Deadly Nightshade

Chapter 1: The Meeting

Today I am visiting my dad's office for an important meeting, we are a business family or at least that is what we make people believe. As the only daughter and heir of the Cattani family, I have a reputation to maintain, therefore attending to this meeting on time is a must. Although I must admit keeping appearances can sometimes be exhausting.

My life has never been easy, on the outside people see me as a strong independent woman who can rule her family's empire without hesitation, but on the inside I am sensitive and sometimes I get insecure thinking I am not good enough, I tend to care too much of what people think or at least of the people that I care about.

As I enter the headquarters of my dad's building people greet me and bow their head out of pure respect as I walk to the elevator, they have always treated me as a goddess and I'm not going to lie I kind of like the attention.

"Good morning, Ms. Lea, your father is waiting for you at the meeting room." my dad's assistant greets me once I reach the 8th floor were my dad's office is located, "Thank you, Aria." I smiled at her.

I walk towards my dad's meeting room, as I enter the room all the men stand and greet me, "Good morning, guys." I say back to them with a small smile and a tone of voice that meant 'business mode', I notice my dad sitting at end of the table. My dad is Lorenzo Cattani, he is the mastermind behind our empire without him we wouldn't have been able to achieved everything that we have until now "Lea! Come take a seat, baby, the meeting is about to start." my dad says with a genuine smile. For his age, my dad is considered to be a handsome man, he is tall, has brown hair and if you see close enough you will notice that some white hair is growing, he has green eyes and pale skin, some people may say I look just like my father.

All the men present take a seat and I sit beside my dad. "Thank you all for coming on such a short notice, the reason for this meeting is because we have a new competition in town, it is a Russian family and they are very powerful in the business world, if you know what I mean." explains my father, and of course we understand what he means, he meant our real business.

"Some of you might have already heard of them, some of you might not, but I am sure that soon you will all be well informed of who they are." my dad has a serious face, his eyes are cold, void of any emotion when he says that and I get an uneasy feeling on my stomach, I might be 20 years old, but I have been well trained to know about all of the most powerful families in this business and if my dad is talking about the family that I am thinking about, now I understand why this meeting was so urgent.

"They are known as the Morozov family." he finally says and when he mentions their last name all of the color in my face drains and the men in the room gasp.

You see, the Morozov family are well known for being ruthless, merciless and very powerful not just in Russia, but in all Europe.

"What are they doing in Italy?" I ask curiously.

"They say that they want to expand their business and Italy is the only country that they have not been able to succeed." answers Luca Barone, he is the administrator of our night clubs. Luca is a handsome man, he is tall, has a built body, hazel eyes, brown hair, strong face features, tanned skin and not to mention very intelligent, that guy knows everything that has to do with a business and it is a plus that he loves a good party, which is why our night clubs are the most elite in Italy and all thanks to him.

"Well, of course they haven't and most likely they won't, we are the ones that rule Italy." says Maximilian Marcozzi, he is the one that administrates our hotels, thanks to him our hotels are an international success. Not to mention that this man is stunning, he has light brown hair, green eyes, pale skin and he is very tall. Max, as I like to call him, is also my best friend and partner in crime.

"But that doesn't mean that they won't try to take our spot in the business." replies Francesco Vittori, he is the one that administrates our restaurants, he has a major in Gastronomy, our restaurants are one of the most famous in Italy all thanks to him. He is not that tall compared to the other men in the room, he has black hair, brown eyes, lean but at the same time has a built body, Francesco is handsome without a doubt.

"So, what is our strategy?" asks Niccolo Conti, he is one of the most important man in our organization and the key to our success, he is the one that makes our business legal and the one that keeps us out of trouble. You see Niccolo is our lawyer or better yet the consigliere. He is tall, lean, he has brown hair, blue eyes, and not to mention that he is the best lawyer in Italy with a degree from Harvard and a master from Oxford, this man is well prepared to have our back when needed. Thanks to him our business runs smoothly and without a suspicion that something else is going on behind closed doors.

"At the moment we are working on finding out what is the real intention that the Morozov family has by coming to Italy." answers Damiano Accardi, he is my father's right hand, second in command and he is in charge of our security.

He is tall with a built body, he has blonde hair and green eyes. Damiano is like my older brother, he is also the reason why all of us have the most qualified bodyguards protecting us 24/7 and not to mention our security system, it is high technology, the kind of technology that not even the FBI can get their hands on but wish they had, so that means that our houses and specially this building are a fortress. With that being said you can imagine my reaction and the one of each man in this room when we hear the alert alarm going off throughout our headquarters followed by a loud bang and people screaming.

And in that moment, in that exact moment is were all chaos begins.