THE MAFIA’S HEIR

MANUEL’S POV

As Massimo broke down the door, I was worried for a moment. I hoped she wasn’t going to be hurt. When I walked in after my men to see her fine and unscathed, I released a breathe. This was the first time I was seeing her after months, and I couldn’t really explain how I felt. Angry? Disappointed? Lowkey excited? Whatever it was, I knew the predominant feeling was anger. She looked to be on the phone with someone before we had come in, because the person on the line was still talking and probably asking if she was okay. Bianca just looked at the phone in silence, without saying a word in response.

“Bianca.” I muttered.

“Manuel.” She replied, avoiding any form of eye contact with me. “What do you want?”

“What I want?” I chuckled humourlessly, playing with my beards.

“If you came breaking into my house just to stroke your beards, then you might as well leave.” She spat, making my anger rise all the more. So even after seeing me, she failed to let me know what was actually going on? Did she ever plan on letting me know all along? Was she planning to keep my child away from me?

“Biancaaaa….” I drawled, trying to beat down my anger. But then, seeing how defiantly she stuck up her chin at me, I lost it. “Bianca, bold of you to think you could just disappear with my child in your belly!!” I watched as her eyes widened in shock, and her lips quivered in fear. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts for a while, before looking up at me once more.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said, making my eyes widen slightly. The fact that she still had the guts to lie to my face only made me disappointed. She didn’t seem to me like the sort of woman to keep her child’s father in the dark.

“How dare you, Bianca?!” I thundered, but was suprised she didn’t fold. Instead, she just stood there, looking so emotionless.

“Manuel, don’t get mistaken. I wouldn’t cower before you, especially when it has to do with my child.”

“Hmm..” I let out a disgruntled laugh. “So you finally accept that you’re with child? MY child.”

“Clearly, you have found out about it.” She talked more to herself, than me. “I really do not know your mission by coming here, but it’d be nice if you left.”

“It’s funny you think that after what you have done, you have the right to give me orders.”

“Look Manuel, I don’t want any troubles.”

“I didn’t come for trouble, I came for my baby.”

“Even after I bear this child, I would never let you have him. He is mine!!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, making me flinch in suprise. I could see tears slowly cloud her eyes that was glaring at the empty door post. “Just take these men with you and leave. I would assume that this never happened.” She pointed at both of us and I smirked. It was clear she hadn’t realized the gravity of the situation.

Not wanting to waste any other time having baseless arguments with her, I gave one of my men a signal. He walked up to her and was about lifting her into his arms, but we all hadn’t seen her retaliation coming. The next second, she was breathing so hard, her hands balled into a fist as she took a fighting stance. He groaned in pains as he knelt to the floor and held his groin with one hand.

“Fuck!” He gritted.

“Trying to be stubborn huh? Not suprised.” I said, rolling up my sleeves and shaking my head at her unwillingness to coperate.

“Don, I’ll handle it.” Massimo muttered in my ears, but I shook my head in negation. I made my way towards her and for a moment, the sweat that had broken out on her smooth neck had me distracted.

“Bianca, I would love to make this simple for you.” I said, dragging my eyes away from her body. “Leave this place with me willingly, or leave unwillingly.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” She yelled. Our eyes locked and I was sure she had not seen any sign of unseriousness. I was fucking serious. Slowly, she started backing away, but I was quick to grab her waist before she could make a dash for the bathroom. I knew that was her plan. To run in there and lock herself up. Bianca had to know I was way too smart for all these silly tricks. My grip around her waist tightened as she yelled for help.

“Manuel let me go!! Let me go now!!” She yelled, but I clearly wasn’t paying any attention to her screams as I walked out of her apartment with her in my arms. She hadn’t stopped struggling until we got outside the small gate, where our cars had been parked. With an effortlessly swing, I threw her into the back seat of my car and joined her there immediately. The lady could be crazy. I didn’t want to risk her jumping out of the car.

“Massimo! Drive.” I ordered, and the car engine roared to life. The car started moving and she suddenly gave my groin a punch, making me see stars for a moment. She had tried opening the car door and running out, but Massimo had been smart enough to lock the doors. She was still hitting on the tinted glass window, when I held her wrists so tightly. She released a painful whimper, making me let go almost immediately.

“Stop hurting me, you bastard!” She yelled in my face, and it had me scowling in annoyance. Did she just call me a bastard? The next minute, she was trying to bite my hands that held her.

“Look!” I held both her shoulders and shook her vigorously. “If you don’t stop trying to inflict pains on me, I’d grab your tits so hard that you’d scream in so much agony.” I smirked in satisfaction as her eyes widened in shock.

“Are you threatening me?” She glared at me with so much irritation on her face.

