𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒂

𝘁𝘄𝗼; 𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗲

My mother always told me to believe in fairy tales, that was before she herself became the villain.
It took me longer than I would like to admit to realise no prince would ever come and save me.
I would always be a lost commodity in this world of lies, money and fractured families.

This was the Mafia.
We were criminals out for blood.
We would never get our happily ever after.
We didn't deserve them.

As his hand slipped around my waist, I remembered this fact like a smack in the face.

He was no knight, or prince, coming to rescue me from my mother.

He was yet another antagonist, taking me away to his evil lair to create an alliance that would end up futile.

It was impossible to pretend like I was oblivious as to who the man if front of me was.

Of course, I knew.

He was Aiden Mendoza. The cliché of Mafia men.

Spanish. Rich. And incredibly hot.

"Could you quit stepping on my feet?" his voice was dark, it was clear he had lost the remainder of the little patience he had to begin with.

"Me? Steeping on your  feet? I'm sorry you can hardly talk."

"Hmm? Did you say something? I couldn't hear you over all the whining."

"Sei uno stronzo," I muttered.

"What did you just say," his brows furrowed, "I said what did you just say."

The orchestra that had been playing softly in the background began to slow, suddenly halting.

"Oh no, that means it is the end of our dance. We must do this again sometime," I turned on my heel, "and for the record, I called you an asshole."

Alcohol.

I need alcohol.

Waiters were floating from table to table, handing out champagne.
Maybe not my first choice, that would be vodka, but it will have to do.

"Signora, vuole champagne?"

"Si, grazie."

The golden liquid splashed like waves inside of the glass.

"Pretty ladies like you should not be drinking alcohol," a voice from behind me laughed, his hand snaking around me to grab the crystal flute away from me.

"Gray, darling Gray. If you don't give me back that drink, I may have to kill you."

A piece of blonde hair fell across his forehead.

"You know Rosie, anyone would think you didn't want our engagement to go ahead," he laughed.

"Engagement? Weren't not engaged," I snorted.

True, I had once fantasised about marrying my childhood best friend.
A big white Mafia wedding.
Then I grew up.
I realised that we wanted different things.

He wanted money.
I needed an escape.

"Sì, we are. I knew you has a shit memory and all but damn. Our parents created an agreement when we were kids, remember?"

Fuck.
He wasn't kidding

When we were around the age of five, our parents decided to make an agreement to secure the future of our family's business together. Grayson and I were to be married when we reached twenty-five.

Obviously, he did not get the memo that I was to be married in a month.

"Gray- I'm getting married."

"Finally, realisation."

"No. My wedding is occurring when Summer begins, I thought my mother would have told you of all people."

His smile dropped into a frown.

Grayson had always been handsome, even as a boy he had attracted the attention of most of the girls in our social circle.

He had blonde curls that hung messily across his forehead, delicately tanned skin and as a teen he'd been unusually tall for his age. However, his real money-maker was his eyes.
They were not what only gave him his name, but also dragged people in, giving him puppets for the shows created in the depths of his imagination.
His eyes were a stormy grey, that held captive lost memories and told tales of new adventures.

His eyes were what made me fall in love with him all those years ago.
And what brought me to the conclusion he was not my saviour, he was not my true love, he was not my knight in shining armour.

"Who is he?"

"Aiden Mendoza."

"Aiden fucking Mendoza. Is your mother insane? The guy will beat you within an inch of your life," his tone was becoming heated now, he was angry.

"Don't you think I know the guy is crazy? Don't you think I would have tried to get out of it if I had known about it? Of course, I fucking would. That is the exact reason I found out about this less than an hour ago."

"Well still I could've thought of a way to get out of it, but what should I have expected a woman like you to do."

"Excuse me?"

"Shit Rosie, I didn't mean it like that-"

"I heard you loud and clear Grayson. Hope you'll come to the wedding, or don't, I don't really give a shit."

☾︎༒︎☽︎

Throughout my childhood, I had the same opinions drummed into my head.

Men were superior.
They ran the business.
Women on the other hand were nothing more than eye candy.

Of course, since then, times had moved on.

Some of the most successful Mafias to date were run by women.
However if you said that to the old bastards, they wouldn't believe you. Nothing could taint their views on patriarchy.

All these views, these opinions, had led me to hate most men.

My brothers ran away at the first sign of trouble.

My father put everyone he loved on the line.

The man I had loved for my entire childhood turned me in for money.

And this man, Aiden Mendoza, would end up no different.

He was the enemy,
right?

𑁍❣︎𑁍

Heyyy,
For this chapter alone I changed the senario about 300 times, how the hell I'm supposed to create a while book is beyond me.

Is it just me or does Grayson seem a little bit of a prick?

Lemme know what you think ✨️

I'll try to update every Wednesday, and please comment your opinions❣️

Love,
m<3