The Mafia’s Forbidden Desire

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“Wait, how?” Sofia asked, confusion masking her features. “This is crazy.” Giovanni remarked. “Really crazy,” Matteo agreed. Papa, who had been quiet all along, finally spoke, rage sipping through his every word. “How did it happen? When? You dared mess with my daughter and had the guts to sign a marriage agreement with my other daughter. What are your intentions? What do you aim to get from this?!” Before any of us could reply, he continued, his voice raising. “And you pretended to help look for the father all these while when you were in fact the father.” Visibly enraged, he raised his hand, pointing at Antonio. “I. will. Not. Forgive you for this.” Antonio just folded his arms around his chest, not uttering a word as he watched everything play out. He wasn’t even bothered. The look he gave me said nothing but “It’s all on you.” Now, I had to explain how much of a whore I was, which led to the birth of Carlo before Papa burned the whole building down. Inhaling and exhaling to brace myself for the reaction that would come after revealing the secret I had hidden from them for a very long time, I breathed everything out without leaving even one detail out. I knew it! I mentally told myself as I stared at them once I finished narrating. The judgmental look on their faces was glaring. I averted my gaze, biting my fingers, unable to stand the look on their faces. They weren’t saying it out loud, but it was clear that all they were screaming internally was “Whore! Whore! Whore!” Oh, I shouldn’t have told them. But on a brighter side, I was glad to have gotten it off my chest. Too many secrets were revealed tonight. Suddenly I felt nauseous again, and I clasped my mouth with my hand as I retched. “Time to leave.” Antonio said, trudging towards me with long strides. “Yes.” I agreed without a second thought. I needed to leave there as soon as possible because the heated gazes I was receiving from the multiple eyes in the room could burn my skin if I didn’t leave. After we left Sofia’s ward, Antonio took me back to the doctor, where he prescribed me some drugs, which Antonio got before we started making our way home. The news of the pregnancy didn’t fully sink in until Antonio and I were alone in the car on our way home. I was pregnant, I thought, rubbing my hands over my stomach. I was pregnant! I had never thought of being pregnant with another child, but with all the unprotected sex with Antonio, it was bound to happen. A sense of joy washed over me. I was pregnant! I screamed again internally. “Why’d you tell them?” Antonio suddenly asked, reminding me of the judgmental looks I got back there. “I feel mortified.” I breathed, covering my face with my hand to hide my shame. “You shouldn’t have told them if you knew you’d feel this way.” “But I had to. I couldn’t hide it from them forever. What if they start asking about Carlo’s father again?” “Then you lie about it. There’s decency in merciful lies.” My eyes narrowed. “Why are you trying to hide it from everyone?” “What? Fuck. No.” He flicked his gaze at me. “I could tell the whole world if need be. I love my son. I’m just concerned about you because you said you were mortified.” Leaning back on the seat, I sighed. “You should tell your family too.” “It’s none of their business.” “You should.” I insisted. “Okay.” He simply replied. “For real, you should, Antonio.” I persisted. “Okay, baby. I would.” I stared at him, still not satisfied with his response. Noticing my dissatisfaction, he chuckled softly, turning to look at me. “I would, I promise.” Gently squeezing my lap, he continued. “I am thrilled about the upcoming addition to our family. Congratulations to us, baby! I hope it’s a girl this time. I’ll so spoil her.” A smile curled on my lips. “What if it’s a boy?” His eyes lit up as he chuckled. “I wouldn’t treat him any differently.” I loved this man! *** ANTONIO I hated to leave Rosalinda alone in her current state, but I had things to take care of. I had been repeatedly trying the number that placed the threat call to Rosalinda and the threat text to me, but it had not been reachable. The only lead we had was the care home where the original owner of the phone was before she gave up the ghost. Vito and I were there, hoping to get useful information that could lead us to the bastardo that dared threaten Rosalinda-the mother of my son and unborn child. “Good day.” I greeted the first nurse we encountered there. “Good day.” She responded with a smile, darting her gaze between Vito and me. “Looking for someone?” “Not really. I just have a few questions to ask about Agnes Smith, if you don’t mind.” I told her. “That’s sad. She died three days ago.