Entangled with the Mafia Don novel Chapter 57

Davina's POV:

The world tilted. Not from the coffee or the stale air, but from the raw, sickening rage that surged through me. Bruises. On Lexi. My sister, sweet, gentle Lexi, pregnant, and Dexter, that pathetic, hateful worm, had laid hands on her. The casual, almost dismissive way she'd tried to hide them, the fear in her eyes when I'd caught her, twisted the knot of fury in my gut into something hard and unyielding. My own pain, my own fear of Ezra, faded into insignificance. This was real. This was immediate. And it demanded action.

I pushed back from the table so abruptly my chair scraped loudly across the floor, drawing startled glances. Lexi looked up, startled, her eyes wide with apprehension. But I wasn't looking at her. My gaze, sharp and cutting, bypassed the bustling café patrons and landed on Ezra's men, casually positioned by the entrance, their eyes lazily scanning the room. They weren't just guards; they were extensions of his control, silent enforcers of my gilded cage. Not anymore.

I strode directly towards them, my steps purposeful, a strange, cold calm settling over me. They straightened, subtly, their expressions shifting from bored vigilance to alert attention.

"We're leaving," I stated, my voice low, but carrying an unmistakable authority I didn't know I possessed. My eyes drilled into the lead guard, a hulking man with a perpetually stern face. "My sister and I are going home. To my mother's house."

The guard's brow furrowed, a silent question in his eyes. He started to open his mouth, no doubt to object, to remind me of Ezra's orders. But I cut him off, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, a venom I hadn't known I could wield. "You can follow us. Discreetly. Or you can intervene. But if you intervene, Ezra will hear a very different story about why I went home, and about the 'protection' he supposedly affords me."

His eyes flickered, just barely, with surprise. He knew what I meant. He knew the implications of a "different story" reaching Ezra's ears, especially regarding my time trapped in the penthouse. He weighed the risk of my unpredictable fury against the orders of his boss. A beat passed, tense and silent. Then, he gave a curt, almost imperceptible nod. "Understood, Ms. Davina."

I didn't wait for further confirmation. I turned on my heel and walked back to Lexi, who was staring at me, bewildered. "Come on," I said, pulling her up from the table. "We're going home. To Mom's."

Lexi hesitated, her gaze darting towards the entrance where Ezra's men now looked like regular, if very large, café patrons. "Davina, are you sure? Mom—"

"I'm sure," I cut her off, my voice leaving no room for argument. "We're going."

*********************

The drive was a blur. The familiar streets of our neighborhood, the modest houses, the old trees—they felt alien, yet achingly familiar. Ezra's car pulled up a block away from our house, and I saw a darker sedan already parked further down, discreetly tucked behind some trees. They were following. Good. Let them.

We walked up the familiar path to our front door. My heart hammered, a mix of apprehension and fierce determination. I hadn't been here since my mother had screamed those damning words at me.

Lexi pushed the doorbell, and after a moment, the door opened. Lydia stood there, my mother, her face etched with worry and exhaustion. Her eyes, usually so stern, widened when they landed on me. Surprise warred with relief, and then, to my shock, her face softened.

"Davina?" she whispered, her voice cracking. Her hands, worn from years of work, reached out hesitantly. "My daughter..."

Before I could fully process it, she pulled me into a tight embrace. It was awkward, stiff, but it was contact, a touch I hadn't felt in months. A fragile bridge, perhaps.

"Mom," I mumbled into her shoulder, a knot of emotion tightening in my throat.

Just then, the front door swung open fully, and Dexter walked in, a sneer already forming on his face. He clearly hadn't expected to find me there.

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