THE MAFIA’S HEIR

1 MONTH LATER

BIANCA’S POV

“Emilio!!” I giggled in disbelief. This old man was such a clown.

“For real my dear!” He grinned. “She had been yelling in my face, but the only thing I could think about was how beautiful she was, and how I must make her the mother of my children. Oh, my Rosa. She was so calm, but extremely spirited when provoked.” He chuckled, looking into nowhere in particular as he reminisced his time together with his late wife. “I really do miss her.” He muttered, and I sighed. I could only imagine the pains he went through. Being so old and not having your companion anymore. Amara and Mila were very much still alive. We always talked as much as we could, but I still missed them dearly.

“I know how you feel. I guess what hurts the most is the fact that you’ll never be able to see her again.” I held his hand in mine and he smiled warmly at me.

“Bianca, I never knew that the day would come, until you stepped in here a month ago. When I saw you, I saw Rosa. Your eyes felt like my dead wife had somehow reincarnated. Those eyes of hers were very rare. Rosa was a rare angel. You are even much rare. Your kind heart is so magnetic and makes me feel so much peace. And I want you to know that you would always be under my protection. It would pain me greatly, for anyone to hurt you under my watch. It would never happen.”

“Emilio.” I whispered, feeling really touched. The man had been nothing short of nice to me, ever since I got to know him. I went into his embrace and sighed deeply. Coming over to see Emilio on busy days was just a miracle for me. I don’t know how he did it, but he always sent for me whenever I had a load of work to tend to at the office.

Whenever I came to the penthouse, it was no less than a daily vacation for me. I always slept to my satisfaction, ate well, and talked with him to my heart’s content. I don’t know how, but the man understood me greatly, like no one else. He also had a very cool way of letting me see things in a better perspective.

“When are you leaving?” I asked, feeling sad already.

“Don’t be like that now, my dear. I already extended my stay a for some extra weeks because of you. I promise to come down to Milan more regularly than before. Atleast, I have a reason to, now. Or you can always come over to my mansion in Sicily!” He said in excitement. “You would love it there, trust me.”

“I know I would.” I pulled away from him with a small smile. “Being here with you is already enjoyable, talk more of being in your luxury mansion.” I laughed, then stopped when I remembered that the major reason I met Emilio was yet to be accomplished. “But Emilio, I hope you don’t mind?”

“What about?”

“It’s… it’s about the meeting with Mr Emilio Russo. I’m still yet to meet him after 1 month.” I mumbled. “My boss expects a lot from me, and I don’t want to let him down.”

“But it’s not your fault if my dear friend just spontaneously decided to whisk himself off to another country a month ago. Do not worry yourself, Manuel knows it is not your fault. His Nonno can be a handful.” Instead of being quiet, I nodded my head in annoyance and spat out my next words.

“All Russo men are a hand full!” I scowled and Emilio gave me a funny expression.

“Hmmm? Trouble in paradise?” He grinned. “You sound like you are having some sort of disagreement with Anthonio.”

Well, Emilio found out about my relationship with Anthonio just a few days back.

“Well, not really. I’m just not happy with him.” I sighed.

“And why is that?” He asked, paying me complete attention.

“Well, his company got selected to run for the national car race event, just a week ago. He had been informed of an impending business workshop for the purpose of the event. The workshop is to hold in Japan apparently, but only told me about it yesterday.” I sighed sadly.

“So, that means he would be traveling soon?”

“Yes. He would be traveling tomorrow, to return in a month’s time.”

“That’s sad. And I understand you feel angry because he is leaving under such a short notice. But not to worry, you’d be fine. It’s seems like a month is sooo long, but it would fly by in the twinkle of an eye.”

“I hope so.”

“Now, Anthonio is not so bad.” He chuckled. “I would agree that Manuel is a hand full though.” He sighed. Yeeaahhh!! Don’t judge me! There was no way I could tell Emilio about Anthonio, with speaking of Manuel. Yes, he knows I had always loved Manuel. Yes, he knows Anthonio has finally helped me rid Manuel off my mind. And yes!! He knows I don’t plan on ever letting go of Anthonio. He was such a ray of sunshine in my life. I trusted Emilio not to disclose our discussions with anyone else, so I wasn’t bothered in any way. He was literally the only one that knew of our relationship, alongside Laura and my parents. It was so weird that I was yet to tell Mila about it.

