Chapter 1 The Bodyguard

"You can't run away from your fate, Sandra. Whether you like it or not, it is your duty to continue my legacy and lead and take care of the family. You have no other choice but to accept your role," my father says.

Being born into a mafia family is not something I chose. People think being a part of a mafia family is something cool, but in reality, it's nothing like that. People who have never lived this kind of life for all their lives crave the danger and the wealth that come with being in a mafia family. However, as someone who has lived this kind of life for her whole life, I'd rather leave and live the rest of my life in peace and simplicity. Unfortunately, for my father, it is too much to ask. All he cares about is having someone who will continue all his and my grandfather's hard work.

Every day, my father reminds me of who I am, the heiress of the Benetti family, a ruthless criminal family. Since I was a child, I was forced to be a ruthless woman, even though it's not who I truly want to be. My father loves to go on a hunt in the forest and forces me to do the same, but on the contrary, I care for animals, especially wild live animals. My father also taught me to fight and use weapons to kill others, but in reality, I'm not heartless enough to take someone's life with my own hands. Everything my father wants me to do, I don't want. However, I have no other choice because if I refuse, he will always punish me.

My father never beats me up or anything as a punishment, but each time I refuse to do what he wants, he either locks me up in my room for days to rethink my choices or forces me to punish someone else by torturing them. At this point, I'm already numb to the fear of inflicting pain on someone else when my father makes me do it as a punishment. Even though those people deserve the punishment, considering they are the traitors to our family, I still hate doing it. I hate that being emotionless is what my father wants me to be, but then again, my choices are limited. Now that I know running away is not the way out of this insanity, I have no choice but to wait until I step up and become the donna of the family. However, despite knowing that my only choice is to do what my father wants, I always try to run away. Even though I've failed hundreds of times, I still do it anyway in the hope that I'll succeed each time.

Nothing truly good has come from being a part of a mafia family. The wealth and power aren't really worth it if, in the end, I'll lose my family. My two older brothers died while they were fighting against one of our rivals, and until now, my mother has been missing since she was kidnapped two months ago by the same people and will only return her in one piece once we give all of our power to them. At this point, I believe she's dead already, and there's nothing I can do about it. Even if I want to take revenge on them, I don't have that kind of power to eliminate each one of their family members; other than that, I don't think my father cares enough to take revenge for her death, so I lack the power to do it anyway.

"I'll forgive you this time for trying to run away again, but from now on, you'll always have someone following you, no matter where you go. You can keep trying to escape, but remember that your punishment will be even more severe than it was before," my father says.

Did he just say I'll have someone near me 24/7? Oh God. I didn't think it would be this bad. It feels like a breach of privacy to have someone nearby all the time. My heart tells me to disagree, but my mind knows that once my father sets his intention on something, nothing can truly change his mind. He has made his decision, and that's the end of the conversation.

My father waves over the man who's been standing in the corner of the room all this time. His tall stature and stern expression make me cower in my seat a bit. Who is this man? Why is he here?

"This is Dante. He will be your bodyguard starting from now on. He won't hesitate to stop you if you try to run away again, so you'd better think twice before you make any rash decision," my father says.

My bodyguard? That scary guy will be my bodyguard. Oh hell fucking no. Why? Why does this happen to me? I just want to leave. Why does my father even need me to be his successor? He can literally choose anyone but me. I'm not fit to be a mafia leader, not because I don't have the skills, but because of my lack of interest in being one.

"I'll leave her to you. I have a meeting to attend in an hour," my father says.

"Yes, sir," Dante says.

The air suddenly feels suffocating once my father leaves the living room. I take a quick glance at Dante again, and his gaze is still as emotionless and grim as it was before. Now that I have to be with him all the time, there's no way I'll have the chance to run away. Even if I did manage to escape, I'm sure he'll catch up to me in no time and drag me back into this place. Damn it.

"Take a seat. I'm not going anywhere," I say as I pull out my phone from my pants' pocket. Just like any other day, I have nothing much to do other than lounging around the house. So, it's just another time for me to doomscroll and fill my head with brainrots.

Dante takes a seat on the armchair, still keeping his eyes on me. I clear my throat, feeling my awkwardness radiating off of me. I ignore the best I can by continuing to do my own thing: doomscrolling through social media. Having a personal bodyguard means I can't move freely anymore. Each one of my moves will be supervised. I take one suspicious move, I bet it'll make him even more alert, which also means he won't take his eyes off me.

Oh God, why was I even born into this world to be a mafia leader's daughter? Being a daughter of nobody is absolutely better than living in this hell. I wish my attempts to run away would succeed. I don't care if I'll be living on the streets and starve to death. As long as I get to live without hurting others, I'd rather live like that.

I sigh and put my phone down. Even doomscrolling can't distract me from my reality anymore. I guess I'll try to talk with Dante. Maybe it'll help break this awkward tension between us.

"Soooo, are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around the house before," I say.

"Yes. I worked in the warehouse before Mr Benetti made me your bodyguard," Dante says. I nod as I take in his appearance. Despite his scary look, I admit he's hot. He's tall, probably around 195 centimetres tall. His eyes are dark blue like the ocean. His hair is black like the night. His toned body is visible through his well-fitted clothes. He's not too muscular like many gym bros I've seen on my for you page, but he's not too thin either. He has the right amount of muscle. With his looks alone, he could be a model if he wanted to.

"Are you okay?"

I snap out of my thoughts. Once realisation hits me, my face instantly feels like it's on fire as I shift my gaze away from Dante. How long have I stared at him? That's so embarrassing.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine," I say as I take my phone and pretend to check my notifications.

How long have I stared at him? Damn it. I can't believe I just embarrassed myself like that. I can't help it, though. He's really that good-looking. Wait a minute. Does this mean- Oh shit. I think I have a crush on my bodyguard.