"Girls! Girls! Are you ready? We are about to start," Lola Knight, my best friend Blake's mom announced to all my bridesmaids and the flower girl.
There was a low rumble of their answers, and then Lola escorted them out the door, while the wedding coordinator, Wendy Gardner, showed them where to line up.
Yesterday was my 18th birthday, and instead of being out celebrating becoming an adult, I was here, having a rehearsal for my wedding today.
It wasn't my decision, of course. This was an arranged marriage between the Mazzanti Family Mafia and the Bianchi Family Mafia. I was promised to Vincenzo Bianchi before I was even born into this world. The day the sonogram revealed that I was a girl, our fathers decided to form the alliance between the two families.
I didn't meet Vincenzo until I was 14 years old, after I came back to my family. My mother kidnapped me when I was just 2 years old. And after she was brutally murdered when I was 13, I was returned to my brothers.
Unfortunately, my father was deceased before I was able to meet him. Something I regret more than anything, never meeting my father. Oh, how I wished he was here to walk me down the aisle today. But my oldest brother, Emilio will walk with me, in his place. He's been like a father to me the past 5 years, well all of my 6 older brothers are like fathers to me.
"Oh Alessi! We have to get your dress on you, cara. People are waiting. The ceremony is about to start," Lola fussed as she walked in the bridal changing room.
"Yes ma'am, I know. I just couldn't do it by myself," I said, defensively.
"I'm here to the rescue," Natalia Bianchi, my future mother-n-law came running in behind Lola. "I'm sorry I was running a little behind. But I'm here to help. What do we need to do?"
"Alessi's dress is a little difficult to put on, so we could use your assistance with that, Natalia," Lola said, sweetly.
Lola Knight is one of the sweetest women alive. Her family works for my family, but they are more like family to us. Her youngest son, Blake, is my best friend / bodyguard and her older sons work for the Mazzanti family as well. Without having many female role models in my life, she has certainly become the mother figure, that I so desperately needed in my life. Living with 6 men was not an easy thing to do.
After about 10 minutes of squirming and squeezing, I finally fit into the incredibly tight dress. It was one of the few things that I got complete control over, and I wanted the prettiest, sexiest dress I could find.
This wasn't exactly the wedding of my dreams type thing. This was a business arrangement, between two families. There is no love in this, only family obligations.
I don't know Vincenzo very well, at all. He's a very cold and distant man. I mean, I'm sure he cares about me. Anything I want, he gets it for me. If I have any problems, he takes care of them. He doesn't complain at all, and that's about all the good I know in him. He's very closed off, and absent, he doesn't come around very often.
He used to when I was younger. Right after we first met, I had an accident with my horse, Beast. And he came around more, until I was fully healed. Then his father fell ill, and he became extremely busy, and his appearances at the house were almost non-existent.
It didn't bother me though, I was young, and not really interested in getting to know my older 'fiancé'. He was 21, at the time, and working overtime to prepare to become the new Capo dei Capi (boss of all bosses). Now at 25, he will be officially donned as the Capo dei Capi, in a couple of weeks. Now that we will be married. Apparently he had to be married before he could officially take over the position.
"Oh, Alessandra," Natalia gasped. "You just look simply amazing. There are no words to describe your beauty today. You certainly have a happy glow about you. Doesn't she have a happy glow, Lola?"
"Oh yes, definitely a glow," Lola agreed, just to be nice.
Lola knows there is no glow, because I am far from happy. This is the last thing I ever wanted to do. I was enraged when they first told me of the arrangement. I was all set to run away, and hide from them forever. But over time, I slowly adjusted to the idea. I'm still not happy about any of this, but I've just decided to 'take one for the team' for lack of a better description.
"Thank you so much, Natalia." I replied, politely.
"Okay, Emilio is waiting for you. Are you ready to do this?" Lola asked, looking at me expectantly.
