Owning the Mafia Don

Schwartz

He glanced at Aiyana.

They had reached Kosice in Slovakia in the early hours of the morning and he had slept through most of the journey. James Schwartz hated flights. They made him feel nauseous, much to the amusement of Lucien Delano.

A small two-bedroom apartment had been arranged for them. It was comfortable and spacious since it had been meant for the stay of Lucien Delano. His men had taken the room across the corridor.

Schwartz grimaced. Now he was sharing the larger bedroom with the woman who had been his lover but who now looked through him, Aiyana.

Now he glanced at Aiyana. As fit and fresh looking as ever in a cardigan and jacket coupled wither no-nonsense trousers, she looked as elegant as ever.

He had heard how she had taken down Sophia who had been rigged out in a vest that was packed with explosives. She had not told him much about it, being as tight-lipped and reticent as ever. But he had heard from Lucien and, of course, his men who were with them too.

There was a coolness between her that made him feel slightly unhappy; Schwartz was a cheerful person, he loved to laugh and flirt. After she had abruptly proposed to him, and been embarrassed by his less-than-enthusiastic response, she had retreated into a shell. Sure, they discussed plans and appeared to be cordial on the surface. But he knew he had hurt her in some way. He ran his hand through his fair hair and sighed. He simply could not envisage life with any woman again.

Pursing his lips, he stared at the ceiling.

***

What a darned love life he had had; first Fionella, then Proserpina.

The two women he had been head over heels in love with.

The women who had stolen his heart…

While the first had been his wife before being killed in a dreadful bomb explosion, the second would never be his.

But that did not stop him from loving her, he thought, rubbing his chin.

***

No one could come up to them.

Sighing, he shifted restlessly on the bed. He knew it was stupid to still love Proserpina, but his lips twisted as he thought that the heart was an institution unto itself.

Aiyana’s cool voice cut through to him.

‘So, I was asking, shall we do it this way?’

He looked around guiltily and met her cool, slightly annoyed gaze. She had figured out that he had not heard a word of what he had been saying.

Sitting up in the bed he had been sprawling on while she sat, her long legs on the table in front of her, he said with a wink,

‘Run it past me once again, there’s a good girl.’ She flashed him a look of irritation and began again.

***

Lucien

He rushed into the room where his wife was sleeping, the guest bedroom, he thought angrily. So she was making her intentions clear, she could not bear to sleep beside him?

He stopped short.

Proserpina was on the ground, her long hair tangled around her face. She was staring sightlessly at something near the dresser and whimpering,

‘No, no, go away…’ And then her voice rose in a high scream,

“Don’t …don’t…’

He strode to her, but she did not seem to see him. With a shock, he realised that she was reliving her torment, she was in her sleep.

Roughly, he gripped her chin and hauled her to her feet. Her warm, near-naked body was trembling. Beatrice and Camille, the nurse, and the head also appeared and stood at the door.

“You don’t need to handle her like she was one of your dirty mobsters !’ shouted Camille furiously.

He ignored her.

Suddenly, his Woman’s eyes rolled back and she leaned against him, a dead weight.

‘Give her to me!’ shouted the nurse, shoving him aside. Together, she and Beatrice hauled Proserpina’s unconscious body to the bed.

Lucien stood, staring.

‘Is she…what happened?’ his voice was raw with anxiety. The nurse whirled around to confront him but Beatrice got in first.

“She has been through so much and you yelled at her!”

Camille chipped in,

“The stress has been too much. She has been holding up because of her family. But you hurt her by yelling at her. When she was so brave !”

The woman glared at Lucien.

She was moving around, pulling out pills from a bag she had brought along with her, and Lucien realised that she had been prepared for such a situation. Gently, Beatrice and Camille made Proserpina swallow her pills with a glass of water that one of the maids appeared with.

Proserpina was ashen-faced and there were dark circles under her eyes as she flickered them open tiredly. She looked about her wanly, clasping Camille’s hand and gently holding Beatrice’s weathered old hand to a cheek in a loving gesture. Then her eyes met those of her husband, still in his crumpled day clothes, the dark grey stubble on his cheeks, the look on his face.

“Lucien…” she murmured wearily.

And slid back to sleep.

He strode into the room. ‘I am taking her,” he growled and the woman stepped aside as he lifted her limp body into his arms.

Gently, he carried her down the corridor, trailed by the women. Ria stood in the doorway, her fist in her mouth, looking anxious, her twin behind her in similar pyjamas, looking terrified.

‘Pappa?’ she asked in a small voice. He grunted and they followed him into the bedroom silently, holding hands.

He half expected to see young Philippe emerge from the shadows too. Luckily Paddy was sedated and asleep.

He laid her down gently. Proserpina had wound her arms around his neck lightly. She smiled slightly, a small turning up of her plump lips

And she sighed.

The children clambered onto the bed, anxiously.

He smiled slightly, moved by their protectiveness and said,Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

‘She’s going to be fine. Now, why don’t you go to bed?’

He was bone tired and he still had to get back to Schwartz to find out whether they had discovered the place where Dmitri was hiding out. The two of them along with his bodyguards had reached the picturesque town of Kosice in Slovakia. Now they needed to smoke out the man.

Proserpina murmured something and rolled to the side of the enormous bed. The twins settled down beside their mother, Ria placing a protective hand on Proserpina’s shoulder.

“We shall be here till you come from your bath, Pappa.” said Piers quietly, ‘”So if Mumma comes awake, we shall be here with her.”

He nodded and strode off. When he emerged from a relaxing hot shower, he saw the twins cuddled beside their mother, fast asleep.

He shook his head tiredly and settled down to sleep beside his wife, cupping her softness to his body with a possessive arm, the children on the other side of their mother. Ria was close to her mother, a hand wrapped around Proserpina’s wrist.