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.

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