"I'm going out to sit with my husband. I'll see you out there! Good luck figlia (daughter)," Natalia said, as she gave me a hug, and hurried out the door.
"Okay. I just wanted to say something real quick before you go out and do this. I know this wasn't your first choice. In fact, you didn't get a choice at all, but I'm so proud of you for going through with this. You are doing a good thing, Tesoro (sweetheart). I know he doesn't appear to be an easy man to live with. But you broke down all your brother's walls, and you can break his down too. I love you so much!" Lola said, as she reached out to hug me.
"I love you too, Lola. I'll be fine, I'm a tough little chicken, as Gianni likes to say," I said, chuckling at one of my brothers many nicknames for me.
"Okay, lets go do this," Lola said, as she escorted me to meet my oldest brother, Emilio.
"Oh! There you are! Everyone's waiting for you babygirl," Emilio fussed, as I walked over to him.
"I'm sorry, it's my fault. I wasn't there to help her into her dress," Lola defended me.
"Oh, Alessandra! You look... so.. so beautiful. Wow, look at my baby sister," he said, as he looked at me for the first time today. "I'm so proud of you honey. You're so grown up."
"Okay, I'm just gonna go find a seat," Lola said, as she hurried off.
"Thanks for all your help, Lola!" I called after her, to which she just waved and headed in the church.
She must have given them the signal, because the music started playing, and Wendy started instructing people on when to walk in.
We had a huge bridal party, after all, Vincenzo has 3 brothers, plus my other 5, and his best friend as his best man. So I had to come up with 8 bridesmaids, and 1 maid of honor. I chose my best friend, Sophia, as my maid of honor. And since I really didn't have a lot of other female friends, Emilio chose 8 of my female cousins from Sicily. They were coming for the wedding anyway.
"Babygirl. I just have to tell you how proud I am of you. You're truly a beautiful person inside and out. And your brothers and I love you so much. We will always be here if you need us. I truly believe that Vincenzo will treat you fairly. But if he doesn't, then I will do something about it, one way or another. You can always come to me, if you're having any problems okay?" Emiliano spilled out, as we were waiting our turn to walk down the aisle.
"I know. And I'll see you guys often. I'll come visit all the time okay?" I said, as I sniffled, trying to hold back the tears.
They weren't tears of joy, no, not at all. I was devastated to be leaving my home, and my 6 crazy brothers. This was a terrifying new experience. But I had to be strong for them, and I had to follow through on my fathers promise to marry this man. So, no I wouldn't be crying any tears today. I would be holding my head high, and I would walk proudly down the aisle to meet the man I am to marry.
"Yes, you can visit whenever you want too, babygirl. You will always have a home with us," he smiled, and I swear I could even see a little wetness building up in his eyes.
"I love you so much Emilio," I gushed, as I hugged him tighter than I had ever hugged anyone in my life.
"I love you too, babygirl," he hugged me back, just as tight.
"You ready to give me away? Let's do this big bro," I said, as I linked arms with him, and we began to walk to 'The Bridal Chorus'.
As we made our journey down the long aisle, of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the largest Catholic Church in New York City, I just looked around to see who all was here. I didn't recognize a single soul, these were all my brothers and Vincenzo's business contacts. And of course, family that I hadn't met yet. There had to be over 2,000 people here.
I was starting to feel very intimidated, and I had to make myself take long deep breaths, to calm my nerves. Thank God, Emilio was beside me, holding me up. Because, I swear, my knees would have buckled if he wasn't here.
When we got closer to the end of the aisle, I caught a glimpse of my future husband. He was wearing a tailor made, Armani tux, and looking every bit the handsome man that I remembered him to be. My breath caught in my throat, as my eyes caught his.
I'm not sure what I was expecting from him, but what I got from him, left me feeling, very uneasy. While I smiled at him, and tried to look somewhat happy about the event, he simply nodded at me, with a completely blank look on his face. Just how every bride dreams their husband will look at them in their wedding dress.
