Sold to Mr. Giordano

Arielle

New York has an eerie feel.

It doesn’t feel like it did since before I left. It feels cold and unfamiliar. No longer is this place home for me and I’m desperately craving to go back to the Windy City I have come to truly love.

Luca sent a car to pick us up at the airport and take us to his penthouse. He offered us a room in his home and his reasoning again has to do with Arabella. He said while he and Antonio do business that Arabella and I can spend time with each other—it’s convenient. It’s the best way for Antonio and Luca to keep tabs on us and know where we are at all times.

This is the first time seeing my brothers penthouse he bought as soon as his marriage was officially. No more living under Father’s roof. The place, I have to admit, is beautiful. Luca obviously had paid someone to style it. It was modern accented with dark shades. In the living room is a large window with a beautiful view of the city, a view people would pay millions to see every day when they wake up.

Luca greets us by the elevator and puts on his fake political smile. “Sister,” he pulls me in for an awkward hug. I hope he can’t feel my protruding stomach. “Welcome. You’re looking well.” His eyes hover over to Antonio. His smile turns snide and as he raises his chin at my husband, I can tell he’s sizing him up—some type of alpha-dog claim. Antonio’s lips curl into a vicious smile knowing he is the true alpha, he’s a few inches taller than my brother and also wider in the chest and biceps area.

“Antonio,” he bows his head in welcome. “I trust the flight went well.”

“It did. After we get settled when do you plan on—”

Antonio is cut off by the sound of soft footsteps descending from the metal spiral staircase. Arabella enters and it isn’t until she gets closer to us I notice her makeup isn’t covering up her bruises very well.

Arabella opens her mouth to say something but tears well in her eyes and she clings her arms around me and holds me tight. I hear her sniffle as she digs her nose in the crook of my neck, burying her face. Her shoulders move up and down and it isn’t hard to tell that she’s crying.

“Women,” Luca rolls his eyes. “So emotional.”

Antonio’s jaw ticks and I can tell he’s already frustrated by my brother.

“Arabella, honey, show Arielle her room while Antonio and I talk,” Luca dismisses us.

Arabella grabs my hand and basically yanks me on the direction of the stairs. I nearly trip up a few of them by how fast she’s dragging me away from our husbands.

When we are in the privacy of my guest room she completely breaks down into sobs. “I’m so glad you’re here. I-I-I need to get away. I thought I could do it. I can’t do it,” she shakes her head so fast that the bun on top of her head now falls loose.

“What did he do to you?” I frown and gently grab her chin. I analyze her face to see the damage my crude brother did.

“Every night, every night he tries to get me pregnant. He-he wants an heir so bad and I took a pregnancy test last night and it was negative. He beats me, Ary. He says it was my punishment for not giving him what he wants.” Arabella’s entire body is shaking in fear. I watch as her hands tremble and she closes in on herself wrapping her arms around her body. “I’m so scared. Every night is so horrible. Sleeping next to that-that monster!” She spits.

“Arabella,” I pull her into a hug allowing her to once again cry in my shoulder. “I’ll talk to Antonio and see if there’s anything we can do. I can’t just whisk you away, it’ll start a war between New York and the Outfit.”

“You don’t understand,” she pulls out of the hug. “I went to the doctor, a specialist, to see if something is wrong with me. I couldn’t have children with Vinny and now Luca. She… she told me I’m infertile.”

I go still at the words. I open my mouth and try to offer her words of comfort but I’m speechless.

“He’ll kill me! If he finds out his wife is defected, he’ll kill me and find a new, younger wife to give him children.”

It’s happened before in the Famiglia. Divorce isn’t a way out, like abortion our religion doesn’t allow it. So, many men end up killing their wives and making it look like accidents just to rid themselves of whatever problems their marriages were having. A situation that Arabella is in, I wouldn’t be surprised if Luca killed her when or if he finds out.

“I won’t say anything,” I grab her hands and squeeze.

“Thank you,” she nods her head in appreciation. “I’m sorry,” she wipes her nose with a tissue she takes out of her pocket. “I’m being selfish. How are you? How are things with Antonio?”

“Nothing compared to what you’re going through,” I frown. “I can’t complain about what’s going on when you seem to have the worst end. I wish there was something I could do.” I feel so helpless.

Arabella shakes her head. “No. No let’s talk about you. I want to get my mind off of things and besides as long as you’re here Luca will be on his best behavior so at least things won’t be so horrible for the next few days.”

