Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 281

ARIELLA

He shifted a little, tightening his arm around me until I was tucked perfectly against him.

Then he said quietly, “You know, it’s not that I don’t want you.”

I smiled faintly against his chest. “I know.”

“It’s just… I need to do this right,” he continued, his fingers tracing lazy circles on my shoulder. “We’ve both been through too much to rush into something just because it feels good in the moment.”

I lifted my head a little, just enough to see his face. “You think it would ruin what we have?”

“No,” he said, his gaze steady. “I think it would make me forget what I’m trying to protect. I want you to trust that this—” he brushed his thumb across my cheek “—isn’t temporary. That when I finally make love to you, it won’t be about trying to forget or to prove something. It’ll be because everything else is finally right.”

My throat tightened, and I didn’t know what to say. I just nodded, my fingers curling into his shirt.

“I get it,” I whispered. “You don’t have to explain. I understand.”

He smiled, that small, warm smile that always melted something inside me. “Good. Because I don’t want you to think I’m pushing you away. I’m holding you closer than I ever have.”

I rested my forehead against his neck, feeling the slow brush of his breath through my hair. “Then hold me,” I whispered.

He did. For a long time.

We stayed that way, bodies pressed together but hearts beating even closer, until sleep eventually took us under.

The next morning, I was the lazy one. I actually slept so much that Leon and Asher brought me breakfast in bed. A little love for me.

Leon was practically bouncing as he told me all about what had happened while I was asleep: how his dad had come into the room, how Asher had whispered, “Shh, your mom is sleeping”, and then taken him toward his bedroom. He had given him a shower, gotten him dressed, taken him downstairs. They had breakfast. Then Asher took him to the beach.

Leon leaned in, eyes shining. “We had a man talk,” he whispered dramatically.

I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t know what that’s about,” I said, but Leon looked super excited.

Later, when they came back, Leon practically burst with another secret. “Dad actually—on his own—in the restaurant kitchen—prepared you this breakfast!”

“Oh, wow,” I said, genuinely impressed. “Can’t wait to taste Asher’s cooking.” I added a little laugh, but when I glanced at Asher, he looked a little nervous, which only made me wonder what was going on. Leon kept winking at me too, which didn’t help.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Nothing!” they both shouted at once, way too fast.

I laughed. “Okay…”

“I have to brush my teeth first,” I said, sliding off the bed. Thankfully, since nothing had happened yesterday, I was still dressed. I went to the bathroom, did my business, and came back.

They had already set up the little table and chair for me like I was royalty. Both of them were hovering nearby, ridiculous and obvious.

“What is it?” I asked again.

“Nothing,” they both said again, but Leon’s laugh this time was the kind you laugh when you’re keeping a secret.

I sat down at the table and started eating my breakfast while the two of them stood over me, staring.

I was already crying. I couldn’t help it. Leon was clapping and bouncing like he’d just watched his favorite superhero win a battle.

I nodded, laughing through the tears. “Yes,” I managed to say, voice trembling. “Of course I will. Yes.”

Leon squealed, throwing his little arms around both of us. Asher caught me as I leaned forward, pulling him up from the floor and into my arms. The ring was still between his fingers, but he slipped it onto my hand as he held me, his lips brushing my forehead.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” I said, and for the first time in a long, long while, it felt like everything was exactly where it was meant to be.

Leon hugged my leg and looked up at us, beaming. “So… are we a real family now?”

Asher looked down at him, smiling. “We always were.”

He still had his arms around me, my head pressed to his chest, when he whispered, almost against my hair,

“Maybe we shouldn’t wait any longer.”

I tilted my head up, a little confused. “Wait for what?”

He smiled faintly, the kind that touched only his lips but softened his eyes. “For forever,” he said. “I don’t want to leave this island without knowing you’re mine—officially.”

I blinked at him, my breath catching. “You mean…”

He nodded once. “I already called someone this morning. There’s a pastor. Discreet, trustworthy. He can be here in a few hours. We don’t need much, just you and me. I even found someone who can deliver a dress tonight if you say yes.”