“No.” I shook my head. “I am assuring you.” I corrected, making her entire face go red in embarrassment. For some reasons, I found myself wanting to smile, but held it in. I couldn’t be smiling now of all times.

*

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“You unfeeling, disgusting, bastard!! You brute of a man!! Let me down!!”

We had finally gotten to the estate and she hadn’t stopped yelling. She was totally adamant about getting down the car, so I had to throw her over my shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

“Keep it down!” I whisper~yelled in slight irritation, suppressing the urge to smack her derriere. The lord knew how angry at her I was, but somehow, I couldn’t help the thrill of excitement that rushed through my veins, knowing she know that she was literally at my mercy. She let out another loud scream and I wondered if she knew this was my family estate. I was sure as hell that my other relatives could hear her screams from their neighboring homes.

I made my way through the entrance of our home and walked into the living room. As expected, my parents turned to see what the noise was all about. The moment they saw me with an unfamiliar lady on my shoulder, mom gasped.

“Oh my heavens, Manuel! What the hell are you doing? Who is she?” She immediately stood from the couch she had been sharing with my father, and walked up to me. I had no plans of letting Bianca go just yet. Like a said, she could be very crazy. One little mistake and I knew she’d be off running to wherever, probably screaming over her lungs for help. I didn’t want the extra attention of my extended family. I was already confused as it was. In a way, I felt thankful that Nonno had decided to give the orders concerning the situation. I very well knew that I was gonna receive a lot of backlash from him, but atleast, he was going to help fix this mess I found myself.

“Mom, please move out of the way.”

“I’m sorry, but I won’t. Who is the young lady, and why is she on your shoulders? Put her down this instant.”

“Put me down!!” Bianca yelled and I pinched her thighs.

“Mom, I’m working according to the instructions of Nonno. Please move aside.” I requested, and she sighed in defeat.

“But why would….?” She was still talking when I continued my way up the stairs with Bianca.

“Put me down you infuriating bastard!!!” Bianca continued to yell until I made it to my room. Once we got there, I finally threw her onto the bed. She quickly scrambled to her knees, looking at her surrounding with a quick glance, before throwing her eyes back at me. “What is the meaning of all these? Why have you brought me here?”

“I don’t know.” I answered truthfully.

“You don’t know? You don’t know??!” She paused for a moment before looking up at me, shock written all over her face. “Is that it? It’s true!! You want to take my baby!”

On hearing her allegations against me, I remained quiet because she wasn’t actually wrong. To be very honest, I didn’t know what plan Nonno had for her. But what I knew for sure, was the fact that Bianca wasn’t leaving with my baby in her belly. I didn’t know where such possessive feelings were beginning to emanate from. The feeling was quite new and spontaneous. Just this morning, I was living the life of a bachelor, about to be married. Now, I was a father to be, and I wasn’t ready to lose my child to any other man.

“Bianca, I wouldn’t let your boyfriend father my child.” At my words, she suddenly went silent. It was as if a bucket of ice had been poured over her head, as she was sank onto the bed. No one had to tell me what phase she had just gotten into. This was that phase where she begins to reevaluate the happenings of today, and finally realizes how fast and serious things were getting. I already knew that having a conversation was something she definitely wasn’t going to concede to at the moment. Even I, wasn’t really in the mood to talk now, because I didn’t know what to say to her! I didn’t have any plan! I was to get married to Francesca in a short while, and I suddenly began to think of how to break this news to her. How was I going to tell her that the lady I had kidnapped in her place, was now pregnant with my child? Fucking hell! Bianca was pregnant! I had realized that fact a couple of times already, and it seemed to be that each time, the realization sunk in more. I looked at Bianca who was already curled up at the edge of my bed, with her head in between her knees. She was certainly going through the same struggle that I was. How was she going to tell her boyfriend that she was pregnant for another man? Shit was so messy and I didn’t even realized when I started retreating slowly. My back eventually hit the door and I made my way out of the room, leaving Bianca alone. Walking to the living room, I released a small sigh when I saw my parents sitting and waiting for me to give them an explanation of the whole drama.

“Manuel, what business does your Nonno have with the girl? And what do you have to do with it?” My father queried. Oh God!

“Oh God.” I whispered to myself.

“That is not an answer to my question.” He said. “Do I need to call your Nonno to know what’s really happening?!” He yelled in annoyance. All that his screams had done, was make my head bang.

“Please, I want to be left alone.” I muttered, walking out on them and making my way to my study. The moment I got in, I locked the door in order to keep everyone out. I really didn’t feel like speaking to anyone. I didn’t know what to say to them, or how to even begin. I kept myself locked up in my study and threw myself into thoughts. What was Nonno going to say? Would he convince Bianca to let me have custody of the baby after its birth? No Russo offspring had ever lived away from the family.

