Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 383

ARIELLA

Just then Sia turned towards the door and saw me.

“Oh, I didn't know you were here,” she said quickly. “Sorry, I was just leaving when Leon came to talk to me.”

“What were you talking about?” I asked. I couldn’t quite hide the tension in my voice.

“Nothing,” she said lightly.

But Leon spoke over her.

“She was telling me a story about Daddy!” he said excitedly. “Sia and Daddy grew up together....and he saved her life!”

My chest tightened slightly.

“Dad is a hero,” Leon continued proudly. “Not just my hero, but Sia’s hero too.”

I stood there, still. Caught somewhere between confusion and something I didn’t want to name.

Not sure how to react. I wondered how many stories she had about Asher. How many she couldn’t wait to tell Leon. How many of them did I not know? And I wondered, was it even okay for her to tell him these things?

It didn’t sit right with me. But I didn’t want to ruin the moment. Didn’t want to bring back that tension from earlier. So instead of reacting, I chose to understand.

“Oh,” I started, then corrected myself. “I’ve never heard this story before. Can I hear it too?”

Sia smiled, a little flustered, a faint blush creeping up her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, it’s a foolish story. I was reading this book with Leon, and it just… came up,” she said, holding up the book.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m just curious. I don’t know much about Asher’s childhood.”

“You didn’t grow up with Dad?” Leon asked.

I laughed softly.

“No.”

“But I did,” Sia said, smiling, almost proudly.

Leon’s eyes lit up.

“What was he like? Was he like me?”

“He was a lot like you,” she said.

Leon beamed.

“So, what’s the story?” I asked, gently pulling us back.

“It’s nothing,” she said again, trying to brush it off.

“Say it again!” Leon insisted. “I want to hear it again. I’m going to tell Daddy tonight when he reads to me. I’ll have a story of my own... Dad saving Sia!”

I blinked at that. Sia just smiled, shaking her head slightly.

“Alright,” she said. “But as I said...it’s nothing big.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“But it was the scariest moment of my life.”

Leon leaned forward instantly. Sia glanced at me briefly, then back at him, as if the story belonged to him now.

“Luca and Asher were way older than me and my sisters… and Dominic,” she began. “We used to follow them everywhere. Try to copy everything they did.”

She smiled faintly at the memory.

“There was this huge tree in the backyard.”

“Where?” Leon asked immediately.

“Behind this house, I’ll show you where another day,” she said. “Though it’s not there anymore.”

“That’s okay,” he said quickly. “Just tell the story.”

She nodded.

“So one day, Asher and Luca climbed the tree. It was very tall, too tall for us to handle. But I was seven, and I thought I was big enough.”

Leon grinned.

“I would do that too.”

“I know,” she said softly.

“I started climbing,” she continued. “My sister Kara told me not to, but I didn’t listen. I climbed and climbed… and I was almost halfway up. I could hear Asher and Luca above me.”

She paused slightly, like she was reliving it.

“I called out to them. They knew I was there, but they pretended not to notice.”

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