Chapter - Eleven
1257 Words
Aleena — POV
I step out of the car.
“Stay inside,” my father barked.
I ignored him. He didn’t have time to glare at me or force me back into the vehicle. His attention snapped to the man standing beside the car.
“Why the hell is this asshole here, Boris?” he demanded. “Where is Ryane Moris?”
“I’m trying to reach him. I can’t get through,” Boris answered, panic bleeding into his voice.
My father snatched the phone from his hand and tried calling Ryane Moris himself. I’d heard plenty about him. The Moris heir. A
man tied to human trafficking. A monster. The kind of man who treated women like property. And my father had married me off to him.
“You married me off to that jackass,” I snapped.
My father shot me a furious look.
“Now is not the time to argue about that,” he hissed. “Don’t you see Nico Bellini standing there?”
My gaze followed his. Nico wasn’t leaning against his car anymore, casually watching my father unravel. His green eyes locked onto mine. Slowly, he pushed himself upright and started walking toward us. Jared, his right-hand man, walked beside him. I remember meeting him at the engagement party. Several of Nico’s men followed close behind.
For the first time, my father looked genuinely afraid. His hand clamped around my wrist and yanked me behind him. I twisted free and stomped hard on his foot. He cursed and released me. Instead of hiding behind him, I stepped up beside him.
“Mr. Caruso seems surprised to see me.”
One hand tucked into his pocket, Nico regarded us with his usual unreadable expression. Yet somehow, that calm stare felt more threatening than a gun pointed at my head.
“Mr. Bellini, you were supposed to be away on a trip.” My father’s voice shook slightly, though he managed to cover it with forced confidence.
“I had to cut my trip short,” Nico said.
“Who gave you the location of this place?” my father asked.
“Does it matter?” The question came out cold and razor-sharp. My father’s shoulders stiffened. The tension in the air crackled like a live wire.
“You shouldn’t be here,” my father said. “Rayne Moris will be here soon. Your rival. And my son-in-law.”
The words turned my stomach. The fight for my future wasn’t over. Not even close.
“Who told him he’s your son-in-law?”
Nico’s voice was quiet.
Deadly quiet. I looked at him.
“What do you mean?” my father demanded through clenched teeth.
Nico snapped his fingers. One of his men dragged someone forward. The man’s face was swollen, bruised, and streaked with blood. Recognition hit me instantly. He was the man who had taken the marriage papers.
The color drained from my father’s face. He stared at Nico in shock.
“How did you manage that? Ryane Moris's. His men will be here soon; you will regret talking—”
“Moris never saw it coming,” Nico spoke nonchalantly.
My father's frown deepened.
“I won't let my daughter leave with you.” He reached for my hand, but Nico caught his wrist before he could touch me and shoved it away.
“Not your daughter anymore.” His voice dropped lower.
“My wife. Mrs. Bellini.”
“You’re lying,” my father hissed. Jared stepped forward and held out the papers.
“Read them, old man.”
My father snatched them from his hand. While he read, I glanced down at the documents. The marriage papers were signed by Nico Bellini. Not Rayne Moris. My father's face turned pale.
“No... this can't be possible.”
“I know.” Nico gave a cold smirk. “Shocking, isn't it?”
His green eyes hardened.
“You heard the rumors about me, Luciano. Every single one of them was true. Yet you still thought it was smart to cross me.”
My father remained silent.
“And let's not forget,” Nico continued, “you took money from Rayne Moris too.”
His hand closed around my wrist firmly.
“Good luck surviving what's coming, Luciano.”
A dark smile spread across his face. As if warning of threats.
“Your problems are only beginning.”
“Attack them! Stop her from—”
My father ordered. Guns appeared from every direction. Caruso men. Bellini men. Both of gang weapons raised at eachother. Safety catches off. One wrong move and the ground will be soaked in blood. Like, gang war is about to begin. I never witnessed one. Nor do I want to.
“Careful, Mr. Luciano.”
Nico didn't even bother looking at the guns aimed around him.
“Getting aggressive would be a mistake.”
“Jared. Show him.” Jared pulled out his phone and held it up.
A video played. I couldn't see the screen, but I watched my father's expression change. Rage shifting to shock and fear.
His jaw tightened. His hands curled into fists. But he did nothing. Whatever was on that phone had him trapped.
“Now,” Nico said quietly, “go back to creating your new drug.”
His voice remained calm. “Or your dream to be the get back into the Mafia circle dies.” His eyes drifted toward the men surrounding us.
“Along with your business.” Silence fell. For the first time in my life, someone had backed my father into a corner.
He looked humiliated and powerless.
I should have felt bad. Instead, I felt satisfaction spreading through me. I wanted him to suffer. I wanted him to feel a fraction of what Eleanor and I had endured because of him. I wanted him gone from our lives forever.
My father finally raised a hand. His men lowered their guns. Bellini's men followed.
Nico opened the car door.
“Get in.” The coldness in his voice was enough to make my stomach tighten.
The polite version of Nico Bellini was gone. Maybe it had never existed.
“Don't make me repeat myself, Aleena.”
I glared at him. He shoved me into the car. Anger burned through me. Arrogant asshole. The door slammed shut. As the car pulled away, I looked back through the window. My father stood frozen in place defeated. In twenty-six years, I had never seen him look so small. I enjoyed seeing it.
“The arrangement we discussed,” I said after a moment. “The one where I leave after six months. Is it still on the table?”
“No.” The answer came immediately. I turned toward him.
“What?”
“That arrangement no longer exists.”
His green eyes met mine. “You belong to me now, Mrs. Bellini.”
A chill crawled down my spine.
“You said—”
“I changed my mind.”
His gaze never left mine.
“You escaped Ryane Moris clutches .” His cold smirk gave me chills.
“Unfortunately for you, that doesn't mean you're free.”
“You've just traded one cage for another.” I looked away before he could see the fear in my eyes.
I wanted to punch him. Scream at him. Run. But running had never solved anything. Not with my father. Not with men like Nico Bellini. If I wanted freedom, I would have to fight for it.
- Writer
