Sold to the Capo

ADRIANA'S POV

My palms were thoroughly sweaty and I kept rubbing them at the sides of my gown, my heart thudding in my chest.

With each step I took down the stairs, I knew I was entering more into a danger zone because I began to notice the other men sitting in the living room, talking to one another in hushed tones.

I noticed Henry at one side of the room, the traces of a smile that he had graced me with earlier now completely wiped off and he awfully reminded me of Vincenzo with that look on his face.

The only person here that seemed to put my mind at ease a bit was Valentina who was sitting alone on another couch, her hair packed up and her face hard as granite.

Nice mood for the occasion.

I took another shaky step down the stairs, my mind running with several thoughts but one of the thoughts kept popping up more than the othersㅡwhat would it be like to just throw myself down the stairs?

Nope, it wasn't high enough and the only thing I'd succeed in doing was breaking my back, that was something worse than death, I wouldn't be able to move and…andㅡ

"Tesoro" another warning tone in his voice as he waited for me to hurry and get down their stairs.

I took a deep breath and finally got down the stairs.

I struggled to keep a straight face as I went to stand with him, my chin raised high.

Was this right?

"I'm Jules. Don Jules" the man he was talking to introduced himself.

I nodded at him. "Adriana…" I paused unsure of the last name to use before I forced his last name past my lips. "LaRosa, Adriana LaRosa"

The man sent a knowing look to Vincenzo who didn't return it. "Nice to finally meet you, Adriana"

I was about to speak when Vincenzo spoke up instead.

"She shall be addressed as Mrs LaRosa," He said sternly.

The man tightened his jaw, clearly not liking that.

"Of course" He gave me a quick once-over again before he walked over to the couch and sat back down with the other men.

Vincenzo who was standing beside me with his hands in his pockets, looked at me with dead eyes. "Get a grip, you look like you've seen a ghost, and don't say anything unnecessary" He warned, his voice a slight whisper.

He nodded over to the couch where Val was sitting and I nodded, going over there and sitting down beside her, she didn't flinch, she just glanced at me and looked back at the men sitting opposite us.

Vincenzo sat on the lone couch, surveying around the small gathering of men who had gone silent.

While we waited for goodness knows what, I counted them all. 7 of them in total.

I looked back at where Henry stood before but he was nowhere to be found again, strange.

"Let's get started, shall we? As we all know, there has been contention in Sicily as a whole which is why we're here… Fredrick died last week and It has come to my attention that there's a crisis trying to break out to know who gets the business…" Vincenzo began to talk, his eyes surveying the scene carefully.

All the men were listening carefully but I could feel someone's eyes on me. Jules. He was creepy and I felt naked under his gaze.

"As per usual, I will not let a mob fight take place in my city so we will do this… state what you want and you will leave Fredrick's family for me" Vincenzo stopped to look around the room.

I looked at the door to the house. It was now shut tight. Shit.

No escape.

"Then who gets the family?" A short stocky man stood up, his stomach creasing as he looked at Vincenzo.

"Me," Vincenzo said simply.

There was immediately a mumble and disgruntled sighs.

Val beside me adjusted, her dark eyes now watching everyone there.

"Why do you have to? I get that you're Don LaRosa's son but this… has nothing to do with the LaRosa family. We can do this the old-fashioned way" Another lean man with murderous eyes spoke up, his voice low and dangerous.

I wasn't an idiot, I knew what the man meant. A fight till the death. The strongest family claimed it.

Vincenzo looked over at the man. "That's how you've been doing it but that's because I never wanted whichever family you were hellbent on making yours. I want this one, I'm simply saving you the hassle" Vincenzo smirked noticing how everyone was becoming angry at his words.

"Why are you interested this time, Don Enzo? Is it because of Grace? The damsel from the family?" One man said, his voice rising higher.

My eyes darted to Vincenzo who appeared as composed as ever. Was he really doing this because of a woman?!

"I have no intentions of telling you why I'm interested in the family. If you choose to go to war with me, know that you will fail and you will lose everything you worked for so let's save ourselves the hassle, shall we?" Vincenzo clapped his hands together.

Despite the way that they still seemed angry but unable to say anything about it, they all stood up, a Stony look on their faces.

"Let's hear the demands to end it so all parties are satisfied" Vincenzo tucked his hands in his pockets.

"A stripper exchange. New ones" I heard a man demand and I shuddered. What was wrong with these people?

They all made their demands. All except one. Jules.

He was still staring down at me. "I want her" He took a step closer to me, his eyes taking me in again.

Val beside me pulled out a gun and stood up, pointing it at him.

"No guns allowed during clan meetings. Put the gun down" Jules warned.

Val looked over at Vincenzo who nodded to her. Oh lord, was he going to accept?

I stood up, my knees slightly buckling.

"She's not on the list. Another, Jules" I heard Vincenzo say but that did nothing to calm me down knowing that the man was still standing right in front of me.

"I said I want her, Don Enzo" His voice increased a tad higher.

"Let it go, Jules. Don't get yourself in any trouble" another man said with a bored tone as he cast me a dismissive glance.

Jules suddenly reached out a hand and slightly stroked my hair. "It isn't really fair that Enzo keeps all this beauty to himself" He muttered, his eyes darkening.

I stiffened as he made contact with my skin and almost immediately, I heard a loud pop and something splattered on my face, my mouth hanging open.

I didn't even realize what had happened until I heard Jules's body drop to the floor with a thud and I looked to see Vincenzo calmly pocketing his gun.

The men around the room seemed unfazed at the blood pooling at my feet.

"Eh, man always had it coming to him" someone mumbled silently.

The men ignored what had just happened and they grabbed their things, leaving the house while I stood there fazed.

Val quickly turned to me and she held my shoulders. "Adriana" she shook me.

Tears filled my eyes and I knew what was dripping down the side of my face. Blood. It has splattered everywhere around me.

I refused to look down. I was standing right next to something I had never been this close to.

A dead body.

Killed because of me.