, I stumble backwards when I'm met with Matteo's chest. He coughs before stepping back, obviously just about to knock on my door.

"The meeting starts at ten so we should probably leave." Matteo twists his wrist to look at the time before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

He has on a similar outfit to the first time we met, black slacks and a black shirt with a few too many buttons undone and the sleeves rolled. His wavy hair sits messily on top of his head and my fingers itch to run through it- no they don't.

Not quite sure where that came from.

"You're staring amore." The corners of his mouth pull up into a smug smirk at and I feel the tips of my ears turning pink.

"I wasn't staring." I grumble, glaring up at him.

"Mhm."

"Weren't we supposed be leaving?" I pull the door shut from behind me and starting walking away from him, hearing a small chuckle coming from him before the sound of his footsteps following mine.

The car comes to a stop outside of a very tall, very glass building and I struggle to keep my jaw closed.

This is where he works?

I knew he was rich, like rich rich but for some reason it didn't click until I see that he owns this fucking tower thingy.

"You coming in or just gonna sit here all day and stare?" Matteo switches off the engine and climbs out of the car, I follow him after rolling my eyes at his comment.

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

Walking beside Matteo Marchetti is terrifying and it is something I have never experienced until now.

No shit.

As soon as we walk through the threshold of the building all eyes turn to us and the loud chatter quickly turns to quite murmuring. Nobody dares look him in the eyes, but that doesn't stop them from looking in his direction and unfortunately mine.

My heart pounds in my chest a little faster than usual and my palms become sweaty. I'm not used to being around this many people, especially when they are all looking at me. I don't know how to handle it and I don't like it, not one bit.

As if sensing my nerves Matteo angles his head to look down at me, his eyebrows knitting together at my anxiety. We continue walking forward and his fingertips brush agaisnt mine ever so slightly, a barely there contact that instantly soothes my nervous whilst also sending a jolt through my body.

I look up at him and he looks down at me, an unknown emotion in his eyes and his brown hair flopping forward.

We separate when we walk into the elevator, him standing on one side, me on the other with the only sound being the quiet hum of the elevator moving. There's a tension in the air, but it could also just be my lingering anxiety and nerves.

That's probably what it is.

-

matteo

Lacing my fingers through each other, I lean my elbows on the table and watch Valentina intently as she talks about all of the weak points that she had found in our shipment system.

I could tell that she was nervous earlier but it's seemed to have faded away, leaving me with a confident version of the fiery girl.

There are ten of us in our meeting; me, Cairo, Enrico and the heads of our shipment department. She's the only woman in the room, they tend to work in other areas of our business.

My jaw clenches tighter at every passing second she nit picks and pulls apart the system that has been around since before I was even fucking born. Having a stranger come in and criticise something that you lead is a humbling experience- one that I'm not a big fan of.

I don't fucking like it, but I know that it has to be done, so I sit there and bite my tongue.  

Finally, after another hour of discussing we come up with a few plans and changes to fix the system. I hate to admit it but she does have good ideas and without her someone else would have found the same holes in it and it could possibly cost us more.

Don't get me wrong I hate her. She stole from me for two years, but there's nothing I can do about it now so I'm forced to look at the good outcomes of it.

Once all of the heads of the shipment department leave, it's only me, Cairo, Enrico and Valentina left in the room.

"We, are all going out tonight." Cairo announces making me and Valentina glance at each other from across the table.

"No we are not." I mutter whilst fiddling with my rings, fully aware of her eyes glued to my hands.

"Why not?" Cairo whines, widening his hazel eyes and jutting out his bottom lip.

"Yeah, why not?" Valentina leans back casually in her seat, cocking her head to the side in question and I hold back a harsh glare in her direction.

"C'mon fratello, we haven't been out in a while."

I don't want to go out to a fucking club where I'm surrounded by fucking idiots for a whole night. It's not my idea of fun.

"One drink." The principessa across from me offers and I sigh, knowing that none of them are going to give up until I agree.

"Fine." I give in. Cairo and Enrico share a look before I narrow my eyes at them both, wondering what they are silently discussing.

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a/n

princess as a pet name gives me the ick, but it's a more acceptable in italian i guess

stay safe and drink lots of water loves

<3