The Mafia’s Forbidden Desire

ROSALINDA.

My heart pumped rapidly. My entire world froze as the doctor’s words rang repeatedly in my head.

“Mr. Moretti has been keeping this to himself for a while now and asked me not to tell you guys, his family. But I don’t think I can hide this anymore. I’m sorry, but you all deserve to know that he has cancer. Cancer of the lungs. But it is still in the early stages, and there is a great chance of it being cured since it was detected early. He has been coming here for treatment, and I suppose he fainted as a result of the side effects of the treatment.”

Papà. Cancer? The news was too painful to take in, and I found myself unable to breathe well. I couldn’t imagine a life without my Papà. I didn’t want to lose him. Not now.

“Papà why? Why didn’t you tell us?” I queried, tears streaming down my face as I held his hand in mine.

“This is why.” He smiled sadly, lightly squeezing my hand in his. “I didn’t want to see you cry like this.”

“You should have told us.” Sofia, who was sitting beside him on the other side of the bed, cried.

He turned to look at her. “Don’t worry. I won’t die.”

Mama just stood there, her eyes spilling uncontrollable tears and her hand clutching her chest as she stared at her husband. She was too heartbroken to talk.

“Lucia.” He called softly as he stared at her with sad eyes.

Her lips trembled as she managed to speak. “Why?”

Every single one of us in that room was hurt and devastated. I, Mama, Sofia, Matteo, and Giovanni. What even added to the pain was that he didn’t tell anyone about it. He didn’t tell us, his family, that he was ill. We had to find out from the doctor.

I had suspected that something wasn’t right, but never in a million years could I have imagined that he had cancer.

That explained the weird behaviours he had been exhibiting lately. That explained why he wanted to be a better father all of a sudden. That explained why he suddenly stopped smoking when he was an addict. He was so addicted to cigarettes.

No, this was too much to take.

“Papà, I don’t want to lose you.” I cried.

“You won’t.” He lifted his hand and wiped my tears off with the back of his hand.

The door dinged open, and I turned to see the doctor walking inside.

“You see why I didn’t want to tell them?” A frown flashed across Papà’s face as he told the doctor.

“Mr. Moretti, they deserve to know. You need them to help you through the recovery process. You need their love.” The doctor explained.

“I would’ve preferred to go through it alone without worrying them.” Papà sighed. “Anyway, that’s by the way. I can go home now, right? This hospital sickens me.”

“What?” My brows drew together. “You need to remain here to recover.”

“I am not sick, Rosa.”

“Yes, you are.” I stated firmly. “You fainted just an hour ago, and now we found out that you have lung cancer. Yes, you are sick, Papà.”

“I have known about this illness or whatever for a while now, and I have been going on with my daily activities as normal. I don’t feel sick right now, and I am going home. Tonight.”

Papà was stubborn, and I knew he would never listen to me. So, flicking my gaze at the doctor, I asked with hopeful eyes.

“You won’t discharge him, right?”NôvelDrama.Org (C) content.

“Uhm,” the doctor said, darting his eyes between Papà and me. “I’d have to check if it’s safe for him to go home tonight or not. While I do that, can you all please excuse us?”

Blowing out a frustrated breath, I was the first to leave the room, with the others trailing behind me.

While we waited for the doctor to finish checking him up, I decided to use the opportunity to see Ruby, as she was in the same hospital.

I hadn’t gone to see her since the day she had the accident, but we had been talking over the phone, and she had been giving me details about her recovery process.

Her eyes widened, and she gasped in surprise as I pushed the door open and walked into her room.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming.” She beamed.

I sighed, pressing my lips tightly together. “I also didn’t know I’d be here this night.”

“Wait.” A frown was etched on her face when she noticed my red eyes and the maps of dried tears on my face. “What happened?”

The second she asked that question, I couldn’t control the stream of tears that came rushing down my cheeks.

She sat up immediately as worries saturated her features. “Girlfriend, what’s up?”

“My dad.” I cried as I sat beside her and wrapped my arms around her. “He has cancer, Ruby. Lung cancer.”

“Fuck. No.” She breathed, patting my back to comfort me.

