Pregnant for the Mafia CEO

Chapter Two: He Lurks In The Shadows

Claire.

One month later.

"You can't leave me, Claire. I'll never allow it."

"No—no, let me go!"

"Come back or I'll do to you the same thing I did to Lola!"

"Lola!" I scream out of my dream, awakening to reality, and jump out of bed.

I'm covered in sweats, my forehead beaming with aches, and I'm panting, trying to catch my breath. "I'm so sorry, Lola. I failed you." I keep whispering to myself when my phone beeps, and this time around, I run to the front door. The instant I grab the handle of the door, I bolt outside.

I can't touch that phone again, not after what I've seen this morning. I'm shaking while my feet feel like they'd give up anytime. The rays of sunshine warm my skin and give me a little bit of comfort. And then I realized...I haven't been outside since I got here. I haven't felt the sun in a very long time.

I close my eyes, embracing the warmth even more, spreading my hands so I can feel the tingle at the tip of my fingers, and I smile to myself. "Claire, you're free. He's not here. He can't hurt you." And that's what I've been telling myself, but my brain is already washed by him, so I always feel chained up.

My eyes snap open when I hear footsteps approaching, followed by a man running up the street with his dog on a leash. As they got closer, my senses heightened. I feel as though they are coming to attack me. I recall Caleb and Lola running whenever he exercises in the morning, and then I run back inside the house, only to bump into Ava at the front door.

"What..." I hug her, halting her speech, and cry into her arms. She hugs me back and gets me inside the house.

She sighs when we arrive at the kitchen. I've occupied a seat on the footstool, and she joins me after she's dropped the groceries and grabs a beer for the both of us. She passes mine, but I shake my head, and she sighs again.

"Okay," she sighs again. "It's been one month since you've been with me, Claire. You're safe in this city. No one will touch you. You need to probably see a therapist or something."

I'm sniffling. "He's in my mind, Ava. He's rooted himself so deep. He's damaged my brain. I can't think like myself."

Claire grabs my hands and looks into my eyes. "And you have to fight his essence. You have to win against him. He can't hurt your body and still mess with your mind." I start to cry again, heavily, and she hugs me. "Okay, let's not talk about him then. Oh, um, I got a promotion at work." She sounds excited, but for some reason, I don't think it's good news for me.

I mean, I'm happy for her, but I'm not sure. "That's great." I lie.

"You're still bad at lying, aren't you?" Ava exhales, shifting the drinks away. "I understand. I have to leave the city and even the country. It's in Brazil."

"But you can't leave me all to myself. How am I supposed to take care of the rent, of myself, of...of everything?" I feel like I'd go insane. I'm already imagining another painful future.

"It's been a month, Claire. What did you think? I can't continue to stay here, living off of that salary. I want to explore the world: have an impact. If I go to Brazil, I'll have my boyfriend and my job together. I'm sorry." She says it to me, and I think I understand.

She has to live her life. I can't bore her out with my own issues. She's tried enough, paying the bills by herself for a month. It couldn't have been easy, and she had to endure my mental health too.

She touches me on the shoulder, calling my attention back. "I've talked to a workmate already to help you find a job. Maybe we can still use your certificates for something. And, oh, email it to me. You have to survive." She's squinting her eyes at me, and I nod my head, swallowing a large lump.

"I don't want to live here by myself. I'll probably kill myself."

"Was he that bad? I mean, Caleb. At the wedding, being the groom, he looked normal and peaceful. What did he do exactly? Tell me, Claire." She sounds interested, but I shake my head. No, I don't want to talk about it. I wish I could even forget about it.

"I don't..."

"You have to. See it as your first step toward healing, Claire. I'm here." She grabs my hand and gives it a little tightness.

I gulp down a lump again. My nerves are spiking up as I look towards the bedroom. I hurry in there to pick up my phone and give it to Ava.

"Remember when you got me this phone even though I had said no?"

She affirms with a nod. "Of course, a week ago."

"Unlock it." After Ava did, I continued. "I don't know how he did it, but he found a way to get into my phone and hack into it. I didn't even log into any of my former social accounts. I've only reopened sss with a different address. Perhaps he found a way. I mean, I don't know."

"What are you saying, Claire?" Ava tugs at the hand that she has in her custody, and I brush my hair to the back of my head.

"I'm saying that Caleb has hacked into my phone, and he sent me that. Open the video. See for yourself the tip of a monster that he is." After I said this, she dropped her gaze to my phone and read out the first caption of the video.

"For better or worse, you promised to stay. Why did you leave now?" As she reads his text, I hear his own voice instead of hers. Oh, f**k. How did he ingrain himself so deeply inside me?

Then, she opens the main video and reads the second caption just before she plays it. "This is what will happen to you if you don't come back."

"Oh, my...is that...a dog?"

"Lola. Her name was Lola. She was the only sane thing that Caleb kept. All his maids, all his men, they were all monsters. Just like him."

"Was?" She questions me, but I don't answer, allowing her to continue to watch the video. "What is he doing to her? Is he—oh, my goodness? Is he electrocuting her?"

I cover my lips so I don't cry out loud, whimpering as I shiver on the seat, instantly covered in beads of sweat. "oh, f**k. Is he going to...? Oh, my...!" Ava hyperventilates, unable to sit and watch the horror on the screen. She steps back, her eyes moving from me to the phone, and she screams again. "f**k. f**k, he's going to...Jesus!" She drops the phone on the ground and steps away, gripping her hair tightly before tears fall down her cheeks.

"That poor Lola." She whispers. She looks like she's just finished watching a horror movie, except this is real horror.

I pick up the phone and catch sight of Lola's intestines sliding down the camera that Caleb had used to record the video. "He electrocuted her before he pumped her insides till she burst like a tomato, and at the end of the video, you could hear his laughter. Yes, that was the beast you saw smiling at the wedding. That was the beast who stole my womanhood from me. I never enjoyed life. I haven't, and now you've seen why I can't go outside, because every time I see anyone, I think it's him."

"No, that's what he wants." Ava stands up, arranging herself. "He wants you to live in fear of what he can do, but he's not going to have that. Block that contact." She sniffles, brushing her hand past her nostrils before she continues. "My former workplace is celebrating my promotion. We are going to a club. It's the biggest club in Los Angeles, and I'm sure you'd like it there. Let's take that as your first step to gaining back your freedom.

"I don't want to go. Didn't you see? Caleb, he'll kill me when he finds me. He's done horrible things to me. I would sit with him, and he would know what was going on in my mind. I don't know how he does it. If not for the little bravery that I have left, I wouldn't have survived those years without giving him a child. I found a way to not get pregnant, a medicine that I add to his drinks."

"And that bravery will be your step into the light. I won't let you wither, Claire. We are going. And now that I think of it, you and I share the same size."

"Oh man." I sigh, knowing that I can't win this discussion. I guess I'll be going to a nightclub then.