Katerina Dale

"Mommy? Wake up! Mommy!" a small voice fell into my ears as I struggled to open my eyes and clutched my aching head. It felt as though I was hit by a truck and I desperately wanted to know why.

With heavy eyes, I quickly scanned the room and noticed that I was sleeping in Elijah's bedroom. Looking down to the side of the bed, I saw his adorable face staring at me with wide, confused eyes. I rubbed my eyes awake and froze when I felt something heavy on my left hand.

Looking down, I saw the most beautiful diamond ring in the shape of a rose resting on my ring finger, making me gasp in surprise. I was about to rip it off my finger when Elijah tightly grasped onto my hands.

"What's wrong, mommy? Are you hurt?" he questioned while letting go of my hands and gently patting the top of my head, making me instantly smile at him.

"Don't worry, mommy's alright. Thank you for waking me up, my little prince," I lightly tapped his nose and stepped out of the bed but froze when I noticed what I was wearing.

Someone had changed me out of the baby blue summer dress, making my mouth fall open in shock. I was dressed in a huge black hoodie and a pair of silky pink shorts. His scent still lingered on the hoodie, so I didn't even need to question who the clothing belonged to. He better not have changed my clothes himself.

That sick bastard! I swear when I find you, Arosio, I will kill--

"Mommy, hurry! It's alright 8:30 in the morning, everyone's been waiting for you," Elijah yelled as my eyes widened in realization. They always have breakfast at 8 in the morning, crap!

"Thank you, my little Eli. Please inform everyone to start eating without me, alright? Mommy will take a quick shower and come downstairs in fifteen minutes," I kissed the top of his head before sprinting into the connecting bathroom.

Before showering, I tried to yank the ring off my ring finger but it wouldn't budge at all. I could barely focus and almost put regular soap into my hair instead of shampoo. My mind was too preoccupied with trying to remember what happened last night. All I remember is accepting one glass of red wine from Arosio's mother, and then everything went black. Then I wake up with a wedding ring on my finger while being dressed in Arosio's hoodie.

Oh my God, what if I said something stupid and offended this Mafia family last night? What if they are planning my death and they used Elijah to distract me just now? What if--

Exiting the bathroom, I had no more time to speculate as I was met with several maids holding various expensive outfits just like yesterday. I shook my head lightly and chose the least expensive one again, a white dress with long lace sleeves. I thanked them and noticed their lingering gazes that held amusement, staring at me for a few seconds longer until Helena cleared her throat and scowled at them. That seemed to make them snap back to reality as they bowed and practically ran out of the room.

"Thank you for your help, Helena. You can go now, I know the way to the main breakfast room. I will be downstairs in a few minutes," I smiled at Helena who nodded curtly and left me alone in the room. I changed into the dress and kept my wet hair up into a tight ponytail hidden behind me.

With a nervous smile and rapid heartbeats, I headed towards the main quarters of the De Luca family mansion. The closer I got to the breakfast room, the more I wanted to turn around and run away. I have no idea what happened last night and not knowing is making it impossible for me to keep my emotions under control.

Soon, my feet landed right in front of the grand doors leading to the breakfast room as I inhaled and exhaled several times. I could feel the staff members who were cleaning outside the room staring right at my back but chose to ignore them. I couldn't even blame them for staring since I have been standing in front of the door for almost five minutes.

My hands lifted up ever so slowly and wrapped around the extravagant door handles. It felt as though my heart was about to burst out of my chest any second now. With closed eyes, I let out one last shaky breath before gently pushing the door open.

As soon as my eyes met with the De Luca family members seated at the table, it was as if time itself had stopped ticking. My eyes were still tightly shut in fear but I could hear them all stop talking and could feel them looking in my direction. I slowly opened my eyes and regretted it instantly.

"HAHAHAHAA, guarda che la nostra principessa è qui," Alanzo bursted out into laughter as soon as his eyes met mine and Adriano soon followed. There was a hint of amusement in everyone else's eyes, except for my sweet Elijah who looked confused. (look our princess is here!)

My eyes widened as I gasped, feeling completely mortified and slammed the door shut. YES, I slammed it shut and did not step inside. I could feel my face instantly fire up and began to curse the red wine from last night. I knew I did something stupid! But no matter how much I tried to remember, nothing came up in my blank mind.

"Enough. Do not tease my wife," I heard Arosio's enraged voice command before the door flew open and he was standing right in front of me. I felt my breath hitch as I stared at his handsome face and allowed him to pull me towards the breakfast table and help me sit down beside him and Elijah.

