Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 146

Chapter 146

ARIELLA

Asher laughed.

At first, I thought I was hearing things. But no, he was actually laughing. Loud, unbothered, almost manic laughter that echoed around the room like a warning shot. It didn’t make sense. None of this made sense.

I glanced at Alex.

He wasn’t laughing. He was glaring.

His jaw had tightened, the muscles twitching ever so slightly as he watched Asher unravel into laughter like this was some kind of comedy show

It wasn’t. Not for me. For me, this was the moment I knew I was in real, serious danger. For me, this was life or death.

And yet, Asher laughed.

“Why the hell are you laughing?” Alex snapped, his voice slicing through the tension.

Asher didn’t answer immediately. He leaned back like he was at some café sipping espresso, wiping a fake tear from the corner of his eye. Then he said,

“It’s just… you’re funny, man. Really fucking funny.”

He was losing it. Or pretending to. I didn’t know which was worse.

“Why would you want to marry her?” he asked, laughing again, and I felt that hit in my chest. Her. Like I wasn’t even here. Like I was just some object in the middle of the room they were passing back and forth like a pawn in some twisted game.

Alex’s eyes flicked to me, then back to Asher.

“I told you. I like her. She’s smart. Loyal. She’s warm. She’s someone who stays, no matter how ugly things get.”

He said it like a fact, like he knew me.

But he didn’t. He didn’t know me. None of them did.

Asher’s laughter quieted, but there was still that smirk on his face, sharp and dangerous.

“You’re serious?” he asked again.

“I am,” Alex replied without hesitation.

And then Asher went in for the kill.

“She’s a nobody,” he said. Calm. Cold. “Sure, shes got Italian blood, but her father? He’s nothing. Just a soldier, at the end of the food chain. Why do you think I never married her?”

I flinched.

He didn’t even look at me. He didn’t need to look at me for those words to rip through my chest like bullets. I felt every word. Like I was being stripped down, piece by piece, in front of everyone. In front of him.

Alex didn’t blink, but I saw something in his face something that flickered and burned, just for a moment.

Asher leaned forward, voice lowering.

“She’s a mistress. My mistress. That’s all she is. Just a whore I keep for my own. So why the hell would you want her, Alex? Is it really that important to take the toy I’m playing with, just to make yourself feel like the bigger man?”

And there it was. The knife. Twisted clean.

His voice was no longer casual. It was steel, full of fury he could barely contain. “She is mine.”

Alex’s smile thinned. “Not for long. Not if you still want to be the Don. Not if you still want us as your friends. Not if you still want to uphold the contract. Not if you still want to keep your word.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“I don’t know,” Alex said smoothly, with that maddening calm. “What does it look like?”

And then it was just the two of them.

Staring. Like the world had narrowed to a line of fire between their eyes. Fury. Resentment. Maybe even loathing and betrayal. These men had a history. They hated each other long before I ever existed in their lives. I was just the spark that lit the fire.

Alex took a step forward. For a second, I thought he’d lunge.

“I’m leaving,” he said. “And I’m giving you two days. Two days to give me an answer. Eit you hand her over, and we figure out a story to explain how she’s still alive… without it implicating you”

My heart stopped.

“Or… you start a war.”

He said it so casually like it was nothing.

“A war where I show everyone the kind of snake you are. That you don’t deserve to be the Don.”

And then, before I could even react before I could breathe… Asher snapped.

He hit him.