Anastasia by A. Marie
Anastasia
The car was parked in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing but trees and birds that called out from above us. The rich scent of woods clogged my nostrils as I opened the door and stepped out. I couldn’t hide my smile as I looked around me—it was beautiful.
When I turned to face Valentino, who had already gotten out of the car, his eyes were glued on me. My smile seemed to grow as I looked at him before staring up above me at the beautiful sight of green and sky. The wind whisked through my hair, embracing me in nature’s hug. I loved the outdoors.
“This isn’t all, Bambolina,” he said. My eyebrow rose as he locked his door before walking up to me. I decided to follow his lead with his arm curled around my waist. We walked and walked. I distracted myself with the animals that ran by. The place was lovely, and I could only question why I had never ventured out into the wild before. The silence Valentino and I shared was nurturing. I found myself gaining comfort in the musical quietness.
After what felt like half a mile, we made it to a huge restaurant that sat right in the middle of nowhere. My gaze strayed over the elegance of it all. It was made entirely of wood and the light had a warm glow to it, causing it to look like a large, cozy home.
A woman walked out of the restaurant wearing a beautiful red gown and the man beside her was dressed in a suit. Luckily, Valentino was wearing a suit, as opposed to me, who wasn’t wearing anything other than a pair of shorts and a huge button-down shirt.
“You didn’t tell me it was a date. I even mentioned changing my clothes, but you didn’t give me the chance to.” I pouted. We stopped walking, and he took the time to peer down at my figure. A smirk plastered itself onto his face. Pushing his sunglasses to the top of my head, he gave me a small kiss on my cheek.
“You look sexy like this. Plus, we aren’t eating in there—we’re eating in there,” he said, pointing toward a few cabins that sat right beside the restaurant. I noticed how some waiters and waitresses would walk from the restaurant to the cabins with a tray of food in their hands. My stomach growled at the sight.
We began to head toward the cabins. As we walked, my hand moved over to his that lay comfortably on my waist. I grabbed his hand before he could protest and interlocked our fingers together. It always made me happy to do intimate couple-like things with him.
Once we made it to the cabin, the door was opened for the both of us. A waiter nodded as Valentino walked by. As soon as I strolled in, my jaw literally dropped. There were rose petals everywhere that led to a beautifully decorated table. Everything was so romantic; it was exactly what I wanted. As I I looked over the entire cabin, my smile grew. It looked a lot bigger on the inside than the outside.
I couldn’t stop myself from looking into the bedroom—which had candles all around the bed frame, along with roses on top of the bedding. Everything was so perfect and romantic, which was very unlike Valentino.
The waiter pulled out a chair for me while Valentino sat down right across from me at the very small table.
“My name is Ferdinand, and this is Alissa. We will be serving you both today,” the waiter introduced. I smiled kindly at him before my eyes moved over to the waitress, who must’ve been waiting for our arrival. She looked down at my clothing with disapproval before glancing over at Valentino. Her gaze stayed there for a long moment.
“Hi, Ferdinand. Hi, Alissa. My name is Anastasia.” I introduced myself, holding my hand out for them to shake. Ferdinand looked shocked, but he shook my hand anyway. Alissa shook my hand as well, but with a roll of her eyes.
“You’re a kind woman, Miss Anastasia. Most people who come here don’t do that,” he stated. A smile graced my lips which he happily returned. With one last curt nod, Ferdinand walked out of the cabin with Alissa right behind him.
I couldn’t see why anyone wouldn’t be kind enough to introduce themselves back. I thought it was a part of American custom.
“You know, I’ve never actually been served at a restaurant before. It was always me who did the serving. It’s kind of strange,” I stated randomly. I glanced over at Valentino, who had been staring at me intensely. He leaned back in his chair with his eyes still burning into mine.
“Well, I will take you out more often,” he declared. A smile crossed my face as I looked at him. Butterflies in my stomach began to cheer at his declaration.
“This is just our first date, and you’re already planning a second one? That’s a little creepy,” I teased, picking up a menu. He chuckled lightly. I could still feel him staring at me, but I decided to just ignore it.
“What will we be drinking?” I asked to fill the silence in the room. While skimming through the menu, I couldn’t help but look at the very expensive prices. The room must’ve cost a fortune, along with our own private waiter and waitress. It felt good knowing he was willing to go to such great lengths to make me happy.