I feel selfish myself for wanting to tell Arabella about the pregnancy after learning of her infertility. I bit my lip unsure if I should tell her or not. The Arabella I used to know would hit me in the arm for keeping a secret like this away from her. This sad, pessimistic Arabella seems like she would break down at the news of my pregnancy.

“What?” Arabella furrows her brows. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine it’s just… I’m pregnant.”

Her eyes widen and tears fill them. I instantly regret my decision to tell her until she claps her hands together and cheers. “Yes! Oh my goodness! I’m going to be an aunt!”

I clap my hand over her mouth. “Shh. No one can know, not even Luca.”

“Why not?”

“The reason I’m pregnant is because Antonio thought I was on the pill because my dad told him I was.”

“Why would he do that?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out too. Did you know Antonio never wanted children?”

Arabella snorts. “Of course. Xander is against anything that makes him vulnerable, you know that. It’s the exact reason he was so cold to you in the beginning of your marriage. He didn’t want to love or get close to anyone. You know the Bratva has been looking for a way to get to him for years. A child would be the perfect way.”

“I could see the Bratva sabotaging our methods to prevent pregnancy, but why would my father?”

She shrugs her shoulders and sits at the edge of the bed where I join her. “I have no idea. Maybe your dad told him and then forgot to give you the pack of birth control. Maybe he wants grandchildren so bad and he knew Antonio didn’t want any. It could be for a number of reasons.”

“I can guarantee you it’s for a selfish reason. What could he gain in me being pregnant?” I ask more or less to myself.

The door barges open startling both Arabella and I to our feet. Luca is standing in the doorway with his arm extended inside the room. “Here is where you and my sister will be staying. Bella, come here and let these two get situated.” He crooks his finger to her and she obeys flocking to his side a butler sets our bags in the room and Antonio enters looking around with his hands in his suit pockets.

When they all leave Antonio inhales and exhales deeply. “Already I want to leave,” he rubs his forehead. “I can’t stand that prick.”

“Arabella can’t either. Antonio?” I nervously play with my fingers.

“Hmm?” He begins unpacking.

“I think Luca is going to kill Arabella.”

Antonio stops what he is doing to look at me with skeptical eyes. “Why do you think that?”

“Arabella promised me not to tell anyone.”

“What did she do?” He sighs.

“I can’t say.”

“Well, Luca killing my cousin is just asking for a war between the Outfit and New York.”

“Not if he makes it look like an accident.”

Antonio walks toward me and grabs both of my hands in his. He looks me in the eyes and with a soft tone he asks, “What is going on? I won’t do anything that’ll put Arabella in danger.”

“She’s infertile and Luca wants a child. He wants a child so bad that when she took a pregnancy test last night and it was negative, he beat her. Didn’t you see the scabbed cuts and bruises?”

“This is the life of the mafia. We cannot interfere in their marriage. It is none of our business.”

I yank my hands out of his and turn away from him, giving him a cold shoulder. I hear him give a heavy sigh and then feel his breath on the back of my neck. He slips his hands around my body so both of his hands are resting on my stomach.

“You aren’t excited for the baby,” I let a tear fall.

“You don’t seem too excited either,” he places a kiss where my neck and shoulder meet. “Why didn’t you want to know the gender? It has more to do with than what you said.”

“I’m worried about the safety of our child. You and I both know that being the child of the Capo is dangerous. Father’s enemies were always looking for ways to make him desperate. They stopped trying when they realized my father doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Antonio scoops me into his arms and lays me down on the bed. We lay on our sides as he presses my back against the front of him. He holds me close and whispers in my ear, “Tell me more.”

“The first time it happened I was five, Angelo was nine and Luca, eleven. We were at a party for consigliere’s son who had just got engaged. I was glued to my mother’s side but Angelo pulled me away to show me something outside. That’s where we were taken. Someone from the Bratva was watching the house and when they saw us, they took us, threw us in the back of the van and took us to a warehouse. They tied us up and took something from each of us to send to our father. They wanted money and power over something I can hardly remember now.

“I was a pretty little girl, prided on my long golden locks. They shaved my head clean and sent every strand to my father. Angelo was beaten badly and I watched. They cut off his pinky toe and sent it along with my hair. It seemed like forever we waited for my dad to pay the ransom or save us. I even remember hearing from the ones that kidnapped us that Marco doesn’t care about the brats, not when he can have more children. They’re disposable. After four days in the warehouse we were home again. That’s when Luca started bullying us. He called us weak at every turn, truth was we were scared out of our mind. Luca thought of himself as tough and Angelo used to then too, neither of them were Made Men so they just acted tough to please Father. Angelo wasn’t the same, I knew then he wanted out of this life. He was scared. Scared of dying, scared of being tortured and scared of doing the same to other people.

