Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 481

ASHER

I let out a long breath.

"You should've trusted me."

"I did."

"No." I shook my head. "You trusted yourself."

He nodded slowly.

"You're right. I did, because I knew you'd never agree."

"I wouldn't have."

"I know."

Another silence filled the office. Finally, I picked up the glass he had poured for me.

I raised it.

"To idiots."

Luca laughed.

"To brothers."

Our glasses clinked together. I took a sip before setting my glass back down.

"Don't mistake this for forgiveness." My eyes stayed on him. "A part of me will never forgive you for putting my family at risk."

Luca nodded once.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"You've still got a lot to answer for."

"I know."

I leaned back in my chair.

"And when we get back from this vacation..."

He frowned.

"What vacation?"

"I'm taking Ariella and Leon away for a few days."

He looked surprised.

"Leon wants to see lions, elephants, cheetahs, monkeys... whatever else he can find."

Despite everything, I smiled.

"So we're going to East Africa."

"But what about the traitors?"

"I'm sure you can take good care of them for now." I shrugged. "I want to sweat them out. They've been living comfortably for years. A few days wondering what's going to happen to them will do more damage than anything I could do tonight."

I picked up my glass again.

"Don't worry. It won't be long. We're only taking a few days to ourselves after everything that happened. Three... maybe four days, and when we come back..."

A cold smile crossed my face.

"...they're going to wish they had never even thought of betraying me."

Luca nodded slowly.

"I'll take care of it."

I looked away for a moment before remembering something.

"Another thing."

His attention immediately returned to me.

"What is it?"

"It's about my agreement with Yuri Volkov."

He straightened slightly.

"Okay... what about it?"

"Among other things, business, territory, information, we also came up with what families like ours always come up with to strengthen our relationship."

His eyes narrowed.

"A marriage contract?"

He shook his head. "I'm not marrying some Russian princess," he said immediately.

I laughed.

"Relax. We already tried marrying an Italian Don to a Russian princess, and we both know how that turned out. So maybe..."

I smirked.

"It's time the Russians married an Italian princess instead."

His amusement disappeared.

"What do you mean?"

"Yuri Volkov was interested in one of our princesses." I watched his expression carefully. "And when he told me who... I thought it was a good agreement."

His brow furrowed.

"Who?"

"Sia."

The room went silent. I watched every emotion pass across Luca's face. First... Disbelief. Then instinctive protection, then outright refusal.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify