Page 12 of The Arianna Arrangement

Sean and Greg followed behind, never leaving Apollo or I by ourselves while on Vitale property. While if Lucian decided to make a move against us while we were here as his guests would unleash more problems for him than solutions, we could never be too careful.

As we approached our rooms, Marco finally turned back to us. “I assume you know which rooms are yours?”

Apollo nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

Marco bowed his head in respect. “Of course. We’ll see you in an hour.”

Apollo and I both walked into my room, Sean and Greg following behind us. When the door was shut, Greg spoke. “We’ve made sure the devices are set in all of the rooms. These rooms should be safe zones for the remainder of our time here as there will always be people posted in this hallway.”

“Good.” Apollo moved to the table and chair stationed by the window and poured himself a finger of bourbon that was waiting for us. While I wasn’t twenty-one yet, and not often allowed to drink, my dad and uncles were a little lenient and allowed me a drink here and there. “What about Arianna?”

“Vitale security said that she will be staying in her old room until the wedding night, then she will be in here with Tucker. I fear that with her not being on this wing of the house, putting a device in her room would be us crossing a boundary, but if it’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.”

Apollo shook his head. “No. We don’t want to start any issues.” He turned to me. “If you want any alone time with her for private conversations, do so here. But only conversations. Please, for the love of God, keep it in your pants. It’s only about a month and a half until you’re free from this purity restraint.”

I rolled my eyes. “I know the expectations.”

“Knowing them and following them are two different things.” He lifted a brow before taking a sip of his drink. “Now, I want to discuss Sandro and his lieutenants. While your dad and I would love you and Sandro to be close and be able to work well together, remember that he is his fathers son. While he may not be as bad as Lucian, his loyalty will always lie with the Vitale family, not with you.”

“I know. I’m pretty sure that he or his guys will ask me what else is in store for initiation and report back to his father.” Otherwise, I don’t think Lucian would have made sure to mention that it was confidential. I mean, it’s not like people didn’t talk about their initiations after they were initiated, and since Sandro grew up here, he had to know what to expect.

“I’m glad you caught on to that tidbit. There will be tests this entire summer. Tests for your loyalty. I expect they’ll come from both Lucian and Sandro. There’s a chance that Sandro will want to see that you’re loyal to him over his father. That will be a tricky tight rope to walk, but I’m here to help when you need it. If you have to make a decision on the fly, my default would be to follow the orders of the big boss, but don’t rat out the heir. Even if it seems like you’re proving your loyalty to Lucian by talking, remember that snitches don’t get stitches. They get concrete boots.”

He wasn’t wrong. I mean, I had no intentions of ever ratting out Sandro because I knew that even though his allegiance was with his father, he’d proven to me over the past few years that he was looking out for Ari, even if it meant defying his father. I didn’t for a second think that Lucian would have been okay with him telling Ari that her father was going to have a blood test done to make sure she wasn’t on birth control.

Lucian loved the element of surprise, and if he enjoyed testing people, what better way to see if we were sticking to our end of the deal than by springing that on us at the last second.

“Understood.”

Apollo gave me a nod then downed the rest of his drink. “Good. I’m heading to my room to check in with Becky, then I’m going to shower and get ready for tonight. Remember that you don’t have to wear a suit jacket, but dress pants, a button up, and a tie will be expected.”

As soon as they’d left my room, I slumped down into the chair. This was going to be a long summer.

Chapter 4

Arianna

My mother found me almost as soon as I’d walked through the door, coming to me with open arms and a huge smile on her face. “Arianna. I’m so glad you’re home.”

I honestly believed in my heart that my mother loved me, but she wasn’t great at showing it most times. Though, having grown up in this world, I understood. It wasn’t until I’d lived in Crestwood and seen how the Givenchy’s treated each other that I’d really started to think about how other people showed love for others.

For the most part, Sandro and I had been raised by nannies. I mean, Sandro spent a lot of time with our father so he learned how to be the head of the family, but our mother was rarely around. Usually out getting pampered, spending time with the other wives, or holed up in her bedroom by herself. She might have loved me, but she wasn’t the motherly type, so seeing her so excited to see me was suspect.

“It’s good to see you too, Mom.” I took the hug she offered, considering how rare they were, and wondered briefly what her motivations were.

I didn’t have to wait long. “We have so much to do and so little time to do it. You really should have made more trips to New York over the past couple of months so that we could get started. Waiting until six weeks before the wedding is just madness. Thankfully for you, I started planning and making calls. I’ve got caterers on hold and ordered the necessary things that couldn’t wait.”

There it was. She wasn’t excited to see me. She was excited to be planning my wedding that she’d use to show me off, making her the envy of the women in the Vitale family.

I mean, she already was. I could walk down the aisle in a potato sack with no flowers or decorations or even anyone else present and my mom would still hold their envy. She was married to the boss, so she had unlimited money and influence.

“I’m assuming we’re holding the ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral?” It was where my parents had been married, as well as everyone else in our family for as long as it had been standing.

She chuckled and rolled her eyes. “After all the money your father just spent renovating the banquet hall here? No. The wedding will be in the back yard with the reception in the hall. It serves another purpose too, though, since the estate is secure.”

“Is he concerned about safety?” St. Patrick’s was in our territory so it should have been secure as well. And things had been good between the families for longer than I’d been alive.

Mom let out a sigh. “No. But he should be. You are the first of the heirs to get married. If any of the families was going to decide to pull something, this would be the time to do it.”