Katerina De Luca
Beautiful rays of sunshine caressed the side of my face before I felt the comfortable bed dip and his addicting scent filled my every sense. A smile quickly made its way onto my face as my eyes stubbornly remained shut even after he kissed every part of my flushed face.
"Buongiorno Mrs. Katerina De Luca, il mio tesoro," Arosio whispered huskily into my ears as I giggled softly and shivered slightly from the droplets of water falling from his hair onto my skin. He must have showered and gotten dressed early today, usually he wakes up much earlier around 5 am but stays in bed with me until I wake up around 7 am. (Good morning)
"Let me see those beautiful green eyes of yours. You know I can't start my day without doing so, cucciola," Arosio whispered into my ear with his hot minty breath fanning my cheeks, causing butterflies to erupt in my stomach. After a suspenseful pause, I finally opened my eyes and smiled towards him with a bright face. (puppy)
"Bellissima, I love you so much," Arosio whispered with a breathtaking smile on his handsome face before lowering his lips onto my exposed neck with feathery kisses. I could never get used to seeing his smiles, they were a rarity that I noticed were reserved only for Elijah and I most of the time. With other people, Arosio tended to maintain a cold, stoic expression with a hostile voice. (Beautiful)
It's been a month since I decided to give Arosio a chance and became his wife. Arosio has treated me like a princess every single day since. From the moment he carried me over the threshold of his personal mansion and announced in front of all the staff members that I am his wife, Elijah's mother and the mistress of this household, I have been able to live peacefully in our home and adjust well to my new life.
Arosio takes great care of me and let's me manage everything in our home from the financial aspects to Elijah's upbringing and many other things. Little Elijah has accepted me as his mother and we spend most of the day together since he is only going to attend preschool next year. I wish I could slow down time and spend as many days possible with Elijah now before school takes up his time.
The De Luca family also welcomed me warmly and treat me more like a daughter than a daughter-in-law. We spend every weekend at the De Luca childhood mansion and it has become a favorite part of my week. The De Luca family even refrains from talking about their Mafia business at the dinner table like they used to do, I think Arosio might have told them not to since it completely terrifies me. Today is actually Friday and we should be heading over there soon for a late brunch.
"Hmm, I love you too. Now let go of me, I need to get dressed and wake up Elijah. I don't want us to be late again like last week," I attempted to push Arosio off of me as he continued to trail kisses down my neck.
"Arosio...stop..." with bright cheeks, a small moan escaped my trembling lips as Arosio expertly found my sweet spot and sucked on it harshly. We both knew very well that I didn't want him to stop though.
"I wonder why we were late last weekend, I can't seem to remember. Care to refresh my memory, tesoro?" Arosio whispered huskily before pulling me into his arms and carrying me off our king sized bed in one swift motion. Curse this man and his brute strength!
My arms instantly wrapped around his neck for support before I met his darkened gaze. I was no longer afraid of those dark eyes since I have only ever seen them burn with love and protectiveness for Elijah and I. Even when we are around his whole family, I always find myself searching the room for his dark intense gaze that is always fixated on me and makes me feel the safest I've ever felt in my whole life.
"Can't remember? Neither do I actually, which is understandable since it wasn't really a satisfying experience..." the teasing words left my lips as I bit back a laugh when Arosio narrowed his eyes at me with his brow lifted into a perfect arc. Even he knew that I was blatantly lying, the proof is in the endless moans of pleasure I released throughout that morning.
The reason we were late to brunch at Arosio's childhood mansion last weekend, and almost every weekend prior, is because somehow Arosio and I always end up in the shower together. It has become a morning routine of sorts and would sometimes last an hour or more before he carried me back to our bed and continued until it was time to wake up Elijah or eat breakfast.
"Oh really? Allow me to redeem myself now then, coniglietto," Arosio whispered darkly before kicking the bathroom door close behind us as I giggled at his intense nature and swallowed down hard, knowing already that we would be late yet again. (bunny)
***
"Buongiorno, papa, mama! Alanzo and Adriano, buongiorno! I'm sorry we are late," Elijah ran ahead of me and hugged his grandparents as I took a seat beside Arsenio who sat at the head of the brunch table. It was originally Arosio's seat but Arsenio prefers it when I sit here and Arosio only looked on with pride and never tried to take the seat back. (Good morning)
"Buongiorno, figlia. Your Italian is getting better each day, I am very happy," Arsenio stated with a small smile on his typically cold face as Eliana nodded her head in agreement. I sent them a beaming smile while placing food onto Elijah's plate and then onto Arosio's place. When I was about to place food onto my own, I realized that a certain someone had beat me to it, making my smile widen even more at my sweet husband.
