The Mafia’s Wanted Desires

ASHLEY

Maria and I held on to each other, giggles emitting from our mouths as we made our way out of the store with large shopping bags in our hands. My eyes surveyed the building and they dropped into the familiar Bentley that brought me here this morning, so I pulled Maria along with me, leading us to the car while we made small talk.

“Good evening, Mrs Gray. Good evening, Mrs. Armstrong.” The chauffeur greeted us, relieving us of the large bags that we were carrying. We mumbled greetings in return to him as he held out the door for us to settle into the car. I sank my butt into the plush leather seat of the car, throwing my head backwards. He clicked the booth shut and came into the car, driving us out of the compound.

“Lawrence, did you get it?” Maria asked.

“Yes, Mrs. Armstrong.” He grabbed the paper bag on the front seat and Maria practically snatched it from him. I squealed when the strong smell of burgers and fries hit me. Maria took one for herself and handed me the bag, barely catching her breath before she dug in.

“Gosh, I am starving.” I groaned, retrieving a burger from the bag. I took a large bite, moaning at how good it tasted. Maria had her mouth stuffed with burgers, munching on them.

“Did you know that Zelda likes Duncan?” Maria’s question came out of nowhere and almost had me choking on my burger. She chortled, passing me the untouched bottle of water beside her. I set my burger beside me and snatched the water from her grip, taking a long gulp from the bottle.

“Maria!” I chided, catching my breath.

“What? I only asked a question but judging by your reaction, I think you know about it.” She countered with a huff, biting it into her burger.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I mumbled, toying with the plastic bottle.

“You can’t lie to me, Ash. I have known that girl since she was little. She’s family. So yeah, I have always known she does. I was just asking if you know too.” She deadpanned with a shrug and I stared at her, my eyes threatening to fall out of their sockets.

“There’s always one thing that would make her derail from our conversation whenever we are on a call. She will just start talking about him before she can stop herself.” Maria sighed, running her fingers through her hair.

“I know, right? Poor Zelda. She likes him but God, Duncan is such an asshole! He’s a grumpy ass human being. The guy irks me so much!” I frowned, anger consuming me at the thought of him.

“And that’s what makes it more complicated!” Maria said exasperatedly, throwing her hands up in the air.

“I doubt the___”

“Ma’am, I think we are being followed.” The chauffeur’s baritone voice interrupted Maria and I furrowed my brows, trying to grasp what he had just said and I did because, by the time I could wrap my head around what was going on, my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.

“Wait? What!” I screeched.

Maria looked over her shoulder, fright marrying her face, and I did the same. My eyes zeroed in on a black car that was hot on our tail. My heartbeat picked up a faster pace, the burger beside me dropping to the floor when I shifted in my seat.

“How…how long have they been following us?” Maria demanded, her voice was quivering but she was still struggling to retain the confidence it always held. I could tell she was so scared.

“For a while now,” Lawrence answered.

“Fuck!” Maria cursed.

“And you didn’t think to say a thing? Fucking step on it and get us out of here! Loose them!” She instructed, yelling at him.

“Sit tight, ma’ams,” he told us.

My heart lurched in my throat when Lawrence stepped on the accelerator, an act that threw Maria and me forward, a scream rippling through our mouths. I didn’t even know what would have happened if our seatbelts weren’t properly buckled and tucked safely in its compartment. My fear was spiked up dangerously high, tripling in folds, my heart thumping wildly against my chest, hurting with every beat at the extremely high speed he moved at.

My vision was so blurry, tears obstructing every damn thing in front of me. My lungs were tightening up, and every breath I took choked me. My lips quivered and my hands trembled. Maria latched her hands onto mine and I looked up to face her, appreciative of the fact that she still saw it fit to offer me comfort at this moment, then she threw me a curt nod.

Then, we heard it.

The first gunshot.

My entire being grew paralyzed with fear. The loud shot and the ear-shattering contact it made with the car had Maria screaming, choking on her sobs. I felt my whole life flash before my eyes when Lawrence made a sharp turn to the other side of the road, swerving past cars like a maniac, equally moving at a high speed that made everything so blurry.

