THE MAFIA’S HEIR

MANUEL’S POV

We both locked eyes for a couple of seconds, before he pulled his eyes away and made his way towards me.

“Oh no! Tesoro!” His wife called out to him, but he seemed to have exceeded his limit on patience. He closed the space between us with a huge blow to my face. The only thing that resounded in my ears was a question Bianca had asked me on the island five months ago. ‘Have you met my papa?’ I have met him now, and he is tougher than I expected.

“Owww!!!” I yelled out in pain, very much shocked that the man had indeed lifted his hands on me. What the fuck! The entire left side of my face was burning hot.

“That is for breaking my daughter’s heart!” He yelled out, before landing yet another punch on the other side of my face. Goodness gracious. “And that is for making her disappear for a second time.”

“Christ! Tesoro!” Bianca’s mom ran towards him and pulled his larger arms. “Stop it already! You’re hurting the poor boy.” She sighed. Me? A boy?! I was a full grown man of 29.

“My daughter is the poor one here. She ended things with Anthonio who adored her, just to be with this scoundrel that hurts her all the time. How dare he cheat on her?!”

“I didn’t cheat on Bianca.” I managed to say, still busy massaging my aching jaw. I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders, and looked up to see that it was Alex who was trying to pull me up. Wait a minute… I was on the floor?

“Oh well, that seems to contradict what had come into her line of vision.” Laura narrowed her eyes at me.

“The nerve of you to come into my house and lie to me.” Bianca’s father bit out.NôvelDrama.Org © content.

“I’m not lying!” I finally yelled out in annoyance, the moment Alex helped me up. I was literally the victim here.

“He is actually saying the truth.” Alex muttered. “It was a very complicated misunderstanding.”

“Uncomplicate it!” Bianca’s father howled out, as his wife released a tired sigh.

“The thing is… someone has attempted to hurt Binaca a couple of times already, and Manuel got an unverified info….” Before Alex could finish speaking, Bianca’s mom cut him short.

“Pardon! You mean to say that Bianca’s life is in danger?!” She asked, and the whole place fell silent. That was excluding her father who was still seething in anger.

“I knew it deep down, that something wasn’t right about these people.” The man muttered to himself as he paced the length of the room. “So my daughter’s life has been in danger?!”

“I was going to fix that, when I got set up. I was drugged…. an.. and Bianca got a call to come to the location. And she saw me there with a naked woman…”

“Your ex fiancee, you mean?” Laura cut me off.

“My ex fiancee was the one who had supposed information about Bianca’s attacker!!” I yelled in her face.

“The point is….” Alexander started. “This was truly a misunderstanding, and Manuel would never intentionally do anything to hurt his wife.” I could hear Bianca’s father scoff at Alexander’s words

“Please…” I begged. “Can you just tell me her whereabouts? Please I need to speak with my wife!”

“Don’t yell in my house, except you want me throwing another punch at that pretty face of yours, before throwing you out.” He growled, making me gnash my teeth in anger. I was taking all of these humiliations just because he was Bianca’s father. ‘Or because he truly scares you?’, my subconscious mocked. I wasn’t going to answer such a silly question. “All I know is that she is off with your cousin, which seems to be best for her.” He muttered.

“Tesoro, don’t say that now!” His wife whispered in chastisement.

“So you think I should just fold my arms and watch Anthonio take Bianca away from me?!” I had lost it now.

“I want my daughter to be happy. At least I’m sure Anthonio cares for her more than you do.” He gritted out.

“Pay him no heed my dear.” His wife walked towards me. “I believed you when you said that it was all a misunderstanding, but I’m afraid it would take a lot of conviction for Bianca to think the same. Most importantly, we haven’t be able to reach her directly, so we really cannot speak to her yet.” She explained, giving me a sympathetic look that made me feel like a boy indeed.

“Even if we can reach her, I certainly wouldn’t speak in your favour. You don’t….” Her father was still talking when his wife gave a loud irritated hiss. It came as a suprise to us all, when she turned and glared at him.

“I think you should get some rest, Tesoro.” She muttered and to my amazement, he turned and walked up the staircase. Oh wow! She didn’t even have to scream or yell at him? Such a stubborn man?

She turned to look at me and gave a small smile. “Whenever we find it possible to reach her, I would call and let you know, okay?”

*

*

*

ONE WEEK LATER

I walked out of my room, nothing seeming pleasant before my eyes. Normally, I wouldn’t have even stepped out of my room, but seeing that I had run out of water and some snacks, I had to go down and get some.