"Buongiorno? More like Buon pomeriggio, it's already the afternoon principessa. Tell me, why is it that you and fratello are always late?" Alanzo teased as his eyes narrowed on my exposed neck that held several red love bites. (Good afternoon...brother)
I had tried to cover it up by leaving my red hair down instead of placing it in its usual braid or ponytail but there were just too many. My face turned bright red and I ended up choking on my glass of orange juice. Arosio rubbed my back up and down soothingly before sending his little brother a cold glare.
"Sta'zitto," Arosio's tone differed from its soft tone that he used with me and turned hostile as he addressed his younger brother who immediately quieted down. (Shut Up)
But knowing the mischievous Alanzo, he would never back down without a fight. He would always try to have the last word, either by saying it himself or provoking the silent Adriano to say whatever it is in his stead.
"Be late as many times as you'd like, as long as you give us a niece or another nephew," Adriano stated stoically as he eyed Arosio and I while taking a bite of his breakfast sandwich. Alanzo smirked and patted Adriano on the shoulder while I choked on my piece of bacon before glaring at the two mischievous devils.
"Mama, they're bullying me!" knowing that my comebacks would be turned against me by those two, I resorted to pouting at Eliana whose gaze softened before she began to scold her two sons. This time it was me who got my back patted by Arosio whose eyes brightened up in amusement.
"Mommy, more eggs please?" Elijah called for my attention as he attempted to reach for the eggs on my side. His small face huffed in annoyance before he crawled over his dad's lap and headed straight into my arms.
At first, little Elijah and Arosio would always argue about who got to sit next to me during meals. They eventually agreed on taking turns every day but that quickly turned to Elijah feeling annoyed whenever Arosio sat beside me so he would crawl over and end up in my arms before the end of the meal.
"Say ah!" I giggled when Elijah opened his mouth wide before spoon feeding him the scrambled eggs. I failed to notice a few guards frantically run into the room and whisper something into Arosio's ear.
"I have business to attend to, I will be back home before dinner. Call me if anything, tesoro," Arosio suddenly stated coldly as his whole demeanor changed into a terrifying presence within seconds before he abruptly stood up and made his way out of the brunch room.
"Wait! No business on weekends, it's family time, Arosio" I called out to him softly with a frown as Elijah glared at his father's back and used his tiny fingers to lift the corners of my lips. I giggled softly and kissed his fingers before looking back up to Arosio who had watched our exchange with a softened gaze.
"I know, I'm sorry. It's important, I'll be back soon, cucciola," Arosio promised before shifting his gaze to Arsenio and they seemed to have some sort of silent communication going on. Nodding my head, I focused back on feeding Elijah his breakfast and completed missed the silent signals being sent between the De Luca men and Eliana.
***
"My little prince, where is daddy?" my slightly frustrated voice echoed through the silent kitchen as I completed the finishing touches on dinner tonight. He still hasn't come back home and I don't want the food getting cold.
I had given the kitchen staff the night off since I wanted to personally cook Arosio's favorite meal for dinner tonight. Eliana tried to help me before but she's been experiencing back pains so I didn't want her to overexert herself.
Instead, I ordered her to stay in the main living room until dinner is ready and made Arsenio, Alanzo and Adriano keep her company. Thankfully, none of the men are allowed to work during our family weekend time so my plan worked out. As always, little Elijah was with me in the kitchen and carried out the duties of a sous-chef perfectly.
"I saw daddy come out of the basement before mommy started cooking. Then when I went to give grandmama a cookie, daddy was going back into the basement," Elijah mumbled after a few moments of thinking as he tilted his head cutely to the side. My hand reached out to ruffle his curly black locks before I froze when I registered his words.
"Huh? There's a basement here? Daddy went into the basement?" bending down to little Eli's level, I questioned him softly and tried not to show my concern.
