Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 41

Chapter 41

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Five Years Ago

His hand was on my throat-not squeezing, not choking. Just there. But it was trembling. He was trembling.

His whole body had gone rigid, his eyes burning with something raw and dark. I had never seen him like this.

“Don’t ever say that again,” he growled.

A cold chill ran down my spine.

I nodded quickly, my breath hitching. But it wasn’t enough for him.

“I want to hear it,” he demanded.

My lips parted, but nothing came out. He didn’t move, didn’t blink. The air between us felt suffocating.

“I… I’ll never say it again,” I finally whispered.

Asher inhaled sharply, his chest rising and falling like he was trying to steady himself. Slowly, his hand dropped from my throat. He sat back in his seat, dragging a hand down his face, eyes shutting tight.

I swallowed, my fingers brushing my neck. He hadn’t hurt me, not really. His palm had been warm, firm-but compared to his, my hand looked small. Fragile.

I stayed frozen in place as he restarted the car, driving toward the university in silence.

By the time we pulled up, his mask was back on-calm, controlled, collected.

But I wasn’t.

I fumbled with my seatbelt, rushing to unbuckle it, eager to get out. Just as I reached for the door handle- He caught my wrist.

I flinched.

His grip was gentle this time, but my whole body had gone tense.

“I’m sorry.”

I looked at him, confused. “What?”

He exhaled. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I-” He clenched his jaw. “It won’t happen again. I promise.”

I just stared at him.

“Ariella… are you scared of me?”

I should have said yes.

But instead, I shook my head. “No.”

‘Are you okay?”

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Chapter di

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I forced myself to nod. “Yes.”

He studied me as if trying to tell if I was lying. Eventually, he let go. “I’ll pick you up later. Just text me. If I’m busy, Luca will come instead.”

I nodded again, then got out of the car. I didn’t go to class. Instead, I called an Uber and went back home.

My parents weren’t there, so I locked myself in my room, curled up on my bed, and tried to make sense of everything.

I should be afraid of him. I should be angry. But all I felt was… confused.

Then, my phone started buzzing.

Asher: Where are you?

Asher: I heard you weren’t at university today.

Asher: Why didn’t you tell me?

Asher: Why aren’t you answering?

Asher: Pick up the phone.

Asher: Ariella, answer me…

My hands shook as I stared at the screen. Then Knock. Knock. Knock.

I exhaled, relieved. It had to be my mom.

“I don’t want to talk right now!” I called out.

But the door creaked open anyway.

I sat up, irritated. “Mom, I said-”

It wasn’t my mother.

It was Asher. And he looked furious.

He stood at the door as the two of us stared at each other before I croaked,

“Asher?”

It was more like a question than a word.

He smiled coldly at me as he asked, “Yes, it’s me. Were you expecting somebody else?”

“No,” I said quickly, shaking my head vehemently.

But then he gave me a look, and I found myself nodding again.

“I mean-yes,” I swallowed. “I was waiting… I thought you were my mother, she wasn’t here when I got home and I thought it was her… I thought it was my mom.”

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Chapter 41

“You’re right,” he said.

“What? I’m right?”

“You’re right about your mom. She’s back.”

“Oh, yeah. Right… I was expecting that it was her….”

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“When I got here I found her opening the door and she invited me inside. I asked her about you and she told me she just got home, but then reminded me that I was the one who took you to the college this morning so she was wondering why I was asking about you. So I had to tell her I took you there but you weren’t there anymore.”

“Oh! Okay,” I say nodding even though I am unsure of how to respond.

He didn’t say anything. He walked farther into the room and closed the door behind him. And as he did that, that’s when I realized that he was inside my bedroom.

And he must have realized it, too, from the look on my face, because then he started looking around at my pink

room.

Don’t blame me. I did this since I was 16 and I never changed it.

At my pink pillows.

My pink bed.

My pink dresser.

Everything was in pink.

Don’t judge me.

As he looked at everything, I realized this-that he was in my room. This was the first time that he was in my bedroom. And that’s the two of us. We were in my bedroom alone.

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