❝𝒱𝒾𝒸𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝒶, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓆𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝓂𝓅𝒾𝓇𝑒.❞
˜*°• 𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇
Victoria Russo grew up in a world full of money, crime and powerful families. Being a part of the Sacred Eight families, she knew what it mean...
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HOME SWEET HOME
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VICTORIA WAS EXHAUSTED and the changing scenery through the car's window was lulling her to sleep, but she kept her eyes open, fighting the urge to fall asleep. It was four in the morning and Lorenzo was driving them to their new home. It felt strange to call a place she had never seen home. She doubted the house would ever truly feel like home, especially since she had to live there with Lorenzo.
She had been sitting in this car for forty minutes. Twenty minutes ago, they left the city and continued driving on the main road, surrounded by forest and fields. The car had already passed the turns, leading to the Russo and DeLuca families' properties, and Victoria hoped they would soon reach their destination. She couldn't wait to get out of this car and let the sleep wash away all the tiredness.
They drove for another fifteen minutes before Lorenzo turned left onto a narrow, tarmacked road flanked by trees, driving for a few more minutes before reaching the tall gate. Enzo pressed the button on the gate key remote and Victoria looked through the front window. She couldn't lie, the estate was beautiful and surprisingly inviting.
A luxurious, modern two-level house with large windows was situated in a serene forest area. Although it was dawn, Victoria could see its sleek, contemporary architectural style, freshly mowed lawn, various pathways, neatly arranged bushes, flowers and trees. To the right of the house, there was a swimming pool, but what caught Victoria's attention was the winding stream running alongside the property. A fence enclosed the entire territory of the estate. Victoria didn't know how they worked the fence around the running stream, but she didn't really care.
Home sweet home, Victoria.
Lorenzo drove into the garage and as soon as he stopped his car, Victoria opened the door and stepped out, careful not to step on her wedding dress, which she was still wearing. The wedding day was the longest time in her life she spent with Lorenzo close to her and she didn't know how she was still alive. Maybe she survived because there were times when they kept their distance from each other when they didn't have to act like a happy couple, or because they spoke to each other only when necessary.
"Let's go," Enzo murmured, pressing a button to close the garage door and heading towards the door that led inside the house.
He was exhausted too. The day was long and tiring, full of conversations with people he didn't want to talk to and fake smiles. All he wanted was to collapse into bed and sleep until his alarm rings.
"Where's my bedroom?" Victoria asked when she followed Lorenzo upstairs and stopped at the bedroom door he opened as he walked inside. All the things inside the room helped her realize it was his bedroom. She let go of the dress skirt she was holding while climbing the stairs and looked at him, waiting for his answer.
"Here," Lorenzo answered, waving his hand around. It was the moment she noticed her packed boxes and bags inside the room, neatly placed against the wall.
"I'm not sharing a room with you!" Victoria's voice rose as she objected. Lorenzo sighed, brushing his hand through his face to hide his frustration before turning to look at her.
"This house has three maids, one cook and two gardeners. And what do maids do? They gossip. If they find out we aren't sleeping in the same room, they'll talk. Then everyone will know this marriage is just for convenience. So get in the damn bed, Victoria."
Victoria gritted her teeth and walked to her things. She rummaged through one of her bags to find something to sleep in. She knew he was right, but she didn't want to admit it. Grabbing her sleepwear, she walked to the en-suite bathroom to change. When she came out, Lorenzo was already lying in bed. Victoria headed to her side and slipped under the covers. Picking up a few decorative pillows from the floor, she placed them in the middle of the bed.
"This is my side, this is yours. Goodnight, darling," she murmured with a touch of sarcasm, turning her back to him. Lorenzo rolled his eyes, setting his alarm for 9 A.M. At least he would get a few hours of sleep before waking up for work.
•••
When Victoria woke up, the numbers on her phone screen showed eleven in the morning and she was alone in bed. Thank God. She didn't want to start her day by seeing his face first thing in the morning. Victoria sat up in the bed and looked around the room in the bright light. It was an average-sized bedroom with floor-to-ceiling windows, creamy walls, a king-size bed, a walk-in closet and an en-suite bathroom. There was a nightstand on each side of the bed and a dresser by the door, on which were a few photo frames with Lorenzo and his friends or family, and a small plant. And a note. Victoria grabbed it and read it.
There is space in the closet, dresser and bathroom for your things. - L
Victoria rolled her eyes, dropped the note back on the dresser and left the bedroom to try to find a kitchen and something to eat for breakfast before she started unpacking her stuff. As much as she didn't want to share a room with Lorenzo, he was right and she needed to swallow her principles and get used to living here.
"Good morning, Mrs DeLuca," Victoria flinched when she heard a young voice behind her. She slowly turned to look at the girl who looked around the same age as her. She was wearing comfortable clothes, not a uniform, but a name tag on her t-shirt gave away that she was a member of staff working for Lorenzo.
"Oh, no, no, no," Victoria shook her head. She hated that name. "Please, call me Victoria."
"Well, then, good morning, Victoria," the girl smiled. "My name's Olivia. I'm one of the maids."
"Nice to meet you, Olivia. Now, could you show me the way to the kitchen?"
Olivia nodded eagerly, ushering Victoria to follow her. The house wasn't big enough to get lost in, but Victoria found it challenging to navigate on her first walk-through. She made a mental note for herself to wander around later when she wasn't hungry and all of her belongings were unpacked.
"I saw Mr DeLuca leaving for work this morning. I assumed he would be at home today, especially since you got married yesterday. Aren't you going on your honeymoon?" Olivia asked, leading Victoria to the kitchen. The curly-haired girl nearly choked on air upon hearing the maid's question. Her noisiness was starting to get on Victoria's nerves and she only knew the girl for a minute.
Think, Victoria, think!
"There's a lot of business to take care of right now, so we postponed it a bit," Victorie lied to Olivia, hoping that the girl would believe her and stop with the questions. Olivia smiled and nodded, showing that she accepted the explanation.