"Good morning dear, how are you feeling?" Eliana was the first to break the silence as my guilty eyes snapped up to meet her motherly smile and gentle gaze. My heart clenched in pain before I released my fork and reached across the table to hold her hand in mine. Her eyes seemed to linger on my left hand and at the ring, much like the rest of the De Luca members, but I chose to ignore it and instead gave her a small smile.

"I'm really, really sorry, mama! I really don't know what happened last night, my mind is blank whenever I try to remember. I'm so sorry, it was your birthday and I ruined it. If I did or said anything wrong yesterday, please forgive me! I promise, I won't drink any red wine ever again, mama!" I quickly rambled off nervously and failed to notice the amused expressions on each of the De Luca family members faces. Well, Alanzo and Adriano actually looked like they were about to piss themselves laughing.

"Certo, non berrete da quando il fratello si è sbarazzato di tutto il vino rosso nella nostra cantina," Adriano muttered as he sent Arosio an annoyed look, making me turn towards my fake husband with my brow raised. (Of course, you won't be drinking since brother got rid of all of the red wine in our cellar...)

"Hahaha....so you're telling me.....you don't remember anything, principessa?" Alanzo questioned in between his heavy laughter as he leaned onto the side of Adriano's broad shoulder. His laugh was quite attractive since it made his green eyes brighten up more and I found myself wondering if he has a girlfriend.

Not for myself but for a friend! What? It's true! Although he's attractive, Arosio is ten times more attractive than him. Wait, what am I thinking? Shaking the thoughts away, I grimaced before showing Alanzo a hesitant smile.

"I'm really sorry but I don't remember. Did I do anything to upset you?" I asked nervously in a small voice and turned to look towards the amused older couple who gave me reassuring smiles. I instantly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at them gratefully.

"What's wrong, mommy? Are you in trouble?" Elijah whispered as he finished his breakfast on his own today and climbed onto my lap to rest his head against my chest.

"Nothing, my little prince. Mommy thought she said something wrong last night but grandpa and grandma said it's alright," I reassured him while rubbing his small back up and down soothingly and bringing my glass of orange juice up to my lips.

"Mommy can never say or do anything wrong," Elijah exclaimed confidently and made me turn towards his father as he reached his small arms out to the silent Arosio, whose gaze had been fixed on me since the moment he pulled me into the room.

"Yeah, except for calling Arosio the sexiest man she's ever seen," Alanzo suddenly teased as the orange juice in my mouth immediately flew out and hit the unsuspecting Arosio's stone cold face.

The whole room seemed to still as I quickly backed away from Arosio while tightening my grip around Elijah. Good thing he had not completely crawled over to his father or else the juice would have hit the poor little boy as well. My gaze traveled up to Arosio who sat frozen with his jaw clenched in anger, making my eyes instantly fall to the ground in fear.

"HAHAHAA, this is fucking gold. Where's my phone?" Alanzo immediately bursted into laughter as he searched for his cellphone and I could hear Adriano snapping a few shots with his phone. His parents were even laughing, making my cheeks flush red in embarrassment.

My shaken eyes remained rooted to the floor as I didn't dare look at any of the De Luca family members anymore. I could feel my shoulders begin to tremble as a frightened sob nearly escaped my lips. Elijah looked at me in confusion as he blinked towards his silent father and then looked at me again.

"Mommy, what does sexy mean?" Elijah's innocent question pierced through the silence and my eyes inadvertently snapped up to meet Arosio's darkened gaze. My cheeks immediately burned red and I racked my brain for a suitable reply.

"Um...well...you see... daddy calls mommy nicknames like uh tesoro?... so mommy decided to also call daddy with a nickname...yeah that's right, a nickname!" was the best excuse I could come up with as I refused to meet Arosio's intense gaze and instead focused on the little boy in my arms. I thanked the heavens for remembering the Italian term that Arosio had called me a few times and made a mental note to look up what it means afterwards.

"Oh, that makes sense!" Elijah giggled and snuggled into my neck, no longer interested in the inappropriate term, making me release a sigh of relief. I could hear Alanzo and Adriano laughing at me across the table and had to hold myself back from pouncing on them.

My gaze unwillingly traveled towards Arosio who had calmly wiped the juice off of his face and I saw a small smile tug at the corners of his lips which made me furrow my brows. I just spit-taked orange juice onto the Italian Mafia boss but he was smiling?

