The Vitale Brothers Book 1: The Enemy
Author
Shala Mungroo
Reads
17.9K
Chapters
22
Diana’s life has never been her own—every step chosen, every promise written in ink she never signed. Now she’s bound by a marriage contract to Domenico, the dangerously charming heir of her father’s closest ally. Beneath his perfect smile and velvet voice, secrets simmer—dark, ancient, and far too close to home. As their wedding looms, the lines between duty and desire blur, and Diana must decide whether to fight the ties that bind her… or surrender to the one man she was never meant to love. In a world where every vow has a cost, breaking free might be the most dangerous choice of all.
Chapter 1
DIANA (6 YEARS OLD)
“You look very pretty.”
I stared at my reflection in the large full-length mirror as Nia, my nanny, beamed at me with pride, fluffing my pink dress and fixing the big satin bow at the back.
It was the day of my sixth birthday, and I could hear the laughter of children as they played outside in the circus-themed party that my father had specially done for me. My mother died when I was four, giving birth to my little brother. Unfortunately, he died too.
My father had paid a lot of extra attention to me since then to ensure that I didn’t feel the loss of them.
I looked back in the mirror at my dark-skinned nanny in her strict uniform of black and white and smiled back at her. My chocolate brown hair, with its natural gold highlights, was getting too long. It was almost to my waist and fell in waves, partly held together by a pink ribbon that matched my dress perfectly.
My dark gray eyes were bright and in stark contrast to my honey-colored skin, making me look almost fairy-like.
“Your mother would be so proud of you, Ana.”
I frowned then, trying to remember my mother, but I only had fleeting images in my head of her—tall, statuesque, with laughing blue eyes. I remembered she always smelled like jasmine and wore earrings that twinkled in the light.
As if sensing the change in my mood, Nia spun me around and ushered me through my bedroom door, jerking me out of my reverie. “Come now, your father is waiting for you,” she said, taking my hand and leading me down the winding staircase.
“He has someone he would like you to meet.”
My father, Salvatori Moretti, was a businessman, I knew, and was someone very important in the business world. He was always introducing me to his associates as his little princess, so I wasn’t surprised when Nia made the announcement that I would be meeting someone.
She led me across the large expanse of the foyer, past the men in dark suits who were always there, and tugged me along to my father’s office located on the south wing of the house.
I could see children running about outside through the large arched windows, and I smiled at their shrieks of laughter. I couldn’t wait to go join them, but Nia tugged me along incessantly, almost making me stumble in our haste.
When we arrived at the large oak door, I could hear male laughter on the other side. Nia gave the door a good thump with her thick fist, and the door was swung open by my father, who had an amused smile on his ageless face.
“Ah, there she is!” he said, taking my hand in his and leading me deeper into the room.
“Thank you, Nia. That will be all.” He nodded to my nanny, who returned the nod and closed the door soundly behind her.
I looked up at my father then. I’d heard the maids say behind his back how handsome he was and how lucky my mother was because he was also a kind husband to her and that it was such a tragedy when she died.
But my father always told me that he would never remarry. That my mother was the love of his life, and now I held that place in his heart.
He was very tall, and when he swung me up in his arms, I felt like I was on top of the world. He had salt-and-pepper-colored hair and gray eyes exactly like mine. He wore a crisp light blue shirt and navy dress pants—no jacket today.
There was another man in the room with us whom I was very familiar with.
“Uncle Rafael!” I ran over to the other man, who swept me up into his arms and kissed the top of my head.
Uncle Rafael was one of my father’s very good friends and was always visiting the house. He always brought me presents when we met, telling me he sometimes wished he had a daughter so he could spoil her like my father did. I liked him a lot.
“Happy birthday, Ana,” he said before handing me a present the size of a shoebox and putting me back down. It was then that I noticed the boy standing next to him, looking brooding.
He looked older than me by a few years and wore a sports jacket over his white polo and khakis. He was a bit skinny, I thought, with shaggy dark hair, and his clear blue eyes narrowed at me at first before looking me over thoughtfully.
“Ana, this is my eldest son, Domenico—Dom, as we like to call him,” Uncle Rafael said, startling me. Uncle Rafael had often told me he had three sons, but I had never met any of them until now.
Dom put out his hand politely, and I put my little hand in his as I’d been taught to do since infancy.
As soon as our hands touched, our eyes locked. Dom dropped his hand suddenly and looked as if he wanted to wipe his hand on the pocket of his pants.
Instead, he curled his hand into a fist at his side.
I looked at my hand curiously, wondering if I had imagined the zing at his touch.
“Ana,” my father began, bringing my eyes back to him. “There is something I want to discuss with you. Something very important.”
He walked me over to the coffee-colored sitting chairs in the center of his office and sat me in one before stooping in front of me. I put my present on the chair behind me, clasped my hands together, and gave my father my attention, wondering at his strange behavior.
“You know that Uncle Rafael and I have been very good friends for a long time.”
I nodded in understanding and looked over at Uncle Rafael, who was now sitting opposite me. Dom had wandered over to the window in the office, watching the other kids play outside.
I assumed maybe his brothers were out there also and that I would be meeting them soon. I was eager to make new friends.
“You also know that I run a lot of companies that are very important, and that’s why someone has to be with you all the time to make sure you’re safe when I’m not there.”
I nodded again. If I ever left the house, I would have at least one other person who worked for my father accompany me to school or to outings.
It was a life I had gotten used to, having known no other. Even the sight of guns and other weapons was familiar to me—normal.
“Uncle Rafael and I have come to an arrangement to take care of you when you get older.”
“What do you mean?” My brow furrowed as I tried to understand.
My father cleared his throat then, as if he were nervous. I rarely saw my father nervous.
“If anything were to happen to me, Uncle Rafael would take care of you. Would you like that?”
I frowned suddenly, my heart beating faster. “What’s going to happen to you, Daddy?” I remembered the loss of my mother and started to panic, thinking about never seeing my father again.
He must have heard the panic in my voice because his voice immediately gentled. “No, no, sweetheart, you misunderstand.” He hugged me then as he saw that tears had filled my eyes and threatened to fall.
“She’s too little to understand this now,” Dom said then, voice neutral, his eyes still fixed outside.
“I am not!” My voice rose in my defense at his accusation, and my eyes shot daggers at him.
“Dom, please,” his father chided.
“Ana, listen to me, princess.” My father looked at me again, taking both my hands in his much larger ones. “I know you won’t understand any of this right now, but when you are older, you and Dom will be married.”
“Married?” I looked back at him in confusion. He was right—I didn’t understand.
“But, Daddy, why?”
He brushed his hand over my head. “So that I’ll always know you will be with someone who will take care of you.”
“You said Uncle Rafael would take care of me,” I answered, confused.
“Yes, I will, sweetheart,” Uncle Rafael said then, coming closer to me. “Dom and I both will.”
“I want you to be happy with that too, princess.” My father continued, “You like Uncle Rafael, don’t you?”
I nodded. I did like Uncle Rafael, but I didn’t know his son.
“Then it’s settled,” my father said, standing up. “Rafe, I’ll have the paperwork done up tomorrow. Today is a day for celebration,” he told his best friend, slapping him on the back.
The two then moved toward the large desk to review some paperwork.
Dom left the window and walked over to me, then put out a hand. “Let’s go and join your party, princess.”
I looked at Dom then with new eyes, knowing that he was my future husband, and put my hand in his.
