The Mafia Boss's Accidental Bride

Chapteer 1:TheVisit

ALIA

The office was quiet except for the soft hum of my computer. I have been reviewing the attack logs since sunrise but the same problem keeps staring back at me. Someone copied my digital signature and used it to breach multiple mafia networks and whoever did it knew exactly what they was doing.

I rubbed my eyes ready to start the scan again when my ofice door opened. A tall man dressed in sharp tailored suit, with dard eyes that seemed to not miss a thing.Someone who I recognized immediately as Luca Romano, the head of the Romano family who most people do not dear to make eye contact with.

He closed the door behind him. "Aria Morreti"

I sat up straighter at my desk. "People usually knock"

"Not when it's urgent", he said in a calm but firm tone.

Hemoved towards my desk and it felt for a moment like I was beign evaluated and not threatened. Possibly measured.

"Is this about the breach?" I asked

"Yes." His tone didn't waver. "And about the fact that the council definately believes that it came from you."

I let out a tight breathe "I did not do it"

"I know"

I was very shocked by the certainty in his voice. "Then why is everyone acting like I'm guily?"

"We both know your signature was used.......and fear makes people a bit impatient. Luca studied my screen briefly and looked back at me. "Someone wants to blame you and right now, they are convincing enough for the other families to believe."

My stomack sank to a pit. If the council was alredy forming opinions, that means things are worse than I thought.

'"So what does the council want now?" I asked even if part of me alreedy knows the answer.

Luca hesited for the first time after entering my office. "A marriage alliance"

"With who?"

"Me." he steadily replied

I shook my head. "No. No, that's riduclous. They want me to marry you? I barely know you and I don't even know if I like you."

"That's not part of their concern," he said. "They want stability and a quick alliance stops the arguing from turning into something much worse."

I tried to process everythin that Luca said but everythind seemed to fast and to much at the moment. "I haven't agreed to anything yet."

"Your father already did," he aid quietly "this morning."

Even though I shouldn't have been surprised, the dissapointment hit really hard. My father never chose me. He always made choices that benefited family name." I gipped the edge of my desk tightly. "So I'm just supposed to accept this?"

"No," he said. "You;re supposed to survive this." For the first time his voice sounded different from his usual still and controlled tone. "If you reject this alliance," he continued, "the council will assume you are hiding guilt. They will eventually push for consequences instead of solutions."

My throat tightened. " So marrying you will fix everything?"

"It will stop them from targeting you," he paused before continuing, "and yes, buy us time to find who really did this." He opened the door to head out then looked over his shoulders. "You don't have to trust me, but right now I'm the only person who believes in you." He left after saying that and the room retured to it's former silence. The only difference was that it didn't feel steady anymore.