Page 20 of Claimed By The Mafia Prince
“The mafia moves in the dark, Xander.” My father huffs. “The deeper you are in the darkness, the more control you will have over it.” I swallow, giving my father a firm nod, feeling the darkness biting at me.
Suddenly, there’s a sharp knock at the door, breaking the heavy silence of the room. Father gestures to the door, and I rise to reveal the frantic eyes of Lorenzo who pushes past me to look at my Father. “Don, I have an update?”
My father flicks his wrist to dismiss me, and I almost scurry out the room as if I can outrun the darkness creeping into me.
I rush back to the sanctuary of my bedroom, the only place besides Melissa’s where I feel like myself. I know I do not have to lead like Father. I don’t need the force or the bloodshed. I can be a different type of leader, but to succeed I need to balance the ruthlessness with the more strategic, sophisticated approach I envisioned after studying at Harvard.
I want to make my dad proud. I want to be the Don that reshapes our future, but the deeper I get into the dark mafia world, the more I realize that achieving this dream is slipping away faster than I ever imagined. The farther that dream goes, the more I want the dream of Melissa.
I want to climb into her window, pull her in my arms and never let her go, yet I know I can’t.
I know Melissa will be better off in life without me. Or at least that is what I am convincing myself of until I see her standing in the middle of my room staring at my little league trophies.
“You were quite the star player,” Melissa remarks, picking up my sixth MVP award with a goofy smile.
“That team was like family to me.” I stay on the other side of the room, closing the door tightly behind me. Melissa smiles, playing with the trophy in her hand.
“I mean of course you would be MVP then.” She looks up with a shining smile. “You’d do anything for your family.”
A heavy silence lays over the space, as I stay leaning against the wall just staring at her in the dark landscape of my room. After a moment she takes a cautious step towards me. “You didn’t respond to my messages.”
“No, I didn't.” I look down, and Melissa pauses as a light huff expels from her lips
“I thought maybe something happened or you were in danger, or—” She pauses, when I lightly shake my head no. “Then it is me.”
My head snaps up to her pouting gaze. “No, it’s not you. It’s me.”
“Classic,” she laughs, rolling her eyes at me.
“I’m no good for you, Sole.” I shake my head, but she narrows her eyes at me and cocks her head to the side, leaning on her right hip.
“Who are you to make that decision for me, Xander?”
“It’s the right decision, Sole.” My voice is sharp, declarative, but I avoid her piercing gaze.
“Don't do that.”
“What?”
“Don’t call me Sole as you break up with me.” Her voice is cold and unsteady, and all I want to do is pull her into me.
“I am no good for you, Sole.” I take a step closer, invading her space just to regret the smell of vanilla that pervades my nostrils. She looks up at me with her eyes glazed over and her bottom lip between her teeth. “You are every drop of goodness in the world I can’t…I won’t?—”
“You are everything to me, Xander,” she whispers, looking up at me, cupping my face gently as if I could shatter in her hands. “And if I want to be corrupted by you, you will do so. Do you understand me?”
“That is not your choice to make, Melissa,” I remove her hands from my face, moving across the room. “You cannot make me corrupt you. I could never forgive myself if I did.”
“Xander,” she whispers looking up at me with those big green doe eyes. “You already have.”
Melissa’s hands slide down my body as she sinks to the ground. I look up at the ceiling trying not to get lost in the way she looks at me. I almost succeed, but then she undoes the loop of my belt and I look down at her licking her lips staring at me.
“Melissa, what are you doing?” I whisper, reaching to stop her fingers but she smacks my hand away with a cute pout on her lips.
“I am showing you that I want you, Xander. I need you.”
Gently, she grips the waistband of my pants, her emerald eyes sparkling with desire as she gazes up at me. My heart pounds in my chest. Is she really going to do what I think she is? I want to stop her, tell her for her sake and mine this can’t go any farther. Her wide eyes and sultry smile only draw me in like a moth to a flame.
Melissa pulls me closer, her fingers tracing up my abdomen before snaking down to pop the button of my jeans. She teases me, her mouth hovering over the bulge growing in my jeans. I am expecting her to stop, but then she gazes up at me licking her pink, plump lips. “Xander, do you want me?”