***This story is in the viewpoint of the main character Mandi Walters***

Chapter 1

Of course, you managed to be late for your very first day of at The Abbey, you thought bitterly to yourself as you frantically drove toward your new clergy. All you wanted was to make a good first impression, but it was not looking too good for you at the moment. Damn your terrible sense of direction, you thought shaking your head slowly at all of the new territory surrounding you. Of course, you knew your way around your hometown back in Pennsylvania in the good ol' US of A, but Italy was an entirely new place. Everything seemed so different. It was intimidating to be honest, but you promised your father when he told you the news of your move, that you would try your hardest to accept this as your new home. You knew your father just wanted what was best for you, so you accepted it and attempted to learn what Italian you could before your transition over here. Of course, the class was offered at The Abbey, but not many sisters took an interest in learning Italian and opted for other classes instead.

Carefully, you glanced over at your directions and at the huge ominous building towering above you. This had to be it, you sighed, feeling even more nervous as the massive building unfolded around you. You carefully pulled into the parking lot and sat there for a moment trying to calm yourself. Looking up into the rear view mirror, you made a once over of yourself before your grand entrance. Your bright hazel eyes glistened like stars in the mirror. They were of course one of your best features. You always artfully lined them with mascara and dark eyeliner to make them pop. You had a rather round face and beautiful full lips. Cascading around your face was your long light brown hair highlighted throughout with a light caramel. Overall, your were definitely above average in your looks. You were however, very short and measured in at 5' even. You slowly took a deep breath in and stepped out of your SUV to make your way to the entrance of the building. The Abbey was much larger than you had expected. The entrance grounds were beautiful though. The landscaping was vast and elegant with flowers lining all of the pathways. You saw groups of siblings of sin making their way inside for class. You tried to blend in and followed them all. As soon as you stepped into the building, you saw a room labeled Main Office and you headed toward it. You had to pick up your schedule and meet with Sister Imperator. You stepped inside and the secretary smiled at you and led you toward her office. Slowly you opened the door and found her in there talking to someone already.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was not aware you were in a meeting. I'll wait outside for you..." you said trying to close the door behind you.

"Not so fast, amore! Miss Walters, I presume?" the man asked you, extending his hand to you. You carefully accepted it and shook his hand offering a small smile.

"Yes, sir. Mandi Walters. Pleased to meet you," you nodded.

The man in her office rose to his feet. He was tall, dressed in a red cassock, duel eye colors glistening, a silver grucifix glittering from his neck, auburn hair shining, slicked back, and he seemed extremely excited for your arrival. You had to admit he was beautiful. "Hi!" he exclaimed. "I'm Cardinal Copia! Sister asked me to be your ambassador and show you around The Abbey. I'll be escorting you to and fro for a few days if you don't mind..." His voice trailed off and he looked at you for acceptance.

You could not help but to smile. You were so nervous being new to The Abbey and having someone there to talk to and show you around would be so much help. So much stress was lifted off your shoulders as you shook his hand.

"It's so nice to meet you, Cardinal. I'm thrilled to have your company and guidance. Thank you so much for agreeing to help me around," you said smiling.

"It's really no problem! Sister has already told me all about you! You and I will have a nice time...Well, I already have your schedule. Is there anything else we need, Sister?" Copia asked the annoyed looking Sister who wasn't even able to greet the newest member of The Abbey due to him taking over completely.

"No, C. I believe Miss Walters is set to start her first day here. I hope you have a fantastic first day. I am pleased to have you here. I'll call your father. He's been awaiting to hear that you arrived safely," Sister said standing and spreading his arms as if to welcome you to this vast new land.

"Thank you, Sister. I am pleased to join you all here," you said and suddenly you felt Copia pulling you toward the door.

"Come on! Let's start your first day! I'm so excited to introduce you to everyone!" he exclaimed and rushed you out. Suddenly you were pulled into the hallway and found yourself following him around the large stone hallways.

"So, what...exactly...brings you here to Italy, Mandi?" Copia questioned. He wasn't making conversation but rather weaving through the vast halls seemingly looking for someone.

"Well my father runs The Abbey in America, and we just had the privilege of promoting my eldest brother to papacy there. My dad is stepping down and relaxing in his later years...anyway, he was speaking to Papa Nihil the other day about a job opportunity here at The Abbey and apparently signed me up without so much of a word on what I'd be doing...So, I guess I can't tell you exactly what I'm doing either quite yet until I look at my schedule," you said, hoping he wouldn't judge you and and assume you were gullible for flying on a plane and starting life over completely without even knowing what you would be doing. Quite the opposite, he seemed excited about the news.

"Oh...well, after looking at your resume I do see what your new job title could be...has your dad met all of the members of the clergy here?" he asked but he seemed concerned which had you a little nervous.

"Well, I know he's been friends with Papa Nihil for quite some time. He mentions Papa Primo and Papa Secondo frequently as well...why?" you added, hoping that he would make you less uneasy with your decision to come all the way over here.

"Oh. I think you will see soon enough..." he trailed off. You looked over at him for some glimpse of reassurance and noticed that he war staring at someone. You glanced over in the direction that he was staring and immediately someone caught your eye.

