Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 161

As we got closer to the house, Alan suddenly said, “Hey, Ariana, do you mind helping me bring the Baby’s Delight package from Dalia Lou restaurant?”

I stared at the back of his head, confused because he hadn’t turned to look at me. Then I glanced at the back of Dana’s head, equally puzzled.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “You want me to go pick it up?”

“No,” he replied, still focused on the road. “I mean... the owner is kind of a friend, and he usually prepares this meal for me called Kid’s Delight for little Rosie. And since we’ve all had a long day, and we’ve been together, I thought.... why not have dinner together? I’m leaving tomorrow, and I’ve had such a great time... I just wanted to end it on a good note. Rosie loves it, don’t you?”

He turned slightly to look back at her.

Rosie beamed. “Yes! Kid’s Delight is my favourite!”

“I’d love to,” I said, “but I have to take care of Leon. I need to give him a bath, change him... You know, all the usual.”

Alan raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you live with your sister? Can't she help you with that?”

“I mean... I’m not even sure she’s at home right now.”

“Why don’t you call her and check?”

I hesitated.

“It’s okay,” Dana chimed in. “I can take care of Leon and Rosie while you two go get it.”

“No, no, you shouldn’t have to... I mean, thank you.” I smiled at her, touched. “I’ve had such a great time with all of you. The Muppets show was amazing. I don’t even know how to repay you both.”

I glanced out the window. The sun was already dipping below the horizon. “But Leon’s been kicking and screaming all day... I don’t think he’ll make it to dinner. I’ll just take him home. We’ll make something quick, maybe sandwiches and get to bed early.”

“Oh, come on,” Alan said as he pulled the car into the driveway. “It won’t take long. I’m just dropping by to say hi and grab the food. I promise, Leon will love it.”

I looked over and saw Leon was already fast asleep, his tiny face peaceful in the dim light. I shook my head with a smile.

“Leon’s already out. I’ll just take him home. But thank you, really. Like I said, I had an amazing time. The kids had an amazing time. This was wonderful...thank you, Alan, Dana... Rosie.”

Rosie was asleep too, her head lolling gently against the window.

“That’s not a problem at all,” Dana and Alan said in unison.

Then Alan added, “Any friend of Dana’s is a friend of the family. Hence...you’re now family.”

I laughed at that, touched by the gesture. We all got out of the car. Dana promised to bring my things, so I carried Leon inside while he carried Rosie.

Leon was still fast asleep, and I didn’t have the heart to wake him. I changed him gently on the bed and tucked him in. Then I went downstairs to prepare a snack for him in case he woke up but to my surprise, I found that Maria had already made food. She was nowhere in sight though, so I called her.

“I have a thing at the church,” she told me over the phone.

I didn’t push it. I was too exhausted. I went back upstairs, sent Dana a quick text

[Hey, I’m sorry, super tired over here. Don’t worry about the stuff I left in your car. I’ll get them tomorrow]

And collapsed on the bed.

Dana texted back almost instantly, full of emojis:

Good night! 😴💤😉

Smiling, I slipped into a deep sleep.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up in the early morning to Maria screaming.

I jumped out of bed and rushed into the hallway, just in time to hear a voice shouting,

“Ow! Ow! Stop it! Stop it!” a voice complained as sounds of swats were heard.

It was a man's voice.

My eyes widened. Maria brought a man over? That couldn’t be right. She barely even talks about guys. I didn’t know much about her love life, but this? This was new.

"I’m calling the police," Maria cut in.

"No, wait!" I found myself saying.

"Look, I can explain," he said hurriedly.

"Clock’s ticking," Maria warned.

"Okay, here’s the thing. I have to leave in..." he checked his watch—"Damn it, 30 minutes. I know it’s very early. It was like 4:30 when I came here. I’ve got a flight at 5:30 and I have to be in town at 6:30. This big merger I’m working on...."

"You’re not reaching the conclusion," Maria snapped. "That doesn’t explain what you were doing in my window."

"The thing is..." He turned to me. "I don’t have your number."

"Okay..." I said, unsure.

"I wanted to say goodbye. I couldn’t call you. I tried asking Dana for your number, but… yeah, you get it. I don’t know why, I just thought maybe I’d, you know, sneak into your room, tell you goodnight, and then leave."

"You thought about knocking?" I asked.

"I did. But I figured it would wake up the whole house."

"Like you haven’t just woken the whole house now," Maria snapped.

"You’re brutal," Alan said, looking at Maria. "Are you always like this?"

Maria shot him a death glare.

"All right, fine. I was going for something romantic. I really thought you’d like the gesture," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But thinking about it now… yeah, I think it was the wrong move."

"Yes, stalker," Maria said. "It was the wrong move. Because now it’s just become gross and everybody’s awake. So, good job, Romeo."