Forbidden Claim: A Mafia King’s Obsession

Chapter 43: Desperation

Nadia’s POV

The rays of sunshine filtering through the charcoal velvet curtains feel like a violation.

I peel my eyes open, but the darkness of the previous night instantly rushes back to suffocate me. My body feels heavy, like it’s been weighed down with iron, my head throbbing with a dull, persistent ache.

The lingering scent of Lucian’s cologne and the distant smell of hand-rolled tobacco and expensive whiskey fails to mask the horrific smell of cinnamon and blood that seems permanently lodged at the back of my throat.

I lay in the center of the bed, looking up at the ceiling’s intricate moldings. Every single detail of the terrible scenes from last night replaying repeatedly in my mind like a horror movie.

Lorenzo didn’t just annihilate his enemies, he turned their deaths into a sick , twisted performance and forced me to sit in the front row. This is the third time he’s made me watch while he murders people who offended him.

A soft knock echoes through the heavy oak doors, shattering the silence.

"Mrs Romano?"Hannah’s gentle voice echoes from the hallway. "I’ve brought some tea and toast. Can I come in?"

I drag the duvet tighter around my shoulders, my voice raspy and dry. "I’m not hungry, Hannah."

The door creaks open quietly anyway. Hannah steps inside, carrying a wooden tray, her face marred with worry. She looks at me with eyes full of quiet, aching pity. She knows what happened downstairs.

The entire household knows. The mansion is so silent today, a proof that even the domestic staff are afraid to breath too loudly.

She sets the tray down on the bedside table and sits on the edge of the mattress, reaching out to gently brush a strand of hair from my forehead. "You are still recovering, child. You need to eat something."

"Where will the appetite to eat come from, Hannah?" A bitter laugh escapes my throat, turning into a weak sob. "He killed them right in front of me. He made them swallow the same poison."

Hannah shuts her eyes for a minute, bowing her head slightly. "I know, Nadia. I know. It is a terrible, evil world. But refusing to look after yourself won’t change what he did."

"Where is he?" I ask, my voice dropping to a low whisper.

"Mr Romano left before dawn," Hannah says softly. "He took Viktor and a full convoy into the city. He didn’t say when he would return."

A faint sigh of relief escapes my chest, but the knot of terror in my chest only tightens. Lorenzo doesn’t need to be physically present to exert his suffocating control. His presence hovers every corner, every shadow, every armed guard standing post along the perimeter.

The moment Hannah leaves, I drag my numb body off the bed and walk into the adjoining bathroom . I turn on the shower, letting it be as hot as I can stand before stepping under the scalding spray in a desperate attempt to scrub the night off my skin.

But no matter how hard I scrub, the sickening sensation of being trapped in his blood-stained remains locked beneath my skin.

The rest of the day drags on in agonizing slowness. I try to read some books in the library, but the words blur together into meaningless words. I try taking a walk through the high-walled gardens, but the two guards trailing five paces behind me serve as a constant reminder that I am nothing more than a prized prisoner in a guided cage.

Lorenzo does not return for dinner. There’s no strange call from him. He just leaves me to rot in the quiet horror of what he did.

By 9:00 PM in the evening, the walls of the mansion feels as though they are closing in on me, crushing the remaining air off my lungs. I totally cannot stay in this house for another second, if I do, I’ll lose my mind entirely.

I march straight down the grand staircase toward the front entrance. The two guards standing near the heavy double doors instantly snap to attention, stepping into my path.

"Mrs Romano,"the taller guard with broad shoulders says in a low, respectful tone. "It is late. The Don gave strict orders that you are not allowed to leave the grounds without his personal escort."

"I am not trying to escape," I say, my voice trembling with a mixture of desperation and rage. "I just need to be away from these walls."

"We cannot allow that, ma’am," the second guard interrupts, reaching for his radio. "We must contact Don Lorenzo —"

"If you call him, I’ll step into one of those cars in the driveway, hit the accelerator and crash myself directly into the iron gates," I snarl, stepping right into the guards face, staring up at him with wild, unyielding eyes. "Do you want to explain to Lorenzo why his most prized possession is dead because you wouldn’t let her take a breath of air?"

The guard’s eyes widens in sheer panic. He hesitates, looking between me and his partner. They both know what will happen if anything happens to me. Lorenzo won’t let it go.

“We will drive you, Mrs Romano,” the guard stares firmly, pulling his key fob from his pocket.

"Fine,” I say in a harsh whisper, sweeping past them into the cool night air.

Six minutes later, I am sitting in the back of a sleek, black sedan as it glides out of the estates iron gates. I keep my gaze out the window, staring at the city lights blurring past, my chest heaving. I don’t care where we go, as long as it is far away from Lorenzo’s mansion.

"Where do you want to go, ma’am?" the guard asks from the driver’s seat, eyeing me in the rareview mirror.

"A bar," I say coldly. "Find a busy one."

"Mrs Romano, the Don—"

"Just take me to a bar!" I say in a quiet yell, staring directly into the rareview mirror. "And if either of you dare contact Lorenzo, I swear to God I’ll open this door and jump out into traffic!"

The guard clenches his jaw, swearing under his breath in Italian, before turning the steering wheel and veering down the highway toward the bustling nightlife district of the city.