Taken By The Mafia Lord

________

“And I’m sorry as well for playing around with your feelings. You were right, it’s unfair on you.” Arianna sincerely apologized to him, meeting his gaze for barely a second before taking her eyes off him.

She went on, “The truth is that I resented you for taking me away from my normal life. Sometimes I can’t help but imagine what my life would look like had I never encountered...all of this?” Arianna said instead, afraid to hurt his feelings with the word she would have used.

“But the truth remains that I got entangled with the bad side of the society and compared to the bad guys I encountered so far, you’re the kindest,” she said.

“I should take that as a compliment but the truth remains I’m not kind,” Marcel was quick to correct her.

“Yeah, you’re not. But you are to me,” Arianna pointed out, finally looking him in the eyes for the first time since she arrived. However, Marcel was quick to look away, choosing to sip his drink, and disappointment cut through her.

“The truth is that I wanted to use you when I found out you had a fondness for me, Marcel.” She laughed awkwardly, rubbing her hands together, “I guess it backfired,” she muttered under her breath, hoping that he didn’t hear that.

Marcel heard that yet didn’t comment on that. What was the point? It would only give him false hope. He had to make it easy for her – and himself. Even if she doesn’t belong to him in the end, he should be satisfied with seeing her – till the day Elijah comes for her.

.....

He said, “You don’t need to apologize to me, I understand you. Also, I had no right to demand you choose between me and the love of your life when I’m merely an intruder. Your life is already ruined by meeting me, I can’t ruin your happiness as well.”

Arianna wanted to refute that statement, tell him that he didn’t ruin her and maybe, just maybe... this was fate?

All this while, she had been striving for perfection – a perfect husband for her would be perfect children and family. But then, the world was imperfect already, and what if some perfections came with rough packaging? It looked worthless and unattractive on the outside yet was a diamond inwardly?

Arianna opened her mouth to say something when Marcel said, “I guess we’re good then?”

“Sure,” She nodded, pulsing her lips and choosing to close her mouth rather than vomiting those words she wanted to say to him. It was too late for them now.

After that, the both of them sat in tense silence, unable to come up with a reasonable topic for conversation. It was awkward.

“What happens tomorrow if the mission flops?” She decided to start with a topic not far from home.

“Well, for starters, you could die,” Marcel was quite candid.

“Wow,” Arianna breathed. She was beginning to realize the gravity of her actions recently.

She pointed to his drink, “Can I have that?”

“Huh?” Marcel was surprised by her bold request, “But I thought you said you don’t drink -”

He was still saying when Arianna snatched the tumbler from his grip and chugged the remaining content only for her eyes to nearly pop out of her socket in the next seconds.

“Holy God!” Dahlia cursed, entering a coughing fit as the fiery warmth sank down her throat. Her eyes water from the heat and she wondered what in the name of madness had driven her to take such a thing.

“Easy there, easy,” Marcel comforted her as she continued to cough. He leaned closer to her and began to rub her back soothingly.

“That hurts,” Arianna laughed when she recovered. She didn’t mean to cry but tears still slipped from her eyes and that was as embarrassing as hell.

Or so she thought because Marcel didn’t seem to mind when he reached out and brushed the tears away from her face and she froze up.

The once playful ambiance thickened with sexual tension as the both of them stared at each other unsure. Marcel was right when he said the friendship goal between the both of them was not going to work because the attraction between them was just too strong.

Her breathing quickened and every fiber in her being wanted to kiss those hips and she knew Marcel felt the same, she could see the desire in his eyes. But as strong as his desire was, his self-control was stronger because he pulled away before they could give in to the temptation and the now all too familiar disappointment filled Arianna once more.

“You should leave, you have a huge day ahead tomorrow,” He cleared his throat and destroyed the moment between them.

“Yeah, I should,” Arianna nodded in agreement and stood up, taking barely three steps when she stopped.

“What is wrong?” Marcel noticed the change in her demeanor and was worried. Had he said or done something wrong again?

Fine, it was now or never, Arianna decided and turned. She walked over to the Marcel, stopping directly in front of him, and then, without warning, she plopped down to her knees, getting in between his legs, her hands resting on either of his thighs.

“A-Arianna,” Marcel stuttered, shell-shocked. He was flustered and couldn’t understand what was going on here.

“You’re right, I like you.” Arianna finally confessed.

“What?!” His eyes widened to the size of saucers. Marcel was lucky to not have a drink in his mouth at that moment because he would have spat it out on her face from the shock.

“I like you, Marcel,” Arianna said once again, and this time her voice was a lot firmer as if she was sure of what she was saying.

But Marcel shook his head in denial and reached out to feel her cheeks, “You must be drunk, no wonder you have a glib tongue.” He was having a bad time believing her.

Men? Arianna rolled her eyes. Now she has come to terms with her feelings, he was trying to tell her that she didn’t know what she was feeling. Ugh, so annoying!

So Arianna did the one that could convince him.

She kissed him.