Celeste wore a midnight blue, floral print maxi dress with thin straps. Her raven black hair was gathered in an elegant French twist.
She wore dainty sandals and matched her outfit with a navy blue purse. She took one more twirl in front of the mirror before she applied her vanilla perfume and added a swipe of her cherry lipstick.
Marcello was on the verge of sending someone after her when he glanced up the stairs and watched her slowly descend the stairs.
She looked breathtaking in that dress. He had expected her to dress formally, but he would rather bite off his tongue than tell her to change.
Her face lit up when she spotted him, and those goddamn pouty red lips widened into a beautiful smile. He was at a loss for what to say. All he could do was watch her come down and walk over to him.
"Mr Martino" She exclaimed, coming to a stop right in front of him with expectant eyes. Marcello didn't know if she expected a compliment, and even if she did was it proper to give her one?
"You look presentable though you were supposed to be here by 11:00 am and this is 12:45 pm, Celeste, I will not tolerate this tardiness" was what he settled for before heading off in the direction of the McLaren his service boy had brought over in the morning.
Celeste's face collapsed. She had expected something more considering how much effort she put into dressing up.
This dress was among the dresses specifically chosen for seduction, but if he had this kind of cold reaction, it meant that her plans were hitting a brick wall.
Celeste panicked, she needed to do something to gain his interest and fast too. She got into the car with Marcello and they began the drive to the family house in Cefalu.
Celeste was entranced by the beauty of the city, the elegant and casual looks of the people and the amazing landscapes. She took pictures and asked excited questions about things that caught her fascination.
Soon they arrived in Cefalu, and then it was a short drive to the family house.
Someone spotted Marcello from upstairs on the Balcony and alerted the others, soon uncles, aunties, cousins and in-laws were trooping downstairs to see Marcello Martino second son of Dante Martino and Vincenza Martino, the famous mafia couple and CEO of VALVERRA.
They would have given anything to see Lorenzo too, but that would be if anyone was ready to risk their life or his anger to approach him.
So they settled for the fact that once you have seen Marcello, you have seen Lorenzo since there was no difference between the identical twin brothers besides the difference in aura.
Two servant boys rushed to carry the luggage, while Marcello escorted Celeste in, placing his hand on the small of her back. Celeste was immediately tensed and on edge from the feel of his hand on her.
He looked nonchalant about it as he began introducing the members in sight. Furious whispers and speculations began flying around at the sight of Celeste even after Marcello had introduced her as his Secretary and linguist.
"Aunt Amelita you look as beautiful as ever" Marcello teased exchanging kisses with his Aunt who had dashed down to see him, she was more than happy to see him though Uncle Pietro was nowhere to be seen.
Aunt Amelita chuckled as she playfully smacked his arm,
"Don't flatter this old lady boy now introduce me to this gorgeous lady" she said turning a warm smile on Celeste who was getting overwhelmed by the attention.
"This is my Secretary Miss Celeste Bellamy, Celeste meet my Aunt and second mother Amelita" Marcello said with a grin before turning slightly to Celeste.
"Good afternoon Aunt Amelita, Good afternoon everyone I'm Celeste Bellamy and Secretary to Mr Martino thank you so much for your warm welcome" Celeste chanted like a programmed robot.
Marcello almost burst into laughter at her comical expression. Soon others were coming forward and showering her with blessings and more interrogations.
"Marcello!!!!" A loud and excited voice screamed, Marcello grinned then counted to three before he braced himself for impact.
In a flash of a frilly pale pink sundress, a gorgeous lady launched herself into his arms. Marcello laughed and twirled her around before landing a kiss on her forehead.
Celeste who had been smiling at a young girl looked up to see who had yelled Marcello's name when she saw the moment in a painfully slow motion. It was as though the moment the lady leaped into Marcello's arms was cut into a clip and played on a loop.
She saw red at first, as jealousy in all its glory and ramifications reared its hideous head. The sight of another woman wrapped tightly around Marcello was making her blood boil.