“I don’t know about you, but I know exactly what I’ll be drinking,” he stated seductively. I slowly glanced over at him to see the dark glint in his eyes.
“And what’s that?” I questioned with a raised brow. He smirked at my response, his eyes lowering to my breast. I suddenly realized that my top buttons were undone, leaving my breast almost completely bare.
“You,” he let out. I rolled my eyes playfully at him before placing the menu on the table just as Alissa walked in. Based on the way her eyes trained on Valentino, I knew she was about to flirt. Allowing her to do what she had to do, I picked up my menu and looked through it once more.
“Anything I could get you to drink?” she asked lowly, her voice growing a little husky. Behind the menu, I peeked up to see her twirling her hair as she looked at him. He glanced over at her, leaving me to look right back down at the menu.
“Wine. Both of us,” he ordered nonchalantly. I placed my menu down to see her staring at him while he had been staring at me. She was acting as if I weren’t there.
“Coming right up, sir,” she gritted out. I laughed lightly to myself, watching her turn around and stiffly move her hips as she walked. The girls at the club would be laughing at her if they saw the act she was attempting to pull.
“I like that most about you,” he said randomly. My eyes snapped over to look into his as my eyebrows rose in question.
“Other than your happiness despite everything bad, forgiveness, confidence, and the way you’re not scared to speak your mind. I like how you are so kind to the point you can’t even allow yourself to be jealous,” he pointed out. I processed his words and felt myself falling into deep thought.
“Are you talking about Alissa?” I asked. He nodded his head slowly.
“I don’t get jealous because I understand why women stare and flirt with you. You are a very attractive man. If I were them, I would stare too. Would I flirt when there is a woman in front of you? No, of course not, because it’s rude. Although, a lot of insecure women feel the need to act confident. She’s just an unhappy girl looking to make me feel just as bad as she does. I don’t blame her,” I explained.
“People take advantage of people who think like that, Bambolina,” he said. I nodded, thinking about my mum and the countless times she had stolen from me.
“I know. Good thing I have you,” I whispered. He bit down on his lip before looking off, giving me the perfect view of his jawline. Just in time, Alissa walked back in with a bottle of wine. She poured wine into my empty glass.
I smiled brightly at her. “Thank you, Miss Alissa.”
She gave me a small smile before pouring wine into Valentino’s glass as well. He watched me with a smirk on his face, shaking his head.
“What?” I asked just as she left the cabin. For the first time, I noticed the soft sound of classical music.
“Nothing,” he muttered.
“Good evening to you both. Have you decided what you will be having?” Ferdinand asked, suddenly making an appearance. I still didn’t know what to eat, so I just turned to look at Valentino, hoping he would get the message that I wanted him to decide for me.
“We will have Tuscan tomato bread soup with steamed mussels, and beef brasato with pappardelle and mint,” he ordered. Ferdinand didn’t say anything in response, so out of curiosity, I glanced up at him. His eyes were staring deep into my almost completely exposed breast.
Rolling my eyes, I buttoned up the top. I had completely forgotten about it.
“Will I have to give Matteo a call about his staff? Take our order, get out, and bring new people,” Valentino demanded angrily. I had no clue what he said but based on the way Ferdinand ran out of the room, I could only assume it wasn’t kind.
“I want to learn Italian,” I muttered.
Valentino chuckled to himself, the agitation he showed quickly disappearing. He stood up from his chair, leaving it to squeal against the flooring, and he held out his hand for me. Glancing at his open palm, a smile crept onto my face as I placed my hand in his. He was quick to pull me up with his hand around my waist and my breast against his chest. A gasp escaped me as my head instinctively landed on his shoulder. My cheeks were beginning to hurt from smiling so much.
“I can’t dance,” I informed him. He only chuckled, moving me with him to the light sound of music. I couldn’t stop the quickness of my heart. For a moment, I could almost feel his heartbeat racing as well. I wondered if I made him just as nervous as he made me..
“You’re dancing,” he replied, stating the obvious. Then, he dipped me, causing me to erupt in a fit of laughter as one of my legs latched at his waist. When he pulled me back up, he spun me around until my back hit his chest. I haven’t felt so happy in so long. Valentino made the bad luck that always stood in as my shadow, easily disappear. He may be a scary, dangerous man, but he was my savior. My life without him would be a deep pit of darkness.
