SERENDIPITY | BOOK 1

S E V E N

I was woken up this morning by the sound of my baby sisters giggle, and the scent of my mothers perfume. Opening my eyes, I see my mom standing at the foot of my bed, Anastasia on her hip, and that mom look directed towards me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? You're late for school" she says as she sets Ana down and starts collecting all of the dirty dishes off of my nightstand from when I had the flu last week. I groan, but sit up in bed and give her a small smile. "Мама, it's okay- it's not the end of the world. I'm getting up and I'll go. Promise." (mom)

She studies my expression for a few moments, but must see that I'm telling the truth because she nods her head and starts telling me about what my father has planned for the day before asking me if I can watch Ana for them tonight so they can go on a date. I smile, and nod my head, and Ana squeals in excitement.

At 51 and 40 years old, and 5 kids later- my parents are still as in love as the day they met 21 years ago. I've watched their love over the years- and it's the type of love I hope to have one day. Where you're eager to come home to, and raise a family with the person you love, and spend the rest of forever getting to know them, and each of their little quirks.

After chatting with mom for a few more minutes, I stretch before getting out of bed and hopping into the shower. I wasn't in school at all last week thanks to the flu, so I had Matteo drop off a few assignments to keep me busy. This ended up being very useful, and I found out that they had finally found his sister, and her and her best friend would be starting school today.

Now of course I would never betray Matty's trust, but if the Russo boys are anything to go by- his sister is going to be a sight for sore eyes, and although I can't, and won't touch- that doesn't mean I can't look. And I can promise you- I'll be looking. A lot.

-----

Fuck.

Looking isn't enough. I'm in trouble.

I got to school about an hour ago and missed all of first period and most of second- so instead of going to class, I hung around a little bit to see what I could hear. Well- I heard pretty much everyone talking about the Russo brothers' new sluts- which I'm assuming is actually their sister and her friend.

As the minutes ticked by, these girls were all I was hearing about- and by the time the lunch bell rang, I was more interested in these two girls than I was when Matty told me they had found them in LA. When I was finally able to make it to the cafeteria and sit down with the guys at our table, there was only a few minutes between the room being so loud you could barely hear yourself think, and absolute silence.

As I looked around to see what was going on- I quickly realized why the room had fell silent. The two girls standing at the doors. They were looking around the room and whispering to one another- but all I could focus on was her. I had no idea who 'her' was, but she was.... Captivating. Like a siren luring me to her. She was probably no taller than 5'2, blonde, and had a book tucked under her arm- but she was, ethereal.

Like she was hand carved by Aphrodite herself.

As the two of them kept searching for something, my eyes never strayed from her. That brings us to right now- her sat directly in front of me, between Matteo and Giovanni, and with her chin tucked into her chest and a pretty pink shade filling her cheeks.

Matteo introduced us to her and her friend, but only after I practically begged for it, and when I looked back her way- her and Matteo were shoving each other and laughing. The sound of her laugh did some funny things to my heart, and when she finally looked back over to me, I gave her a small smile, and nodded my head. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you Marabella. You are quite the sight" I say.

I watch her cheeks heat up at the compliment, and chuckle- amused at how easily she gets flustered. "Thank you, but the pleasure is all mine. ты не так уж и плох сам красавчик, У тебя есть девушка, о которой я должен беспокоиться?" she asks. I study her for a few seconds- amazed she speaks Russian, and curious as to why she's asking- secretly hoping that means she's interested. (you're not so bad yourself handsome, do you have a girlfriend I should be worried about)

I laugh and shake my head, wanting to tease her a little bit. "Впечатляет, что ты говоришь по-русски, а может и я, какая разница? Не умеете драться?" (It's impressive that you speak Russian, and maybe I do, why does it matter? Don't know how to fight?)

"Я, драться из-за мужчины? Я лучше съем тысячу крошечных бритвенных лезвий" she retorts, not at all bothered by my nonsense. (Me, fight over a man? I'd rather eat a thousand tiny razer blades)

That comment did catch me off guard though, and I barked out a laugh- which in turn earned me a smile from her.  "Не волнуйся, дорогая, у меня нет девушки. Если вы не хотите изменить это?" She turns bright red at that comment, and I smile at her, ready to make a joke. (don't worry love, I don't have a girlfriend. Unless you're looking to change that?)

"Is it just me who doesn't like that I can't understand what they're saying?" Giovanni cuts me off, and both Ella and I roll our eyes at the comment. Matteo orders that we speak only in a language they understand, and we begrudgingly comply as the conversation around us quickly becomes boring.

As I try to listen to the conversation around me- I'm continually drawn back to the girl across from me and steal a few glances from time to time. At one point though- our eyes lock again, and my heart skids to a stop at the emotions running through me. I wink at her, and she tucks her chin again which forces me to smile.

Once the bell rang, for the first time I was looking forward to class because I knew Ella would be there. Luckily for me, her assigned seats were next to me in our two afternoon classes which gave me ample opportunity to get to know her.

With her being a Russo, and ultimately the baby- and only girl of the Italian Mafia, it's going to take a little bit more work to make her mine- so I need any information I can get on who she is and how to make her happy.

I know she's worth it though, and I don't know how I'm going to do it- but mark my words, she's going to be mine. My girlfriend. My wife. Mine.

Marabella and I spent the rest of the school day chatting, and shortly before the last bell rang, she slipped me a note before packing up her stuff and heading over to where her brothers were sitting.

The bell rang shortly after, and once I made it out to my car, I dug the note out of my pocket and opened it up;

I SEND THE BEST GOOD MORNING TEXTS ;)   914-268-9731

That, is what victory looks like. And boy does she look sweet.