Chapter 1

"Aleeeee... I have wonderful news, the apartment right in front of mine has been vacated," Paulina shouted through the phone. "I spoke to the manager and he said that if you want, you can move in this weekend." "That means I won't have to live on the other side of the city anymore!" exclaimed Alessandra excitedly. "Yes!" Paulina replied, laughing. "So, can I tell the manager that you're taking the apartment?" "Of course, yes, that way my new job will be much closer to where I planned to live, and best of all, I'll be very close to you, Pau." "How exciting, Ale! We can see each other every day, go shopping together, have fun, stay up late, talk or watch movies at night... I can't wait for the weekend to see you!" "Neither can I believe it, I feel very happy." Alessandra smiled. "I can't believe it, together again at last! Oh, I forgot to tell you, on Saturday night there will be a party at the house of some friends I met at the agency, I would like us to go for a while." "I don't think I'll be in the mood for parties, Pau, I'll be tired from the trip, and with all the moving, the weekend will be too short to organize everything and Monday is my first day of work. Besides, if they're your friends, those fashionistas, I don't like the idea at all." "Come on, Ale, don't be a party pooper, they are new friends I met at one of my recent runways, they are not models and they don't work with me. They are very important, respectable people, you will like them." "I don't think I'll be welcomed, they don't even know me." "Of course you will, in fact, I'll call one of them right now to let them know I'll be coming with someone, so I don't want any more excuses." "Pau, I don't know if..." "Alessandra D'Santi..." " Alright...alright, anyway, you never take no for an answer." " YESSSSS, YESSSS, that's my friend." " Oh, Pau, my eardrum!" " Sorry! " excitement got the best of me " It's just that I still can't believe you're going to live here. " Well, Ale, I'll let you go, I'm in the middle of a rehearsal, see you on Friday. " Alright, see you on Friday, friend " I love you, take care. " You too, kisses." On that Friday, when Alessandra arrived in London, after over an hour of travel and countless hugs with her best friend, Paulina, they set out together to decorate her new apartment. Dead tired when everything was settled, Alessandra lay down and managed to doze off for a few hours until the insistent ringing of the doorbell woke her from her deep sleep. She looked around somewhat confused, finding herself in total darkness, she remembered that when she fell asleep, there was still plenty of light coming through the windows, and apparently, it was already night, indeed, looking at the phone on the nightstand, she realized it was almost 9 pm. The sound of the doorbell reminded her why she had woken up, and drowsy and stiff, she went to open it to whoever it was that was insisting so much. Upon opening the door, she found a well-groomed Paulina, with makeup and hair done, wearing a short black jumpsuit and medium high-heeled sandals, she looked beautiful, her body was quite slim, stylized, and it seemed like she was about to walk on a runway. " Ale, are you still not ready? " the brunette reproached her, crossing her arms, seeing her in a cotton pajama. The party, right, she had forgotten. " I'm sorry, Pau, I fell asleep " I finished very late decorating the apartment and ended up dead tired, I don't think... " Oh no, no, no, miss, you promised to accompany me today, so I don't want any excuses, I said I would go with someone and I don't want to go alone, please " Paulina pleaded as she entered the apartment. "Alright," Alessandra reluctantly agreed, rolling her eyes. "I'll go change, but don't expect me to wear heels or put on makeup, I don't have the energy for that. I've been running around all day and if I put on heels, I'll probably not even be able to stand for a minute." "Don't worry about that, you're beautiful no matter what, Ale." Unhappy about having to leave the house that night when all she wanted was to be in her comfortable bed sleeping, Alessandra headed to her room. She quickly put on some tight black jeans, a white one-shoulder crop top, white sneakers, and a black leather jacket. She added mascara to her curves and thick lashes, pink gloss on her lips, left her light brown hair loose in natural waves down her back, and finally sprayed on some perfume. She knew that this was not the appropriate outfit for a party, but she didn't feel like getting all dolled up. She returned to the living room, where a desperate Paulina