“The next time all three of us were kidnapped. I was fourteen so Angelo was eighteen and Luca was twenty. They were already Made Men so they were skilled at these type of things—torture, killing. I remember how confident they both were, how unafraid they were of what was to come. They knew they were either going to die or they were going to kill those who took us. They both took a beating and I watched in horror silently crying. I became unnoticeable as they tried to get information out of either them trying to learn the Famiglia’s secrets. When they noticed me that’s when things went wrong? The Bratva men took off my clothes so I was in my bra and underwear. They didn’t… you know, but I knew they wanted to. They touched me briefly before Angelo completely lost it. Luca didn’t care what happened to me. He worried about getting himself free first.

“I don’t remember much, but I knew my whole life we were in danger. At least three times in my childhood I woke up to strange men in my room ready to take me but then my father would enter and kill them point blank in my room. I had to sleep in one of guest rooms until one of Dad’s cleaning guys took care of the blood and the body.”

“I’m sorry,” Antonio whispers into my ear. His hands on my stomach flex and he pulls me tighter against him as if he’s afraid to let me go.

“I’m terrified for our son to get tortured if he’s kidnapped and I’m terrified for our daughter to get raped if she’s taken. I want them to be safe but I’m so scared that one day security is going to slip. One day they’re going to be young and foolish wandering outside and they’ll be taken from us.” I turn to face him, tears streaming down my face.

He wipes my eyes with the pads of his thumbs and cradles my head against his chest as I cry. Inhaling his scent calms me in the best way possible. He smells like home and protection and I know that no matter what, as long as I’m here with him, I’ll always be okay.

“I was two the first time they took me. I don’t remember it, but that’s what my mother told me. I was six the next time. Rocco was so young and I had to protect him. They were in his room, I could hear him wailing. My father wasn’t home and Mother was downstairs, she was hard of hearing so she must not have heard the commotion. I grabbed my dad’s gun from his bedside drawer and ran into Rocco’s room. I yelled and pointed my gun and they laughed. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t shoot them and they knew it. They grabbed Rocco’s pillow and lit it on fire and threw it at me. It burned my arm and my hands as I picked it up and threw it back at them. I pushed Rocco into his closet and I fought them off.

“They won. I was taken for three days before my father came into the place I was taken and killed them all. Later my father taught me a lesson in shooting and beat me, telling me that if family was in danger you shoot—no hesitation. Hesitation makes you a coward and Moretti’s aren’t cowards. I was eleven when they came for me again and I didn’t let them take me. I shot them in my bedroom. The next three attempts ended in the kidnappers deaths too, all at my hand. The two after that were Rocco’s kills.”

The story wasn’t at all comforting. Men stealing children just to get what they wanted from their enemies. Antonio had to learn to kill at a young age just to protect myself. I feel sick at the thought of my son killing an intruder at a young age.

“I didn’t want to hear that we’re having a daughter. I’m scared she’ll be trapped in a loveless marriage, I’m scared she’ll be abused like Arabella and I’m scared the kidnappers will take her in the worst way possible. I’m scared, Antonio. I’m so scared.”

“I know,” he shushes and rocks me in his arms. “I’m just as scared as you are,” he admits.

“You are?”

“Why do you think I don’t want kids? Because I’ll love them too much. I’ll drive myself crazy with thoughts of something happening to them, thoughts of them becoming a cold shell that Made Men are.”

“If you had an option to leave the Famiglia, would you?”

“No. This life is all I know. I’m an honorable, feared, ruthless man. I like who I am.”

“But you don’t want a son to be like you?”

“My life was never an easy life. I still remember moments in my childhood that I wanted to have a dad to take me fishing or teach me football. One who would talk to me and give me hugs or a pat on the back. I never felt loved by my father and I guess I don’t want my son to feel that way. I’m Capo and I’m dedicated to this life no matter what. The killing high I get, the money, the power… I’d be lying if I said I hated it all. That’s why I never wanted children because this lifestyle doesn’t call for having children. Raising one in this world…”

“But now one is on the way.”

“I know,” he says softly.