The Mafia’s Forbidden Desire

ROSALINDA.

“Do you even care about my life at all?” I asked Papà, deciding to confront him.

“What do you mean?” He questioned me, studying my face as if awaiting a solution to a puzzle.

Taking a step forward, I enlightened him. “I know about your plan to sign an agreement with the Romanos.”

His forehead creased into multiple lines, and before he could speak, I continued. “Papà, he’s at war with a Russian family, and they blew up his car right in your presence. Yet, here you are, still willing to sell me off to that family. Did you ever love me?”

“Who told you that? I can’t remember telling you about a marriage alliance with the Romanos. Who told you that?” He questioned, tilting his head to the side.

“Uhm…” I trailed off, scratching the back of my head. Marco was the one who told me before Antonio confirmed it, and I couldn’t let Papà know about my encounter with Marco, as telling him would lead to more questions.

Questions that I couldn’t answer.

“Who told you?” he repeated authoritatively.

Blowing out a sharp breath, I opted for the only way out. “Liam told me about it.” I blurted out.

I didn’t exactly lie. Liam really told me about the marriage alliance when he said he came to ask for my hand in marriage. Just that, I thought he was joking then.

“You’ve been speaking with Liam?” Papà asked, his frown getting deeper.

“Not exactly. I saw him when he came here last week, and we only had a little chat then.” I said truthfully.

Papà slightly shook his head, sighing. “I was never going to marry you off to Liam. I was just using them for business.” He revealed.

Confusion consumed me as I quickly asked. “But you said I’d be engaged soon. Who-”

“I said you’ll know when the time comes.” He interjected firmly. His phone suddenly started ringing, and as he slid it out of his pocket, I curiously peeked to see who the caller was.

My heart skipped a beat when I read the name flashing on his screen.

Antonio Russo.

How I’ve missed him. It’s been less than twenty-four hours since I last saw him, but I’ve been dreaming of when I’ll next see him.

“I’m around. I’ll be with you shortly.” Papà said into the phone before hanging up.

His statement could only mean one thing. Antonio was in his office, waiting for him. And that means I’ll get to see him today. The thought of that caused a small smile to creep up my lips, but I quickly replaced my expression with a neutral one before Papà noticed.

Without uttering another word to me, Papà turned around and trudged out of the room.

The second he left, thoughts of how Papà never intended to marry me off to Liam came racing through my mind. Antonio blew up Diego’s car for nothing!

“Rosa.” Sofia called, and I turned to look at her. I had almost forgotten that she was there.

“Are you okay?” She asked, a concerned look masking her face.

“Let’s not allow that announcement to ruin our moods. I had always known that my life partner was never my choice to make anyway.” I muttered, forcing a smile on my lips as I approached her and Mama.

Before she could utter a word, I continued, changing the subject. “When do we start shopping for the babies?”

“It’s okay to talk about our problems and-” She started, but I cut her off, changing the subject yet again.

“Carlo would be so excited to have twin cousins!” I exclaimed cheerfully.

“Rosalinda.” Mama called, concerned.

I wasn’t interested in having that conversation with either Mama or Sofia. I needed to get out there before they forced me to, and I quickly came up with an excuse.

“Speaking of Carlo.” I muttered, darting my gaze between the both of them. “I think I should go and check on him.”

Without waiting for a response, I turned around and dashed out of the room before they could stop me.

I needed to go and wait for Antonio anyway. I knew he’d show up in my bedroom once he finished at Papà’s office.

But he never did. I waited for an hour, two hours, and three hours till it got dark, but Antonio never showed up.

A few more days passed-a few more days of me waiting for him, hoping he’d show up in my room. But he never did.

I kept making excuses for him as to why he stopped coming to see me. I told myself that he was probably busy. But deep down, I knew that if he really wanted to see me, he wouldn’t be too busy for me.

Antonio kissed and dumped me!

He got what he wanted and tossed me away. I should’ve known. I shouldn’t have been stupid enough to kiss him. But my desires were too strong to control, and I couldn’t resist him.

But I had sure learned my lesson. If he ever showed up in my face again, I’d shut him out like a bad habit and never forgive him for the pain he caused me.

I was hurt and in intense pain. His absence left a void in my heart, and I never knew I’d miss him the way I did. I hated that he had that much effect on me. I was consumed with thoughts of him every second, every minute, and every hour of every day. I was drowning in sorrow, and I could feel my sanity slipping away from me.

I needed to talk to someone about it. I needed to speak to someone. Anyone!

Before I could even stop myself, I reached for my phone and dialled the number of the only person I always felt safe speaking with. My best friend.

Even though we were not as close as we used to be-thanks to the incident that happened with Antonio-I still needed to speak with her.

“Ruby.” I said into the phone the moment she picked up, hoping she’d be willing to talk about it, considering how much she hated the person involved.

“Rosalinda.” A familiar voice, which wasn’t Ruby’s, sounded from the other end of the line.

Shocked, I quickly withdrew the phone from my ear and glanced at the screen to be sure I hadn’t mistakenly dialed the wrong number.

‘Ruby’ appeared boldly on the screen, and my face immediately contorted into a deep frown as I took the phone back to my ear.RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only

“Antonio! What the hell are you doing with Ruby’s phone?!” I seethed.