The Mafia’s Wanted Desires

~ASHLEY~

I didn’t know how I got back home yesterday. All I knew was that I was back in my hotel room, and I had no strength left in me to cry. I was just so drained. The only energy I had left in me was what I used in taking a shower and changing into my nightwear before getting under my covers and drifting off to sleep, allowing myself to embrace the escape it could offer. Even though I knew it was momentary.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

The doorbell wouldn’t stop ringing, irritating the crap out of me. I was too tired to move a limb, let alone throw the covers off my body and go get the door.

“Who the hell is it?!” I snapped, utterly irritated. I didn’t even know I had that much strength in me to snap at someone. When I realized the incessant ringing wouldn’t stop, I got out of bed and slid my feet into my flip-flops, marching over to the door and ready to give the person a piece of my mind. I twisted the knob and pushed it open, revealing the beaming face of Thalia that made me want to rip out every hair on her scalp and shove it down her throat for disturbing my sleep.

I threw a nasty glare at her that had her recoiling backwards, squinting her eyes at me.

“What the fuck do you want, Thalia?!” I yelled at her. I was so irritated and I wasn’t in the mood for chit-chat. I had bigger fish to fry.

“Sorry for barging in on you. I didn’t mean to do that to you.” She squeaked out and I rolled my eyes, palming my face and waiting for her to get on with the crap I knew she was going to spew. God have mercy because if she disrupted my sleep for something so trivial, I would wipe the walls clean with her fucking face.

“Um, your parents are waiting for you in the parking lot,” She spoke, suddenly not maintaining eye contact with me. Her words, as they left her lips, gave me a mental whiplash that had me reeling backwards almost as though I had just been drenched in a cup full of water from the Arctic Ocean.

“What?!” That was the only word I could come up with.

She shifted on her feet, wiping her hands on her red dress. The smile on her face appeared too bright, which had me arching my brow at her in confusion.

“Are you sure?” My voice came out in a whisper and she bobbed her head in response, grinning from ear to ear. I let out a sigh of relief, chuckling. I didn’t know when I threw myself in her arms, which made her wrap her arms around me in return.

“Thank you, Thalia,” I told her, sobbing while she rubbed my back in an attempt to get me to stop crying. I sniffed and heaved a sigh, pulling away from her. I turned around to grab my phone and I followed her out of the room, shutting the door behind me. My pace was much faster than hers, but she didn’t seem to mind. Soon, I was getting into the elevator, and my heart filled with so much relief and excitement.

The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, allowing us to step out. We headed straight for the parking lot with her trailing behind me, which was odd. But, I didn’t care. I just wanted my parents back. We got to the parking lot and my eyes wandered around my surroundings, in search of my parents, but I couldn’t find them. I turned around to face Thalia, who had a guilty look plastered on her face.

“Where are they?” I asked her, furrowing my brows at her, my tone hard.

“You can leave, Thalia.”

That voice. That fucking voice. AGAIN!

“Yes, boss,” Thalia replied. She threw him a curt nod and me, a soft cursory glance before spinning on her heels and heading into the building. My heated gaze left her receding figure, dropping and zeroing in on the bastard in front of me.

He brushed his fingers through his messy hair, his pure diamond wristwatch glowing in the morning sun in the process, alongside his knuckle rings, almost blinding me in the process. I had to shield my eyes from the bright light that filtered from the surface of his accessories. Those green eyes were cold. Eerily cold in a way that had me taking a step backwards and swallowing my spit. They glowed despite the chilling coldness they held, piercing into my body unabashedly.

I gasped softly, my eyes trailing down his Adam’s apple to his exposed chest that was left out in the open because he didn’t button up to his chest. The white shirt pressed against his body in a way that made me suddenly jealous of the contact the shirt was having with his skin. It was neatly tucked in his grey slacks. The demi-god aura that surrounded him, mixed with so much confidence and dominance was almost choking. It was so glaring. He was a man who knew the effect he had on people and owned it with his full chest.

“Hey, Peach,” he said softly, his lips twitching in a sinful smirk.

“Arden, what do you want?” I asked, dryly. His middle name sounded way better than his actual name. It had a certain ring to it that played over and over in my head and I couldn’t get it out of my mouth. Calling him Arden had become a reflex action of mine. It was like something I had no control over.

“Haven’t you done enough?”

“You took my parents__”

“Because you have given me no choice, Peach!” He snapped at me.

“You gave me no choice. I had to do what I had to do to get your attention in any way that was possible. You pushed me to the wall. You had to pay for it, Peach.” He said sternly, his eyes fixated on me.

“Don’t you get it? I want nothing to do with you. You are a monster! A Mafia boss that kills for a living! I can’t marry you, Arden. You can’t force me to. You shouldn’t force me to.” My voice was drawn to a shaky whisper at the end of my words, earning a scoff from him. He strode forward, confidently and effortlessly, his tall frame towering over my short frame in a way that made me feel so tiny and intimidated.

“Did you wear this flimsy thing all the way here?” He queried, his eyes suddenly growing darker than they were, causing me to gulp. It was so sudden, his hands found their way to the small of my back, yanking me to his chest in a way that had me crashing into his firm chest, eliciting a gasp from me.

“I hate it when people ogle at something that belongs to me. It irks me, Peach, and how many times do I have to tell you to stop tying your hair in a ponytail?” His hands found their way into my hair, tugging at my hair band and yanking it off. My hair dropped to my shoulder, en masse.

“I am not a thing to possess. GET THAT, ARDEN!” I yelled at him and he chuckled.

“You have the nerve to wear something this short and come outside where tons of people are lurking? Including men!” His voice hardened, reeking of so much possessiveness that made my core grow hot.

“I should punish you, Peach,” His voice was low as he squeezed my waist, earning a light moan from me. He didn’t seem like he gave a damn that we were standing in the parking lot of the hotel. He just did what he wanted with no care in the world. His hands went further and rested on my ass, squeezing a handful, which caused me to moan into his chest, and then suddenly, he spanked me so hard that I cried out.

“Arden,” I sounded so breathless and I hated it.

“Let’s go home, Peach,” he ordered me, and that was all it took for me to get back to my senses. I snatched myself out of his grip and took a step backwards, glaring at him.

“I am not going anywhere with you!” I yelled at him.

“It’s funny how you think you can bargain with the Devil, Peach. Get your ass in that car right now and let’s head the fuck home!” His strident voice boomed, housing a scary audaciousness to it.

“Leave me alone!” I snapped and whirled on my heels to walk out on him, but I had barely taken two steps when he caught up to me and grabbed me by the waist.

“He__”

I didn’t have the chance to complete my statement before he jammed a syringe into my neck. I gasped, wanting to speak, but my mouth felt too heavy to move. It felt like my brain was starting to shut down and my eyes were starting to close on their own. My entire body felt so heavy to even move a limb.

“Thought you might say that.” That was the last thing I heard before I felt myself being lifted off the ground, into someone’s arms.

And then, darkness.