Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 459

ARIELLA

I froze instantly.

"Step away from him," she ordered, gritting every word.

I slowly let go of Leon and raised both my hands.

"Mother, what are you doing? Put the gun down. You don't mean it; you have no idea what you're doing."

"I don't mean it?" She laughed bitterly before turning her attention toward Luca, never once taking the gun off me.

She didn't flinch, didn't hesitate. There wasn't a single nervous bone in her body.

"Take her," she said. "We already had a deal. I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

I turned toward Luca, terrified that at any second she was going to pull the trigger. The thought that my own mother could be the one to kill me made my blood run cold.

Luca nodded once before looking at the two men.

"Take her."

My mother visibly relaxed, although she never lowered the gun from my face. One of the men, the one from the famiglia, started walking toward me while I stood there, frozen, unable to make a single move.

But the moment he came within arm's reach, everything happened so fast.

I don't know whether he used his fist or his hand. I honestly don't know what happened. But one second my mother was pointing the gun at my head, and the next, she cried out in pain as the man struck her.

The gun disappeared from her hand, and she stumbled backwards, clutching at her throat as she gasped continuously. The famiglia soldier had already taken the weapon and tucked it behind his back in record time.

My eyes widened. There was still an instinct inside me that wanted to run to my mother, to make sure she was okay. I was surprised, confused, and paralysed to the spot.

Then the soldier grabbed both my wrists, lowering my hands before pulling them behind my back. He started binding them together as I froze on the spot. I was so shocked that I didn't even resist at first. Only when the zip tie tightened around my wrists did I begin struggling.

"Stop struggling," he warned quietly. "Or I'll tighten it even more."

My gaze shot toward Luca in confusion and accusations.

The problem here had been my mother. She was already subdued and no longer a threat. So why was I the one being zip-tied?

Luca wasn't looking at me. Instead, he turned toward the other man, the Russian.

"Get the boy."

My heart stopped. "Luca," I called.

He didn't even turn around. He stepped closer to my mother, bringing himself nearer to me inside the van.

My mother looked up at him, still clutching her throat.

"What....are....you doing?" she demanded. "You can't take him.....Leon is mine. We had a deal."

"As I said," Luca replied calmly, "we did." He paused. "And the deal changed. We want all of them."

My mother's eyes widened.

"What do you mean?"

"You have Asher, and you have her," she said, pointing toward me. "Why do you need Leon?"

"We needed you because we knew you could bring them to us. Now we already have them." His voice remained cold. "We no longer have a need for you."

"If anybody goes looking, they'll believe you kidnapped the Don's son and his wife. That's all they'll know."

"You wanted the money." Luca continued in disgust before he reached inside his jacket, pulled out a thick envelope, and threw it at my mother's feet.

"There is your payment." He looked down at her. "You'd better start running."

His expression never changed.

"Because Asher has loyal men. They're going to come for the person who killed their Don and his family... especially his heir."

"No!" my mother screamed. "You can't do this! You can't do this to me! You can't take Leon!"

She struggled against the soldier holding her, but Luca no longer acknowledged her. He simply turned toward the famiglia soldier standing beside me.

"Take her to the car."

The man began pushing me forward. Luca stepped aside to give us room to pass. Now it was my turn to scream.

"Luca! What are you doing? What's going on?"

He never looked at me. Instead, his attention shifted to the Russian, who had lifted Leon from the reclining seat. My gaze landed on my son, who was still asleep, still completely unaware.

The Russian cradled him in his arms as he started walking behind us. And just like that, we left Luca standing inside the van with my mother, whose screams echoed behind us.

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