STOLEN HEART

CHAPTER 1

ISABELLA



TODAY

One of the things I love most about living in a rural area surrounded by nature is that I can feel the fresh morning air and wind coming through the bedroom window and the usual sound of birds singing.

All this and more are part of this morning too, I open my eyes feeling the brightness and the sun rays hitting my face, I turn to the side of the bed and as expected Lorenzo is not in bed beside me.

My fiancé has important obligations as the head of an Italian family, they are obligations that I don't like at all, but I can't change who he is, I tried...

I stretch out on the bed before sitting up in bed and noticing that I am still naked from the night before when Lorenzo gave me some of the best s*x, it's always like that with him and I love it too much.

I stretch out my arm and grab my robe before getting out of bed and making my way to the balcony of the bedroom, the whole mansion is everyone's dream, but this room is my favorite of all the rooms in the house.

It is a spacious room with an incredible view of the expanse of forest and the garden that Lorenzo makes sure he has on his property.

I rest my hands on the railing on the balcony and close my eyes smiling as the morning wind hits my face and messes up the strands of my hair.

It is today.

Today is a special day and I woke up more than willing to start preparing everything until tonight, it is Lorenzo's 33rd birthday and one year since he and I declared ourselves to each other for the first time.

And in celebration, there will be a masquerade ball at the mansion that night, Lorenzo doesn't like to celebrate his birthday, but he wants this party to happen just because he says that it was on this day a year ago that I lit up the darkness in his life.

But I also want to celebrate another year of the life of the man I love and today I woke up determined and with an idea in my head about what to give as a gift to a person who owns everything.

I have thought a lot about this gift and knowing Lorenzo's tastes and personality I know he will like what I have to give him on his big day.

Our wedding is scheduled to take place in six months, but I already feel married to him and can't wait to make official our union that started in a wrong and peculiar way.

I open my eyes looking again at the beautiful landscape that stands out with the morning sun rays, my eyes meet the high walls and the gates that are always being watched by Lorenzo's men.

He is an important man and has many enemies, but he is not only a mafia boss, Lorenzo and his brothers own a company and chain of imported and luxury watches, although he is the CEO and runs the chain, it is his younger brothers who make the decisions and take care of the other matters while Lorenzo is away taking care of his problems.

I hate all kinds of violence and guns, Lorenzo knows this very well from the beginning and does everything to hide the pistol that he always carries on his body and always leaves me out of the matters that he finds too heavy for me, and I thank him immensely for this always.

Lorenzo always strives to spend the most amount of time with me and feels very bad when he can't do that, but I can perfectly understand his side.

I leave the balcony and head for the bedroom bathroom where I take a relaxing bath to start the day feeling good, choose a light dress and leave the room then head down the long hallway.

“Good morning, Miss!", one of the security guards who stay inside the house greets me politely with a nod of the head when I arrive in the living room.

Lorenzo always tries to avoid letting many of his men stand guard inside the house so that I can feel more comfortable, but sometimes it is more than necessary.

The good smell of breakfast hits my nostrils as I cross the kitchen to find Mrs. Margarida preparing and stirring something in a pot on the stove.

“Good morning, Marguerite, the smell is divine as always...", I approach the counter seeing various delicacies prepared by the cook and housekeeper that Lorenzo loves so much.

I confess that I also became very attached to the short and very friendly lady who always received me with open arms even when everything started and when Lorenzo was not the same man, he is today with me.

“You didn't have to leave the room miss, your Lorenzo asked me to bring breakfast for you in bed...", she points to a tray with my breakfast.

I pick up the glass of natural orange juice and take a big, long sip before nodding my head in denial to Ms. Marguerite.

“You didn't have to bring me coffee in bed, Marguerite."

“It's the boss's orders and you better get used to it because soon you will be the mistress of this house and all this will also be yours...", she mentions my marriage with her eyes shining, pulling a small smile from my lips.

I grab a piece of toast from the tray, but Marguerite pats my hands and takes the tray in her hands before pointing to the dining room with her head.

“Go sit at the table and let me serve you, miss...", I nod my head, settling down at the long dining table located in the center of the room.

There are many empty chairs, I always thought they were just for decoration since Lorenzo's family is small and very reserved, there are only his two younger brothers and his girlfriends since Lorenzo's parents died in a car accident when they were still small.

All three were raised by their uncle as his children and it was after the uncle's death that Lorenzo became the matriarch and head of the family taking over all the businesses left by his uncle.

During breakfast I keep thinking about how radically my life has changed in the last few years, my father is fortunately well and is still recovering in a habilitation clinic for addicts and I visit him all the time.

I have no one else besides my father and I am an only child, so I ended up getting closer and making Lorenzo's family mine too, even though they look dangerous the Mancini brothers are lovely people.

Only Lorenzo usually tinkers and takes care of the dirty or heavy stuff, but sometimes work needs extra help and the brothers don't hesitate to help my fiancé with his assignments.

It's his birthday today and I'm more than eager to see him and visit him, but I know he never answers his cell phone when he's busy, so I send a message to the Mancini brothers' girlfriends who have become my best friends these days.

I invite them to join me on a shopping trip with me and as expected they don't refuse.

Almost half an hour later I am at the door of the mansion watching the two dark cars approaching the house, they are also almost always forced to have private security guards around because once Marina suffered an attack and was almost kidnapped by family enemies, but everything went well and from then on, the three brothers became obsessed with security.

Marina is the girlfriend of the second oldest brother Marco, he is charismatic but always with a closed and serious expression on his face just like Lorenzo, but I know him too well to know what he is really like.

The youngest and funniest and most outgoing brother is Luca, who always has a friendly smile on his face unlike his older brothers, I love him too much and am always laughing or smiling when I am around him.

Luca is dating Giulia who is also a lovely person and a very kind and caring girl.

The girls get out of their cars accompanied by the security guards and run towards me to greet me with kisses on the cheeks and hugs.

“So, it's decided? The ball will take place that night?", Giulia asks clapping her hands and I agree, smiling.

“Yes, the organizers should be here in a few hours to start organizing and getting everything ready."

“Good, because I found the perfect dress for this occasion and I'm going to wear it anyway...", Marina says, fixing her blond hair in a high bun before we go to one of the cars.