“I don’t want him to die. I don’t-” I hiccuped. “I don’t want him to die.”

“He’s not going to die.” She comforted me, rubbing my back. “He’ll survive. I have a strong faith that he would.”

Ruby was dealing with her own sickness, and I was not supposed to bother her with my sh*t. But she was my best friend, and I found comfort in speaking to her about it. She was the best.

“I love you.” I told her from the bottom of my heart.

She kissed my temple. “I love you too, Rosa.”

I remained in her arms for a while before finally pulling away from the hug.

“So, how are you?” I asked.

“Cry baby.” She said playfully as she used her thumb to wipe some of the tears off my face. “I am fine.”

“When would you-” I trailed off when my phone started ringing.

Matteo was the caller.

“Matteo.” I said into the phone when I picked up.

“Where are you?” He asked. “We are leaving now. He has been discharged.”

I sighed. “I’ll meet you outside.”

“You’re leaving already?” Ruby asked with a raised brow, and I nodded.

“I begged Papà to spend the night at least, but he wouldn’t listen.” My annoyance was palpable in my voice.

He was just too stubborn.

“I don’t blame him. This hospital makes me sick to my stomach as well. I wish I could leave also.” She replied with a grimace.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be out soon.” I leaned in and kissed her on both cheeks. “See you soon.”

She pouted. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, Ruby.” I said, a small smile touching my lips.

After I left her place, I went straight to the underground parking lot of the hospital, where my family was waiting for me.

As I approached them, my eyes caught the figure of Antonio standing beside Papà, and my heart skipped a beat. I wondered when he arrived at the hospital.

“Where have you been?” Papà asked with a small frown on his face when he spotted me.

“My friend, Ruby, is admitted to this hospital. So I went to see her.” I explained. I could feel Antonio’s gaze on me, and I was fighting with my life not to stare back at him, even though all I wanted to do was run to him and bury myself in his arms.

Papà sighed. “Okay. Let’s go.”

I inched closer to the car, and when I opened it, I realised there was only space for one person. And there were two people yet to enter the car: Papa and me.

Papà was brought to the hospital in an ambulance, and Matteo followed him. The rest of us came with just one car, hence why we were short on space now. We could manage, but we’d be tight.

“There’s only space for one person left in this car.” I complained with an exasperated sigh as I shut the door.

Papà sighed. “Matteo or Giovanni. One of you should get down and take a cab.”

“I could help. I can drop Rosalinda off if you don’t mind.” Antonio quickly offered.

“That would be nice. Thank you.” Papa’s face lit up as he shook Antonio’s hand.

“Are you comfortable with that?” Mama’s voice sounded from inside the car.

I was more than comfortable.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Good night.” Antonio told Papà before walking away from him and starting to walk towards his car.

I nodded at Papà before following Antonio.

“I heard the sad news.” Antonio told me as he opened the car door and held it for me to enter. “Are you okay?”

“No.” I answered honestly as I slipped inside the car.

He closed the door, then walked to the driver’s side and slipped inside.

“He’ll be fine.” He placed his hand on mine and gave it a comforting squeeze.

As he drove, his hand never left mine. He kept glancing at me occasionally, and I couldn’t control the arousal building up within me. His hand on mine sent tingles dancing all over my body. And the look on those eyes? Oh damn.

I just learned about Papà’s illness, and thinking about these things when I was supposed to be immensely sad caused a pang of guilt to claw at my chest.

I drew in a sharp breath in an attempt to cool off the arousal and stop my pussy from dripping.

“Are you okay?” Antonio asked, concerned, as he glanced at me. And as my eyes met his, sensations stirred within me.

I darted my gaze to the space between his legs, and I gulped down saliva when I saw the bulge.

Realising he was also aroused, the last shred of control I had in me snapped and I groaned. “Pull over.”

I was insanely attracted to that man.

“What? Why?” He asked, confused.

“Pull over. Please.” I pleaded impatiently, my body burning for him.

He parked the car immediately, and before he could utter a word, I climbed on top of him and smashed my lips on his.

I might as well make something good out of the bad night I was having.