Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 117

Chapter 117

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I was about to drop the phone onto the counter, storm back into the living room, and tell Will and, what was her name? Anna, to get the hell out

Because there was no way I was doing whatever test Asher thought he could force on me.

But then the phone rang again. I looked at the screen, Loca.

1 picked it up.

“Oh, little Ari, still here,” he said.

“Oh my God, what is it now? Did you find him?” I asked, sarcastic and tired.

“He wasn’t lost,” Luca replied coolly. Then he chuckled. “So I called Asher for you because [ care so much about you. I was afraid someone had come to kidnap you in your own prison. Can you believe it? Getting kidnapped in prison?”

I rolled my eyes. “Just tell me, what did he say?”

“Yeah, those are doctors,” he said. “They’re just there to check on you. Run a few tests. Make sure you’re healthy and thriving, really.”

“Oh right,” I snapped, “So he called a gynaecologist to perform a sexual check-up on me?”

Laica laughed. “Don’t take it too hard.”

“You know what?” I snapped. “You can tell Asher to do the tests on himself because I’m not doing a goddamn thing.”

I hung up. The phone rang again immediately.

I picked it up, not even trying to hide my frustration.

“Okay, little Ari… look, just listen to me.”

“I’m listening.”

“Don’t you feel good knowing someone actually cares about your sexual health?”

“No. It doesn’t feel good,” I said, my voice sharp. “I never asked him. I never gave him a reason to think I needed it.”

“I thought women normally did this kind of routine checkup,” he said. “Why not just think of it like that?”

“Because I don’t want to think of it like that.”

There was a short pause. Then he said, “Look, Ariella. I already had a massive fight with Asher over you. I don’t want another one. Just… listen to my advice and do what the guy wants, okay?”

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Chapter 17

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There it was again, that same line. That same tone. That same warning.

“You do remember what the two of us talked about, don’t you?” he added.

I rubbed my eyes, tired. Emotionally exhausted.

“I’m not doing the test… he just wants to humiliate me.”

“This call is being recorded,” he said suddenly.

I blinked. “Okay? And why do I care?”

“Well, you should,” he said, his voice low. “Because I’m giving you sound advice. Listen, remember what I told you. Just do whatever he wants, okay?”

I sighed, the weight of it all settling heavily on my shoulders.

Luca hung up, and I just stood there, frozen. All I could think about was what Asher said last night about the check-up.

About the way, they do these routine checks on the girls in their brothels. And now today, this? This is what I get?

I get treated like one of them.

Like a whore.

Is this it?

Is this who I am now?

Is this the life I’ve been given, or worse, the life I’ve chosen?

I took a deep breath, trying to push back the burn behind my eyes. I can’t cry every time Asher does something cruel or controlling or just… Asher.

I have to be stronger than this.

So I stayed in the kitchen as long as I could, grounding myself in silence.

Eventually, I made my way back to the living room.

The doctor and his assistant, whatever she was stood when they saw me enter.

“Yes, miss?” the woman asked gently.

“All right, fine,” I muttered. “Is there anything you need? Anything you want?”

“No, it’s okay,” she said with a polite smile.

I didn’t say anything more. I just turned and walked toward my wing.

I couldn’t go to Victor’s. Not now. Not when the thought of whatever this check-up involved

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Chapter 117

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made my skin crawl.

I didn’t want them to take my blood.

I didn’t want to lie down and be told to spread my legs for strangers.

I didn’t want cold tools, gloved hands, indifferent voices. I didn’t want any of it.

It felt invasive.

It was invasive.

But I held it together. I held myself in one piece, just until they left.

No one even told me if I’d get the results.

Once they were gone, I went straight to my room

I took the hottest shower I could stand, scrubbing my skin raw like I could erase what had happened.

But it wasn’t just my body that felt violated.

It was my mind. My self.

And I couldn’t wash that away. After the shower, dried off and crawled under the blanket, wrapping myself in silence.

When Maria came to get me for dinner, I told her I wasn’t feeling well. I asked her to go ahead and eat with Victor.

“I’ll come later,” I said. “Just to say good night and read him a story.”

And I because I was a mother and I had to show up.

Later that evening, I went to Victor’s room, curled up beside him with a picture book, and read until his little eyelids fluttered closed. I stayed, holding him gently, feeling his breath even out, letting the comfort of his innocence soothe the ache in me for a while.

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