Dangerous Union

Chapter 1

Irina

Marriage.

The word echoed in my head as I stood with mascara in my hand and my gaze lost in space. I blinked several times, finding my reflection in the mirror, my heart beating in my throat, my stomach gripped in a vice.

My blue eyes were wide open and terrified. I could see it very well, I could feel it very well.

I had been in that state since my father told me that morning that he had arranged my marriage.

Marriage.

I was only nineteen, I had recently finished private school, I was supposed to leave for Russia next month, join my younger brother with our relatives, and instead all this went up in smoke.

I expected it, in my heart I expected that this moment would come sooner or later.

It was such an obvious thing that I almost wanted to slap myself for how bad I was.

Nevertheless... I don't know maybe the stupid me thought I had a chance in this world, to meet someone and that my father would give me the freedom to marry him, but they were just the fantasies of a little girl who had not yet realized the world she lived in.

I shook my head and closed my eyes to take a deep breath, then opened them again and started applying mascara again.

Once finished, I put it back in place and applied some lip gloss.

I didn't really like makeup, I always preferred to be natural even if in our world, women had nothing natural.

Some of my former classmates had made their first plastic at sixteen. Whether it was the nose, cheekbones or even the boobs, most of them had gone to the surgeon. It seemed like a sort of sick rite of passage that showed that they had grown up. The saddest thing was that their own mothers brought them to us, also extensively retouched.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, I had never had such problems, as my mother had died shortly after giving birth to me, and my stepmother was too busy taking care of herself than thinking of me. Or rather, so I thought.

Since when the news of my marriage arrived, he had sent me to my room a stylist who had brought at least twenty dresses for me to choose for that evening, he had also tried to send me a make-up artist and a hairdresser but I had categorically refused.

I wouldn't have put myself all in the way for my first and real evening in the mafia society. The less attention I attracted, the better it was for me.

Since that evening I was supposed to meet my future husband, Noah Bianchi, Luciano Bianchi's eldest son, one of the most influential families in the city, but also outside the city, and a rival family of mine.

When my father had mentioned his name to me I was speechless, I didn't understand why he wanted to give me to his son heir to that family, but it seemed that Vladimir Volkov had a lot of respect for Luciano Bianchi and that was a way to smooth out a rivalry that had lasted decades now.

I had never seen Noah, in general I had never met anyone from the mafia world. Dad preferred to keep me away from everything.

An all-female college of the Franciscan nuns, with only female professors, canceled events in which only he participated and sometimes he took Juliet with him.

I had never been seen by the other men of the mafia, I had never participated in any event, I had always been well hidden, and I think this was due to my father's fear that something would happen to me. The women in our family were unlucky. Dad had lost two sisters, before them a sister of his father and so on until my great-great-grandmother, who committed suicide when she was used and left by a Bianchi.

After all these tragedies, my father thought well of keeping me well away from everyone, to prevent anyone from seeing me and deciding to take me with them. But that evening, he had decided to take me with him, to show me to everyone and it made me quite anxious.

I looked at myself in the mirror with a sigh and smoothed the soft skirt of the dress I had chosen to wear that evening, among the many that had been proposed to me.

With a tight bodice with a sweetheart neckline, the straps were thin threads of fabric that left the shoulders and arms uncovered, while the skirt was wide and reached below the knee, with layers of transparent tulle. On my feet I had put black pumps, with a lace around the ankle, the heel was square and more comfortable than the usual stiletto.

I went into the walk-in closet and opened the jewelry box, taking out a pair of gold earrings with pendants and slipping them into the first holes, then took some circles with gems and inserted them into the second holes. Slowly he filled in all five holes in my ears that I had.

I took a necklace and put it around my neck, a necklace with three pearl pendants that widened as they went down and finally I put on my necklace with the cross.

I put the ring on my index finger, the one with my family's seal and looked at myself in the mirror of the walk-in closet.

"Irinà?" I heard Juliette's voice calling me with her French accent, immediately after she popped into the walk-in closet and looked at me from head to toe. "You are a splendor, Mon Cherie." She said and then she came to meet me, made me turn towards the mirror and placed her hands on my shoulders. "Tonight all the eyes de l'homme will be focused on you. But remember, you only have to get the attention of one." She said, looking at me through the mirror.

I sighed and nodded, "The eyes of Noah Bianchi." I said quietly and she nodded.

"Don't go to him immediately as soon as you see him, let him look for you. Catch his interest, it's very important that he's intrigued by you." she told me again and I took a deep breath, feeling anxiety wrap around my body like a violent grip.

"I know how important it is." I said breathing in her sweet scent, too sweet, so much so that it almost made me retch.

She squeezed my shoulders, almost sticking her long, red nails into my flesh and then walked away.

"Maybe you should pull your hair up." She said studying me.

I looked at my blonde hair in the mirror. I had braided a few strands on my head, creating a kind of crown, which I then tied behind and left the rest of my hair loose, soft waves that went down my shoulders, then I had curled two tufts and left them to contour my face.

I liked my hair down, so I shook my head.

"I prefer it this way." I admitted almost under my breath, almost afraid.

Juliette pursed her lips, reducing them to a straight line but she didn't say a word, she turned around and started to exit the walk-in closet.

"Vlad is waiting for us at the entrance." She said simply.

"I'm coming." I said with a sigh and walked out of the walk-in closet as my stepmother left my room.

I took the jacket and put it on and then left the room, located on the second floor of the villa that belonged to my family. With my bodyguard at my tow, I went down the stairs and went to the entrance where, waiting for me, there was my father, with his designer suit and of course my stepmother, with her tight red dress, puffy red lips and blond hair styled in a bun behind her head.

