AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tell me three things you can see.” Alexander requested.
I shifted my eyes around while trying to gain control of my breathing. “Your shirt… the window…and the driver.”
I heard a chuckle, but Alexander continued talking before I could address it. “Good job. Now, can you tell me two things you can feel?”
My senses zeroed in on his jacket and the leather seat I was clutching in each of my hands. The coarse materials helped to ground me in reality.
“Your jacket and the seat,” I murmured. My breathing was slowly coming under control.
“You’re doing very well, Aryana. Now, the last one. Can you tell me one thing you can smell?”
I took a deep breath, and his scent drifted into my nose. I wasn’t sure if it was his natural body odor or his body spray, but it smelt pleasant. It was subtle and not overbearing. By now, my breathing was already back to normal. However, it seemed my brain was still lagging due to insufficient oxygen because my mouth ran ahead of it.
“You.” I declared with a soft voice. We stared at each other as if we were in a trance. His gray eyes seemed to shine despite how empty they looked. It made me want to see his gray eyes light up with emotions, no matter what emotions they would be. As long as I saw some life in his eyes, they were still beautiful regardless of how lifeless they looked.
The clearing of a throat brought us to our senses, and we immediately separated from each other. I refused to pay attention to the lingering warmth on my body from his embrace. I cleared my throat, looking anywhere but at him.
“Thank you,” I said in a soft voice.
“No problem.” From the corner of my eyes, I saw him move away. I ignored the pang my heart felt at the newfound distance between us.
He opened the door, and it was then that I realized that we were no longer driving and had been parked in an underground car park somewhere. I could feel my cheeks flush in embarrassment at the realization that I had a full-blown panic attack in the presence of two strangers. Though the two of them had kept looking straight ahead to give us a semblance of privacy, it didn’t block their ears.
I cleared my throat once again and looked around. “What are we doing here?” I didn’t bother to ask about what had just transpired on the road earlier. I didn’t want to know. As the saying goes, ‘Ignorance was bliss.’
“We have to switch to another car.” The driver said.
“As you can see, our car is unsuitable for public driving without raising many questions.” The other man chipped with a mischievous smile.
I was slightly taken aback at how carefree this mafia member was. I assumed he would be professional and serious like the driver.
“Oh…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say.
They got out of the car, and I followed their lead. I saw them walk over to Alexander, and the three of them conversed in Italian. As much as I wished to stay ignorant, I was curious about what they were saying.
Instead, I looked around the underground car park, in awe at how much connection the mafia had. Due to having my head lowered during the ride here, I didn’t know where we were and didn’t know if it was a private car park or a public one. Either way, I was still amazed.
“Let’s go.” I turned on hearing Alexander’s voice and saw the three of them entering the car that they had just conversed next to.
I hurried in, and as I buckled myself into my seat, I couldn’t help but wonder where the car came from. No one had come to drop the car, so how did we enter the vehicle suddenly? When did they suddenly have the key to this car? This car had been in the car park when we arrived.
So…how?
Chapter 6
Alexander
My head kept repeating over and over what Tony and Marcello told me. When we arrived in the car park and saw the vehicle we had parked beside, I immediately knew something was up. When Tony conveniently pulled out the key to the new car, it further confirmed my suspicions.
Before we entered this car, Tony and Marcello had revealed that my father had placed a car here for us in case we got ambushed, but it did nothing to allay my doubts. The explanation was too simple to believe it was all a coincidence.
My father had anticipated this attack, but I didn’t understand why he didn’t tell me. Instead, he urged us to depart today because he didn’t think they would attack immediately after their failed attempt at kidnapping Aryana. If my father thought that, why did he prepare for another vehicle beforehand?
I looked at Tony and Marcello, feeling conflicted. Were they telling the truth, or did they know more than they were letting on? The two of them were my closest confidants. I did not want to believe that they were deceiving me. Or were they also in the dark like me, with only my father’s words to take as the truth?
I was angry, but at the same time, I was worried. My father was hiding something from me, but why? Was it that he no longer trusted me? Was it because I impregnated a woman that he no longer felt I was responsible for him to confide in?
Tony met my gaze through the rearview mirror, and I turned to look out the window instead. I had noticed that none of our men were accompanying us. When I brought it up to Tony, asking him if we would wait for them to regroup, he told me there was no need and that we would proceed by ourselves.
