As the entered the ballroom, Alessandra's gripped tightened on Luca's hand. She could feel her chest tighten up with fear as all eyes were on her and with every camera flash she could feel herself wanting to turn around run. She glanced over at Luca who was staring at her with confusion written all over his face. When he saw the fear in her eyes he squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.
They eventually made it the center of the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife. Now Luca began to get nervous, he didn't know how to dance and he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of all these people.
They stood staring at each other, waiting for the music to start. Alessandra noticed that Luca's color drained from his face once they hit the dancefloor. Assuming that he didn't know how to dance, Alessandra whispered, "Put your hand under my armpit, I'll take care of the rest. Just make sure you move with me." The nervous girl that stood beside him a second ago was replaced with a confidence that couldn't be shaken, Luca had no choice but to allow her to lead.
When the music started they were gliding across the floor in an effortless ballroom waltz. It felt like they were gliding on ice the way she moved them across the floor. She was no longer nervous when they were dancing but as soon as the song was over she felt the anxiety kick back in.
Luca led her over to where they would be sitting and pulled out a chair for her. She was becoming more and more aware that he was nothing like his father or how people described him.
"Where did you learn how to dance?" he sat down beside her.
"My mother was a great dancer, so she put me in ballet when I was young. When I turned 13 I started doing Summer classes at Juilliard until I turned 18."
"Is that where you went to college?" Luca was curious as to what her brother said earlier about her being smart and graduating early, however, she tensed up at the mention of it.
He was about to say she didn't have to answer when she turned to look him in the eye, "No, I went to Princeton. I was a history major and was a semester away from finishing my degree." She then pursed her lips together letting Luca know that if it wasn't for this she would be there now finishing her degree.
"Uhm, yes your brother said you were almost finished," Her eyes bore daggers into him. He had never felt more uncomfortable in life than in this very moment. He broke out in a cold sweat.
At that moment a little girl came up to the table. She couldn't have been more than 6.
"Sissy, can I sit with you. Caleb is being mean to me." The little girl pouted to Alessandra. Alessandra's expression quickly softened as she told the little girl, "Of course Lottie."
Alessandra picked up the little girl and placed her on her lap. The little girl seemed content with her location and it seemed that Alessandra was used to this kind of disruption.
Just then a flustered woman came up calling Lottie's name. "Please come sit down," she said, "leave your sister alone she is busy." The woman went to grab Lottie off Alessandra's lap, but Alessandra stopped her.
"It's okay, Liv, she can stay here, you have enough kids to focus on." Alessandra gave the woman a slight smile before sending her back to her table. "Oh, Liv, can you send Caleb over here please. I want to talk to him." Liv nodded and went back to the table where a bunch of kids were sitting.
A few seconds after she returned a young boy about 8 years old, approached the head table. His eyes stayed glued to the floor, like he was scared to meet Alessandra's gaze.
"Caleb," Alessandra started, "Why were you picking on Lottie?" She said in a stern tone.
"Ali, I wasn't picking on her!" the kid whined.
"She said you were." Alessandra motion to the girl that was now trying her best to hid from her brother.
"We were having fun, we didn't mean it to be mean." The boy tried to reason.
"Well, hun, just because it's fun for you doesn't mean it's fun for her, okay? You need to think of others feelings as well as your own. Would you like it if the older boys were doing the same thing to you?" Caleb looked back at the ground and shook his head.
"I didn't think so. Now apologize to your sister and I'll let you off with a warning this time." Caleb quickly apologized and then ran back to the table with the other kids.
....
Lucca watched Alessandra deal with her brother and sister like a mother would a disobedient child. She never raised her voice and she didn't get angry. Everything she stated was matter-of-factly so that the boy couldn't argue with her. Luca hated children because of how loud and sticky they were, if were him he would have pushed the child aside for the nanny to deal with. However, it seemed, that even with a nanny Alessandra chose to handle the situation herself.
The night seemed the pass quickly as the couple made small talk and with each other and their guests. They still weren't friendly with each other but they came to an understanding, if you stay out of my way, I'll stay out of yours. Alessandra spent most of her time solving issues between her younger brothers and sisters. From what Luca could gather there are quiet a few of them. He met Leon first, he was the eldest, he's married and has two children. Marco was second in line, also married with a baby on the way. James was next he looked single and sat next to Antonio who looked the closest in age to Alessandra. From that he assumed Alessandra was next in line. Alessandra had two sisters Dani and Lottie. Lottie was about six and Dani was possibly 18. After Dani there was Micah and then there was Beau, lastly was Caleb the troublemaker.
All of her siblings seem to respect Alessandra's authority without second guessing. Even those older than her were not going to question her thinking. He thought about his early statement, about how she would be easy to walk on and figured that was probably not true. He had to admire her ability though. Every single one of her brothers looked like they were ready to kill him, and her sisters would walk away if he looked at them. After his conversation with Leon he wouldn't doubt that her brothers would kill him of they were given the green light from Alessandra. Luca decided it was best if stayed on her good side and didn't upset her too much.
