Owning the Mafia Don

Proserpina

I left Lucien’s study, smiling. The man had an insatiable sexual drive and I knew by now, how to keep him wanting. I dimpled to myself as I crossed the corridor and went up to the babies’ room.

The little ones were awake. Yes, I knew it because I could feel the heaviness in my breasts. Camille was holding my little girl and cooing while the other two nurses were busy with the boys.

Camille looked my way and smiled.

I thought she had thawed a lot since she arrived at our place, smiling at her affectionately. She had a special fondness for my littlest daughter.

“Let’s name her Tara, Mumma.’ Ria had suggested eagerly last evening as she hung on her father’s arm. He had kissed her head indulgently. If she had asked for the babies to be named bizarre names, he would still have agreed, I thought drily.

Now I approached and cuddled my son, the elder of the two. He immediately turned his head to my breasts and the nurses giggled.

“Your buttons.’ one of them pointed out, and I turned a fiery red. They had been mismatched and buttoned up after Lucien had had his hands all over me.

The nurses exchanged smiles,

They all knew and had seen first-hand how my husband’s hands roved over me the minute he got me to his side. I hastily rearranged the buttons and my son took my nipple between his gums and sucked greedily. I settled in my chair and sighed. Closing my eyes as he tugged at my nipple greedily, I thought of what Brian had said earlier.

My old friend had asked me to meet a friend of his, a woman who specialised in dealing with people who had faced trauma and disturbances after that.

I knew I needed to see a person who would listen; my family could never step in and understand the pain and the unhappiness I had been through. A third person, preferably someone I did not know, would be the best.

As I sat, relaxed and happy, I suddenly remembered the picture of the woman I had spotted on Lucien’s phone. She was pretty, with long golden hair and wide, trusting green eyes.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

I shuddered as I thought of how Tristan Lord had helped to get me out of the hell hole Dmitri Rudenko had confined me. The way I had almost been auctioned off.

I opened my eyes in alarm, breathing heavily. Camille was beside me in a moment and she handed me a glass of cool water.

“Drink up.’ she said firmly, but her eyes were troubled. She knew what I was going through.

“Time for the little bugger to take a nap.’ she added firmly, and lifted the baby from my breast. I sighed. I was too weary to continue now; besides, I had expressed myself earlier.

Smiling at the women around me, I rose to my feet, buttoning my blouse demurely as I left. I had to see the counsellor and I had to meet her Yesterday, I thought in a brittle way. I was like a train wreck.

I needed help.

And I needed it desperately.

***

Schwartz and Aiyana had been holed up in the small town for three days now, along with the men he had brought along with him. Needless to say, they were finding it difficult to find out where Dmitri was hiding. All they knew was that he was in the same town, somewhere. Holed up in a lair, waiting for the opportunity to leave.

Now Schwartz stared out of the window, at the light rain. it had been raining for the past hour and he was beginning to fret.

He longed to be back home, at the Club with the exotic women flitting round and their overdressed, rich companions, the sights and smell of city life,

He sighed. That was his Normal and he would have done anything to be back on familiar turf.

On the other hand, here he was, cooling his heels in a country he was not too familiar with, with a woman who could not be civil with him. He suffered her stony silences but wished he was away in Hollowford. He sighed again and smote the window lightly with his fist.

Aiyana, who had been tapping away on her tablet, looked up and frowned.

“What is it?’ she asked in her throaty voice. He turned and fixed her with a dazzling smile. She did not even blink.

They had been sleeping side by side but they had not touched each other. Each of them kept to their respective corners of the bed and lay silently. He inevitably fell asleep quickly. Aiyana lay awake for a long while, her mind whirling as she tried to imagine where Dmitri could be. Ben Church, her go-to man, had not been too helpful. This involved the CIA and of course, the FBI was not exactly great buddies with the boys from Langley.

Being her indefatigable self, she had unearthed long-ago associates who could possibly help, people from a forgotten time when she had had the necessary contacts as well. She had managed to reach out to a couple of men who owed her.

But it was a hard and slow task. Dmitri Rudenko was an international criminal and he had appeared on many searches on the search engine of the Interior Ministry. Lucien Delano was in a different league altogether, she thought, scowling, biting her cuticles without being aware of what she was doing. He was feared for being a ruthless gangster all right but he had never broken any International laws and hence, no red alert had ever been issued by Interpol for him.

Dmitri Rudenko, however, was a wanted man.

She looked across at Schwartz and frowned. He was behaving like a boy who wanted to go home to his Mamma, she thought crossly.

With a muttered oath, she returned to her work while Schwartz stood, watching the light rain as a blanket of darkness descended upon the little town.