Sold to the Mafia Boss

CHAPTER ONE

Lorenzo Morelli’s a tall guy. By my estimate, he’s almost as tall as our door. Almost as sturdy, too.

Even though he’s just sitting silently across from me in our drawing room, he still looks like the kind of person that could have an entire army bow down to him with just a look.

He had this magnetic presence that drew eyes without effort. His dark, slightly tousled hair framed his sharp features perfectly. His eyes, a piercing shade of black, only added to that mysterious ‘I’m too cool for everyone else’s feelings’ vibe.

Honestly, he had the kind of gaze that could probably make people drop their phones, spill their coffee, or question all their life choices in a single glance.

And now that gaze is on me.

I blinked rapidly and turned to my stepmother who was still talking in front of us. But even as I looked ahead, I could still feel his stare boring a hole through my head.

I didn’t look back.

“…daughter. She’s very precious to me. She’s all that I have, really.”

My stepsister stifled a laugh the moment her mother spoke. Honestly, I would’ve done the same thing if I just wasn’t so annoyed.

The dumb piece of s**t refused to look somewhere else. Is he trying to give me a stiff neck?

“So, Lorenzo, I don’t know how to tell you this but—”

“I’ll take her,” Lorenzo cut my stepmother off, his voice deep but smooth.

All eyes turned to him. He didn’t even flinch as our eyes met, his eyes were just trailed on me.

“You’ll take who now?”

The corner of his lip twitched. “You.”

I blinked, letting out a dry laugh as I turned to look at Helene. She was already perched on the edge of her chair, looking like she was barely containing her glee.“Lorenzo, I—”

The guy turned to her and Helene stopped, swallowing hard. He looked young. Probably late 20s to early 30s. But somehow, whenever he looked at my stepmother, he had that commanding look that would make her stop talking.

And not even my own father could make that woman stop so this is some amazing power.

“We’ll take it!” Helene shouted with excitement, a huge smile splitting her face and gave me a look. “I’m sure Adrienne would not mind marrying you, Mr. Morelli. I mean, look at you. If it were up to me, I’d have Georgina marry you.”

“Mom!” Georgina hissed, but she looked over to Lorenzo and tried to hide a blush.

Lorenzo didn’t pay her any attention though and gazed at my stepmother who was still shooting daggers at me.

“Adrienne, darling?” she called out to me in a sickeningly saccharine voice.

I gave her a forced smile, nodding. “I’m guessing that we owe him?”

She tilted her head to the side and gave me a warning look. “We do. A lot.”

“If it’s okay to ask… how much?”

She hesitated for a bit before opening her mouth and saying, “Billions.”

I started to gasp but caught myself halfway and smiled, sitting rigidly. “And this is the only way, right?”

“He needs a wife. And your father… well, he needs to settle his debts. But as you can see, he’s both sick and broke.”

“I understand.”

It was so hard to imagine my father like this. He’s buried in debt and he just lost the company he worked so hard for.

But, right. He did everything for me up to this day so this was just a small payment for all of his sacrifices. I mean, I wasn’t there when he needed me the most. So, now, I’ll make it up to him.

Surely, being married to this Lorenzo Morelli isn’t that hard.

“But wait, why does he need a wife?” Georgina voiced out the question that was swimming in my mind.

For a man with his looks and wealth, a wife isn’t hard to find. Why would he need a wife in exchange for a debt? Is this some kind of weird kink or something? Wait, is he an abuser? Am I going to be his slave?

Oh, s**t. This does sound somewhat like that. I mean, I’m marrying him to save my family’s fortune. I have to do his every bidding.

Maybe kiss his feet?

Scrub his huge mansion until he could see his reflection?

Is he a fan of torture?

“I need a wife to show my nanna. She wants to see her great grandkids already.”

It was now my turn to swallow the lump on my throat. It wasn’t helping that he was staring intently at me as he said the word ‘grandkids’ too.

What am I, a breeding cow?!

I chuckled uncomfortably at this. I was just about to say something but Helene kept shooting me a look.

“I’m sure Adrienne will do just fine,” Helene said when I finally backed down. “She’s pretty and smart so your kids will all inherit that. Not that you’re lacking in any way either.” She giggled teasingly.

I shuddered at the sound. She sounds like she’s flirting with him. Which was weird because first, I’m pretty sure she’s old enough to be his mom and second, my dad is literally somewhere in this house, fighting for his life.

“Well, then it’s settled?” Lorenzo finally said and stood up, straightening his suit. “I’ll be back for her tomorrow. I have somewhere to be tonight.”

