Owning the Mafia Don

Proserpina

Melissa Lord told me she had arrived just that morning. She had been put up in the bedroom on the ground floor that faced the orchard and I checked to make sure that she was comfortable. As she glanced over my shoulder nervously, I saw that Danielle had appeared beside me.

“Okay, Flo Nightingale,’ she said drily, puffing away at a cigar, a real one this time, ‘take a rest. You just flew in from Europe. And ‘ her eyes slid knowingly, slyly, to my neck as she went on,

‘Looks like the Boss and you have been getting to know each other all over again, bae.’ she added in a lower voice, chortling as I blushed and turned away.

Rachel came to me, Dom in her arms.

‘I am going to take this chap with me, back to my latest job.’ she said.

*

Melissa quickly excused herself and disappeared in the general direction of the bedroom down the long corridor which was flanked by large windows on one side. Danielle was a little too abrasive for people who were meeting her for the first time, I thought ruefully as I linked a hand through her arm.

Danielle looked after the woman’s disappearing figure in some curiosity.

‘The Boss thinking of setting up a home for lost folk or something?’ she asked as we walked away and I shushed her with a shake of my head.

As we chatted and strolled to the kitchen, to settle on stools while Beatrice bustled about making coffee, Rachel informed me that she was getting married the following week and then she would be flying out to Iceland. She had taken up a new project there.

I looked at her in undisguised admiration.

‘Iceland??? Wow!’ I breathed.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Girl, you have something that I can never hope to replicate,’ she smiled and looked across at the nurses with the littlest children. Her tone was slightly chiding.

I smiled and nodded…

‘And the wedding?’ I asked excitedly, ‘What about your wedding?’

‘We are planning to have it here, after all.’ she said with a grin and I whooped in joy.

And added, stretching her long jean-clad legs before her,’ Lam Ghiang should be here by tonight. She is flying in from Hanoi.’

Her lover, Lam Ghiang, was a Vietnamese researcher. They had met some months ago and the two women had felt an instant bonding. Rachel had been in and out of relationships for a long while; I knew she had found her soul mate when I met Lam Ghiang, who was petite and bespectacled, with intelligent black eyes and a habit of speaking very softly.

I had been trying my best to convince her to get married here in Hollowford before she left for another remote part of the world. Since Rachel had spent a large part of her life in and around Hollowford, it was not a decision that would not make sense. But her parents, who as good as disowned her a long while ago, were not going to attend. They were still not reconciled to the fact that their daughter was not straight. Their religious beliefs were too conservative, Rachel had once said.

*

Rachel was speaking.

” We want to have a small ceremony, you know, by the sea or something, where we just hold hands and the people we love will be with us when we pledge our…’

Rachel’s broad face broke out in an abashed smile and I threw my arms around my friend and hugged her.

“I wish…’ I said and then stopped quickly. But Danielle who had been busy on her phone, with half an ear on our conversation, raised her head curiously.

“Wish what?’ she asked nosily.

I shook my head quickly and Grace smiled and squeezed her hand. She knew that I sometimes wished I had also had a grand wedding, with flowers and cake and the people who cared for me around me.

Instead of which, I had been forcefully propelled onto the dias of the Club one evening after Lucien had forcefully dragged me and the twins back from our hiding place in Bhutan. Having conducted a DNA test to affirm that the twins were his children, and with no prior notice, Lucien St. Claire had declared before his assembled guests that he was going to marry me as I was the mother of his twins.

It had been a humiliating moment since I had felt the cynosure of eyes filled with mockery and pity; I had felt cheap. The Mistress who had gotten pregnant. The one who had forced the Boss to marry her .

None of the people I knew had been there and the night that followed was one of the worst of my life.

Lucien Delano was a jealous lover and perhaps, because he was years older than me, he was insanely suspicious of anyone who interacted with me. That same evening, after his grand declaration, I had been tricked.

Two of the young men who had been friends of my roommates had lured me into the infamous BDSM chamber in the Club, out of a misplaced sense of having been cheated. When Lucien had walked into what can only be called a compromising position, he had lost his cool.

After beating up the men to within an inch of their lives, he raped me.

*

I sighed.

Not exactly the best memory a girl could carry of her wedding night, I thought, fingering the key-shaped pendant that hung between my breasts, a symbol of how I belonged to my Mafia Don lover.

But I loved him, had continued to love him and I knew I would do anything to keep him safe…

“I need to get going,’ grumbled Danielle as she rose to her feet, glaring at her phone which had been ringing almost constantly.

Grace joined her, slipping her hand into her lover’s easily. She was the exact opposite of the brash and angry Danielle. ‘I have to run along as well.’ she smiled and said,’ I am in line for a promotion and I think they will announce it tomorrow. ‘

Grace had recently moved to a bigger school for little kids. She was a great teacher and the kids loved her.

I felt thrilled for her. Seeing the huge smile on my face, she came to me.

“See you later, girlfriend.’

I smiled and hid a yawn as she gave me a quick squeeze..

Rachel got to her feet too.

‘Couple of things I need to do before Lam Ghiang lands here. You look dead on our feet, kid, Get some rest now.’

They left, talking loudly, kissing the kids goodbye and I sat for a while longer, savoring the exquisite feeling of being back home safe and protected.

Then I got to my feet and went about, giving instructions on dinner. I would be back to prepare it once I was awake. But right now, I wanted nothing more than to sleep.

*

I drifted off to sleep almost as soon as I lay down on the bed. When I woke up, it was late evening. Lucien was not around and after a quick wash, I sped downstairs.

The kids were, of course, well looked after. Ria and Piers were on the swings, screeching and shouting with Claude and I noticed with relief that Melissa’s children were there as well. Paddy was also there although I did notice Claude trying to terrorise him when he thought no one was watching. The boy was a rascal, I thought fretfully.

My babies were all asleep, well fed and comfortable. I lingered in the nursery for a while, watching them. But I did not want to wake them up.

the nurses smiled at me as I tiptoed out.

Turning to Beatrice, I asked,

“Where’s Lucien?’

“His Lordship asked for a plate of sandwiches for hisself and the other men there.’ she snorted, indicating plates with half-eaten food that were being cleared away.

I sighed.

Lucien had been so immersed in his work that he must have forgotten the passage of time! The man had to have his bandage changed.

Turning to Camille, I said,’ Get me the things to help change his bandage, Cam.’

She rushed off.

In the meantime, I made the preparations for the dinner I was about to prepare.

*