It rained fire and brimstones afterwards because of the unceasing shots that the bastards in the car behind us rained at the car and I could feel every impact the bullet made on the car.

“Lawrence, watch out!” Maria screamed, and my eyes widened, a strangled sob rippling through my mouth at the sight of the huge truck that was approaching us. I felt my soul leave my body, dread seizing me in its tight hold as Lawrence swerved to the side, narrowly avoiding a scrape on the car.

“Fuck!” I cried.

The terrifying gunshots didn’t stop, instead, they grew worse and it felt as though they were closing in on us with how close the gunshots sounded.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

“Oh, shit, we are going to die!” Maria sobbed.

“Try to stay calm, alright?! The car is bulletproof!” Lawrence yelled out to us, but it didn’t make us feel any better. Instead, it left us in an apprehensive mess. He took a sharp turn again, colliding with a car he didn’t see coming and we screamed. I could have sworn I heard something break. The driver in the car yelled a cuss word we didn’t get to listen to before Lawrence sped off.

A deafening gunshot sounded again and this time around, I felt it reverberate across the wall of my ears, echoing over and over again with my heart in my mouth while tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. The blaring horns that emitted from each car as we swerved past them in a manner that would be deemed as irresponsible driving, made my stomach churn with nerves.

Lawrence matched the brakes abruptly and the car that had been speeding to meet our pace sped past us, but before they could take reverse and take a turn to keep on our tail, Lawrence increased his speed, stepping on the accelerator and then, he barely took a stop. I didn’t even know how we lost them, but we did.This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

The air in the car was thick with so much tension, mixed with our scorched and shredded breathing. Heck, I could taste the toxicity on my tongue and I couldn’t bring myself to swallow the spit that was starting to build up in my mouth. We were all still trying to wrap our heads around what just happened. I mean, we narrowly escaped.

The road that led to the Villa soon came into sight and I sucked in a deep breath.

“Stop the car,” I croaked.

“Ma’am__”

“Ash__”

“Stop the mother-fucking car!!!” I shouted, teary-eyed, giving in to the anger that seemed to have garnered the better part of me. My voice was quivering and had raw emotions.

“I just need to fucking breathe!”

Lawrence obeyed me and slowed down, pulling over at the side of the quiet road. The duo were silent while I drew in deep breaths and puffed them out, trying to rein my tears in, but I failed terribly at it, so I gave up on trying so hard and let them flow. I brought my hands to my face and wiped them, sniffing lightly.

“I have to call the boss,” Lawrence spoke up, whipping out his phone from his pocket, but before he could dial Arden’s number, I snatched the phone from him and he turned to me with furrowed brows.

“Ashley…” Maria trailed off.

“You are not going to call my husband and when he comes back home, you are going to keep your damn mouth shut because if you say anything to him, I will find you and kill you myself.” I threatened him, my voice was cold and stern, thick with unnerving audaciousness that seemed shocking to me. I didn’t know where I got the courage to address him like that.

“Yes, my lady.” He answered curtly.

Then, I turned to Maria, who gulped, audibly.

“Got it?” I demanded, arching my brow at her, but she was quiet and my frown deepened even more. It was as though she didn’t want to comply and that elicited a humorless scoff from me.

“Got that, Maria Armstrong?” I queried and watched her wet her lips with her tongue, nodding her head. I quirked my brows at her response.

“Of course, Mrs. Gray.” She answered.

“Get us back to the Villa,” I ordered Lawrence, who ignited the engine and began driving us home.

I couldn’t risk Arden finding out. I just couldn’t because he had told me to always go out with my guards whenever I am leaving the Villa, but I dismissed it today. I felt like it was just shopping with Maria, no big deal and I was going to be safe.

But then, this happened.

I leaned on the glass, a shaky sigh eluding me as the thought of him finding out overwhelmed me, leaving a terrific fear to consume me.

Fuck, what have I done?