Page 72 of Always Mine

Riddle me this...

If a picture tells a thousand words, then what does a series of pictures involving not one, but two Princi siblings, a business mogul with a playboy reputation, a dangerous mobster, and a media heiress say?

Yes friends, today’s story time features Sophia and Luca Princi, Marco Marrone, AJ Gigioliotti, and Arabella Belmont.

Let’s start with the good bits. The verdict is in, and Sophia Princi and Marco Marrone are officially a couple.

Don’t believe us? Then these pictures of her arriving at his place at booty call hour and not leaving again until late into the next day make for compelling evidence to cement our New Year’s Eve prediction of a Princi-Marrone love match. Quite frankly, we’re rooting for them. Pun intended. But our sources say not everyone is thrilled, including Daddy Princi’s preferred suitor, Arthur “Arty” Bartholomew Jones, who was deserted by Sophia within an hour of meeting at the ultra-private members only haunt, La Rosa. Our insiders report Marco caught wind of Arty’s impromptu drink date with Princess Princi and crashed it. Choice words were exchanged and allegedly threats of violence, too. And while we can’t confirm the last part, we can confirm Princess Princi has chosen Marco as her Prince Charming. The questions remain: how willMarco cope with Sophia and Arty co-chairing this year’s Law Gala on behalf of their respective family firms, and what does Daddy Princi think of Marco’s alleged ties to AJ Gigioliotti? If you ask us, there’s nothing better than a love story where the main characters fight for their happily ever after.

That leads us right onto the next part of this story. What, or rather who, brought F1 superstar Luca Princi to Marco’s door a little after midnight looking like a wild man? On first instinct, one might think he was there to save his sister’s honor. Except only the two men left the house together a short time later. Maybe it’s some taboo love triangle trope? No, folks.

Sorry to disappoint. Both men are straight as arrows, and when it comes to Cupid’s variety, the arrow with Arabella Belmont’s name seems to be stuck in Luca Princi’s heart. As our pictures show, even years after the scandal that caused their shocking breakup, he can’t resist rescuing his damsel in distress.

Except the mystery remains: what was she doing at La Rosa with her security professional, a mafioso, and her ex-boyfriend—and why was he carrying her out of there in his arms? Is the reformed party girl back to her old tricks?

A love story within a mystery. Or perhaps a mystery within a love story? You’ll have to stay tuned as we work towards a verdict on that one.

’til next time.

GG xoxo

Chapter forty-five

You Can’t Please Everyone

Sophia

“Youcan’tpleaseeveryone.”Words of wisdom my dad imparted to me when I was growing up and dealing with teenager problems—fights with friends, disagreements with judgmental teachers, being overlooked for the debate team. The mantra brought me great comfort to quell the sting of rejection and disappointment.

Ironically, it’s the same mantra I repeat this afternoon as Marco and I prepare to make our way to my parents’ house to…what? Reveal our new relationship status? Advise them of my update of address? All the above.

After a waking up mid-morning cocooned in Marco’s bed, our legs tangled and his furnace of a body pressed to my back along with something else begging for my attention, I woke him up with a morning blow job as promised before we both passed out.

Then I attended to the ridiculous amount of notifications littering my screen. Missed calls from both my parents. Followed up by a text from my father with a screenshot of GG’s latest blog post, demanding I come home and explain myself.

But all I have are so many questions. Like, how the hell did she get those pictures for the blog? Did she hire someone to follow me?Why does she even care what I do, and why fuck is my dad reading that fucking blog?

I’m too wound up to eat, so Marco makes us coffee and then we take his black Range Rover to my parents’ to grab what I need to bring back home. In the short time I’ve been there, it already feels like my safe place. On my way, I listen to a new voicemail, this one from Nonna. She may speak broken English, but she’s fully across my relationship status update with Marco. And if her voicemail is anything to go by, she’s already planning our wedding. Smiling to myself at her antics, I bring the phone away from my ear and deal with the chat thread with my brothers.

Raf:

Any guesses for how I was woken this morning? Let’s start with you, Sophia.

Raf:

Radio silence. I see. What about you, Luca?

Raf:

Also crickets? Well, let me fill you both in. I was woken by having my eardrums assaulted by our father, ranting and raving about some fucking blog post and pictures of his “gallivanting daughter” and “lovesick idiot of a son.”

Me:

Sorry, I was asleep. It was a bit of an eventful night.

Me:

Also, I’m moving in with Marco. And I’m on my way over to Mom and Dad’s to tell them. So maybe prepare yourself for more ranting.