“Christ! Manuel.” I tiredly looked to the side to see mom walking towards me. They hadn’t really seen much of me for some days now, and it was as a result of my semi depression phase. I was still walking towards the kitchen when she pulled me by the arm. “What is happening to you?” She asked in worry. Was she really asking me that? They all knew my wife had run off with Anthonio, but still seemed cool about it.

“Mom let me go.” I muttered.

“You are not walking away until we are done with this discussion.” She bit back.

“You don’t want to have that conversation, trust me.” I chuckled dryly and slightly pushed her to the side.

“You would never repeat such an action towards your mother again.” I had my dad say, making me sigh and roll my eyes. Everything seemed alright for him, because he had his wife here with him.

“My apologies mother.” I said, before making my way to the fridge and taking out 4 bottles of water.

“You haven’t stepped out of your room in days. You haven’t even been to the office for over a week now.” Mom said. Was she being serious right now?

“Stop! Just stop it!!” I couldn’t help my outburst. “You all claimed to love Bianca so much, yet she’s been missing for over a week now, and nobody seems to care!”

“Maybe we would have cared more, if you hadn’t been unfaithful to her!!” She barked, taking me by surprise.

“I wasn’t unfaithful! I never for once cheated! She was the only reason why I had accepted that damned lunch invite from Francesca.”

“So you’re blaming her now?” My father asked, pushing me into more frustration.

“I never said that!! I’m going insane here!!” I threw the bottles on the table and held my aching head in my hands. “I was drugged! How many times do I have to say that for you all to believe me? How do you all except me to function properly without my wife?!!” I sighed, willing back the tears that threatened to drop, just at the thought that Anthonio was with her. Was she really going to leave me? Would she let him touch her like I do? Was she doing this to get back at me? We were expecting a baby for crying out loud.

“Calm down.” I heard mom whisper to me, as she took my bigger arm and made me sit on one of the seats around the dinning table.

“But how can I?” I sighed, the tears finally dropping from my eyes. I had never cried over anything since my Nonna died. This was the first in a long while.

“Oh, Manuel.” She hugged me against her body and released a gasp almost immediately. “Oh myyy! Your head is sooo hot, you’re running temperature.”

“What? Is he okay?” Dad rushed towards us and touched my head.

“Please can I breathe?” I groaned. “I need some space.” I tried getting up, but fell on my buttocks almost immediately.

“You don’t feel well Manuel. Remain calm, I’ll call the doctor.” My father said, before walking away. Slowly my head began to feel too heavy for my head, and it felt like I was gonna black out soon. True to my thoughts, I blacked out the next minute.

I opened my eyes to see everyone’s worried eyes hovering around me.

“Manuel.” I looked to the direction of the voice to see Doctor Luigi.

“Doctor? What’s going on?”

“You passed out earlier in the day, and your parents summoned me.”

“I did?” I asked in suprise. “What seems to be the matter?”

“Just a little fever which came as a result of too much stress. Mental, and probably even emotional stress. It would be advisable for you to relax more.”

“Thank you.” I muttered after he was done with his diagnosis. I definitely wouldn’t tell the man that it would be quite the impossible task not to stress myself mentally.

“Always welcomed. You’re very fine now, but just make sure you rest.” He smiled, before picking up his briefcase and walking out of my room. The moment he was out, it seemed like all my siblings had something to say at once.

“How do you feel?” Greta’s voice was able to overshadow that of Matteo and Tommaso.

“I feel like shit.” I replied dryly.

“Enough, you guys.” Mom shut them up, before looking at me. “Honey, about Bianca….” She started, grasping my attention effortlessly.

“What about Bianca? Have you found her?” I looked at she and my father, who shared a look. What was that about?

“I think you should call your Nonno.”

“He said he doesn’t want me coming close to him, if I haven’t found her.” I released a defeated sigh.

“Well, you could go to his penthouse for a start.”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?”

“We did.” Mom smiled. “And we are working under the instructions of your Nonno. He has asked that you go see him. That is, if you really do miss your wife.” Oh God! There was good news, then. Nonno has found her. I found myself standing up from the bed and rushing into the bathroom, not caring that my family were literally laughing behind me. They probably couldn’t believe what I had become as a result of my love for this woman. My feelings and emotions were very foreign, but I loved it. There was definitely no way I wouldn’t love the idea of loving Bianca. That was the most sensible feeling to have.

The moment I was done bathing, I stepped out of the bathroom to meet my room empty. They had all gone. I wasted no time in dressing up and rushing out of the house, my siblings foolishly cheering me on as I walked out of the living room. Rats!

After a short ride, I had gotten to Nonno’s place and rang on the doorbell. A few minutes later, Aggie came for the door.