As far as I knew, there was no basement in the De Luca family mansion and I thought that Arosio said he was leaving the house for urgent business earlier. So why was he suddenly back at home and why didn't he or anyone else tell me that he was here?
"Yes, mommy. There is a basement inside the staircase before the living room. If you lift up the floor at the bottom of the stairs, it will show another staircase for the basement," Elijah tried to explain but I could tell it was hard for him to describe it. My eyes widened slightly and my heart began to race but I shook the scary thoughts away. Nodding my head slowly, I tried to mask my emotions and asked him for details.
"Oh, I see. Eli, have you ever...been in the basement?" I asked slowly and sighed with relief when the small boy shook his head side to side.
"No, mommy. Everyone said it was a secret and that I am too young to go there. Daddy said I will be in trouble if I do," Elijah replied as I thanked heavens for giving me such a well, obedient boy.
"Good boy, my little prince is so obedient. Can you please wait with everyone in the living room? Mommy will go find daddy and ask him to come up for dinner, okay?" Elijah nodded his head excitedly before running towards the living room as I slowly stood up straight and placed a hand over my racing heart.
With quick footsteps, I made it to the bottom of the staircase and smiled as Elijah raced up the stairs that led straight to the main living room. My feet felt light on the flooring, making me squint my eyes down until I was able to notice a barely visible rectangular lining across the floor. With a shaky hand, I slowly lifted the corners until the whole wooden board peeled off, revealing a dark, long and narrow staircase hidden underneath the flooring.
Looking up at the stairs leading to the living room, I debated heading to the rest of our family but there was a voice at the back of my mind telling me to go down this secret passage. Not wanting to waste another second, I took slow, hesitant steps down the dark staircase that had a small lighting trail built into the wall on one side of the stairs.
The further down I went, the colder I felt, making my arms instantly wrap around my shivering shoulders. The light green summer dress I wore was not providing me with nearly enough warmth and I still haven't gotten to the end of this staircase. The only thing that kept me going was the familiar voice of Arosio yelling in Italian that I could partially hear as I got closer to the end of the staircase.
After what felt like forever but was probably only a little more than a minute or two, I was finally at the end of the staircase but there was a locked cell door with metal bars that prohibited me from going forward. I slowly approached the cell door and tried to look inside but it was only dimly lit.
I could barely make out three figures using the one light bulb hanging in the cell's ceiling and they had their backs towards me. One of them I instantly recognized as Arosio while the other two resembled Alejandro and Giovanni with another figure kneeling on the cemented floor. Straining my ears, I tried to listen to what they were saying but the words I heard accompanying those familiar voices made me freeze in terror.
"Please, spare my life," the older sounding man on the floor begged and I could see blood gushing out from his arm. But there was so much blood, it was an inhuman amount of blood escaping his body. Narrowing my eyes, I saw the outline of a hand laying lifeless a few feet away from the man before I realized that someone had completely cut off his hand.
In horror, I gasped before clamping my shaky hands over my mouth with tears falling from my widened eyes. The smell of blood began drifted into my nose as I held back the urge to throw up. Before I could turn around and run, Arosio's sinister voice filled the silent room.
"Spare? Do you think I tortured you for the past six hours, only to let you leave alive?" Arosio mocked sadistically before stabbing a sharp looking object into the older mans thigh, making him cry out in pain. I'd never heard someone cry out so loudly before, his painful voice echoed in my ears repeatedly.
"You're a monster. What should I expect from the man who cut off his own father-in-law's hands and made him become crippled. Just kill me already, you bastard," the man spit out blood as I held onto the bars to stop myself from falling over in pure shock and horror.
Father...he...Arosio...cut off...crippled father? How...how could I have not known...how could...
Closing my eyes, I prayed for Arosio to deny those claims. He couldn't have done that to my father, there was no way. Arosio may be the Mafia boss but he never showed such a sadistic side to me throughout the past month. There is no way my tender, loving husband could be such a monster.
No way, not a chance.
In the next moment, I felt my life flash across my eyes as Arosio's sinister laughter filled the cold, dark cell, making a chill instantly shoot up my spine as my heart raced frantically. I tried to force myself to run back upstairs but my fears had me frozen, rooted to the spot I stood.
