The Mafia’s Forbidden Desire

ROSALINDA.

Carlo fell asleep almost immediately after Antonio left; he was really scared, and I couldn’t even imagine how traumatic the experience was for him. Even I was traumatized. I had experienced gun fights several times, but I could never get used to the violence.

My anxiety was high as I waited for Antonio to return. He didn’t tell me where he was going, but I knew he went back to help his men fight. My heart wouldn’t stop beating dangerously fast as many scenarios of how things could go wrong subconsciously played in my mind.

The more I tried to bounce the devastating thoughts out of my mind, the more they kept rushing in.

Suddenly, the sound of my phone ringing cut through my thoughts, saving me from the suffocating grip of worry. I hastily grabbed my phone, hoping it was Antonio with reassuring news.

But glancing at the screen, Giovanni’s name flashed on it.

“Giovanni.” I said into the phone when I picked up.

“Rosa. I heard you went on a baecation with your lover.” He teased from the other end of the phone, and I could hear him grinning.

“He is not my lover.” I denied sharply, and he chuckled.

“Anyway,” he muttered, clearing his throat. “I went to the location Sofia sent to me, and after a series of investigations, I deduced that Oliver was indeed kidnapped.”

My heart immediately sank to the pit of my stomach at the revelation.

“Who kidnapped him, and why?” I quickly asked.

“You might as well ask your boyfriend.” He said.

“What? Antonio wouldn’t lie to me, Gio. He said he didn’t and-”

“He can lie to you, and he already has.” He asserted firmly, cutting me off.

“Unless someone else is after Oliver.” He added with a calmer voice. “Can you think of anyone else?”

“No?” He went ahead and answered himself. “There. You have your answer.”

Giovanni was right. No one else was after Oliver. So, if his absence meant he was kidnapped, there was a high probability that Antonio was the culprit. But he said he didn’t. Could he possibly have lied to me?

“Does Sofia know about this?” I asked.

Sighing, he replied. “No. I just thought to tell you first.”

“Don’t tell her yet. I’m at his place right now, and he’s not around. I’ll use that opportunity to look around the house and see if he’s hiding Oliver here.” I still had doubts that Antonio kidnapped Oliver, but I couldn’t just blindly rely on what I thought he didn’t do. What if he actually did it?

“At his place?!” Gio exclaimed, surprised. “What are you doing there? I thought-”

“Long story.” I quickly interjected. “I’ll explain everything to you when I return home. See you later, Gio.”

With that, I ended the call immediately.

Darting my gaze at Carlo, I observed him, and when I was sure that he was still sleeping, I made my way out of the room.

The mansion was basically empty. As I walked through mazes of hallways, opening rooms to check if Oliver was in any of them, the guilt of doing that lingered in my chest.

Antonio put Carlo and me in his room, trusting me, but here I was, touring his house, looking for someone who was probably not here.

After opening several rooms without seeing traces of Oliver in any of them, I was convinced that he wasn’t in the mansion. I knew Antonio wouldn’t lie to me.

Just as I was about to turn back and return to Antonio’s room, I spotted an open door, and behind that door were stairs leading to what I presumed was the basement. The compelling intuition to go descend down the staircase and check out what lay down there hit me.

Without thinking twice, I started descending slowly down the stairs, but I hadn’t even made it down three stairs when a strong masculine voice sounded from behind, startling me.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“What are you doing there?” He groaned.

I turned to look at him, my face flushing with embarrassment.

“Are you looking for anything?” He asked, raising a suspicious brow.

I had never seen him before, but he was probably one of Antonio’s men.

“Nothing. I Uhm… I was just about to leave.” Without waiting for his response, I scurried away from him, rushing back to Antonio’s room.

Pushing the door open and slipping in, I leaned against the door and exhaled sharply.

I knew going around the house like a little spy was a very bad idea. Now, that man would think of me as a creep after seeing me attempt to go down the basement.

It wasn’t my house; why was I creeping around for God’s sake? I mentally scolded myself.

What would Antonio think if that man told him what he saw?

At the thought of Antonio, my mind raced to the danger he was possibly in. And I really hoped he was okay, wherever he was. I was extremely worried about him. If anything ever happened to him or his men, I would really hate myself forever. Everything was my fault.

***

ANTONIO.

Me and my men were able to get CCTV footage of both the areas where we were attacked and the mall where Camilla was kidnapped. Her phone was tracked to a mall, but unfortunately, she wasn’t found there.

She must have lost her phone in the process of struggling with the kidnappers, or perhaps the kidnappers tossed it aside by themselves to avoid being tracked.

Anyway, we were back at the mansion, inside my office, analysing the footage.

The first one we analysed was the one from the mall, and unfortunately, we couldn’t find any clue leading to the abductors.

“Whoever kidnapped Camilla is a professional.” Marco commented after going through the footage multiple times.

I nodded in agreement, frustration consuming my whole being. My sister was kidnapped, and I had no idea who did it. Talk more about rescuing her. If anything happened to her, I’d never forgive myself because it was my enemies who went after her. She was innocent.

“Let’s check the footage of the attackers from the amusement park. We might find a clue.” I told Marco, a deep scowl embedded in my face.

He played the footage on the large screen, and we began to analyse it, searching for clues.

“Wait. Take it back!” I exclaimed when I spotted something familiar.

“Pause!” I exclaimed again when he rewinded it.

“Do you see something?” He asked as he swung his head to the side to look at me.

I took my hand to the screen and pointed at the tattoo on one of the men’s wrists. “This. I’ve seen it before.”

“The tattoo?” He asked, and I nodded.

That same tattoo was on the hitmen Oliver sent to me. A tattooed band on the wrist. Oliver couldn’t have communicated with them while he was trapped here. Either he was a part of a syndicate or there was a mix-up. But one thing was sure-the men that attempted to kill me weren’t just hit men.

The men that attacked me outside the hospital were from the same gang as the ones that attacked outside the amusement park.

“Let’s see the footage from the mall again.” I quickly told Marco. I needed to see if Camilla’s abductors also had the tattoo.

But after checking the footage from the mall over and over again, we couldn’t see the wrist band tattoo on any of them. And that made me arrive at a conclusion. The group that came after me at the amusement park weren’t the ones that kidnapped Camilla.

Two different groups.

Who were they? And what did they want?

Jumping to my feet in utter rage, I began to walk towards the exit in long, hasty strides.

“Boss. Where are you going?” Marco quickly asked.

Stopping in my tracks, I half turned to look at him. “To the basement to see Oliver.”

I needed to push him harder. Whoever attempted to kill me on two failed occasions would come after me. Again. And I needed to know my enemy. I needed to know who I was fighting against. And Oliver might be my only clue.

Or not.