Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 302

ARIELLA

I push the thought away. I’m sure Asher's going to come back. He always does. He has to come back to us.

Later, after we’ve had lunch, Leon is completely worn out. We walk inside, I give him a shower, and almost immediately afterward he falls into a small afternoon nap. Just like that, the house feels different.

I end up alone in the sitting room.

The quiet suddenly feels too loud. I wander without purpose, lightly touching things as I pass, books on the shelf, the arm of the couch, the picture frames lining the walls. Frames that still don’t have my picture. Or Leon’s. Or us, all young and awkward and stitched together as a family.

I should get onto that, I decide then. Maybe I can get pictures from the wedding. From the beach. All those little moments we caught without thinking much of them at the time. The thought makes me smile.

I turn slowly, taking in the house again. It hasn’t been bad so far. I thought I would be consumed by images of Asher’s late wife, by ghosts I couldn’t compete with, by people who would feel distant or cold.

But everyone here has been kind. Welcoming. And everything so far has been… okay.

Still, there’s this knot inside me. I just wish I could get myself in order faster.

By evening, the sky begins to change. The sun starts to dip, turning everything softer, quieter. Dinner is set in the dining room, and the air smells good, warm, comforting. We eat together, Maria and I, with Leon between us. I try to focus on the conversation, but my eyes keep drifting to the chair at the head of the table.

Empty.

I keep hoping Asher will walk in. I haven’t talked to him since he left, and I really, really want to. But I don’t want to distract him. I don’t know if I should call.....especially if it isn’t an emergency. Everything had felt so easy before, and now it feels… harder. Like we haven’t had the moment to sit down and talk about our new reality. To ask questions. To figure things out.

I’m still tiptoeing around everything.

Leon is half asleep by the time dinner ends, his head drooping, his eyes barely open. I take that as my cue and carry him upstairs. As I tuck him into bed, I brush his hair back gently, watching his breathing even out. For a moment, everything is quiet again.

When I step out of Leon’s bedroom, my phone buzzes.

It’s Asher.

I squeal like a little child, quickly closing Leon’s door behind me as I walk toward our bedroom. I answer immediately, and the moment I hear his voice, the first thing out of my mouth is,

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he says quickly. Too quickly. “I just really wanted to hear your voice,” he adds.

I close my eyes.

“When are you coming back?” I ask softly. “Are you coming back soon?”

“Soon,” he says. “I promise.”

I take a deep breath. “We missed you today. Leon kept asking about you.”

I hear him sigh on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry. I know this isn’t what you expected when you came back here, but I promise you, I’m doing everything I can to come back to you.”

“I know,” I say, even though I want to ask so much more. I want to ask everything that's been bothering me..... But I don’t.

“Tell me about your day,” he says. “What happened today?”

“It’s okay,” he says, lowering his voice. “Ariella, it’s okay. I’m not hurt. It’s not my blood. Okay? It’s not my blood.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, wiping his face, his shirt, seeing the cuts, the tears in the fabric. “Because you look hurt. There are cuts here....”

“I’m fine,” he repeats. “I didn’t want you to see me like this. I didn't even know you’d wake up.”

A cry gets stuck in my throat as a tear falls.

He stands. “Just stay here. I’ll take a shower. I won’t look this bad after, trust me.”

“What the hell happened?" I ask, standing with him. There’s no way I’m letting him be alone like this.

“Don’t,” he says gently. “I’ll be fine.”

And I see it then, in his eyes. He wants to be alone right now. So I nod.

He disappears into the bathroom, and I’m left standing in the middle of the bedroom, my hands clenched.

I feel like crying. I knew something bad was going to happen. I just knew it.

But he said he’s okay.

He has to be okay.