Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 217

ARIELLA

I didn’t move from my spot.

I didn’t sleep. I just drifted in and out of little daydreams, half-asleep, half-awake, neck stiff against the wall, arms wrapped around my legs like they were the only thing holding me together. I watched the light change, night turning into bright morning. Light seeped across the floor and up the walls. Still, I waited.

Because some part of me still believed in him. Still believed in us. But the truth was there in the silence.

The door didn’t open.

He didn’t come back.

And eventually, the only sound in the house was the soft creak of the wood beneath me as I shifted on the step. The weight of everything we had, everything we lost, settled inside me.

He left. And maybe this time… he wouldn’t come back.

I went towards my bedroom, and I guess I was tired from everything, tired from crying, from the heaviness of it all, so I sat on the bed, letting my body sink into the mattress. My head was foggy, my limbs heavy.

Then came the knock. Sharp, sudden. It startled me enough to jolt me upright.

Maria was at the door.

I ushered her inside, my voice low and strained. “Leon,” I asked quickly, my first thought always for him.

“He’s fine,” she assured me. “He’s okay. I already took him to school.”

“Oh… yes. Right.” My mind felt scrambled, disconnected from reality. I could see in her eyes that she noticed.

“You don’t look so good,” she said slowly, searching my face. “What’s going on?”

I couldn’t help it; the truth tumbled out before I could stop it.

“Asher found out....”

She blinked, confusion flickering across her features. “Found out about what? He already knew about the kiss, right ....?”

“About Leon,” I interrupted, my voice trembling.

Her brows furrowed in disbelief. “He… found out? I don't get it.”

I nodded. “He found out that he’s Leon’s dad.”

Maria froze, her eyes widening. "Asher is Leon’s dad?"

“Yes. I thought you knew.” I gave a short, hollow laugh that held no humor. “I mean… everybody should know. Have you ever looked at Asher? Have you ever looked at Leon?”

“Yes, but I thought that...” She didn’t finish her sentence because I was already crying. My voice broke, my chest heaving.

“This is so bad. He didn’t come back, Maria. I don’t know what he’s done, I don’t know what he’s thinking. What if he comes back and takes Leon from me? I can’t have that. I can’t. And what if he’s angry and he went away and… something happened to him?”

Maria just stared at me, her face still frozen with shock, as if she didn’t know where to start.

“The truth about what? He already knows the truth. I don’t have to hide anything anymore. I mean....” I took a shaky breath. “I’m glad the truth is out there. I just didn’t want to tell him like this. I didn’t want him to find out like this.”

Silence on the line for a beat.

“I can’t find him,” Luca said finally, his voice low and flat.

My heart lurched.

“And now I’m going out of my mind. I have to come down there to check if he’s with you, because I don’t know where he’s gone. Right now, this whole place is a mess.....everybody’s pointing fingers at everyone. Asher is not here, and he was supposed to come back today, and then yesterday he called me with this shit, now he’s not picking up his phone anymore.... And now I have to leave all of this mess, come down there, and look for him." He took a deep breath.

"Good job, Ariella. Good job.”

“Oh, so it’s my fault now?” I snapped. “You should have let me tell him the truth from the very first moment when you told me not to. If I had told him the truth, then....”

“Nothing. Nothing, Ariella.” His voice cut through mine. “I did that to protect you, but I shouldn’t have, because now you’re dragging a lot of people into this mess. I have to find Asher. Asher has to come back here and take control of the situation. I won’t be able to cover for him for long, and now I have to go missing, too, so I can look for him. So..... Good job.”

“I didn’t...”

But before I could finish, Luca had already hung up the phone on me.

I just stared at the screen for a second, my thoughts a tangled mess, before slowly lowering the phone from my ear.

Maria was still standing there, watching me. “What happened?” she asked.

“He hung up on me,” I said flatly.