was waiting to go out. "Look at you, you look beautiful, with that body everything looks good on you and I'm serious," Paulina exclaimed. "Don't lie, I'm not even half as pretty as you, all dressed up and made up. It looks like you're going to a runway instead of a party," Alessandra replied. The model laughed. "You really look very pretty and you know it. You don't need much to highlight your beauty. I wish I had your body and curves, but I have to stay thin, otherwise, they won't accept me at the agency. They are very strict with measurements and weight." "Are you calling me fat?" Alessandra asked, pretending to be offended. "Of course not, how can you say that? You are a beauty and I'm not saying this because you're my friend. If I were a man, oh, I assure you I wouldn't let you go." Alessandra rolled her eyes. "But you're not, so let's go already. The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll be back." "As the boss commands." As they entered the area where the party was taking place, Alessandra became more and more impressed with each passing second. The residences were huge and luxurious, with large green gardens. They weren't even houses, they were more like mansions, and palaces. Surely not even the King of Spain lived as well as the people who resided there. Paulina hadn't mentioned that her new friends were so wealthy. Alessandra began to feel out of place and regretted the outfit she had chosen for the occasion. Most likely, everyone, there was snobbish and proud, they would see her as a weirdo, and with good reason if they practically swam in money. She just hoped not to have any unpleasant encounters with anyone. They arrived at the entrance of an imposing mansion, and an intimidating man in a black suit approached the car. Paulina provided her name, the man checked it on the list and almost immediately, they were allowed to enter. Alessandra was almost speechless at the sight of such a stunning place, it almost seemed like something out of a dream. She did not doubt that even with her lifetime salary, she couldn't afford something like that. But she had lived without shortages or surprises, she graduated three years ago when she was only 21, and the only job she had was at a telecommunications and internet company, where she worked for almost 4 years. And now, the new job she would start on Monday, thanks to her best friend's contacts, where she would earn much better. But, anyway, all that compared to the lifestyle of the people she would soon meet at the party was like having nothing, although she didn't care, neither money nor other people's wealth interested her, she loved her life just the way it was. A tall, fit, brown-haired, distinguished, and very handsome guy approached them with a dazzling smile, he looked closely and with interest at Alessandra, so much so that she felt shy and had to lower her gaze, and then he turned directly to Paulina and greeted her with a kiss on both cheeks. "She is my best friend, Alessandra D'Santi, she just moved to London," Paulina explained as an introduction, after exchanging that warm greeting with the brown-haired guy. "Pleased to meet you, Miss D'Santi, my name is Bruno D'Conti, it's a pleasure to meet you," replied the attractive guy, extending his hand as a courtesy. "The pleasure is mine, Mr. D'Conti," Alessandra murmured with a smile. She liked him. "Just Bruno and please, call me 'tu'," he winked. "Then just call me Alessandra," she smiled. "Very well, Alessandra, nice name, like its owner, of course." "Thank you," she blushed. Bruno smiled at her shyness, it was not common to come across a girl like that in London. "And Vittorio, where is he?" the model asked with interest. "He couldn't come, he had a last-minute commitment, only his brother, Dominic, came, he's over there," he pointed to a place." "Oh, what a pity, I wanted to introduce Ale to her new boss." "Are you going to work for the Lombardos?" Bruno asked, surprised. "Yes, she will be Vittorio's new assistant. She starts on Monday," Paulina confirmed. "Lucky that you will be Vittorio's assistant and not of..." Bruno smiled and didn't finish the sentence. "Anyway, make yourselves at home and have fun." With that, he walked away and went to greet other girls arriving at the party. Alessandra clearly didn't miss the unfinished sentence left by the newly acquainted guy, however, all of that was automatically erased from her memory as soon as her eyes met some spectacular, intimidating, and penetrating blue-gray eyes that, without exaggeration, left her completely breathless." "Merciful Christ..."