I knew I couldn't let that get to me, if I thought about it for very long, I would burst into tears, and cause an ugly scene right here in front of all these people.
So, I did what I always did when I needed someone to cheer me up, I looked for my brother, Gianni. There he was, smiling his big goofy smile at me. He gave me a quick thumbs up, mouthed 'I love you', and that did the trick. He made me happy again.
I wondered what Vincenzo would do, when it came to the kiss. I mean, we had never even held hands. But he surprised me, when he leaned down to my short height, and kissed the side of my mouth. Half of me wanted him to take my first kiss at my wedding, but the other half of me really didn't want him to. I wanted my first kiss to be by someone who I loved with all my heart. I guess that was a lost cause now.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Vincenzo Bianchi," the priest announced, as everyone stood, cheered, and clapped for us.
I guess that's what I am now, Mrs. Vincenzo Bianchi. No more, Alessi Mazzanti, now I'm a married woman, with no real identity anymore. Would this really be my life for the next 80 years? Well who knows, maybe I'll get lucky. Maybe I'll die early, I should take up smoking, that might knock a few years off my life span. Who am I kidding, if I did that, my brothers would kill me as soon as they found out.
Once the painful ceremony was over, I went back to the bridal changing room, and Lola helped me out of that extremely uncomfortable dress, and into another beautiful white dress, to go to the reception.
It was being held at another venue, all the way across town. I rode in the limo with my now, husband. I tried to get into the limo that held my brothers, but they told me it would look bad. So, I sat for an hour, playing on my phone, while Vincenzo had his laptop open, doing whatever it is he does on it. He didn't utter a single word to me, but I didn't speak to him either. This was a very uncomfortable situation to be in. I mean what do you say after you marry someone you don't even know.
Once, we got to the venue, we weren't allowed to go straight in. No, we had to wait for all the guests to arrive, while we sat in an office. Still not speaking to each other.
Eventually, we were told it was time to enter, but only to walk in once the DJ announced our arrival over the loud speakers.
While we stood outside the door, waiting for the announcement, my husband finally spoke to me. "I think it would look better if we held hands," he said, as he reached down to grab my hand.
I didn't reply, just simply nodded my head.
Finally, the announcement was made, so I plastered the best fake smile I could on my face, as we walked through the door, hand in hand.
Everyone stood, as they clapped and cheered for us once again. I smiled and waved a lot, and Vincenzo nodded with a slight smile on his face. Then, we stood in the front of the room, as hundreds of people came up to congratulate us. Vincenzo introduced me to all of them, as they came up to shake our hands.
After about 2 hours of that, I felt Vincenzo's hand on the small of my back, as he led me to the bridal table where we sat down in the middle. It was finally time to eat, I was so hungry, I could eat a horse. I had been so nervous this morning that I hadn't been able to eat. So now, naturally, I was starving.
Once all the celebrations were done, and the crowd dwindled down to nothing, it was finally time to leave this place, and put this stupid 'best day of my life' behind me.
There was no honeymoon, no honeymoon suite, we left in the limo, that took us back to his mansion. Well, his parents mansion, we got the privilege of living in his family home. He had to work, and I had to go back to school, so there was no time for a honeymoon.
"You will have your own room, right next to mine in the mansion. Eventually, we will have to share a room, as an heir is to be expected after some time. But as of right now, you are still in high school, and you need a little more growing up time before we think about having a child," Vincenzo spoke the longest sentence, I think he's ever spoken to me before.
Yeah, I'm just gonna ignore that whole 'heir' comment. I have dreams, and he's gonna let me achieve them, whether he likes it or not. And then we'll talk about kids, maybe.
"Okay. What about my cat?" I wondered would he allow her to live in my room. Chloe had been my best friend, since not long after I moved in with my brothers, and I couldn't stand the thought of leaving her at home.
"She's already been delivered to the house, and put in your room. Lauretta set your room up, just as you had it at Emilio's house. I wanted you to be as comfortable as possible."