My parents and I had just returned from New York a week ago. We had attended Mila and Carter’s wedding, and I had been hoping to catch up with her about a lot of things, but I didn’t get the opportunity. They wedding period had been extremely busy and draining for her.

“You haven’t answered me yet. When are you leaving?” I asked again.

“In a few days time.” He gave a sad smile. Oh now, I hated how emotional I had begun to feel. No no! I hope I wasn’t about crying? God! What was wrong with me?

“Okay.” I managed to say, without my voice breaking.

“Don’t worry, I would be back soon. Meanwhile, have you invested into the upcoming Russo project, like I advised you?”

“Yes.” I smiled. “I finalized the entire process yesterday. A whole lot of my savings had gone into that, but I trust that my returns would be worth it.” Part of the things I had learned from Emilio was being a good investor. I had told him about my dream to become so powerful and wealthy. To control a lot of industries and companies. To have a say in the Italy government. I had expected him to laugh off my talks as the dreams of a silly girl, but he had done the opposite. Actually, part of the reasons he always called me over to the penthouse, was to tutor me on leadership and investment. According to him, good investments brought massive returns, and massive returns helps one build wealth. He told me that the honest truth remained the fact that a leader cannot fully access the perks of being a leader, if he or she isn’t rich. So the first thing I have to do is make money. A lot of youths don’t realize investment is another secret to making wealth.

According to him, nothing was too small to be invested in a legitimate and well known thriving company. I had invested two third of my savings from work into the upcoming Russo ‘gold empire’ project. It made me wonder why he hadn’t told me to invest in his oil company instead.

“I know that the gold business is very lucrative, especially amongst the high class. But then, oil and gas is another good business. I am very sure Powers oil and gas is thriving as much as expected. So why didn’t you advise me to invest in Powers instead?”

“Bianca, all I want is for you to trust me. You would know the reason in due time. I would never lead you astray.” He smiled, patting my shoulder.

********************************

I walked into the office to see a bouquet of rose flowers on my desk. I frowned in confusion. Who was this from? I took out the card inside the flower and read it. The note was congratulating me on my promotion? What was going on? I quickly made my way into my boss’s office and gave a knock.

“Come in!” His voice resonated through the walls of the office. I quickly made my way inside and he grinned at me.

“S.. sir?” I stuttered. “I saw a flower with a congratulatory note on my desk.”

“Yes!” He smiled. “Congratulations to you Bianca. You just got promoted.”

“Where to?” I asked in confusion. I knew the only other job he had in mind for me, was to be a part of his grandpa’s project, and I couldn’t even get the man to see me even once! I watched in confusion as he shuffled through some folders on his desk, and finally picked one out. He stretched his hand and gave it to me. I hurriedly took it from him.

“Open it.” He instructed, and I did. I went through it and my eyes widened slightly. What was happening? I was now in charge of the new Russo project? The gold empire? What was happening?

“I… I… what’s this? I don’t understand.” I muttered, tears welling in my eyes.

“Well, my Nonno has approved you to take on the project.”Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

“But I didn’t even see him. I didn’t talk to him, he didn’t discuss…”

“Bianca…” My boss gave me a pointed look and I went silent. “The man thinks for some weird reasons his FRIEND had given him, that you are fit for the job.” Wait a minute. Did he just say ‘his friend’? Emilio? Oh my goodness! Emilio had put in a good word for me!!

“It’s Emilio?” I asked, already tearing up.

“Oh my goodness.” Mr Alexander rolled his eyes in disbelief. “Don’t tell me the fact that it’s Emilio, makes you feel so touched to the extent of crying?!”

“I’m crying?!” I wailed in disbelief.

“Yes, you’re crying Bianca. Goodness gracious. What is wrong with you these days?”

“I don’t know. I’m sorry.” I quickly cleaned the tears off my eyes, even if more tears kept pouring out.

