Chapter 2: 2. Ginevra
My heart was beating like crazy.
It was the first time I had done something crazy, and I was terrified to death.
Quietly, despite my high heels, I followed Maya.
By now everyone had gone to sleep, and the house was deserted.
We went out the back door and walked to the car parked right in front, as my friend had suggested.
We got into an old Toyota Corolla and left in no time.
When the car went through the gate, I hid to avoid being noticed by the car parked at the exit. It was the one that had brought me there and I knew it wouldn't leave until it drove me home.
I hated that constant control over my life, but I had no idea how to escape that prison without bars.
Being a Rinaldi was a cross that I would carry to my death.
Only when we headed for the freeway, did I start to relax, but as soon as I caught a glimpse of the Safe River, I felt short of breath. It was the first time I had seen it live.
In an instant, I felt fear my skin crawl all over my body.
"Maya, where are we going?" I fidgeted, as I saw my friend continue on the bridge that connected the east of Rockart City to the west.
"Let's go where your family can never find us."
"Are you crazy?! the Rinaldi are forbidden to approach this river! If an Orlando finds me in their part of town, that will be the end of me!" I shouted in terror. I hated all the limits and rules that my father imposed on me, but never going over the river was the only one that I had always accepted willingly and that I had promised to never break if I didn't want to risk dying prematurely.
"I know that very well. That's why we have fake documents. "
"That doesn't reassure me, Maya."
"Chelsea! Remember I'm Chelsea and you're Mia! Don't mess that up or we're screwed! "
I continued the journey crushed against the seat, the beat of my heart pounding in my ears, unable to enjoy the view of that part of the city that I had never seen.
"It will be all right, you'll see," Maya kept saying to me, but I was now ready to run away and go back, promising never to do such a thing again.
I barely noticed that Maya had parked the car right next to another car with two good-looking boys sitting in front.
"The one behind the wheel is Lucky Molan. He's the one that made me lose my mind, the one I've talked to you about so much lately. I met him on Lezioniprivate.com. It is he who tutors economics online, secretly from my mother who is convinced that I am a genius. I have been lusting after him for two years and only now that I graduated, did he agree to go out with me. Unfortunately, however, when he suggested a two-couple date with his brother, who just broke up with his girlfriend, I couldn't say no. "
"That's why I'm here, right? To keep the poor little brother busy while you have fun with the love of your life. "
"I wouldn't put it in these terms, however ... Yes, it is. Please, Gin ... Mia, it is important that everything goes smoothly, because I do not intend to settle for a foursome. "
"There is only one thing I did not understand. Does he know you're Maya Gerber? "
"Absolutely not. You know that I really never want to leak my true identity. I don't want anyone to find out I'm taking private lessons. "
"So, your relationship is based on lies. How do you think you can build something solid and lasting this way? "
"For now, I'm thinking of having fun, okay? I want to go out with Lucky and maybe sleep with him. I didn't say I want to marry him! "
"I doubt your father would allow you to."
"Lucky lives west of the river, so it's off limits to me. Even though I'm not a Rinaldi, Dad doesn't want me to go to this part of town. "
"Considering the things your father knows about my family and the business he is managing for the family; I think you're in as much danger as I am here."
"Maybe, but I don't care! I'm too young to think about these things. "
"Or too stupid," I blew weakly, as she made a face at me.
Silently, as if I were afraid of being heard by who knows who, I got out of the car and approached the two boys with Maya.
They were both blond with blue eyes.
My friend exchanged a hug with the taller and thinner one; I then realized that it had to be Lucky.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Mike," the other young man with a depressed look on his face, barely a few inches taller than me, got closer to me.
"Mia," I introduced myself trying to stifle a groan for fear of revealing my real name.
How I wished I could have been as loose and relaxed as Maya!
"I booked at Bridge. Let it be known that I had to ask a friend for a favor to get a pass to get in. It's such an exclusive place that it is out of reach for us mere mortals," chuckled Lucky, pointing to a building a few meters away.
"Oh, I thought we were going to Lux ... I've been there many times and I like it," Maya intervened, making me worry with the anxious nuance that I noticed in her voice. It was not like her to be frightened and I felt my fear increase to an alarming level.
"Maya, we won't be able to get in again and the pass is valid only for tonight, giving us the opportunity to listen to Folkner, the famous pianist," Lucky stopped her.
I looked at Maya and read a strong indecision in her dark eyes, until she finally nodded weakly.
"It will be all right," he whispered in my ear, grabbing my hand forcefully not to frighten me.
I didn't know where I found the courage, but I saw my feet move forward in front of each other, towards what appeared to be a den of snakes.
Only when I was a step away from the entrance and read the sign, I felt the earthmoving under my feet for the umpteenth time that evening: "The Bridge. Orlando's Night. "
As if he had read my thoughts, Mike explained to me that that belonged to the Orlandos, the powerful Italian family arriving first in Rockart City (even if someone claimed that the Rinaldi settled there first) and that they had transformed that desolate valley in a magnet for new immigrants, giving life to what was now recognized as one of the most flourishing and historic cities in the United States of America.
That venue was their first business activity and had been the heart of Rockart City west of the river.
"After the death of the great Giacomo Orlando, the management of the restaurant went to his nephew Lorenzo, the black sheep of the family. He quarreled with everyone and was not able to take on his father Salvatore's place. He saved himself from the wrath of the Orlando family only because he is the eldest son, an only child and was adored by his grandfather, who on his deathbed asked him not to leave the city and to carry on with the family restaurant, the Orlando family's milestone. For the sake of his grandfather, Lorenzo accepted and made this place the most exclusive and prestigious place in all of Rockart City, "Mike told me, as we started walking towards the Bridge.
"He must be a smart guy."
'Yes, and he's only twenty-nine, but don't expect a knight in shining armor. He is a shark like all Orlandos and does not forgive the slightest error. If you make a misstep with him, you risk a bad outcome. I know two guys started a fight last year and the police had to intervene. Well, since that day, everyone wonders what happened to those two idiots. Same thing for the pusher who thought of peddling in his establishment. The Orlando family may rule every single person and movement in Rockart City West, but in Law Bridge the only law is Lorenzo's law. Everything that revolves around that man is armored and inaccessible, unless he decides otherwise. The city was convinced that, by renouncing the family's legacy, he would lose all power; instead, Lorenzo has shown that he can handle it alone. Today he is as powerful as his family and the crazy thing is that he created his own power. "
"Well, his last name might have been of help."
"Maybe now that is the case, but not when he separated from his family. Half of his relatives wanted his head when he sent everyone to hell. Surely your grandfather, who was at the head of the Orlando family, protected him from being killed, but then he died, and Lorenzo was completely alone. "
"He must be extremely courageous to challenge his family so openly," I exclaimed with a hint of envy. I would have loved to be like him or have a grandfather support me, but my parents were all dead or had returned to Italy.
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