Page 18 of Claimed By The Mafia Prince
“What’s going on?” one of them barks, pulling Daniel off of Xander. Daniel fights back, jerking towards Xander like a deranged man. Xander has blood dripping from his nose, and his left eye is swelling.
“Sucker punching someone in their fucking face while they’re sleeping is an asshole move, Daniel.” Xander spits blood out onto the floor, a murderous glare in his eyes.
“Shut the fuck up, Xander, or I swear to God!” Daniel tries to shake the grip of the security guard but fails, directing his attention to me. “Melissa, how could you?”
Betrayal flashes in his eyes, but I ignore him looking at Xander who looks distantly at an irate Daniel. I crawl over to Xander, my hands hovering over his injuries. I don’t know where to start to take care of him.
“Get him out of here!” I snap looking back at the security guards, just as Gianna walks up rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
“What is going—?” She pauses as Daniel is pulled out of the room cursing. “Melissa?”
I ignore her, cupping Xander’s face and bringing him into my chest. He pulls me in tighter and lazily smiles at me. “Don’t worry baby. I’m okay.”
I can see the beginning of angry purple swelling around his eyes, and I shake my head, not disagreeing with him. “No, you’re not fine. I’m so sorry.”
I rock him against my chest, tears streaming down my face. Gianna takes one look at him and runs back downstairs. She returns and kneels next to me with a bag of frozen peas in her hand. She silently hands me the bag and I place it on Xander’s eye, shushing him when he flinches at the contact.
Gianna leans in, whispering in my ear. “Melissa, he needs to get out of here before Papa comes, or this is only going to get worse.” I shake my head no, but Xander lightly holds my wrist, looking into my eyes softly.
“Sole,” he whispers. “Gianna is right. I have to go.” I only hold him tighter, but he sits up and cups my face between his hands. “Listen to me—no matter what, I will come back for you. Okay?”
I nod holding onto his hands as they cup my face. “Okay.” I sniffle.
Xander kisses my nose, and both my cheeks before pulling me in for a tender kiss. My breath catches in my throat because of the way he kisses me as if he will never kiss me again, and I relish his touch as if it is the last time.
We all sit in Papa’s study in silence. Daniel is sulking in the back, with a frozen vegetable variety pack on his right cracked knuckles. Gianna sits next to me, holding my hand, but Papa just stares at me. His face is blank and unreadable. He leans back in his chair with his hands folded over his stomach and his eyes on me.
“Papa, I don’t think Mel meant to—” Gianna starts, her voice filled with faux confidence.
“Shush,” Papa cuts her off sharply, keeping his eyes trained on me. “Xander Amory.” He states the name evenly as if it is a curse. “All the men you could be with, and you decide to be with Xander Amory. How could you Melissa?”
I want to respond but my response is caught in my throat, and I end up drily swallowing, my eyes dropping to look at the chipped pink polish on my fingernails. Papa leans forward, his voice low and menacing. “Do you understand what you’ve done?”
I can feel my eyes glossing over as I look into Papa’s disappointed gaze. “He’s using you to bring down the family. You are a pawn, Melissa.”
“No, Papa, you’re wrong.” My voice trembles as I speak but I hold my ground. “Xander is not like that. He is not using me. He loves me.”
Papa’s eyes flash with anger, as he sharply smacks the table causing me to flinch. “Loves you? You’re naïve, Melissa. He does not love you.”
“It doesn’t matter, Papa. I love him,” I say firmly, lifting my head to meet his gaze. “I love Xander, and h-he loves me.”
Papa laughs, looking around the room incredulously. “Do you hear this, Daniel?”
“Loud and clear,” Daniel speaks plainly, his voice sharp and low. My eyes fall back to my lap as the room settles into silence once more, suffocating me, but Daniel’s next declaration almost kills me. “You’re not seeing him again.” I turn in my chair, my eyes widening as they land on Daniel.
“You don’t get to make that decision, Daniel.” Gianna barks, malice dripping in her tone. Daniel rolls his eyes but I jump out of my seat growling.
“You can’t keep us apart.”
“Melissa, we will send you to a convent, and he will never see you again,” Papa states this as if it is a novel idea.
“Papa, you can’t do this!” I cry.
“And why not?” he snaps, adding all of the authoritative fire to his voice.
“Because I’m pregnant.” The words hang in the air, and for a moment no one touches the topic as if it is the plague. “And it’s Xander’s.”
Daniel’s face goes white, and his knuckles turn even paler as he grips the frozen vegetable pack tighter. Papa’s expression hardens into something unrecognizable.