Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 275

ARIELLA

It had been a few weeks since Asher had appeared at the house, abrupt, asking questions about five years ago. A month since I’d told him everything.....the truth. A month since he’d left me that letter, the promise that he was going to come back and take us on, take us towards our rightful place, take Leon toward his destiny, his home, his roots.

A month and so of silence.

I hadn’t heard from him since, and I wasn’t sure what to expect or even what he meant by “taking us home.” He was married. He probably had children. I had never asked him about his wife; it was a raw topic for me, and he was never interested in telling me about her. But at night, when I lay awake, I always thought about them—him and his wife.

What were they doing?

What were they thinking?

Were they laughing together?

Fucking?

Plotting?

All of those questions sat heavy in my head, unanswered.

It was early morning that day. I was still in bed when the knocking started. Soft at first, then firmer. Maria had been doing so much better lately; she’d stopped taking the stronger medicine but still reached for painkillers when it got too bad. She had started running again, and for a moment I thought maybe she’d gone out early, locked herself outside, and was now knocking to be let back in.

I glanced at the clock. Five a.m. Maria usually went running around 5:30 or six. This was early, even for her. I slipped out of bed, pulled on a robe, and headed toward the front door. I wasn’t worried. The house had enough surveillance to monitor a president; whoever was on the other side of the door was someone the system had already cleared. I opened it without hesitation.

And there he was.

Luca.

For a heartbeat, my chest fell. I had been hoping, foolishly, maybe, that it would be Asher standing there. But it wasn’t. It was Luca, and he had a look in his eyes like a man about to do something he was struggling with, like someone carrying a message too much for words. That look went straight through me, straight to Asher.

Was he here? Was he outside? Or had something gone wrong?

A cold thought lodged itself in my chest.... what if Luca was here to give me bad news? What if, during Asher’s plan to take us home, someone had taken him out? What if Asher were dead?

I paused for a moment, staring at Luca. His jaw was tight, his hands clenched at his sides.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, my chest tightening. “Please don't make it real,” I added, almost to myself.

“Luca8, please don’t tell me that’s what happened,” I begged.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, his voice taut.

“Asher… if he’s dead, please don’t tell me he’s dead, he can't be dead!” I said, my voice cracking.

“No. No, he’s not dead,” Luca said firmly. “What made you say that?" He asked, frowning.

" Your face… You look like you’re about to do something. You don’t want to, freaking tell me Asher is not dead. Please tell me he’s alive.”

“He’s alive. He’s alive,” Luca repeated, too quickly.

And yet, his words were strange. It was almost as if he didn’t care that two people, two who must have been very important to Asher, were now dead.

I grabbed my hands together, trying to understand. “How can you say something like that?”

“Okay,” Luca said, taking a breath, “look, I’m going straight to the point. I can’t stay long. Asher needs the two of you to get ready. He’s coming to pick you up this evening, so get ready. Don’t take everything, just the things you might need because you’re not coming back here.”

“Where are we going? Another hiding?” I asked, panic rising.

“That’s something else Asher is going to tell you,” Luca said.

“So why the hell are you here if you’re not going to tell me anything of importance?” I snapped.

He laughed, a low, familiar laugh that made my chest ache. “Oh, little Ari, I missed you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Okay… too soon?” he asked, still smirking. “Okay, alright, fine,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Okay, the thing is… I’m here to apologize. That’s why I’m here.”

I blinked at him, still trying to piece together his words through the pounding in my head. “Apologize?” I repeated. “For what?”

Luca shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, suddenly looking like the boy I used to know instead of the hardened man standing in front of me.

“For a lot of things,” he said.