Helene followed him out the door of the drawing room. My stepsister shot me a taunting smile as she walked all the way out, too. I was the only one left there.

I slumped against the backrest of my chair and sighed. My head is turning from all of this information. What have I gotten myself into?

When I finally found the courage to push myself out of the chair and walk out to the foyer, I noticed that my suitcase was no longer there. I looked up at the door of my room. It was open, the lights inside turned on.

“Dad?” I called as I stepped inside.

Someone whose back was turned against me was sitting on my bed, staring at a photo propped up on my bedside table.

I squinted against the dim lighting and realized it was Darlene.

“You were eight here when this photo was taken. You loved Disneyland so much that for an entire year, your father will take you there almost every weekend.”

I sat beside her, leaning my head against her shoulder. “I missed you so much,” I said. “For a second, I thought you didn’t recognize me.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through all that. I’m sorry I can’t help—”

“No,” I stopped her. “Don’t be, okay? You stayed here even when you know that we couldn’t pay for staff right now. And plus, I should be the one helping my family. But I wasn’t here.”

She didn’t look at me. But by the sound of her voice, I know that she’s crying. “You don’t understand. Adrienne, your parents will never forgive me if I let you go through this.”

“They will, okay? Besides, I’m sure Helene already talked to my dad about this.”

She shifted and I looked up at her. She really was crying. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my nanny cry since my mom’s death.

“Addie…” She was serious now. She wiped her tears away and looked at me intently, “…you have to listen to me, okay? You can’t go through with this. I can’t give you to him. I’ll help you escape.”

“Wait, what?”

“Listen to me, okay? You can’t go to Europe. Go to Asia. Pick any country. I have enough money here to last you at least three months while you’re still looking for a job—”

“Wait, no! What are you talking about?! I can’t—”

“Just listen to me, okay?!” Her voice was louder now, her grip on me slowly tightening.

She’s actually scaring me.

“Darlene, I’m going to go through with this! What about all my family’s debts? My father can’t pay those billions all by himself. We need this to happen.”

“Yes, but—”

“Look. I’m going to be fine, alright? I’m fine. I mean—”

“But you don’t understand!”

“Then make me understand!”

“Your father… he’s…”

“Say it.” I stood up, staring down at her intently. I have a feeling they’re hiding things from me. I hope it isn’t what I’m thinking about. “Darlene, what about my father?”

“He’s…” she trailed, swallowing. “He’s dying.”

The room stilled for a full minute. It was like my ears were ringing with what she’d just said. Darlene looked at me as if she’d just handed me a life sentence.

“He’s dying? But I thought—”

“We weren’t allowed to tell you. I guess they were hoping he’d feel better but…”

“Where is he?” I knelt in front of Darlene so I could level my face with hers. “Where is my dad?”

“He’s—”

“Darlene?!”

It was Helene. Darlene froze, eyes widening at the sound of her voice. She stiffened and hurried toward the door, her fingers gripping the frame for balance.

When Helene saw the two of us come out of the room together, her gaze cut straight to Darlene, her nostrils flaring slightly.

“What did you tell her?” she demanded, her voice low.

“No, madam. I-I didn’t—”

Helene’s eyes snapped to me, cold and piercing. “What did she tell you?”

I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms. My jaw tightened. “Where’s my father? I want to see him.”

Helene’s eyes flickered and she took a step closer, the air between us suddenly suffocating. Every muscle in her body screamed control.

“You’ll only see him after the wedding.”

“No. I want to see him now. Or else—”

“Or else what?” Helene’s lips twisted into a mocking smile. “What are you going to do? In case you’ve already forgotten, I’m still your father’s wife.”

“And I’m still his daughter!”

“His daughter who wasn’t here when it mattered? Like that’s something to brag about.”

“Where is he? Is he in his room?”

“Like I said, you’ll see him only after the wedding. So you’d better get your act together.”

I shoved past her and sprinted toward my father’s door.

But before I could even turn the corner, a sharp tug on my hair yanked me back. Pain shot up the back of my skull as I slammed into the floor, the impact knocking the air from my lungs.

“Stop being so difficult!” Helene hissed, looming over me.

I scrambled to my feet as Darlene yelled for her to stop. She ignored her completely. Instead, she reached for my hair again, forcing me to face her.

“Listen here, you little b***h,” she spat, her teeth clenched as she jerked my head up. “If you don’t stop being stubborn, who knows what’ll happen to him.”

“You won’t.”

Her eyes narrowed, a chilling smile pulling at her lips. “Try me.”