1,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: Booker
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
Can a love that defies the law of two families divided by an ancient grudge ever survive?
Ginevra Rinaldi never knew what freedom was. Living in a golden cage, smothering and full of rules dictated by her father, she is used to obeying and suffering her family punishments for any of her rebellious acts.
Lorenzo Orlando has abdicated his place as heir to the Orlando family heritage in order to have the freedom to be and do what he wants, even risking his own life. However, today he is a respected man and is the owner of Rockart City`s most prestigious venue, the Bridge.
Determined to break the mold as well as the rules, Ginevra will end up in the wolf`s den. What will happen when she becomes ensnared by Lorenzo`s penetrating gaze and finds out that she can no longer escape him? How much time will Ginevra have before becoming Lorenzo’s prey?
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
Ähnliche
Victory Storm
You Are Mine
Table of contents
You Are Mine
Epigraph
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
You Are Mine
Victory Storm
Text copyright © 2020 Victory Storm
http://www.victorystorm.com
Translator (ita --> eng): Maria Burnett
Cover: Victory Storm's graphic design - Stock: https://stock.adobe.com
This is a work fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
All rights reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced or disseminated by any means, photocopies, microfilm or otherwise, without the author's permission.
OTHER BOOKS:
The Sweet Poison Of RevengeBroken RulesIn Love With A StarA Star In My LifeYOU ARE MINE
Victory Storm
Can a love that defies the law of two families divided by an ancient grudge ever survive?
Ginevra Rinaldi never knew what freedom was. Living in a golden cage, smothering and full of rules dictated by her father, she is used to obeying and suffering her family punishments for any of her rebellious acts.
Lorenzo Orlando has abdicated his place as heir to the Orlando family heritage in order to have the freedom to be and do what he wants, even risking his own life. However, today he is a respected man and is the owner of Rockart City`s most prestigious venue, the Bridge.
Determined to break the mold as well as the rules, Ginevra will end up in the wolf`s den. What will happen when she becomes ensnared by Lorenzo`s penetrating gaze and finds out that she can no longer escape him? How much time will Ginevra have before becoming Lorenzo’s prey?
Epigraph
Two households, both alike in dignity
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny.
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents strife.
The fearful passage of their death-marked love,
And the continuance of their parents rage,
Which, but their children's end, naught and could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Romeo and Juliet
( William Shakespeare)
1
GINEVRA
“ I don't know, Maya. Maybe it's better if we forget about it,” I whispered, trying to calm the anxiety that I was beginning to feel.
“ Ginevra, come on, let yourself go for once! Aren't you tired of always having to obey your family's rules? Don't tell me that a part of you wants nothing more than to stray and have fun like all the girls of our age do! “
my friend snorted.
Of course, I wanted it! But it was not so easy for those who had Italian Rinaldi blood in their veins.
Being the daughter of a mafia boss meant having a preset life, sealed in a collection of rules and limits dictated by a father, who was a master for all intents and purposes.
Even though I was the youngest daughter, I was by no means freer and every mistake or transgression was always punished severely. This is why I had learned very early to respect the wishes of my family.
I had always behaved perfectly, but in the last few years, since I started college, I had begun to resent my father’s rigid rules and my mother’s perfection mania.
It all changed when I met a reality as vast as the university, with its students who were not selected and evaluated in the same fashion as the female students of the Catholic school I had attended up to then.
I had learned there were different lifestyles and that without my father's presence on the school board, nobody cared that I was a Rinaldi.
For the first time in my life I had allowed myself to be myself and to embrace new ideals that my father loathed.
During the past two years I had become the black sheep of the family, the one to be avoided or treated as a poor misfit, but the truth was that I had never felt so alive before.
I had slowly broken the small chains that anchored me to the family, but I was still extremely far from total freedom and from doing what I wanted, like making a clear decision about my sentimental or professional future.
Until then, I had limited myself to watching Maya, the daughter of the accountant of the Rinaldi estate and my only friend, while violating the rules of her family, that followed slavishly my father’s rules.
