The next day...
Don and I went back to my house to pack my things.
His presence was both arousing and infuriating. "I could have gotten my things by myself. There was absolutely no need to follow me" I grumbled audibly".
"Don't flatter yourself, love. I'm going with you so I can talk to your father about our upcoming wedding" "Stop calling it as though we are both in support of it. It's a deal, not a wedding!" I corrected and looked out the window as we approached my house.
It had been less than a day yet I felt as though I hadn't been here in years.
I came out and hurriedly dashed up the stairs leading to the door. I didn't even think about my purpose of being here. I immediately ran up to my dad's office.
"Dad!" I called as I ran in and hugged him. I had missed him so much. My guilt for failing and endangering his life wasn't making it better.
"Mio Naya? Cosa... Come mai sei qui [What... How comes you are here]?" he asked in shock, "Non importa [Nevermind that]. How have you been?"
"Bene! What about you? Did he do anything to you?" I shook my head.
"Non osava. Gli avrei tagliato le braccia [He dared not. I would have cut his arms off] "
"Anaya!"
I and Dad turned our heads to see Don standing by the door. "We didn't come to exchange greetings but for you to pack your things" he reminded in an intimidating tone.
"I'll see you later, Dad," I said in defeat and left the office for my room, giving Don a death stare on my way out.
****************************************
With tears on the brink, I packed my clothes and every other thing of mine into some suitcases. I repeated everything of mine in my head and double-checked to be sure I didn't leave anything important behind.
'My drugs!'
I hurriedly went to my bedside drawer to check for the pills I keep there, hoping that no one had found them yet. Luckily for me, they were still there.
I put one in my mouth, placed the rest in my handbag along with my phone, and left the room.
The men Don assigned to keep an eye on me took the suitcases from me and took them back to the car where Don was already standing with my dad.
I walked up to him and hugged him tightly. Not knowing when next I would see him broke my heart, after all, he was all I had now.
"Si riguardi [Take care of yourself]" "Anche tu[You too]" he replied. I let go of him and entered the car.
"Be careful with her, Don. I won't spare you if anything happens to her" Dad warned, "Don't worry Nicholas, your daughter is in good hands" he replied with a grin and shut the door as we drove off.
'Goodbye to the one place where my entire life revolved and hello to the upcoming hell of a life with Don'
******************************************************
On reaching Don's house, Don's right-hand man, Andrew came and whispered something to him. "Take her things to her room, and if she needs any other thing give it to her," Don said right before leaving.
I immediately found my way into the house and was heading up the stairs when a voice stopped me in my tracks.
"Well, well, well," I recognized it as Michael's.
"Who would have thought a beauty like you would have wanted to hurt an innocent man like me?" I turned and saw Michael sitting on the sofa, grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat.
"Hello, Michael!" I greeted in an unamused tone, "Nice to see you too, Anaya, if that is even your real name" "Haha! Very funny" I replied sarcastically and walked back down the stairs till I was standing behind the sofa opposite him.
"When Don told me who you truly were and your true aim of getting close to me, I didn't believe him, not until he had shown me proof," he said and stood up with his hands in his pocket.
"You don't strike me as someone who would be part of a mafia talk less of 'The Italian Mafia' " "That's what makes me so good at it. I wouldn't have been able to get that far with you if you knew who I truly was"
"Right" he chuckled, "Though I have to say that it hurt me a little to find out that you were just using me"
"Don't be stupid, Michael. You are a flirt and a womanizer. I can never be interested in someone who has eyes for other women"
"True. But at that ball, my eyes were only on you, and they still are" he said and licked his lips lustfully.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. And I bet they were still on me while you were screwing my best friend in your bedroom"
Guilt washed over his face. "I'll be leaving. My time is too precious to be wasted on someone like you" I sneered and continued on my way back up the stairs.
As I was walking down the hallway, I stopped on noticing a door open. I peered inside and saw Isabella coming out.
"Oh, hi Anaya! What are you doing here?" she asked on sighting me. "I just got back from picking up my things from my house and I decided to take a walk around the hallways to pass the time" I explained.
"I understand. It can get really boring in this big house when you're alone. I was going to take my normal evening walk around the mansion. You can follow me. It'll be fun" she offered.
"I don't think Don would agree to that" "Forget about his rules. Some rules and orders were made to be broken. Besides, we are still in the villa," she said and pulled my hand with her as she went towards the elevator.
We used a door I didn't know of which led us to the back of the house. My mouth dropped open at the view in front of me. The villa was bigger than I expected.
Before my eyes was a vast green land with some speculations here and there coupled with a few other buildings.
"Stop staring and follow me" Isabella urged as she began walking down the concrete path.
Rose hedges lined the two sides of the path up until a clearing with a swimming pool and some pool chairs in the middle.
It was calming being here. The only thing that could be heard was the chirping and rumbling of the toads and cricket, the soft howl of the cool evening breeze, and the rushing of the water in the pool.
"This place is lovely" I commented to myself. "Mhmm" Isabella hummed in agreement and walked towards another land separated by a short fence and gate.
I looked in the distance and saw a building in front of a grove of tall thick trees.
"What's in here?" I asked as we reached the entrance of the building. "Come and see for yourself," she said and entered inside.
I followed her and had my eyes go wide open.
'Horses!'
About six or seven of them. I stroked the head of one of them affectionately. Who knew a mafia boss would like horses?
"Don likes horses?" "Nope. My dad did. He built this stable a long time ago and bought all these horses, nurtured and cared for all of them. He was fond of riding them until age caught up with him so Don kept them and continued taking care of them"
"Your dad sounds like a fun and athletic man" "He was" she replied with sadness as she stroked the mane of a grey horse.
"I'm so sorry to hear that" "It's okay. It's been a long time ago anyway... Have you ever ridden one before?" I nodded my head. "My maternal grandfather used to own a horse farm. Every summer, I and my mum would go there together to ride the horses all summer long" "Interesting tale... I'll go get saddles for us. You can pick out a horse in the meantime" she said and left.