Lauretta Fanucci, our housekeeper at my brothers house. Man, am I gonna miss her! I told her my 'good byes' this morning, with so many tears, between the both of us. She was like another mother figure, I loved her so much. It wasn't good bye forever, but it really felt like it.
"Thank you. And my horse?" I wonder if they have stables at their house.
"Yes, he has already been delivered and set up in the stables behind the house. I'll get one of the maids to give you a tour of the property," he spoke blandly.
"Thank you very much," was all I could think to reply.
He just nodded his head, as we pulled into the circle part of the driveway to his home.
When we came to a stop, I reached for the door handle about to get out, when Vincenzo pulled my arm back. "Always, wait for the driver to open the door. He needs to do a quick survey of the surroundings to make sure it's safe, and then he will open the door for you," he explained, in a somewhat friendly tone.
I just nodded, and looked down at my feet, feeling properly chastised.
"I see you still haven't broken that habit of yours. Do not look down when someone speaks to you, Alessandra. You are a Mafia Queen now, and I won't tolerate that any longer," he spelled out for me, in a very stern tone.
"Okay," I said, as I looked him straight in the eye.
"Very good," he said, as the door opened, and the driver held his hand out to help me out the door.
"Thank you, Uh, sir," I said, as I climbed out of the car.
"It's Paolo, ma'am. It's a pleasure to drive for you, Mrs. Bianchi," He said with a genuine smile on his face.
"Oh, you can just call me Alessi, Paolo. It's so nice to meet you," I smiled back equally as genuine. It was nice to see a friendly face here at my new Hell.
"No, he may not call you, Alessi. All the help are to address you as ma'am, or Mrs. Bianchi. You are to demand respect. Understood?" He angrily commanded.
"Yes," I sighed, while I still looked him in the eye. Why was it so hard to look him in the eye?
I could do it with anyone else, but he's so intimidating.
I didn't understand why they had to address me that way, but I wouldn't enforce it, unless he was around. I was only 18, I didn't really want to be called ma'am, or Mrs. Bianchi, but again. This is my life now.
Once we made our way into the huge mansion, I was in awe. This place made my brothers mansion look like a cottage. There was a big open foyer, about the side of a normal bedroom, that opened up into the humongous living room. I counted 8 couches in that living room, and there was a 80" tv that took up basically one wall by itself. Who knew where the kitchen was, but the living room was the size of a soccer field at least. Or it seemed that big anyway.
We were walking through the foyer, when a lady in a maids uniform came walking up to us, with a big sweet smile on her face.
"Hello Mr. Bianchi, welcome home. And hello to you, Mrs. Bianchi, its a pleasure to have you here. I am, Gretchen, your personal maid ma'am. Anything you want or need, I am at your service," she greeted, as she did a slight bow.
Did she really just bow to me? This is getting out of hand, she barely looked older than me, and she was my personal maid? What would I need a personal maid for anyway?
"I'll let you two get to know each other. I have some work to attend to, before I go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning, Alessandra. I expect to see you at the breakfast table, dressed and ready for your day, every morning by 6:30 a.m. sharp." He ordered, as he headed off in the opposite direction from where we were going apparently.
6:30 a.m. every single morning!? Even on weekends? What kind of mad house am I going to be living in? This is pure out right torture. I wonder if this is enough grounds for divorce? I'm already done with this stupid marriage.
"Come with me, ma'am. I'll show you to your room. I've already taken the liberty of feeding your cat, and giving her some fresh water. I hope you don't mind," she smiled, and then turned to show me to my room.
"No, I don't mind. Thank you very much," I smiled back, as I followed her.
After many twists and turns, we finally came across a door, that to my surprise had my giant "A" nailed to the outside of it. That was on my door at home, I'm surprised Lauretta thought to bring it to this house. It will help me distinguish between all the other 15 million doors around here, though.
