Page 41 of Arianna

My eyes find her in the crowd of graduates dressed in black gowns. She is not hard to find because she stands out even when she has a girl on her right doing some idiotic shit with her phone. The attention remains on the quiet girl with fire in her bright green eyes.

She is so beautiful.

Her blonde hair flows over her shoulders like gold waves.

“No,” I pinch the bridge of my nose, taking a deep breath. “This is her moment, and me being there will only take away from her shine.” The instant I step foot outside, there all eyes would be on me because of who I am and not on her, and that is something I am not willing to risk.

She has been robbed of every experience a girl like her deserves; I refuse to be like the others.

I might have accepted her father’s offering of his first-born daughter, but that is the extent of it. The second she was away from her cunt father, I severed all promises of allegiance.

I went back on my word and not for the first time.

I used to pride myself on the fact that I am a man of my word. Besides my many faults, I always kept it, but for a girl I barely knew at the time, I was willing to take on three families with a giddiness I never felt before to have her away from a place that did not deserve her.

A family that hurt her…

Nobody besides Banning knows the real reason why I have kept Arianna away from the spotlight. It was the only way to keep her safe from her father’s wrath against me. I didn’t uphold my end of the deal, and I knew the moment I took her from his city and cut his businesses in Chicago, he would retaliate.

A week ago, I received a call informing me of his whereabouts. As much as it pains me to let go of the need to be the one who sends him to hell, it is poetic justice if he met his end at the hands of the one he wronged the most.

I get to watch from the sidelines with a clean conscience as his legacy burns to the ground with his daughter by my side. However, it does not end there no. The same monster he created with his hatred and abuse will be the one to send Gabriele Parisi back to hell, where he belongs.

That is also the reason why I ordered Banning to get Arianna to attend her graduation. It not only makes the girl happy, but it is also a big fuck-you to her father.

I didn’t keep my part of the deal.

I didn’t make his then eighteen-year-old daughter my wife and kept her as a submissive woman as he wished me to.

She is slowly becoming everything her father despises.

A strong woman with the freedom to choose her path in life.

Then, I hear it.

“Arianna Parisi,” A loud voice booms over the speaker so loudly I can hear it from over here. Her name is called, and she stands up graciously, holding the attention of everyone in attendance hostage, including my own. Looking at her, I watch her smile so bright, childlike, and happy as she shakes the hand of the dean who is handing her diploma. Shaking my head, I put the phone on speaker while I listen to the sea of my men cheering loudly for her, rendering her speechless.

Her bright smile falls from her face, and a look of wonder takes over. My chest feels tight as I take in the scene. Fuck.

You did it, darling…

Time seems to stop as I take her in, enjoying the way she allowed herself to show vulnerability in front of so many people for only a second before she builds her guard up again. Arianna turns her head, smiles forcefully at the man who gave her the diploma, and walks off stage with that air of superiority that drives me insane with the need to take her in my arms, strip her of all her defenses, and leave her vulnerable for only me to witness.

Banning’s voice breaks through the thoughts of her haunting me day and night. “She should know it is you who has given her everything. The man who has made every single one of her dreams com–”

I interrupted him. “Leave it.”

“That girl needs more than just me…” Banning tries again, and this time his words hit the place only my child can reach.

That is how dangerous Arianna is to my sanity and my peace.

Because whether I admit it to myself or not, since the moment I first laid eyes on her, she took a piece of me with her, and I haven’t been able to rid myself of this obsession since.

It burns me and keeps me up at night.

Robbing me of all logical thought.

Throughout these two years, she has been away, Banning has sent photos and updates, and I found myself wanting more. I haven’t kissed or touched her skin, yet she has a hold on me that no other woman has ever had.

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