What about Francesca? Was I going to be able to convince her to let us bring up the child together? I knew she was going to be so mad. I felt so guilty. I continued in my train of thoughts for hours, until I eventually slept off.

The blaring sound of my ringtone jarred me awake, and I quickly looked down at my phone. The sleep left my eyes when I saw who was calling. It was Nonno. Without wasting any time, I answered the call.

“Hello?” I muttered, my voice a bit hoarse from sleeping.

“You should get out of that hiding place of yours right now. I’ve never known you to be a pussy.” The fact that the old man made use of such vulgar words, made me grimace. “Don’t keep me waiting for an extra minute.” He ordered, making me quickly stand up from where I sat. I walked to the door and unlocked it, headed for the living room. I got there and my family were already sitted. My parents and siblings. I could see from the open windows that it was already evening. I wasn’t seeing Nonno anywhere either. Regaining my composure, I looked at everyone and asked.

“Where is Nonno?”

“Manuel, you have made a very big mistake that I would not take so lightly.” I followed the source of the voice, to see Nonno comfortably sitted on the one seater couch at the edge of the room.

“Nonno.” I muttered. He threw me an icy stare. Fuck.

“Greta!” He called out to my sister.

“Yes Nonno.”

“Go get her.” He ordered, and Greta stood up from where she had been sitted.

“She’s in my room.” I supplied.

“I know.” She shot back and continued on her way upstairs. The entire place was so silent as we waited for Bianca to show up. To be very honest, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to expect. I had been in my study, and the door to my room was unlocked. By chance, had they spoken with Bianca already? I looked at my parents and noticed they still looked confused. After some minutes, Greta descended the stairs, with Bianca following behind. The moment the got down, I noticed how puffy her eyes were. She had obviously been crying. She spared me a quick glance, before looking over the place. Her eyes seemed to catch Nonno’s figure and she went still in her position.

“Emilio?” She called at first, unsure he was the one. When he flashed her a warm smile I hardly saw him wear, she confirmed it was him. “Emilio!” She yelled in relief as she ran towards him. I would have been bothered about the fact that she had addressed Nonno by his name, but it didn’t come as a surprise after Alexander told me Nonno had been pranking her. I could hear mom gasp, definitely as a result of hearing Bianca call Nonno by his name. I looked at Matteo and Tommaso, and they seemed to be at loss, when Bianca threw herself into my Nonno’s embrace. He gently patted her back and she began crying like a baby. What was going on here? I knew they were jovial, but I had no idea it was to this extent.

“I’m sorryyyyy…” She wailed. “I didn’t mean to stay silent at you, I was just confused and…. scared.”

“It’s okay my dear.” Nonno gently pulled away and looked at her, with so much love. He cleaned away her tears and patted her cheeks softly. Oh wow!

“You came for me.” She managed a smile, and his fell. Seriously?! He was the one who ordered me to bring you here!

“Nonno what’s happening?” Tommaso asked, making Bianca look at him. She and Tommaso held their gaze for a while, before she looked back at Nonno who looked…. I couldn’t say. There were emotions I weren’t so used to seeing the man display. But somehow, I had seen a lot of them under such a short while.

“Nonno?” She whispered, immediately pulling her hands away from his. “Nonno?” She asked once more.

“Nonno.” Tommaso confirmed her thoughts. She looked like she was about saying something, but her lips could only quiver in shock.

“You lied to me.” It was a whisper that we almost didn’t hear. She sighed, looking so tired.

“Father, can you just tell us what’s happening?” Dad asked impatiently. “And who is the lady you seem so comfortable around?” I was glad I wasn’t the only one who thought it was unusual for him to react the way he does, to Bianca. Something told me that nothing about his verdict was going to favour me. But I was hopeful.

“The young lady is Bianca. And she is a few months pregnant for Manuel.” Nonno finally announced. The whole place fell silent. God. I avoided locking eyes with anyone. After a while, mom finally spoke up.

“But dad, Manuel is getting married in a matter of weeks. As you already know, his bride to be is supposed to be officially introduced to the family tomorrow. Would the event be called off?” I rolled my eyes at her last question. Mom really thought Bianca’s pregnancy was enough to stop my wedding to Francesca?

“Who said anything about calling off the event?” Nonno asked, making me smile inwardly as mom’s face fell. “The dinner and the wedding would go on. It wouldn’t be such a hassle to finish planning the wedding with a different bride in the picture, would it?” Wait, what?

“Wh.. what…?” I stuttered. What did he mean by ‘a different bride’? Bianca that had been in a world of her own, suddenly looked up at him in confusion.

“The event would hold as planned tomorrow.” Nonno said. “And Bianca would be introduced to the family as Manuel’s bride to be.”

I felt like my head had just been bashed against a wall. Nonno said what?!