"That door over there, is your husbands room. There is an adjoining door inside both rooms, that Mr. Bianchi said is never to be locked. Just for your information," she said, as she pointed to the door a few feet down from mine.
Once she opened the door to my room, and I stepped inside, I gasped at how beautiful it really is. It was at least the size of my old room, maybe even bigger. The walls were an pure white. The color scheme was Teal, Turquoise, Black, and White.
The California King size bed, was made like a real princess bed. 4 large posts, with metal bars that connected them, and a sheer curtain hung over the sides, enough so that I would be completely inclosed in the bed with all of the curtains closed, if I wanted to. I secretly always wanted that kind of bed. I believe it's called a canopy bed.
There was a huge desk for me to work on my homework I guess. A nice black couch and chair set with a black ottoman. The walls were kinda empty, but I could fix that later.
Walking into the bathroom, it was much larger than my other one, with a jacuzzi tub with lots of jets, and a walk-in shower the size of a closet. It was so beautifully decorated, using teal, turquoise, and black again.
Connected to the bathroom was a whole new room, I believe was to be used for a closet. But it was definitely the size of another bedroom. My clothes, as well as some additional clothing that still had the tags on them filled the room. They were done, just as they were at home. One side of the room were normal everyday clothes, and the other side were school uniforms.
Just another reminder that I am still in high school, and married to the most dangerous Mafia man alive. I just sighed, as I looked down to the huge rock on my finger. I won't be wearing that to school. I definitely don't need to answer all those unwanted questions. I finally got my own name at school, since all my brothers had finally graduated.
"Is everything to your satisfaction ma'am? Anything can be changed, if you don't like the colors, we will change them to something you do like. Or if you want another be-." She was starting to ramble.
"No. No, everything is perfect. I love it just the way it is. Thank you," I said cutting her off, not trying to be rude, but she just didn't need to keep going.
"Very well. Will you be needing anything else tonight? It's 11:00 and Mr. Bianchi doesn't want you out of your room after 11:00 at night. But, as you can see, they brought your dorm refrigerator, and it is stocked with all your favorite drinks, ma'am." She spoke very politely, and very formal. I'm definitely gonna have to get her to loosen up sone, at least around me.
"No, I'm fine. I have everything I need. Thank you, Gretchen. Uh, will you be here in the morning?" I asked, nervously.
"Yes ma'am. I start working for you at 5:00 am, every morning."
"Good, then can you come up here, and walk me to the kitchen for breakfast in the morning? This house is too big, I know I'll get lost," I pleaded softly.
"Oh yes ma'am. I will be in your room at 5:00. I will be here to wake you up, and help you get ready for your day, everyday. And naturally, I will lead you to the dining room for breakfast. They don't eat in the kitchen, it's always in the small dining room, ma'am." She smiled politely.
"Oh, well okay. You don't have to do all that. I can get myself ready in the morning. I just need help to get to the dining room," I replied, looking at her curiously.
"Oh, no ma'am. Mr. Bianchi's orders, I must have you up and dressed properly every morning. I must do your hair every single morning. He just wants you to look appropriate, Mrs. Bianchi."
"Oh okay. That's fine then. I'll see you in the morning Gretchen. Good night," I replied, now irritated. Not with her, but with my stupid husband.
I feel like I'm 13 years old again, back at my brothers house, and he's in his office, laying out the rules I'm expected to follow. Ridiculous rules, I might add. Only Vincenzo is not giving me rules, just barking out commands, through a maid, at that.
This is not what I had planned for my life. I'm not sure how I'm gonna make it like this.
I changed into some pajamas, and somehow found Chloe cuddled up in the covers on that huge bed, and snuggled up with her. I really wanted to text Gianni and see what he was doing right now, but I knew he would ask me how things were going, and I didn't want to lie to him. He would be so disappointed if he knew the truth.
So, I just closed my eyes, and tossed and turned until I finally dozed off into a restless sleep.
What a stupid day!