“Is this because of the workload recently?” He asked in worry. “I have noticed that you’re always fatigued during work hours. Your eye bags are very visible, and even Emilio has told me to reduce the work you have to do. Even after doing that, you’re still very stressed as I can see.”

“I’m sorry. I can manage work perfectly well.”

“You would even have more work to do, now that you have been given a better job. Are you sure you can handle?”

“Yes sir!” I rushed out, cleaning off the residual tears in my eyes. “I can definitely manage.”

“But I think you should see a Doctor. You’re not fine. Please, I urge you to visit the hospital today.”

“Okay.” I squeaked out.

“Here.” He pulled out a card from his desk drawer and gave it to me. “That’s the Russo family doctor. You must visit him today.”

“Alright.” I nodded in obedience. He wasn’t lying though. I was weak these days, and it made it difficult for me to work efficiently. I always felt sleepy during work hours as well, even after sleeping through the night.

“You’re dismissed for the rest of the day and the next. Congratulations once again.” He smiled and I returned it with a grateful one. I took the project folder with me as I left his office. Just as I got back to my work desk, I messaged my boyfriend to share the good news, and he seemed elated. I knew asking when he was going to return was useless, because he hadn’t even been gone for up to a week. He also encouraged me to go for the medical check up and adviced me to get a lot of vitamins, as he believed I was fatigued. After we were done texting, I made my way to Laura’s office to inform her that I was going to leave the office, just incase she came to call me for lunch and I wasn’t around. When I got to her office and asked for her, I was told by a colleague that she had been called to Ricardo’s office. A smile made it’s way to my face. It definitely felt so interesting to be doing what they were doing. Sneaking around with each other during work, just because Laura wasn’t ready to make their relationship public yet.

I eventually made my way to Ricardo’s office and was suprised to see that his new assistant wasn’t on seat. I got closer to the door connected to his office and was about knocking when I heard sounds. I clearly knew what those sounds were. Oh my goodness! Was Ricardo cheating on Laura with his assistant??! Before I could even think further, I turned the door knob and pushed the door open in anger. I guess it was too late to unsee what I had seen. Oh my goodness! How wrong I had been. Ricardo and Laura should pipe it down please!!!!

*

*

*

I patiently waited for the Doctor to return with the results of my tests, already feeling tired again. Finally, the door opened and he walked into the office.

“So sorry for taking a lot of time.” He muttered, before sitting opposite me and opening the envelope in his hands. He handed it over to me and I didn’t bother opening it. I knew he’d definitely have to explain everything in the paper.

“So what’s the problem Doctor?” I enquired, and he smiled.

“According to the result there, you’re 9 weeks pregnant. Congratulations.” What?!!

“Wh.. wh… what did you just say?” I asked in a mix of fear, disbelief, and shock. I could already feel my heartbeat accelerating. No no no!! It couldn’t be true. I waited for him to prove me wrong and say something else was the matter with me. Maybe, I heard wrong.

“You are pregnant madame. You are required to refrain from….”

“That’s impossible.” I cut him off. “I just saw my period a week ago. So how is it possible that I am 9 weeks pregnant? There is a mistake somewhere.” I said confidently. “In fact, I think the case should be that I’m having a hormonal imbalance, because I tend to see my period more often and irregularly these days.” I rushed out, my breathing becoming erratic. “I think there’s a mistake somewhere.”

“I understand your concerns madame. Indeed, you may have experienced some bleedings and spottings, but it does not mean that you’re menstruating. Like you said, those bleedings are irregular. But I would definitely administer some medications to help with that. It is very common during the first trimester of pregnancy.”

“What?!” That was supposed to be said in my mind, but I let it out.

“Yes. So please….” The rest of the things he said had gone on deaf ears, as all I could hear were buzzing sounds. I didn’t know when I stood up from my seat and ran out of the doctor’s office in tears. No no no! This couldn’t be happening to me now. God no! In the matter of seconds, my life had been thrown into confusion and regrets. If only I hadn’t be abducted in place of Francesca. If only I had not let Manuel Russo sleep with me. If only I had met Anthonio before then. If only, if only, if only. I had never even had sex with my boyfriend, yet here I was, pregnant for his cousin.