After mingling for awhile, Luca's father tapped a spoon against his glass to offer a toast to the newly weds. However, when Luca went to give Alessandra the champagne she turned it down, telling him she doesn't drink.
"You don't drink?" Luca looked stunned. Most of his adult life he had been drinking. He could tell you how expensive an alcohol was from the taste, so to be paired with someone who doesn't drink at all made him feel judged by her piercing eyes.
"No, I don't. I'm not old enough." Luca spit out the champagne that was in his mouth. In the process he got some on Alessandra's face. He went to grab a napkin to clean her up but he knocked over the full champagne flute onto his bride. She quickly stood up, causing the guests to stare. Luca tried his best to clean up the mess, but before he could even touch her she was pulled away by her sister, Dani.
"I can't believe that asshole spilled champagne all over you." Dani cursed as she tried to clean the dress.
"Look at your dress, it's ruined, Ali"
"That's okay I didn't like it that much anyway." Dani froze in her position and looked up at Alessandra. After looking at each other for some time before laughing at each other.
"In a thousand years did you ever think you'd be here?" Dani asked.
"Never." Alessandra said in between laughs. "I'm such a mess. I can't believe this actually happened. You know up until 2 this afternoon I was so sure Marco was going to come in with the other lawyers to tell me I don't have to do this." Alessandra's voice became more serious as she began to tell the truth.
"I think we all did. None of us wanted you to go through with this. We were ready to hide you away. I heard Leon threatened to kill Luca if he hurt you. I think he most upset about this, he feels like he failed dad in protecting you." Dani stopped trying to blot the champagne stain on the dress. She looked at Alessandra with tears in her eyes.
"I don't want you to go," she cried as tears started to pour down her face. Alessandra pulled her into a tight hug and tried to calm her down.
"Shhhh, you don't have to cry everything is going to be alright" Alessandra soothed her sister.
"But now you have to leave us."
"What?! I'm not going to leave you. Just because this happened doesn't mean we won't see each other. I'm never going to let them come between us okay? You trust me, right?" Alessandra held onto Dani until her sobs turned into sniffles. Once Dani was calm she turned to look at herself in the mirror.
"Now look who's a mess." shs laughed as she tried to fix her makeup. As the girls were making small talk there was a light knock on the door.
"Someone's in here." Alessandra called out.
"Uh, it's me, uhm Luca," Luca stuttered out.
"I just came to see if you are okay." Alessandra and Dani giggled at his nervousness before heading to the door. Dani was the first to step out. She looked Luca up and down before looking back at Alessandra, when Alessandra gave her a slight nod she turned back towards Luca, "She's all yours," she said as she started walking back towards the ballroom.
The couple stayed in awkward silence for awhile before Luca began, "I'm really sorry about the dress, I'll pay to have it dry cleaned."
"Its seriously not a problem, it's not like I'll ever wear it again and besides it's not my favorite dress." After the words came out Alessandra realized what she had just told him. but before she could take it back. Luca responded.
"If it's not your favorite why did you pick it?" He looked confused, aren't bride's supposed to be in love with their dress?
"Well I didn't. Someone brought it to my house and told me this is what I was going to wear." Luca knew she didn't have much of a choice on anything regarding the wedding but she thought at the very least she would be allowed to pick her dress. After thinking about it for a moment he decided to move to the real reason he followed her back here.
"So, uhm, I actually came to ask you something." Luca began.
"You're wondering how old I am." Alessandra already knew that he was caught off guard when she told him why she didn't drink. "I turned 20 on May 19th."
At this point the guests started to notice the bride and groom were nowhere to be found. A small gathering started in the hallway to listen to couple's conversation. They wanted to see if Alessandra was going to argue with the Mob Boss's son for ruining her dress on her wedding day. Apparently everyone loves some drama.
"Listen, could we talk about this stuff later, we are drawing a crowd," Alessandra asked looking over Luca's shoulder. He nodded slightly before turning to face the crowd.
"What are you all looking at," he yelled causing the guests and Alessandra to jump. This was the Luca that Alessandra heard so much about. The one that was rude and belligerent if he didn't get his way.
"Don't you idiots have anything better to do than eavesdrop." He continued to shout at them. No one was willing to stand up to him. They were afraid his wrath would be directed to them. The crowd began to shuffle back to their seats and once the hallway was cleared Luca turned to face Alessandra.
"We can talk tonight once we leave. You can answer some of my questions and I'm sure you have some of your own." Luca turned to walk back into the ballroom leaving Alessandra there baffled. One second ago he was acting like a brute, yelling at everyone, but when he talked to her he did it with such a gentleness that an outsider would have thought he really cared about her.