Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 251

ASHER

When I went back home that night, I was drunk and angry. Those were the only feelings I could manage....rage burning through the alcohol and alcohol burning through the rage. I wanted to fight. I needed to fight. I even called Luca back, dared him to show up so I could land the blows that were burning in my fists. But Luca… he knew me too well. He stayed away because he knew it wasn’t really him I wanted to destroy.

So I stumbled back home, hoping maybe I could drown the fury in my bed. Maybe if I slept, it would end with the hangover. Maybe if I heard Ariella’s voice, her steady voice, her calm words, I could find my balance again.

But I couldn’t call her. What was I supposed to say? Ariella, Luca put papers in front of me saying Leon isn’t mine.

Ariella, my best friend, is tearing me apart. Ariella, I’m not strong enough to look at the truth.

I wanted to pour every drop of frustration out, to bleed it into her voice and let her patch me back together. But I couldn’t do it.

Because when I left Ariella, we had made our decision, I had made her a promise. We were a family. Leon was my son. And I was sorry, so sorry for the pain I caused her, sorry for the doubts I’d ever carried. She knew I was coming back to her, for us....for the three of us. Not to accuse her. Not to spit in her face with Luca’s so-called evidence..... And no matter what those papers said, I knew Leon was my son. I could feel it in my bones.

I was on my way upstairs, dragging myself toward my bedroom, thinking maybe if I could just collapse into the sheets, I could slip it off. The headache. The anger. All of it. Maybe sleep would smother the fire clawing inside.

But halfway up, I stopped. Sleep wasn’t going to cut it. Maybe another drink would. So I turned back down the stairs, heavy steps echoing in the quiet, and made my way to the cellar. My hands were clumsy as I reached for a bottle of whiskey, darker and sharper than wine, something to drown the sorrow deep enough so I could finally shut my eyes.

Bottle in hand, I headed back down the hallway, ready to retreat upstairs, when I heard it.... Moans.

That’s what they were. Low, hushed, but unmistakable, moans, slipping through the silence and curling into my ears.

I froze mid-step. My head turned toward the source, and that’s when I realized it was coming from the movie room. For a split second, I thought maybe someone was watching p**n in there. But the sounds… no, they were too raw. Too breathless. Too real.

And worse, they were familiar.

A slow, dangerous smile spread across my face. Finally. After everything...the drinking, the frustration, the goddamn papers, I had just been handed a way to release my rage.

Tonight, Dominic would finally be useful. I had found a reason, and I had found a target.

I strode toward the movie room, each step heavier than the last. My hand closed around the door handle, and with a sharp twist, I pushed it open.

And the view that hit me wasn’t a surprise. It was exactly what I had been expecting. Dominic was on top of Dinara, pistoning into her as if the world outside that room didn’t exist. She was bent over the seat, her face half-lit by the glow of the movie still playing on the screen behind them, the only light in the room. The sound of it mixed with her moans, but the scene unfolding in front of me was clearer than anything.

He hadn’t even noticed me. That’s how far gone he was. That’s how invested he was in what he was doing.

I didn’t think twice. I crossed the room in a blur, grabbed him, and yanked him off her like he weighed nothing. His eyes flew wide in shock, his mouth opening, but no words came before my fist connected with his face.

A heavy punch. Solid. Flesh against bone, the kind that makes a man reel back not just from the pain but from the sheer audacity of it.

Because why? Why was my younger brother such a goddamn idiot?

I knew about them. I knew what they were doing. And yet here they were, bold as sin, choosing the movie room of all places. Not a hidden corner, not some locked door, but right here, where staff walked, where my men moved, where anyone could walk in.

It wasn’t just reckless. It was stupid. And Dominic was only getting more and more stupid by the day.

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