He looked at the time on the clock and then looked at me when I approached him.

"Needless to say you are beautiful." He said giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Which makes me tremble." He said then.

"Nothing will happen." I told him following him outside, a car with tinted windows was waiting for us and he opened the door for me to let us get in, then he went around the car and got into the passenger seat while Sergei got behind the steering wheel and started the car

I looked out as we passed the golden gates with the big V's on each leaf.

"This will be your test for Bianchi." My dad told me, looking at me from the mirror, "If you should notice anything you don't like in the boy, don't hesitate to tell me, and I'll cancel everything." He said.

"You know how much you need this thing. I'm not going to blow it up just because I might not like it." I say rolling my eyes.

"You are more important than anything else." He said looking me in the eyes, his blues were the mirror of mine. "If he would give you the impression of being a person not for you, say it immediately, without problems. We don't need the Bianchi." He said and I nodded, but he heard Juliette sigh, almost annoyed.

The car whizzed through the streets of the city, the lights of the street lamps reflected on the tinted windows of the car, while the anxiety increased more and more.

We arrived at the restaurant in a short time, behind us there was our car with other bodyguards.

The car stopped in front of the entrance, and I started to get out, but my father blocked me.

"At some point, I will have to go to the private room together with the other bosses. You stay close to Sergei at the bar counter, as soon as I finish I will come and pick you up and we will go home." He told me with concern and I nodded.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." I said forcing a smile.

We waited for the car to come to a complete stop and a bodyguard quickly arrived to open the door for me, came out and I took a deep breath, letting the fresh May air fill my lungs.

I walked around the car and joined my father and stepmother, she had one arm tucked into his and had one of the most fake smiles I had ever seen her make printed on her face.

Behind us, I noticed other cars coming and parking. More and more people got out and approached the entrance. I took a deep breath and kept my clutch attached to my body and followed my father towards the entrance of the restaurant.

Other cars arrived and all were parking.

I held my handbag tight and climbed the steps while a man at the entrance opened the glass door for us and made us sit down.

The environment of the restaurant was gloomy, the lights were dim, the floors were of black marble, the curtains of the same color. At the entrance there were two pots with two evergreen plants, one on each side of the steps leading to the track where there were several tables scattered around. Some were already occupied by entire families, others were empty, while still others had few places still free.

On the left side there was an open bar, an area with a circular counter with a bartender with his instruments in the center, it was positioned next to what was supposed to be a dance floor. On the right, however, there was a glass door that led to another space, but covered by the gray curtains inside the room.

The restaurant was full, completely packed with people from our world, but as soon as we entered, I saw several heads turn in our direction.

Many eyes, perhaps too many, were focused on me and I felt a grip in my stomach for the way they looked at me, as if I were a piece of cannon fodder, ready to be bought by the highest bidder.

Now I understood very well the reason why my father had never taken me.

I clung to my father's arm, almost terrified, as he laid his hand on mine and looked at me, with his emerald green eyes, his gray hair, "I'm here." He told me in Russian and I sighed nodding my head slightly.

It took only two minutes before many men approached to greet my father, who officially introduced me in front of them, who studied me. Some introduced themselves formally, taking my hand and kissing my back, others simply introduced themselves, but in a short time, he managed to meet many members of some families.

The Terekov, Lopez, Rossi, Müller, Smithz.

Many that I didn't even know.

As my father had told me, no one knew about this... The union between us and the Bianchi, he wanted to make sure that everything was hidden to avoid chaos, but that would not prevent the men from looking at me as they were doing at that moment.

I couldn't help but feel annoyed by the looks that followed us until we sat down at the table. My father moved the chair for Juliette and then for me, then placed himself between the two of us.

I tried not to pay attention to the people looking at me, so I focused my attention on the table with the black and gold tablecloth.

The table was rectangular, with gold embroidered designs, there were small lit candles, three to be precise, next to the decorative plants. The flowers of the plants were bright red, I didn't recognize what kind of flower it was but I reached out to fiddle with the petal, while I rested my chin on the other hand and lost my mind.

After a while I was distracted by the arrival of a waiter who placed a glass with an amber liquid in front of my father, whispered in his ear and my father focused his gaze on an undefined point in front of him, lifting the glass and nodding his head.

I thanked the waiter with a smile and at that moment my gaze was captured by something, or rather someone, who was sitting at a table away.

I froze under his gaze.

The eyes so blue and clear that they seemed to be the same as the color of the ocean, the perfect facial features, seemed almost sculpted. His fiery gaze was focused on me and I felt myself on fire. Nailed to my seat as I looked at the man who was probably the most handsome I had ever seen.

His black hair was arranged on his head, only a few strands fell on his forehead.

He was wearing a black suit, with the first buttons of his shirt unbuttoned, revealing the top of what looked like a massive chest. He had one arm resting on the empty chair next to his, while with the other hand he brought a glass to his lips from which he drank slowly.

The rest of the restaurant vanished, as if no one existed. I only saw him and he saw only me and I felt as if my whole axis had overturned.

We stared at each other for what seemed endless until someone tapped me on the shoulder.

Everything started moving again, my parents made themselves heard again and I blinked several times as I turned to my father who said something to me.

I nodded, but I didn't understand anything, and then looked back at the man who continued to stare at me shamelessly.

He didn't look at me as everyone had looked at me at that moment, with a piece of meat to put his hands on.

His gaze seemed more inquiring, as if he was studying me and, even if I didn't want to admit it, I was basking under his gaze and a part of me hoped that he would get up at any moment and come to talk to me. Instead he remained there, in silence, looking at me all the time, observing my every single move and soon, the admiration and warmth inside me turned into annoyance.

Why the f**k did he keep watching?