"That's right but you see, after marrying my sweet wife Katerina, whom you should know well by now, I seemed to have turned over a new leaf. So you are free to go, leave," Arosio stated calmly and the man remained kneeling for a few seconds before quickly getting up and limping towards the cell door where I stood.
The closer the older man got, the more I could make out his facial features. He looked eerily similar to my fathers close worker who showed up at the hospital when my father wanted me to act as Isabella.
I took a small step back once he landed right in front of me where the cell door was but his tall frame kept me hidden from the others. The older man's eyes widened in surprise when he noticed my presence before he reached out and attempted to frantically break the lock on the cell door.
My fearful eyes widened before I stepped closer to the door and tried to open it from the outside but my hand froze midair when a loud gunshot rang through the cell. The bullet went straight through the man's head and flew past my head, missing me by a mere centimetre as the buzzing sound from the gun paralyzed my ears.
I stood completely frozen with my mouth parted in shock as something splattered across my face, neck and dress before the man collapsed to the ground lifeless while Arosio laughed sadistically from the middle of the cell. He had never intended on letting the man live, he gave him false hope knowing that the cell was locked and then shot him dead.
How...how could he...so sadistic...who...who is this man...
With unshed tears, I slowly lifted my terrified gaze up to Arosio whose laughter instantly ceased when he noticed my presence and his eyes widened. He began to say something to me but I couldn't hear a word coming from him. My eyes were frozen on the blood splattered across the white dress shirt that I had purchased for him last week at the mall with Elijah before trailing down to his two hands, one that held a gun and the other, a bloody knife.
A monster.
He's inhuman, he's nothing like he pretended to be during this past month.
It was all a lie.
Arosio began to take a step towards me but I quickly backed away while silently shaking my head. I wanted to scream but no words left my lips. I could barely hear anything, nor see anything due to the shock. All I knew is that I saw Arosio trying to unlock the gate before I bolted back up the stairs and ran out of the basement, and straight into the living room.
"Figlia, what happened?" Arsenio's booming voice echoed through the living room as I stood at the entrance, with tears streaming down my eyes and slightly out of breath from running out of the basement.
Arsenio was still seated in the living room with Eliana, Alanzo and Adriano who kept Elijah in his lap. As soon as they saw me though, Adriano turned Elijah's head to face away from me. Confused, my eyes trailed to the mirror on the right before all of the color drained from my face as I let out an ear-piercing scream.
That man...his blood...all over me...his blood...blood...blood...
I have no idea how long I screamed for but the second a frantic Arosio ran into the living room with Alejandro and Giovanni trailing behind him, I completely lost my grip on my sanity.
"No...stay away...get away from me!" I screamed before backing away from Arosio who had tried to reach out to me.
"I'm so sorry, tesoro, let me explain," Arosio began in a pleading tone as guilt covered his whole facial expression before I shook my head with more tears and backed away from him.
"No! Get away from me. Don't touch me, get away, you monster" I screamed in fear before black spots began to cloud my vision. The last thing I remember was my exhausted body heading straight for the floor before a familiar pair of strong arms caught me within seconds.
***
Beep...beep...beep...
The sound of a heart monitor awoke me from my slumber as I pried my heavy eyes open and realized that I was laying in an elegant hospital room. Looking around, there were several flowers and balloons with 'congratulations' covering almost every inch of the room. My confused gaze landed on an older woman wearing a white coat, who held a clipboard and was checking my vitals beside the luxurious bed I laid on.
How did I end up here? The last thing I remember...Arosio...and the...blood...
"Oh you're awake, good morning Mrs. De Luca. Your family is outside because they got too excited when I told them the news. Congratulations by the way," my brows furrowed in confusion as I tried to speak but it came out more as a whisper.
"Con...gra...tulations? For...?" I trailed off with a weak voice before I felt my whole world come crashing down at her next words.
"You're pregnant."
***
Hello lovely readers,
Well, here you have it! A lot of you had some pretty wild guesses as to what Arosio did, some of you thought he cheated, some thought he didn't really love her and was faking it, some thought he killed Elijah to prove his love to Katerina?!?! Ahaha pretty wild!
hope you enjoyed the chapter, I made it extra long since I was suppose to update Monday but got busy and updated only now!
PLEASE READ, VOTE & COMMENT!