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you an acquaintance of hers?” “Yes.” I lied so that it would be easier to get information from her. “I just wanted to ask if she left anything behind. Any property at all. I’d like to hold on to it.” “How come you’ve never visited her?” A hint of sadness masked her face. “She never had visitors. She was all alone.” “I was…” I scratched the back of my head and quickly came up with a lie. “I was not in the country. I came in as soon as I heard of the devastating news.” “We should’ve been here when she needed us the most.” Vito played along as he began to make fake cries, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. I raised a confused brow at him before returning my attention to the nurse. “We need some form of closure. Her properties-where were they taken to after she died? Who took them?” “They were disposed, but her friend, Florence, took some before they got disposed. Maybe you could ask her to give you something.” The nurse said with concern written all over her face. “Where’s this, Florence?” I promptly asked. “Over there.” She gestured towards an old woman seated on a bench. She was quiet and looked visibly sad. “Thank you. You were very helpful.” I nodded at the nurse before making my way to the old woman and crouching beside her. “Florence, right?’ I said, but I didn’t get a response. I cleared my throat and spoke again, hoping to get a response this time. “How are you? I have a few questions to ask you; do you think you can answer them?” Still, no response. But I wasn’t giving up. “I heard you were a friend of Agnes and…” My sentence was cut short when she began to sob. “Agnes. Oh, Agnes.” She cried. I waited for a few seconds for her to stop crying so that I could continue with my questions, but it didn’t seem like she was going to stop soon. Sighing, I began to pat her gently, hoping she would stop crying. After another minute, she finally stopped, and I took the opportunity to continue with my question. “I heard you took some of her property; is her phone included?” I asked, but instead of a response, another cry burst out, and I sighed in frustration, not knowing what to do. After a few seconds, she finally stopped crying and answered my question. “I didn’t take her phone. I only took this picture.” She flashed the picture of a fair old lady at us. “And her cardigan.” She continued, sniffing the cardigan she had on. “I miss her.” “Are you sure you didn’t take her phone?” I asked to confirm. She shook her head. “I didn’t take it.” Then, who did? I wondered. The old woman had no reason to lie to me.

Blowing out a sharp breath, I held the woman’s hand in mine and gave it a comforting squeeze. “I am sorry for your loss.” “Thank you.” She replied, wiping her tears off her face. I stood up to leave, but just before I turned, the stack of pictures resting on her lap suddenly tumbled to the floor. A sense of recognition washed over me as my gaze fell upon a familiar face in one of the photographs. “Who is this?” I asked as I picked Rebbecca’s picture from the floor and flashed it at the old woman. “My beautiful granddaughter.” Her eyes lit up with pride as she spoke about her. “Do you by any chance know if she took the phone?” I asked as rage began to boil within me. “I don’t know. I saw her going through her things before they were thrashed.” She replied. That bitch! I knew she was obsessed and crazy, but I never knew she was dumb. She had to be dumb to ever attempt to threaten me, signing her own death warrant. “Do you know where she is right now?” I asked the old lady. “I don’t know. She left here not long ago.” She replied. “I could remember her saying she was going to send someone to where they belonged.” That sounded like a declaration of murder. Damn it! I flicked my gaze at Vito. “The day I asked you to escort her out, did you remember to tell the men at the gate to never allow her inside again?” “Uhm…” he nervously scratched the back of his neck. “I only pushed her out. I forgot to…” Rage consumed me, and I punched his face hard before he could complete the sentence. “Consider yourself dead if anything happens to Rosalinda.” I groaned. Without hesitation, I bolted out of the care home and made a beeline for the mansion, desperately hoping that my suspicions about Rebecca being there were wrong.