Sold to the Capo-Chapter 97: A SUITABLE BIRTHDAY GIFT

ADRIANA’S POV

He was wishing me a Happy birthday and I realized just how easily those words managed to make me smile.

I wanted to hear him wish me a happy birthday and now that he had done it, I couldn’t stop grinning.

"Are you still there? Is that that surprising that I decided to count down the days?" I heard him ask again when he didn’t hear anything from my side.

I blinked rapidly, my brain struggling to process. "Yeah? Counting down the days?"

"I always remember," he said. "I’ve known for a while now, and I was planning something, but it seems Michael got impatient."

My lips parted in shock at his words. I never told him about it so it still baffled me a bit that he was even counting down the days without me knowing "You knew it was my birthday?"

"Of course, tesoro," he said, his voice tinged with amusement. "Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Someone like you deserves to be celebrated properly."

The lump in my throat grew. I swallowed hard, my eyes stinging. "Thank you," I managed, my voice barely a whisper.

"You’re welcome, Adriana," he said, his tone serious now. "But listen to me carefully. I want you to promise me something today."

"What is it?"

"Promise me you’ll let yourself enjoy this day," he said, his voice softening into something worried and almost hesitant. "No worries, no guilt, no doubts. Just you, being happy. That’s all I want."

I hesitated, but the gentle conviction in his voice melted all that was left of my resistance. "Okay," I whispered, nodding even though he couldn’t see me. "I promise."

A pause followed, one that felt loaded with emotions neither of us dared to voice. Finally, he spoke. "You’ll have a happy day. I’ll make sure of it, Tesoro. Everything’s fine here before you ask"

There was a pause and then I heard a very familiar voice on the other end saying "no way" but before I could dwell on it, Vincenzo spoke up again.

"Okay bye"

And just like that, the call ended, leaving me staring at the screen as if it could answer all the questions swirling in my head.

I left the dining room feeling lighter, but the weight of everything wasn’t completely gone. Vincenzo’s words echoed in my mind—how he’d remembered my birthday, how he’d made it sound like today was meant to be extraordinary.

But part of me couldn’t fully relax. I know that I had promised him that I wouldn’t over think today but yet as I walked to my room to get a better dress before leaving the house.

"Stop overthinking," I muttered to myself, shaking my head.

As I walked down the hall, I caught my reflection in one of the large windows. My hair was still a mess from the rushed morning and the amount of times I had run my hands through it in the last minute, and I groaned. "Great. Real picture-perfect birthday girl."

I went down to the garden to relax and just enjoy the cool breeze as I sat down on a bench, the cool air making my hair slightly sway in the wind.

"Hey" A sudden voice to my left made me jerk and I looked up at see a young man standing there, his hands in his pockets.

A guard.

"Hello" I quickly smiled at him.

He was more on the shorter and leaner side and his brown eyes spoke volumes of how he was probably a cheery person.

"Sitting by yourself? Don Salvatore wouldn’t like that, would he?" He asked, sitting down next to me for some weird reason but I didn’t immediately say anything to him.

When he noticed the look on my face, he leaned back, watching me silently. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" When I didn’t reply him, he shot up like he had sat on something sharp and I instantly felt bad for behaving like that to him.

"Oh no, I didn’t mean it that way. I’m just a bit surprised that you would approach me to talk to me" I said with a small smile as I scooted over for him to sit next to me.

He sat down next to me, his gaze now fixed on the scenery in front of him. "It’s my off time. I’m off duty until midnight again so I usually come here when I’m free just to keep myself busy and all and this place is a perfect place to relieve of all the stress that comes with working here. This is the first time we’re speaking right? I’m Thomas, it’s a pleasure to finally speak to the Signore’s wife" He looked at me, like he was trying to see if I was worthy of the respect he was about to bestow on me.

A few months ago, that title was still a bit overbearing for me but now when I heard it, I didn’t feel anxiousness like I would never be able to live up to that name but now when I heard him say that, I felt pride because I knew I could be that. I was it.

"Well it’s a pleasure speaking to you too, Thomas. How old are you?"

"21..." he hesitated then he chuckled.

"What? You don’t like telling people your age?" I questioned.

He shrugged and looked at me. "Precisely, the other guards are a lot older. I’m not that bad at my job but they believe experience comes with age so I’ll never be able to do my job properly...spending my time to prove them wrong" he flexed his arms as though to show me the progress.

"You will prove yourself someday... that’s certain"

"How can you be so sure?"

I wanted to say the truth. Because I was once in his shoes feeling like I’d never live up to the position but instead I just smiled and kept asking him other questions which he answered diligently, taking his time to understand each question.

After about an hour of discussing about Costa Rica and random stuff, I stood up, bade him goodbye, checked on the Haven and went back into the house with every intent to just get some sleep.

I stopped in my tracks when I spotted Michael leaning casually against a nearby wall, watching me with a smug smile.

"Talking to yourself again, Adriana?" he teased, his arms crossed over his chest. "The more I get to know you and the more I realize that you do it often. It was kind of like my first impression of you"

I flushed. "I thought you’d be in your room."

"I was. But I figured you’d probably spend the rest of the day in your room, the cake arrived, it’s in your room and when I didn’t see you there, I decided to come check outside," he said, pushing off the wall and strolling over. "Come on, we’ve got somewhere to be. Salvatore just called me and said to get you out of the housefor just a bit"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Where exactly?"

I knew he wasn’t going to harm me, he was with Salvatore and he wouldn’t try something like that but I couldn’t just take the risk. I had made enough mistakes in the past and I wasn’t about to do it now. I had planned on just staying in my room all day and thinking about Vincenzo’s voice as he wished me a happy birthday.

He shrugged, his face carefully neutral. "You’ll see. Don’t worry, it’s nothing dangerous."

"Michael..." I warned, crossing my arms.

He grinned, the kind of grin that screamed trouble. "You’ll thank me later. Trust me."

An hour later, I was in the passenger seat of a sleek black car, glaring at Michael as he hummed along to an obnoxiously upbeat tune on the radio.

"You’re enjoying this way too much," I muttered.

"Oh, absolutely," he said, his grin widening. "Your face is priceless. You hate surprises, don’t you?"

"Yes," I admitted, crossing my arms. "Especially when they’re orchestrated by someone as suspicious as you and all I have is two cars following us behind as escorts"

"Suspicious?" He feigned offense. "I’ll have you know I’m doing you a massive favor."

"By dragging me to God knows where without an explanation?"

"You’ll see soon enough."

I groaned, leaning back against the seat. "If this is some elaborate prank, I swear—"

"You’ll forgive me because I’m charming and for today, I’m like your father," he interrupted smoothly, flashing me a wink.

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the small smile tugging at my lips.

When the car finally came to a stop, I stepped out and looked around. We were at the estate’s private airstrip, a sleek jet parked a few feet away.

"Michael, what is this?" I asked, turning to him.

Before he could answer, I heard footsteps. My heart stopped as I turned toward the source of the sound.

And there he was.

Vincenzo.

He stepped off the jet, dressed impeccably as always, his dark suit tailored to perfection. But it wasn’t just his appearance that took my breath away—it was the way his eyes locked onto mine, filled with a mixture of intensity and something softer, something I couldn’t quite name.

"You..." My voice faltered. "You’re here?"

He smiled, a slow, deliberate curve of his lips. "Happy birthday, Adriana."