I had envied Maya every time she phoned me, asking me to cover her for her, when she wanted to meet with friends disliked by her parents or when she was dating a boy.
I had always admired her bravery with which she challenged the wishes of his family.
Many times, I had wanted to be like her, but the weight of my last name had always stopped me.
However, Maya was right: I could not continue like that. I had just finished my last year of college and I still hadn't felt the thrill of a little escapade, of a secret meeting with a boy or of a little foolishness, like an evening out with people I didn't know.
“ Ok, let's do it! “, I exclaimed enthusiastically, with my voice still full of apprehension.
“ You will see everything will be fine. I've done it hundreds of times and I can assure you I've never had a problem, “Maya reassured me.
“ I'm only afraid that someone will recognize me or that my father will find out.”
“ I have taken all the necessary precautions. Look here,” she said, handing me a wavy blonde wig.
“ You're kidding, aren't you?”
“ Honey, you're the daughter of the owner of half of Rockart City. Don’t even think of going around without attracting attention. “
“ Nobody knows who I am anymore. For two years my father has no longer included me in his meetings and hasn't even invited me to his inauguration ceremonies. By now, people think he has two children. Not three. I have not been as this side since I became a vegetarian and started talking about civil rights. “
“ Hasn’t he forgiven you for being a vegetarian yet?” Maya chuckled.
“ No, when we eat together, he always makes sure I have a steak on the plate, which I discard every time, making him go on a rampage. Now, most of the time, I eat alone in the annex where they relegated me,“ I said dejectedly. It was hard never to feel accepted by one's family.
“ Cool! There you are alone, and you can do whatever you want! “
“ Maybe! Remember there are cameras everywhere in my house and surveillance is always present. There is no privacy and I often ask myself if I will ever be able to separate myself from my family and live my life. I'd like to find a job, get married to a man I love ... “
“ As long as you stay in Rockart City, that will never happen. East of the Safe River nothing happens without your father’s permission... Your only hope is to go very far from here, to a place your father can never reach, because you also know very well that he will never let you do what you want. He will do everything to keep you from working, to make sure that you cannot be responsible for your own finances and cut the umbilical cord that still chains you to him at twenty-three years of age! “
“ And he certainly wouldn't let me marry whoever I want.”
“ Forget it! Ginevra, just think of all the love relationships you have had so far. “
“ I only had one. It lasted three days, in my final year of high school. “
“ Daniel Spencer, right?”
“ Yup. I barely managed to give him my first kiss, before I knew that he and his whole family had been exiled forever from Rockart City. “
“ All for a kiss ... Just think what would have happened we had slept together.”
“ I would have ended up in the dungeons of the castle like prisoners of war,” I laughed weakly, although in reality I had always thought that I would have seriously ended up like that. I still hadn't forgotten my father's outburst and slap when he found out that I had a crush on David Spencer's son, the man who made him lose a deal two years earlier.
Edoardo Rinaldi was a man who carried a grudge for a lifetime.
“ Well, I can guarantee you that nothing will happen to you this time and your father will never find out,” Maya cheered me up, placing the blonde wig over my brown shoulder hair, which came up behind me.
I looked in the mirror.
I was laughing because I was unrecognizable with all that black eyeliner and hair that reached my waist. Also, the dress that Maya made me wear was the complete opposite of my classic bon ton look.
That strapless red dress and black leather jacket with three-quarter sleeves gave me a cosmopolitan, go-getting, and sinful woman's aura. Everything I was not.
“ Is your father not going to ask you about all these purchases?” I exclaimed surprised.
“ My father is not as cautious as yours, but he checks all my credit card purchases and my mother slips into my walk-in closet once a month if my father complains about the bank statement.”
“ Your mother is the same as mine. You don’t think she will scold you for this extravagant shopping? “
“ My mother knows nothing about this second life of mine. I have an agreement with the salesgirl. She lets me try on these clothes at home for a day and I bring them back intact the following afternoon, when I go to exchange them for something more suited to my mother's taste,“ she revealed, showing me the tag still attached to the dress, before hiding it inside the neckline, in the right armpit.