"Young Master, here are the documents," my thoughts were interrupted as the head butler, Clarence, came forward with a few documents and handed them over to Arosio. His family members remained unfazed, as though they already knew what the papers were.

Without paying it much mind, I began to finish my food while continuing to rub Elijah's small back. I could feel him dozing off and made sure to tighten my arm around him so that he wouldn't fall. The De Luca family began to discuss business again and I tried my best to keep the food from coming back up when I heard them discussing the best way to get rid of a new threat that emerged.

"Here, sign these, cucciola. They are very important and I marked the pages where you need to sign," as soon as I finished my food, Arosio placed the documents in front of me.

I looked towards him with a raised brow and back to the documents before grasping the pen he held out to me. Opening the first page, I was about to begin reading the document when Alanzo's clear voice suddenly rang through the room.

"Oh, I do remember one thing you mentioned yesterday, principessa. You kept mentioning a girl named Katerina..." Alanzo trailed off as my frightened gaze snapped up to him. I could feel all of the color drain from my face while I stared at him with my mouth agape.

"Ka...te...ri...na?" I slowly whispered in completely shock and gripped the side of my head tightly. I was still suffering from a hangover and now it felt like I was about to pass out due to the anxiety I was feeling.

Alanzo nodded his head along with Adriano who looked amused for some reason. I turned towards the older couple who also looked amused and I paled even more. Don't tell me they all heard me talking about my real identity?

"Wha...what...did I say?" the words barely managed to leave my trembling lips as I leaned forward on the chair I was sitting on. I felt Elijah stir in his sleep and began to hum a small tune so that he could go back to sleep.

"Sign the documents first, and then I will tell you, principessa. Those are very important documents, brother needs them for his meeting afterwards," Alanzo stated and I failed to see the hidden mischievous in his eyes.

"Yes, we will tell you all about Katerina after you sign those papers, principessa," Adriano added when he noticed my hesitation to sign the documents.

Crap, he heard me talking as well? Oh my God, please save me!

With wide eyes and a paled face, I quickly nodded my head and signed each page as Arosio flipped through the document and pointed at the spots where I needed to sign.

The thoughts of reading the document and forging Isabella's signature completely left my mind as I was too worried and the way they had said my real name kept ringing in my mind. Unconsciously, I signed with my real signature and before I could realize it, the papers were taken from me and were now being held by a smirking Arosio. I looked towards him confused before snapping my attention back to his two mischievous brothers.

"Alright, I signed them. Now tell me, what did I say last night?" I tried to hide the eagerness and nervousness in my voice but judging by their devilish smirking faces, I failed.

"Oh nothing, you only said that there is a sweet girl name Katerina who is your bestfriend. Why do you look so worried? Is there more to the story, principessa?" Alanzo teased after a dramatic pause and I felt myself release a heavy breath of relief. Slowly, the color returned to my face as I leaned back in my chair with Elijah still resting in my arms.

"No! Absolutely not," I released a short, unnatural laugh and ignored Arosio's piercing stare. Why was he always looking at me with his dark, intense gaze? Sometimes, it feels like he wanted to devour me whole.

Please, spare my life until midnight, Mr. Mafia boss! I will be gone forever after midnight!

"Your ring is very beautiful, principessa," Adriano's calm voice suddenly interrupted my inner monologue as I looked towards him confused and he chuckled while pointing towards my ring finger. My mouth formed an 'O' and I tried to rip the ring off yet again but it wouldn't come off.

"Oh this? I have no idea where it came from. I have been trying to take it off since I woke up but it's like stuck. Mama, do you know how to take it off? Would butter work?" I looked towards Eliana with an innocent smile but froze when I felt Arosio glaring at me. Why is this man angry again? I didn't even do anything!

"If you ever take that ring off, you will not like the consequences, tesoro," Arosio stated huskily while leaning closer to me with his alluring lips only mere inches away from mine.

"Um...but...why should I have--" my trembling lips failed to complete the sentence because he suddenly stood up, making my eyes instantly shut close out of pure terror.

"You are my wife and the mother of my child. Of course you should be wearing the ring I specially designed for you, il mio coniglietto," Arosio stated as my eyes snapped open in time to see him lean down and kiss my cheek as well as Elijah's head. (my little bunny)

With that, the dangerous man nonchalantly strode out of the room with the documents as I was left staring after him in shock.

If only I knew what those documents were and how those simple pieces of paper would forever change the course of my life...

**** Hello lovely readers,

Hope you all enjoyed!

PLEASE COMMENT, VOTE & READ!