The Mafia’s Forbidden Desire

ROSALINDA

Antonio grabbed my hand and dragged me outside. I had the strong urge to protest, but I didn’t because I knew whatever I did would have been useless. He would never leave me there, and we would only end up causing a scene.

“Why the fuck did you come out here alone, Rosalinda?” He groaned once we were outside, his furious eyes staring intently at me. “And don’t tell me you took alcohol with your condition.”

I folded my arms over my chest, casting my gaze away as I retorted. “I only took sparkling water, and you are not the only one allowed to leave the house after a fight.”

“Does that mean you should endanger your life?” He fired back.

“I don’t care whatever danger surrounds you, but she is an adult and could make her own decisions.” Ruby suddenly chimed in, her voice filled with irritation.

He drew his brows together, his frown deepening as he turned his attention to her. “Really? I’m starting to wonder if they used you to lure her out so that they could kidnap and harm her.”

“Are you really that bad of a person that you believe everyone is out to get you?” Ruby retorted fearlessly, her eyes narrowing.

“Just like how my son was kidnapped when they went to see you at the hospital. You were their informant, right? How much did they give you? Or what did they use to threaten you?” Antonio muttered, surprising both Ruby and me.

“Wait, what? Son? Who?” She asked, perplexed.

“Carlo.” He told her.

“Carlo was kidnapped?” Her jaw fell to the ground as she turned her attention to me. “Why-why am I just learning about this?”

“Don’t act so surprised when you know exactly what happened.” Antonio hissed.

I shook my head, and I took a deep breath. “You were sick and all, so I didn’t want to bother you with it.”

Concern saturated her features. “Oh my God, is he okay? Who kidnapped him and why?”

“You don’t have to worry yourself about it, Ruby.” I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. “It’s all sorted now.”

She shook her head, a lot of thoughts evidently going through her mind. “I can’t even imagine the trauma he must have passed through. The mafia world is fucked up, man.”

“Good thing I was able to save my son before your employers could do anything to him.” Antonio mumbled.

“Antonio!” I cautioned him, casting a warning glare at him. I didn’t know why he was being like that, but he had to stop. It was really annoying.

“What?” He grimaced. “You should ask her so you’ll know the type of friends you keep.”

“I trust her with my life!” I declared.

“I’m not so sure she deserves that trust.” He retorted firmly.

Ignoring him, Ruby asked. “Can I maybe come and see him someday and-”

He cut her off. “Come close to my son, and-”

“Why do you keep calling him your son?” Ruby interjected. “He is not your son!”

“Oh, yes. He is. Blood and flesh.” He retorted.

“What?” Confusion saturated her features as she flicked her gaze at me. “Explain. Now!”Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.

I scratched the back of my neck, unable to find the right way to say it. “I…can explain.”

A hint of hurt and betrayal flickered in her eyes as she asked. “Rosalinda, seriously? Tell me, do you even consider me your best friend anymore? I fucking share everything with you, but you always keep me in the dark when it comes to your life.”

“Of course you are my best friend, and I love you so much.” I breathed.

“No, you don’t act like it anymore. Ever since you met him-” she trailed off, paused for a second, and took a deep breath. “You know what? Fuck it!”

She swiftly spun around and began to take angry strides away from us. The hurt in her eyes was intense, and I felt bad. Really bad. She called me out here to help her through the hurt a man caused her, only for me to add more to her hurting heart.

“Ruby.” I called after her and tried to go after her, but Antonio held me in place, stopping me.

“We are going home.” He said authoritatively.

I shrugged, my gaze lingering on her. Just a few feet away from us, she staggered and almost fell, but she quickly grabbed a pole to steady herself. She was drunk and hurt-a terrible combination.

Antonio sighed, then signaled at one of the men who he came with to go get Ruby. “Make sure she gets home safely.” He instructed.

***

The ride home was long and silent, with the both of us visibly angry at each other.

Once we were back at the mansion, as we made our way to the bedroom, I asked a question that had been juggling through my mind since we left the pub.

“How did you find out that I was there?” I asked curiously.

“You took my car.” He sighed. “GPS.”

“Oh…” I nodded.

After a few seconds, another question popped into my mind. “I thought you hated her. Ruby. Why did you ask her to be taken home safely?”

We came to a stop in front of our bedroom, and he opened the door, holding it for me to enter.

“You care about her.” He shut the door after entering, then turned to look at me. “And I would protect whatever you care about.”

My heart warmed at his statement. I opened my mouth to talk, but I couldn’t find the right words to say. So, taking a deep breath, I began to walk away from him, but he grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

“I am not done.” He groaned.

I raised a brow. “What?”

“Anything could have happened out there, Rosalinda. You lied to those men just so you could go out. Haven’t you learned your lesson from the recent happenings? You are never safe alone. Anything, I mean, anything, could happen at any damn time.” His deep annoyance seeped through his voice as he spoke.

Tilting my head to the side, I replied defiantly. “Really? That’s why I have you to kill the people who are after my life.”

I snatched my arm from his grip, and as I walked away, I muttered. “Since I have no fucking right to know the people after my life, you can go on and keep murdering them for me. I don’t have to know, so I could keep living my life.”

“Rosa, just listen!” He groaned with annoyance.

“Oh, I am listening!” I snapped, turning around to look at him. “You are the one who is not. You drive me crazy. You say you love me, but you wouldn’t even answer a simple question. I was so fucking frustrated that I couldn’t reject Ruby’s offer for a drink. I needed to get my mind off everything. Off you! Before I went fucking crazy. If you hadn’t dismissed me like a child when I asked who you killed, I wouldn’t have gone out unprotected.”

The love I had for him was consuming, burning my entire being like an inferno. I loved him more than a human should love another. He had the fucking key to my heart, giving him access to hurt me this much. But no matter how much he hurt me, my heart wouldn’t stop beating for him.

Despite everything, as I stared at him and at his lips, kissing him was unbelievably the only thing I could think about.

He closed the distance between us and cupped my face in his palm as he stared intently into my eyes. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know. I hate it when we fight. I love you so much, Rosalinda. So very much. But you are just too infuriatingly stubborn.”

“I love you, too.” I breathed. “But my stubbornness is warranted.”

He leaned in and sought my lips. As we smothered our lips against each other, the anger and frustration travelling through me melted with each second.

At that moment, I realised something-no matter what happened, we’d never leave each other. He was my soulmate, as I was his.

After the deep, desperate kiss, I suddenly started feeling sleepy, and sensing my sleepiness, Antonio carried me in his arms and took me to the bed. He took my shoes off and helped me undress while he murmured a lot of things. I couldn’t comprehend all that he said, as a deep slumber was drowning me away.

But I could remember the last thing he said before I finally drifted off. “My sweet, stubborn girl.”