“ You're brilliant!”
“ I know but remember to treat this dress with care because tomorrow I have to bring it back to the store and it must be in perfect condition.”
“ I promise!”
“ Well, let's go out then. The maid left me the keys to the car she uses to do the shopping and, the way we look now, nobody will recognize us when we go to exit. Not even the bodyguard who brought you here and who checks you from the parking lot outside the gate. “
“ I hope so, otherwise I'm dead.”
“ As a precaution, we will leave the cell phones here, so the GPS signal from the phone does not foil our plan; in addition, we will only carry cash and the fake document that I gave you. Remember that tonight I won't be Maya Gerber, but Chelsea Faye and you won't be Ginevra Rinaldi but rather Mia Madison from Los Angeles. “
“ You thought about everything, huh?”
“ Ginevra, after five years of secret escapes, I could even escape from a prison,” chuckled Maya, easing the tension.
2
GINEVRA
My heart was beating like crazy.
It was the first time I had done something crazy, and I was terrified to death.
Quietly, despite my high heels, I followed Maya.
By now everyone had gone to sleep, and the house was deserted.
We went out the back door and walked to the car parked right in front, as my friend had suggested.
We got into an old Toyota Corolla and left in no time.
When the car went through the gate, I hid to avoid being noticed by the car parked at the exit. It was the one that had brought me there and I knew it wouldn't leave until it drove me home.
I hated that constant control over my life, but I had no idea how to escape that prison without bars.
Being a Rinaldi was a cross that I would carry to my death.
Only when we headed for the freeway, did I start to relax, but as soon as I caught a glimpse of the Safe River, I felt short of breath. It was the first time I had seen it live.
In an instant, I felt fear my skin crawl all over my body.
“ Maya, where are we going?” I fidgeted, as I saw my friend continue on the bridge that connected the east of Rockart City to the west.
“ Let's go where your family can never find us.”
“ Are you crazy?! the Rinaldi are forbidden to approach this river! If an Orlando finds me in their part of town, that will be the end of me!” I shouted in terror. I hated all the limits and rules that my father imposed on me, but never going over the river was the only one that I had always accepted willingly and that I had promised to never break if I didn't want to risk dying prematurely.
“ I know that very well. That's why we have fake documents. “
“ That doesn't reassure me, Maya.”
“ Chelsea! Remember I'm Chelsea and you're Mia! Don't mess that up or we're screwed! “
I continued the journey crushed against the seat, the beat of my heart pounding in my ears, unable to enjoy the view of that part of the city that I had never seen.
“ It will be all right, you'll see,” Maya kept saying to me, but I was now ready to run away and go back, promising never to do such a thing again.
I barely noticed that Maya had parked the car right next to another car with two good-looking boys sitting in front.
“ The one behind the wheel is Lucky Molan. He's the one that made me lose my mind, the one I've talked to you about so much lately. I met him on Lezioniprivate.com. It is he who tutors economics online, secretly from my mother who is convinced that I am a genius. I have been lusting after him for two years and only now that I graduated, did he agree to go out with me. Unfortunately, however, when he suggested a two-couple date with his brother, who just broke up with his girlfriend, I couldn't say no. “
“ That's why I'm here, right? To keep the poor little brother busy while you have fun with the love of your life. “
“ I wouldn't put it in these terms, however ... Yes, it is. Please, Gin ... Mia, it is important that everything goes smoothly, because I do not intend to settle for a foursome. “
“ There is only one thing I did not understand. Does he know you're Maya Gerber? “
“ Absolutely not. You know that I really never want to leak my true identity. I don't want anyone to find out I'm taking private lessons. “
“ So, your relationship is based on lies. How do you think you can build something solid and lasting this way? “
“ For now, I'm thinking of having fun, okay? I want to go out with Lucky and maybe sleep with him. I didn't say I want to marry him! “
“ I doubt your father would allow you to.”