“Hello Aggie.” I smiled.

“Good afternoon Sir. Please come in.” I stepped in and she closed the door behind me. “Your Nonno left a message for you.” She supplied.

“He’s not in?” I asked in suprise.

“He’s not been around for a while now.”

“When would he return?”

“I don’t really know. Probably next week.”

“Pardon.” I muttered, suddenly feeling confused. “When did he step out?”

“Oh, he didn’t step out. He hasn’t been in Milan for the past one week. He went to join your wife at his mansion in Sicily.” I went silent for some seconds, not able to believe what Aggie’s statement was implying.

“You mean to say that he has been in Sicily with Bianca? For the past week?” I asked in shock.

“Yes sir.” She nodded in agreement. It suddenly dawned on me. Bianca had been away, but not with Anthonio. She had been with Nonno in Sicily. No wonder he asked me not to come close to him except I had found her. He knew I wasn’t going to find her, because she was with him, while making me believe he was also at loss in regards to her whereabouts. And because I couldn’t come to his penthouse, I didn’t realize he was away all the while.

“Oh wow.” I muttered, smiling to myself. This man had just put me in a very unbearable state of mind for a whole week. I released a deep sigh in exhaustion. God, I was sooo tired. Was this his way of making me feel pain for all that happened? Because it worked.

“Your Nonno has asked that you join them in Sicily tonight.”

“Thank you.” I found myself grinning in disbelief. Was there a possibility that my parents knew about this as well? They clearly did. It was now I understood why they hadn’t been so disturbed about Bianca’s disappearance. They knew she was safe, and were acting under Nonno’s instructions. They really did play a fast one on me.

*

*

It was already night when I arrived at Nonno’s mansion in Sicily. It had surely been a while I was here, but the staff hadn’t forgotten who I was. Either that, or they had been pre~informed about my visit.

“Good evening Sir. Your Nonno awaits you in the garden.” The butler said, before giving a slight bow. I didn’t need directions to find the garden, I very well knew where it was. It was my late Nonna’s garden. With slow steps, I made my way to the beautifully illuminated garden, and just in the middle, was a round wooden table with two curved benches around it. On one of the benches, sat Nonno and….. my wife. I released a deep sigh at finally laying eyes on her after a whole week. I didn’t mind that she was currently sleeping, with her head on Nonno’s shoulder and couldn’t see me. She looked… so pure and angelic….. and so beautiful as she inhaled and exhaled softly. Oh God! She was my everything.

“Good evening No…” I was about greeting him, when he gave a signal for me to shut up. He didn’t want me waking up Bianca, and that was very understandable.

We both locked eyes for a moment, before he pointed at Bianca’s sleeping form and signaled me to take her. Without wasting any time, I stepped closer and gently pulled Bianca’s body out of Nonno’s embrace. Then moment I carried her into my arms, she unconsciously buried her nose in my chest and sniffed my scent in, her arms tightening around my neck. I turned to Nonno and at that point, all I felt towards him was gratitude. I was so grateful that he had insisted on binding Bianca to me several months back. Now, I couldn’t imagine my life without her in it. ‘Thank you’, I mouthed and for the first time in a long while, the old man smiled at me. An actual genuine smile, before waving me off to leave.

I made my way back to the entrance of the mansion, where the butler ushered me inside and asked one of the maids to escort me to Bianca’s room. I ascended through the staircase with Bianca still sleeping soundly in my arms. Once we got to her room, I smiled at the maid in appreciation, before making my way in. With my leg, I kicked the door shut behind us and walked to the bed where I gently dropped her. She sighed satisfactorily as her head hit the pillows, and I found myself smiling delightfully. Oh, how I missed my pretty head. I pulled off my clothes and hopped onto the bed in just my boxers. After covering our bodies with the duvet, I pulled her closer to me and drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of the night I felt Bianca’s body moving against mine, and my eyes lazily fluttered open. I was suprised to see that she was already awake, looking at me.

“Manuel.” She whispered, and I felt myself melting under the scorching heat of her gaze.

“My angel.” My hand caressed her cheek softly. “I missed you.” I muttered sincerely. She went silent for some time, before suprising me with her own words.

“I missed you too.” She sighed and leaned into my touch. Hearing her say that she had missed me as well, made my heart leap for joy. I didn’t even think before leaning closer to her and placing my lips onto hers. I wasn’t kissing her yet, because I wanted her to give me the go ahead to do so. It wasn’t even up to a few seconds later, when she stuck out her tongue and licked my lips, indicating that she wanted me to kiss her.

I smiled inwardly and pulled her lips into mine for a passionate kiss. Finally, I felt alive again.