Arranged To The Mafia Boss

Chapter 13 • Maria Rodriguez

They have been back from Havana for over a week, and Mirabella rarely saw Daniel. She would wake up, get ready and before she could reach the bottom of the stairs Daniel would be out of the house. The only time's they did speak was when he called her or texted her to see if everything was fine. She wondered what he was up to. And why he left so early and came back so late.

Today, however, Mirabella was not alone. Daniel's sister, Ariana and Bianca, Alessio's And Bruno's sister came to visit Mirabella and also go over a few last minute decorations. Bianca was planning her engagement party that was taking place very soon. They all sat outside in the garden while Aurora was running around.

"How was Havana?" They asked Mirabella, who was finishing off a sketch.

Mirabella smiled. "It was fun," she said. "The people and music there was beautiful."

Ariana reached her hand out towards Mirabella's drawing and pulled it towards her. It was an evening gown with sleeved, a long with a deep V cut and a long cut down the side that reached just mid-thigh. Mirabella had coloured it a faint maroon colour, but once the dress would be turned from sketch to reality the colour would be darker.

"This is really good, Mirabella" She said. "Do you like fashion and designing?"

Ever since Mirabella picked which subjects she wanted to study for her GCSE's she fell in love with teaching and also designing. Mirabella smiled and thanked her.

The sound of a little girl screaming reached their ears and they all turned around to find Alessio chasing Aurora around. "Help me! Help me! He's chasing me!" She screamed as she ran around.

"I'm going to throw you in the pool" said Alessio, as he chased the little girl.

"Is everyone back?" Bianca asked him.

"Just me," Alessio answered, shortly as he walked over to the table and grabbed a glass up and poured himself a glass of water. "They'll be back in an hour."

They nodded their heads, and just when Ariana was about to ask her cousin something, the sound of her mothers voice reached their ears.

"Mamma, che ci fai qui?" Ariana asked sounding surprised to see her mother.

(Mum, what are you doing here?)

Maria looked at her daughter as though she had lost her mind. She didn't need an excuse to come to her son's house. "Do I need an excuse if I want to come to my son's house now?" She asked.

Alessio held back his laugher as did Bianca, while Mirabella and Ariana just sat there and exchanged each other sideway glances. "Where is Daniel anyways?" Maria asked with her eyes fixed on Mirabella.

Mirabella sat there with wide eyes. She didn't know where Daniel went exactly. She only knew he went out. She cleared her throat before speaking. "He went somewhere," she said slowly.

"Hmm," Maria hummed as she looked down at Mirabella with her lips puckered slightly. There was a moment of silence, and Mirabella wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

Finally, Maria blinked and looked away from Mirabella, who exhaled a sigh. "Oh well," Maria said, braking the silence. "I'm sure neither of you have picked what you will wear to the engagement party," the way she spoke those words sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Zia, tutti i negozi sono chiusi" said Bianca. "Potremmo andare-"

(Auntie, all the shop are closed. We could go-)

Maria clicked her tongue and waved her hand. "Vieni con me," she said, walking into the mansion.

(Come with me)

Mirabella, Bianca and Ariana looked at each other before hey hesitantly got up and followed the woman inside.

Mirabella thought she was in a movie set. The living room had hanging racks with gowns of different colours and lengths. "I didn't know this house had a shop," said Alessio as he stood next to Mirabella. Mirabella laughed and shook her head.

••••

"Maybe the black one?" Ariana said, as she looked at herself in the mirror. "No?" She turned around to look at her mother, Mirabella and Bianca. Ariana was wearing a gold dress that sparkled each time she move, but the black dress she tried on before was much better on her.

"Yes," they agreed.

"Black dress it is then,"

Mirabella looked over to Alessio who was sitting on the sofa next to Aurora very quietly. She had never seen him this quiet before. Alessio was like her cousin Antonio; sarcastic, charming and always had to make a funny remark. The could talk themselves out of hell if they wanted to.

Mirabella watched him for a moment. He was on his phone and it looked like he was texting someone. A smile appeared on his face and his eyes lit up.

"I didn't know that there was a sale going on here?" Daniel entered the living room with Bruno, Diego, Mathew and Andrej.

"All the shops were closed, so we had a few dresses brought here" said Maria as she went to hug her son. "Have you eaten anything, son?" She asked him, and then looked at all five of them. "Boys?" Before either of them had a chance to speak, Maria held her hand up. "No," she said. "I'm making dinner. Girls, come help me in the kitchen."

Mirabella looked at Daniel who looked like he wanted to bang his head against the wall. But he knew better than to say anything to his mother when she wanted things to go her way.

Mirabella stood up from the armchair and went to make her way to the kitchen. Bianca walked over to Andrej and kissed him on the cheek before she went to the kitchen. Ariana also went over to her husband and kissed him on the cheek before she too went to the kitchen. Mirabella looked at Daniel who was already looking at her. He exhaled a sigh and rolled his eyes sarcastically, making her laugh before she followed the other woman to the kitchen.

This was the second time they have had dinner together with Ariana and Mathew. The first time was when Mirabella first came to Italy and now this. Daniel sat at the head of the table and Mirabella decided to sit next to Alessio and not in her usual seat that was also at the head of the table opposite Daniel.

Everyone was talking and laugh, and once they finished eating Mirabella cleaned the kitchen with Ariana's and Bianca's help.