“ Lucky lives west of the river, so it's off limits to me. Even though I'm not a Rinaldi, Dad doesn't want me to go to this part of town. “
“ Considering the things your father knows about my family and the business he is managing for the family; I think you're in as much danger as I am here.”
“ Maybe, but I don't care! I'm too young to think about these things. “
“ Or too stupid,” I blew weakly, as she made a face at me.
Silently, as if I were afraid of being heard by who knows who, I got out of the car and approached the two boys with Maya.
They were both blond with blue eyes.
My friend exchanged a hug with the taller and thinner one; I then realized that it had to be Lucky.
“ Nice to meet you, I'm Mike,” the other young man with a depressed look on his face, barely a few inches taller than me, got closer to me.
“ Mia,” I introduced myself trying to stifle a groan for fear of revealing my real name.
How I wished I could have been as loose and relaxed as Maya!
“ I booked at Bridge. Let it be known that I had to ask a friend for a favor to get a pass to get in. It's such an exclusive place that it is out of reach for us mere mortals,” chuckled Lucky, pointing to a building a few meters away.
“ Oh, I thought we were going to Lux ... I've been there many times and I like it,” Maya intervened, making me worry with the anxious nuance that I noticed in her voice. It was not like her to be frightened and I felt my fear increase to an alarming level.
“ Maya, we won’t be able to get in again and the pass is valid only for tonight, giving us the opportunity to listen to Folkner, the famous pianist,” Lucky stopped her.
I looked at Maya and read a strong indecision in her dark eyes, until she finally nodded weakly.
“ It will be all right,” he whispered in my ear, grabbing my hand forcefully not to frighten me.
I didn't know where I found the courage, but I saw my feet move forward in front of each other, towards what appeared to be a den of snakes.
Only when I was a step away from the entrance and read the sign, I felt the earthmoving under my feet for the umpteenth time that evening: “The Bridge. Orlando's Night. “
As if he had read my thoughts, Mike explained to me that that belonged to the Orlandos, the powerful Italian family arriving first in Rockart City (even if someone claimed that the Rinaldi settled there first) and that they had transformed that desolate valley in a magnet for new immigrants, giving life to what was now recognized as one of the most flourishing and historic cities in the United States of America.
That venue was their first business activity and had been the heart of Rockart City west of the river.
“ After the death of the great Giacomo Orlando, the management of the restaurant went to his nephew Lorenzo, the black sheep of the family. He quarreled with everyone and was not able to take on his father Salvatore's place. He saved himself from the wrath of the Orlando family only because he is the eldest son, an only child and was adored by his grandfather, who on his deathbed asked him not to leave the city and to carry on with the family restaurant, the Orlando family’s milestone. For the sake of his grandfather, Lorenzo accepted and made this place the most exclusive and prestigious place in all of Rockart City, “Mike told me, as we started walking towards the Bridge.
“ He must be a smart guy.”
'Yes, and he's only twenty-nine, but don't expect a knight in shining armor. He is a shark like all Orlandos and does not forgive the slightest error. If you make a misstep with him, you risk a bad outcome. I know two guys started a fight last year and the police had to intervene. Well, since that day, everyone wonders what happened to those two idiots. Same thing for the pusher who thought of peddling in his establishment. The Orlando family may rule every single person and movement in Rockart City West, but in Law Bridge the only law is Lorenzo’s law. Everything that revolves around that man is armored and inaccessible, unless he decides otherwise. The city was convinced that, by renouncing the family's legacy, he would lose all power; instead, Lorenzo has shown that he can handle it alone. Today he is as powerful as his family and the crazy thing is that he created his own power. “
“ Well, his last name might have been of help.”
“ Maybe now that is the case, but not when he separated from his family. Half of his relatives wanted his head when he sent everyone to hell. Surely your grandfather, who was at the head of the Orlando family, protected him from being killed, but then he died, and Lorenzo was completely alone. “
“ He must be extremely courageous to challenge his family so openly,” I exclaimed with a hint of envy. I would have loved to be like him or have a grandfather support me, but my parents were all dead or had returned to Italy.
