AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And he stole my first kiss…
That’s where our story should have ended… but it was just the beginning.
Birthday Wish
I quickly took my final inhale of nicotine and stubbed out the cigarette on the ashtray on top of the bin.
“I thought you were quitting?” Finn asked with judgement in his tone. I threw him a cheeky grin before I turned to the entrance of the restaurant in my home city, Verona.
“I am,” I lied, as I waltzed in and gave the waiter my name. I really did have every intention of quitting, but it was my birthday so I was giving myself a free pass.
“You’re late,” Giovanni stated with irritation as I strutted towards him in my new Versace heels through the restaurant to our private area that was always cordoned off just for us. I rolled my eyes at my fratello’s pet peeve. He was always so punctual. No one ever dared to be late for a meeting with him unless they wanted to meet his wrath. No one except me and his fiance, Olivia. It seemed we were the only two in the world who had him wrapped around our little fingers. I opened my arms wide for a hug.
“Oh, happy birthday dear sister! Are you having a wonderful day?” I teased in a sing-song voice as his face softened and a lopsided smile teased at the corner of his lips. He hugged me, kissing each of my cheeks in greeting.
“Happy birthday sorella,” he replied, before releasing me and we both took our usual places opposite each other at the table. This has become our tradition since our papi died. Giovanni had stepped up and taken on the fatherly role for me and my younger siblings, Santino and Soraya, not that we had asked him to. But with our mamma’s mental health not always stable, he had felt it necessary I presumed. My twenty-first birthday had been a hoot. Clock the sarcasm. Two weeks after our papi’s murder and my mamma’s mental breakdown, I hadn’t expected to celebrate it at all. But Gio had insisted we at least went out for lunch at my favourite restaurant, just him and I. And now it was something we always did on my birthday. I would never admit it to him, but it was the only thing I ever looked forward to on this day.
“The usual?” he asked, glancing down at the menu briefly, before placing it down on the table. He had already ordered my favourite bottle of wine and two glasses were poured between us. I loved my fratello to death but he had always been such a control freak. I guess it was in his nature. All the men in my family have been the same way. They thrive on power, control and dominance. In order to lead the most successful empire in Northern Italy, I suppose it was a necessity. And that’s what he was now. Our leader. The Don. The Boss. And I had to admit, he was bloody brilliant at it. Far better than my zio ever was.
“Actually, I am going to shake things up a bit and go for the calamari,” I smiled, causing him to raise his eyebrows.
“Look at you! Don’t go too crazy,” he joked as the waiter made his way over to us and Giovanni ordered for us both. He placed a large, expensive looking bag on the table with a smile. I squealed, clapping my hands excitedly as I opened it and pulled out a wrapped rectangular present. Ripping off the paper, I gasped when I realised it was an original Audenzia Lopero painting. One of my favourites.
“Gio! Is this an original?” I screamed, squinting my eyes at the signature of the artist at the bottom.
“Of course,” he smirked, leaning back in his chair.
“Holy fucking shit! Grazie! Thank you so much!” I dived across the table at him, nearly knocking the bottle of wine over as I did. He chuckled as I released him and sat back down, still staring at the painting in awe.
“Thought you might need some new paintings in your room.”
I stilled, trying to ignore the annoyance that comment caused me, so my happy bubble of gratefulness did not pop. But it was hard. I had just graduated from university, gaining a master’s degree in contemporary and fine arts. I had tried to prolong my time there for as long as I possibly could, taking on course after course so I wouldn’t have to return to the luxurious cage of my childhood home. It was a miracle that my family had even let me attend university in the first place and Gio made sure there had been extreme measures put in place for my protection. My most trusted bodyguard and one of my brother’s soldiers, Finch, who I called Finn for short, had to be an undercover student with me and lived in my private housing that Gio had set up. I had a number of other men for various roles such as driving me to and from campus and parking outside the buildings I entered, but at least I was living my life with some sense of false freedom. I was socialising, partying, studying and growing as a person the way I had always hoped. But now it was over and I was expected to move back home.
“Do you know what would really make me happy on my birthday?” I asked, a twinkle in my eye. His dark brown eyes narrowed as he held my gaze. He already knew what I was about to say. We have had this conversation many times over.
“No. You are moving home, Elle.”
“Why? I have lived on campus away from the family for nearly six years! Why can’t I just get my own place in the city? Finn can live with me!” I looked over my shoulder and gestured to my enormous bodyguard who was also my best friend in the world. Of course, he was gay. Gio would have never allowed a straight man to be my bodyguard and live with me at university, much to my initial disappointment. But Finn wasn’t like the other soldiers. Yes, he was overly protective, terrifying and took his job very seriously but he was also funny, easy-going and understood me better than anyone. I often felt sorry for him having to follow me around all day and night, living his life only through mine. But he reassured me that he wouldn’t have it any other way. He had sworn an oath to protect me and that was all he wanted to do.
Finn nodded his head obediently to Gio in answer and I turned back to my fratello. “See!”
“No. Things are too dangerous right now for you to be out there on your own with only one form of security. No offence Finch,” Gio said, and Finn folded his hands over his front, his bulging biceps, stretching against his black T-shirt.
“None taken, Boss.”
“That is what you always say! It’s too dangerous! When is it not going to be dangerous, Gio? I didn’t ask to be born into this lifestyle. You may choose to live it but I don’t. I want to be normal and live like everyone else,” I whisper-yelled in a hushed voice, not to gain attention from the public.
“This family is not a choice, Elle. You are in it whether you like it or not. Mamma, Olivia, you, Sani and Raya are the only things that can be used against me. I will not allow any harm to come to any of you and if that means you have to move back home now you’ve finished university then that is what you will do,” he growled back, his fierce dominance flaring in his eyes. I huffed and sat back in my chair. I had not wanted this to happen, especially on my birthday, but he always seemed to bring out this side of me.
“We are not ‘things’ Giovanni! We are people and some of us want to live our lives without asking for your permission!” I bit back.
He lifted his wine glass and took a sip, staring hard at me with a relentless determination. He wasn’t going to back down and we both knew it. Us Buccinis were known for our stubborn dispositions and my brother paved the way.
“You act like living in a mansion with everyone you love, for your own protection, is a form of torture.”
“No. Not being able to have a single say in the way I live my life is.”
He groaned and ran his large hand down his face, rubbing at his skin. “Just give me some time, Elle. It won’t be forever. Now just isn’t the time.”