But suddenly reality hit, and she realized he wasn't even hers to begin with so she had no right to be angry.
Her entire mood dropped an octave and she stood with an unnatural stiffness trying to ignore the prickly feeling in her eyes, and the tightness of her chest.
Marcello brought the lady down as other members playfully chastised her for acting that way, especially Aunt Amelita. Marcello signaled to Celeste to come closer.
Celeste unwilling to move at least she broke down and trudged over with a pseudo-smile plastered on her face.
"Celeste meet my Sister Rosa and our latest bride," Marcello said warmly, poking Rosa in the ribs and she giggled, smacking his arm.
It was as though Celeste had been turned upside down and dipped into honey. The smile that broke out on her face was so joyous as she pulled Rosa into a hug, her relief evident on her face.
"Gosh it is awesome to meet you Rosa, you're so beautiful, I'm Celeste so happy to meet you" Celeste gushed happily, before disengaging from a stunned Rosa.
Celeste soon caught herself, and almost fainted from embarrassment. She suddenly wished she could vanish or go anywhere to avoid the stunned expression on Rosa's face and the amused but shocked look on Marcello's face.
"Sorry, I got carried away," she said shyly, stepping back. Rosa recovered quickly and broke into a grin, turning to Marcello she said,
"I love her, we are going to be good besties".
Before Celeste could get a grip on herself, Rosa had already grabbed her hand and pulled her into the grand Martino family house.
The house that has withstood decades of Martinos and Mafia clashes. Covering vast acres of land and situated not far from the beach, the house was both magnificent and beautiful.
Its current owner Lorenzo Martino was on a trip to England oblivious to the cute family reunion that was ongoing. Well even if he did, he wouldn't have bothered to show up, unless Marcello dragged him to it.
Rosa dragged Celeste around the house on an unsolicited tour, excitedly drilling her about Chicago and New York even though she had been to those places.
With Celeste stolen away by Rosa and everyone returning back to their posts for the wedding preparations, Marcello had enough time to spare before most of the guests arrived.
Since most came from farther countries, they had opted to come before the wedding and Marcello had offered them accommodation.
He wondered if Lorenzo was going to make an appearance or skip it as usual, though he had a feeling Lorenzo would make it since Rosa was like the younger sister they never had.
He suddenly remembered the wives of the farmers who had died. Courtesy demanded he pay them a visit since he had promised to be responsible for their families. Bidding a hasty 'see you later' to Aunt Amelita who bore a vase of tulips he left.
Rosa had been called away by her fiance Louise, leaving Celeste all alone in the garden where she admired the beautiful flowers on a garden bench swing before she decided to call her mom and tell her about her trip to Sicily.
The call went through but her mom wasn't picking up, so she decided to send Isabella the pictures she had taken while in the car. Luckily Isabella was online and they chatted for a while before Celeste went to the room she had been given to take a short nap.
It was dusk when Marcello came back. The house was buzzing as a majority of the guests had started arriving. However, for some reason, he took a detour to avoid exchanging pleasantries while seeking Rosa out.
He found her by the fountain laughing and talking with some of her foreign friends. He grew restless as he couldn't spot Celeste anywhere.
"Rosa dear where is Celeste?" He asked, still searching for her with his eyes. Rosa turned at his voice, she swayed lightly on her feet indicating that she was drunk.
"Over there...She...over there with Harold Reese my classmate...they are in love" She said amidst hiccups and drunk giggles. One could not fault her considering her family had opened the chambers to the best and most expensive wines in the Martino private collection.
Marcello's expression clouded as he turned to where Rosa had been pointing. There she was on the balcony, looking so beautiful in an emerald green and black body con gown which did wonders to her curves.
She looked bewitching as she gazed at Harold who kept gesturing as he was talking to her, something he said made Celeste throw her head back in carefree laughter, and that was the last straw for Marcello.
He marched right into the house with itchy fists. Someone was about to have a broken nose tonight.