Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 323

ARIELLA

I hear the sound of drilling from the hallway, metal creaking, and low voices murmuring between themselves. The house feels different today. Like, not just the people, but the house itself is bracing for something.

Maria gently nudges the plate toward me.

“You should eat. Ariella, you look a little pale.”

“I’m fine,” I say automatically.

She gives me that look, the one that says she doesn’t believe me and then speaks low, so only I can hear.

“After what I heard happened, I understand if you’re not okay. But I also know you’re strong, and you want to be strong for Leon.”

I nod. I don’t have more than the nod to give her, so I take a bite to show her, you see, I’m okay, and give her a smile, even though it doesn’t reach my eyes or come straight from my heart.

The sweetness of the cookie almost manages to capture my attention. For a moment, I can only feel the taste. It melts slowly on my tongue. It’s a really good cookie.

Leon suddenly says, “Can I go outside to play?”

Every muscle in my body locks.

He wants to go outside?

After what happened?

Just listening to the voices outside, I can already picture the armed guards, the patrol vehicles, the tension hanging in the air. I’m not even sure they have already gotten rid of that burning car....or the poor driver who was still inside it.

Bile rises in my throat, and I feel like I might lose what I just swallowed.

“Maybe the garden?” William says carefully, smiling at me politely, like he’s waiting for permission.

I have nothing to refute him with, so I nod.

“We’ll have the guards nearby, of course,” William adds politely, but I notice how his posture straightens slightly.

I bet he’s already calculating security adjustments in his head. Things aren’t as normal as we’re pretending they are.

We are all pretending everything is okay—for the sake of Leon and our own sanity, I guess.

From the corner of my eye, I see movement in the doorway, and immediately I feel him there. The air shifts the moment he walks into the kitchen.

“Daddy!” Leon says the minute he sees his father, he jumps off the stool, nearly knocking over his milk as he runs toward him.

Asher catches him effortlessly, lifting him into his arms like he weighs nothing.

He’s getting really heavy for me these days.

“You’re eating cookies without me?” Asher asks, mock offended.

“You were taking too long like a grandpa again,” Leon accuses.

Asher chuckles, pressing a kiss to Leon’s temple, when his eyes lift, they land on me....and I don’t know how to explain it, but there seems to be something there. Something tight. Something unsaid.

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