The Mafia’s Forbidden Desire

ANTONIO.

I had been searching for Carlo’s father for days now, and I hadn’t found any clue. Her phone calls and text messages from three years ago had been traced, and the only people she ever talked to were her family and one Ruby Thompson. Her movements, where she frequents, had been traced by the professional private investigator I hired, and he couldn’t unearth any leads.

I didn’t know how Rosalinda managed to cover her tracks, but I was determined to find him, and if I did, I was going to fucking kill him.

The list of phone calls she’d made over the last three years was in my hand, and I had been going through it for almost twenty minutes, refusing to believe she hadn’t been in contact with any man aside from her family. Talking about her family, could it be that-

“No.” I said to myself and shook my head as I waved off the thought. It couldn’t possibly be a case of incest. But how the fuck did she contact her baby daddy?

The door suddenly dinged open, and I hoisted my head up to see Camilla trudging into my office.

“Brother.” She called as she approached me.

I set the list that was in my hand on the table and made a steeple of my hand as I focused my attention on her. “What do you want?”

She settled into the seat in front of me, leaning back and crossing her legs. “You’ve been on this case for how many days now? Five days? You hardly attend to business anymore, which is so unlike you. You never put business before anything. Why are you so interested in this girl’s case? It’s not like she’s even the one you’ll be getting married to.”

“She’s my sister-in-law, so she’s also my responsibility.” I groaned.

“Are you sure that’s just it or-”

“Get out.” I groaned, cutting her off as anger began to rise within me.

Whatever she was about to say was right, and that was what fueled my anger. I hated that she was right. Yes, I wasn’t doing this solely because she was my sister-in-law. I was doing this because I was attracted to her and I wanted to get back at the person who impregnated her. I wanted to get back at the person who dared to touch her.

“Well, if you say so, I’ll leave. But…” She leapt to her feet and straightened her dress. “I came here to give you a hint that might help you, but since you insist on me leaving, I’ll do just that.”

Camilla was a smart girl, and I knew she might actually have something that would help, but my ego wouldn’t let me ask for it, as I had initially asked her to get out.

Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my arms over my chest as I watched her turn around and start trudging towards the door. She didn’t even get to take three steps before my pride finally gave in, and I called out to her in a low voice.

“Camilla.”

“What?” She asked as she turned around to look at me, an amusing smile curling at her lips. “Do you want me to stay?”

I cleared my throat, still finding it hard to ask for the hint she had.

“You aren’t saying anything, brother. What do you want?” She raised her brow, acting oblivious to why I called her back.

“Just say it.” I groaned.

“Say what?” She asked, drawing her brows together, feigning confusion. “If you don’t spell it out, I won’t know.”

Annoying brat. I was tired of being involved in the annoying game she was playing. As evidenced by the smile curling at her lips, she was indeed enjoying it. But I was not.

“What hint do you have, Camilla?” I finally asked, and the smile on her lips broadened into a wide, satisfying one.

Annoying brat.

She gave her shoulders a half shrug before the smile on her lips finally faded, her expression turning serious.

“Her friends.” She started, crossing her arms over her chest. “If you can’t get information from her, I believe you can get one from her close friends. That’s if she has any. Girls tell each other everything. All you have to do is convince them to tell you what you want for a price. A substantial amount of money. Who would refuse life-changing money?”

“Her friends?” I asked, raising a brow.

Camilla nodded. “Smart girl. She was probably being careful, knowing the kind of world she was in. That’s why she left no traces.”

“Her friends.” I repeated, and she nodded again.

“You are welcome, brother.” She muttered as she turned around and walked away.

After Camilla left, I kept pondering what she had said.

Friend.

Friend.

Friend.

There was a particular girl I usually saw her with. They were together at the club and at the restaurant. She was most definitely the Ruby Thompson she always talked with over the phone.

I needed to get to her and get answers from her!

My phone suddenly rang, and the private investigator’s name flashed on the screen. Perfect timing.

“Good afternoon, Sir.” He greeted me when I picked up the call.

“Good afternoon,” I replied.

“I am sorry, sir. But-”

“Trace Ruby Thompson’s location right now and send me the information.” I cut him off.

“I’ll do that, sir.” He quickly said, and I ended the call.

Ruby was my last hope, and I really hoped I would get answers from her.

…. ROSALINDA.

The sun was so hot that my skin was burning. I wondered why Ruby asked us to meet that hot afternoon. She called me, asking me to meet with her. Her voice was filled with urgency, so I couldn’t refuse. If it turned out that what she called me for wasn’t so urgent, I would fucking kill her.

I asked Giovanni to go with me, and he happily agreed because he wanted to hit on Ruby.

Ruby had already arrived at Tasty Haven, where we agreed to meet, and was standing in front of the building when we arrived. As we approached the building, a face-splitting grin curled on her lips, and I rolled my eyes.

“Why isn’t your expression matching hers?” Giovanni asked. “What’s with the frown?”

I swung my head to the side to look at him. “Because I don’t want to be here. The sun is scorching.”

“Holy shit!” Giovanni suddenly groaned, his gaze fixed in a particular direction, and I quickly traced his line of sight.

My heart sank to my stomach, and I became transfixed when I saw two hefty men dragging Ruby into a black car while she struggled to free herself. Before I could even get over my shock, the car had already sped off.

“Giovanni!” I cried as I grabbed his shirt and held it tight. “Please-please-”

I was still in so much shock, unable to find my words.

“Get into the car,” Giovanni told me as he turned around and started heading to his car, with me following right behind him.

Within seconds, we were already on the road, chasing the car that kidnapped Ruby. As we followed them, a myriad of thoughts raced through my mind. Who could it be? What did she do? Did she involve herself with the wrong people?

Oh, no. All I wanted at that moment was for Ruby to be saved.

“Get down!” Giovanni yelled, pulling me out of my trance.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Before I could even do as he asked, a bullet had already pierced through the windscreen, luckily missing the both of us.

“They noticed that we are following them, and they are trying to stop us.” Giovanni groaned as he pulled out his gun and fired back at them.

As they exchanged gunfire, my fear intensified. I didn’t want Ruby to get hurt; I didn’t want Giovanni to get hurt while trying to save her; and I also didn’t want to get hurt.

Suddenly, Giovanni lost control of the wheel, and everything I feared happened in a flash as we plunged into the bridge-the sound of the glass shattering and the metal screeching was deafening.

Panic surged through me as the car descended, and in a second, water rushed in, swallowing the car.

A sudden rush of coldness engulfed me as I gasped for air. But to no avail. My vision started blurring as darkness crept in. Everything went silent, and in that moment, I felt myself slipping deeper into darkness.