He gave my neck a small kiss before whisking me back around. I lowered my head down on his shoulder as his hands returned to my waist. We continued to sway to the music, loving each other’s embrace.
His fingertips trailed down to my bottom, where he moved up the shirt and gripped my ass. I couldn’t help but let out a giggle.
“Thank you for this,” I told him. Pulling my head up from his shoulder, I gazed into his eyes. I grabbed ahold of his face and stood on my tippy-toes to kiss his lips. He promised me he would try, and I was loving the effort.
“You deserve the world,” he muttered as he grabbed my hands away from his face and leaned down to peck my lips.
“Teach me Italian.” I repeated my wishes from earlier.
“I like the idea of you not knowing what I am saying,” he stated with a smirk full of mischief dancing on his lips. Narrowing my eyes at him, I tried my best to be upset, but the smile on my face just wouldn’t falter. I’ll just learn Italian in secret.
At that moment, a man entered the room with a nice fancy white suit and a tray of food in his hands. The moment Valentino looked over at him, a huge smile broke out on his face. It was so genuine and contagious, it made me happy.
“Valentino!” He exclaimed just before placing the tray of food on our table. The man smiled brightly at me as he looked between me and Valentino.
“Who is this?” he asked Valentino. I could see the look of pride on his face. I turned to look at Valentino, waiting for him to introduce us.
“Anastasia, this is the man I’ve known since I was a child, Matteo,” Valentino introduced. I smiled at him, sticking my hand out for him to shake. He completely ignored it and embraced me in a hug. My mind processed his words as I realized Valentino had mentioned a Matteo before. I wondered if he owned the restaurant.
“Gorgeous, gorgeous girl! It makes me happy seeing Valentino actually out with a girl for once.” He chuckled. I looked over at Valentino as he pulled away from the hug. As soon as Matteo broke the hug, Valentino wrapped his arm around my waist.
“Well, I’ll let you get back to your tempo da solo. See you soon, Valentino,” he said. I watched Valentino nod his head before Matteo walked up to me and grabbed a hold of my hand. He planted his cool lips against my knuckles before rubbing the spot soothingly.
“Come by anytime you want, Miss Anastasia.” He smiled. I returned the smile happily just before he turned around and walked out of the cabin, shutting the door as he left. He seemed so sweet.
“I’m starving,” I groaned as the sweet aroma of the food filled my nostrils. Sitting back down, I grabbed the plate of pasta with some other stuff on top that looked incredibly delicious.
I didn’t want to be rude, so I waited for Valentino to be seated. Just as he sat down, I grabbed the fork and began to dig right in. The food was absolutely delicious.
“Does that man own this restaurant?” I asked. Valentino nodded slowly.
The restaurant was perfect, and I loved the idea of the cabins. It set the perfect mood that I couldn’t help but fall in love with.
“Yes, I helped him start this business. I met him when I was a young boy and he helped me sometimes with Enzo. I’ve always been grateful to him, so when he told me about his dream with this place—I assisted,” he explained. I nodded as a warmth spread throughout my heart. He was such a good man even if he never showed it.
“I’ve always wondered; how is it that you took care of Vincenzo, but he’s the Don and not you?” I asked, taking another forkful of the noodles and stuffing it in my mouth. That question seemed to have really gotten his attention because his eyes strayed off.
“Let me ask you something,” he began.
I set my fork down and gave him my undivided attention.
“If you were given the choice of your life or mine, tell me, would you die for me?” he asked
“Yes, I would,” I answered with no hesitation. “I told you that I love you.”
He smiled, but it slowly went away, letting me know that he was about to say something serious.
“The Don isn’t my brother,” he explained. My eyebrows came together. I couldn’t stop the tilt of my head as I looked at him. If the Don wasn’t Vincenzo, then that must mean…
“You’re the Don?” I asked, my jaw dropping slightly. This whole time I had been scared of Vincenzo when I should’ve actually been scared of Valentino.
“Is there anything else I should know?” I asked.
“You say you love me. Soon, you won’t,” he muttered. My eyebrows grew furrowed as I stared at him. I didn’t like the words that came out of his mouth, and I could only hope that they weren’t true.