The Mafia’s Forbidden Desire

ROSALINDA.

I had been anxiously waiting for a call or anything that’d assure me that Antonio was okay. I was crazily worried about him. He should have just kept driving and gotten us both to safety. But he didn’t. Instead, he stupidly chose to stay back and fight them.

He was a skilled Mafia boss, and I had no doubt that he would be able to fight them all by himself. But anything could go wrong, and that was what I was worried about.

I wondered who the attackers were and what they wanted. Panic surged through me when my mind went to Diego Romano. What if he found out about Antonio’s atrocity and decided to retaliate?

“No. no. no.” I repeated, vehemently shaking my head. It couldn’t be.

Antonio would be screwed if Diego Romano ever found out. A feud will begin, and lots of lives will be lost. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if that ever happened, because every single life lost would be on my head. He blew up his car just to protect me. I still wondered why he went to such an extent anyway.

After what seemed like an eternity, my phone started ringing, and I quickly reached for it.

An unknown number flashed on the screen, and I picked up the call without hesitation, hoping it was Antonio. I was certain he had my phone number because Papà gave it to him when he was investigating who Carlo’s father was. But I didn’t have his.

“Rosalinda.” His voice sounded from the other end of the line, and I let out a sigh of relief.

“Are you okay?” I asked at once.

“Are you okay?” He countered. “Did you get home safely?”

“I am fine.” I told him. “Are you okay? Who are those people? What do they want?”

“I don’t think I can keep the promise I made about Oliver again,” he suddenly said.

My brows furrowed as I wondered why he was suddenly bringing up Oliver.

“What do you mean?” I questioned immediately.

“He was the one who sent those men to kill me.” Antonio proclaimed, confusing me further.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Oliver would never do that. He was too innocent to even indulge in something that gruesome.

“No.” My voice was firm, refusing to believe his claims. “There must be a mistake somewhere. Oliver would never do that.”

“Believe it or not, he tried to kill me. And I wouldn’t let that slide. I’m on my way home right now; I have to clean up all the blood I have on me. And once I’m done, I’ll go after him.” He declared.

The call ended even before I got to ask him more questions.

My heart started pounding really fast as his words rang in my head. Antonio wasn’t bluffing. He was going to kill Oliver. There had to be a mistake somewhere. I was certain Oliver didn’t do it. I had to stop Antonio.

I hurriedly made my way to Sofia’s room, panting heavily.

“Sofia.” I called urgently as I pushed her bedroom door open, slipping inside.

“What happened?” She asked, worried, as she jumped to her feet and inched closer to me.

“Do you think Oliver is capable of murder?” I shot the question at her.

“What?!” She exclaimed, confusion spreading across her face.

I sighed, then went ahead to explain how Antonio picked up Ruby’s phone when I called her to how some men attacked us in front of the hospital, and how Antonio asked me to leave while he took care of the men.

“I still don’t understand what Oliver has to do with this.” She muttered, her frown deepening.

I also didn’t know what Oliver had to do with all that, but Antonio said it was Oliver, and there had to be a reason why he said that.

“Antonio called me just now and told me that it was Oliver who sent hitmen to murder him.” I informed her.

What came next from her was totally unexpected. She let out a full-blown laugh, clapping, and I wondered what was funny.

“Sofia!” I chided her, trying to get her to stop. Antonio would begin tracking him anytime soon, and we needed to act fast.

“Do you seriously believe that?” She suddenly stopped laughing, her expression becoming serious.

“I don’t. But-” I pinched the bridge of my nose, sighing. “Has he ever shown the will to put Antonio out of the picture? I mean, seeing that he was your fiancé and all.”

“No. He only asked that we run away, leave everything behind, and start a new life.” Sofia revealed.

“Is that all?” I asked, searching her face. I also didn’t think Oliver could do it, but we had to be logical and not think blindly. Anyone could change at any damn time. Antonio strongly believed Oliver did it, and he wouldn’t be so sure if he didn’t have anything to back up his claims.

“He also-” she trailed off, confusion saturating her features.

“He also what?” I prodded eagerly.

“Sofia, you need to think fast. Antonio would go for him anytime from now. And I need to know if he really did it or not so that I’ll know how to approach the matter.”

“He told me that he’d take care of everything so that we could be together.” She said at last. “I didn’t know what he meant by that.”

“Call Oliver and ask him to run and never look back.” I muttered, sighing exasperatedly.

“But-”

“Do it now!” I exclaimed, cutting her off.

There were no buts.

Regardless of whether Oliver was guilty or not, he had to elope and keep running as fast as he could. If Antonio got a hold of him, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him immediately.

Worries consumed Sofia as she started breathing heavily. “Rosa, please talk to Antonio. Plead with him to not hurt Oliver. Please. I know he would listen to you. Please.”

“I’ll do that.” I assured her, blowing out a sharp breath.

I intended to do that anyway. Antonio promised to hunt Oliver down once he freshened up, and I needed to get going so that I could catch up with him at his mansion before he left. He might not listen to me, seeing that we both almost lost our lives, but I had to try my best.

“Please.” My sister pressed on, her lips trembling.

“I’ll try my best to stop him. I have to go now.” I said as I turned around and hurriedly trudged to the door.

I pulled the door open to see Joy standing in front of it.

“I was just about to knock.” She muttered, an awkward smile touching her lips.

“Hi.” I said, giving her a small smile as I walked past her, but she suddenly called my name, causing me to stop in my tracks.

I turned to look at her, my brow raised. “Yes?”

“Actually. Your father asked me to call you.” She muttered before flicking her gaze at Sofia. “Both of you.” She added.

Oh, no.