An achingly handsome man was trailing down the hallway and he seemed to be headed directly for Copia and you. He was tall, dressed in all black, with the same silver grucifix hanging from his neck, but he lacked the happiness behind his eyes that Copia's had. He seemed very rushed with annoyance surrounding his face. His black hair was slicked back and his eyes menacing unlike Copia's that offered comfort when you looked into them. He walked abruptly towards you two and stopped.

"Ah, yes, I see you have nothing better to do than take an afternoon stroll, Cardinale," the man said. His voice was deep and cold. It brought a chill over you and made you wonder what has happened between the two of them to raise such hostility. His glare focused back on you. "Now if you wouldn't mind moving, you're blocking my the door to my office. I would hate to keep you from the very busy day you two are having."

You didn't know where your courage came from but suddenly you couldn't stop yourself from speaking.

"Excuse me; I don't think any of that was necessary, sir. You don't even know me, and you're being very unkind," you said this all very quickly and pointed your index finger at him while you did as if he didn't know who you were speaking to.

A wide smirk spread across his face. It was almost as if he took pleasure in knowing that he had the power to piss you off. "No, you're right. I don't know you. Seeing you with Copia just tells me that I don't need to know you. Have a wonderful afternoon." And he walked off just like that. You couldn't help but stand there, mouth wide open, appalled at the sight of him. You turned to Copia and asked, "Who the hell was that?"

"Papa Emeritus III or Terzo. He was promoted to papacy and he thinks he's better than everyone all of a sudden or something... You'll get used to him though. I have a strong hunch you two will be spending a lot of time together..." His thought trailed off as he he continued walking you down the hall to some unknown location.

Suddenly the name rang a bell. You knew who that was. Your father had mentioned the name Terzo quite a few times but you couldn't remember why or what it pertained to. You also don't ever remember him mentioning that he was promoted to papacy here. You racked your brain trying hard to remember why your father had mentioned him in the past...

Suddenly, Copia snapped you out of your deep thoughts. "I see you're starting Italian class! Are you excited to learn the language?" he asked you.

You looked up to Copia smiling, "Sì, molto eccitato," you giggled out earning a large smile from him. "I've been trying to learn little bits and pieces here and there to be able to get along better here. I already know Latin from studies at The Abbey in The States so I figured Italian would be good to add to my resume as well."

Copia smiled at you and started talking in Italian seemingly trying to test your skill set. You both started laughing when he could tell that he completely lost you and you had no idea at all what he was saying.

The day seemed to zip right by you. Copia took you all over The Abbey. He introduced you to Primo and showed you his magnificent garden which truly was breathtaking. He has flowers of any variation you could imagine. They were all so full and bright in color. They almost didn't look real. You found out he was the one who would be teaching you Italian once a week. You then had the pleasure of meeting Secondo who was a little rough around the edges, smelled strongly of bourbon, and also wasn't much of a conversationalist. Copia then took you to the cafeteria, the library which was absolutely exquisite and filled with any book you would ever want to read, and of course he had to even throw in his sleeping chambers 'just in case you needed him in the night' he told you with a wink. You had to laugh and roll your eyes a little at him. He was so innocent and if he was truly trying to flirt it was not coming off as that.

Copia's tone then seemed to change. He seemed more serious as he was very slowly leading you to another room. A large black door with purple detailing stood in front of you both.

"Mandi...I know you weren't really sure of what job your dad had signed you up for...," his voice trailed off before the door in front of you snapped wide open.

You heard a chuckle coming from nearby. Not changing your position, you slowly turned your head to the left and saw Papa Emeritus III standing in the doorway that you both were standing in front of. "Damn it to heaven", you thought aloud. His expression was humored.

"Tell me this isn't Miss Walters who's father asked for me to work with?" Terzo stated so flatly and seemingly full of annoyance.

To your disappointment, you were in fact none other than that person. You thought about calling your father and asking his why he thought this was appropriate or why he would even think you'd enjoy working with someone like this.

"I'm not happy about this either," you said gravely. It was your turn to smirk at him. You took pride in knowing that your presence bothered him just as much as his did to you. You decided to ignore his comment and focus solely on the task that your father clearly wanted you to accomplish. "What exactly is it that my father wants me to do here?"

Terzo looked at your with so much arrogance in his face that you could have hit him. With a sneer he said, "You're the new assistant to Papa Emeritus III. I have had great difficulty finding one that is capable and your father insisted that you could be a great asset to not only The Abbey but to me as well and my term as Papa. We'll see about that"

"Well, when do I start this dream job?" you asked, looking at Copia for some form of reassurance. He looked at you blankly with weak eyes and mouthed the words 'please don't leave' and gave your hand a soft squeeze.

"Now." Terzo stated very matter of fact. You just stared at him dumbstruck. You figured there was only one way to deal with him.

"Okay, then. I'll give it a shot and you can tell me if I'm up to par?" you asked, giving up the will to fight knowing that your dad wanted this for some reason. Terzo seemed to consider this and found it in his favor because he agreed.

"Fantastic," you said standing in front of him and putting on your best warrior face. "I'm very confident in my capabilities and if my father thought I'd be a good fit then I'm sure this will be just fine." Terzo smirked at you bigger than ever before and stepped sideways to allow you access to his studies. You bid Copia farewell and entered the massive chambers knowing that this was going to be the hardest thing you've ever tackled.