Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 235

ARIELLA

"You think I won't kill her? You think I won't hesitate to kill her? You think that I will hesitate? Do you think I went through all of this without having a plan? I know what I'm doing, Asher, and I won't let you threaten me. You think because I'm not from the Mafia world that I'm afraid of you? You think.....?"

Alan’s voice was sharp, vibrating with a fury that almost masked the tremor beneath it. His eyes burned with conviction, his finger twitching on the trigger as if he were desperate to prove himself.

But Alan didn’t get to finish what he was thinking, what he thought Asher was thinking, because all of a sudden, before I could even blink, before anything else could happen, Asher raised his gun.

It was so fast, so smooth, it felt like time had cracked open for a split second. And then....

BAM.

The sound exploded through the room, rattling my bones. My scream tore out of me, high and raw, because the gun had been pointed at me just a moment ago.

For a fraction of a heartbeat, I thought I was the one who had been hit. But then I felt it....the wetness. Not mine. Alan’s. Hot, sticky, soaking through where his body had slumped.

The bullet had gone clean through Alan’s head.

And all I could do was scream again... I don’t know how long or how hard I was screaming, but eventually, I found myself in Asher’s embrace. His arms were iron around me, his chest steady while my body shook with shock and horror. The smell of gunpowder clung to him, sharp and bitter, yet somehow grounding.

I don’t know how long or how hard I was screaming, but eventually, I found myself in Asher’s embrace. His arms locked around me, holding me against his chest. My breath came in ragged gasps, and my throat burned from the sound that wouldn’t stop tearing out of me.

Asher didn’t say anything at first. He just held me. His silence was deafening, steady, unshakable, as though he knew words would only shatter me further. The smell of smoke and blood clung to the air, thick and suffocating. I tried to turn away, tried to close my eyes, but the image of Alan’s head snapping back, the spray of red, the lifeless drop of his body....it wouldn’t leave me.

“Asher…” My voice cracked, broken. I wasn’t even sure what I was asking him for. An explanation. A reassurance. Maybe both.

“Shh....,” he murmured finally, low and gravelly against my ear.

His hand pressed gently against the back of my head, tucking me closer as if shielding me from the sight of the body sprawled at our feet. My entire body shook with sobs, but in his arms, I felt an anchor I didn’t know I was searching for.

Still, a thought cut through the haze, sharp and trembling. He had killed him. Just like that. Without hesitation. And yet here he was, holding me as if I were the only fragile thing in the world.

Asher then carried me into his arms and began walking through the forest. I clung to him, burying my face against his chest, my eyes squeezed shut. I was just happy the moment had ended, that I was still alive. But even in that fragile relief, something inside me shifted. I didn’t know what I felt; maybe it was the adrenaline still rushing through my veins, maybe it was the closeness of death brushing against me. Whatever it was, it was too much, too heavy for me to sort out.

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