The Mafia’s Forbidden Desire

ROSALINDA

The following morning, Carlo’s cries jolted me awake. He was hungry, and I was taking too long to wake up. He was used to having breakfast early, and there was no maid to make it for him as usual.

Here I was in the kitchen, as early as 8 AM, making spaghetti bolognese for him and myself, as he had requested. Thank goodness my mother forced Sofia and me to learn how to cook; if not, we would have starved to death during our stay here.

The door to the kitchen clicked open, and I turned to see Camilla walking in.

“Good morning.” I mumbled.

“Good morning.” She mumbled it back without bothering to look at me.

She strolled towards Carlo, plastering a wide smile on her face as she pulled his cheek playfully.

“How are you, Kiddo?”

“Fine.” He beamed, giggling.

My left eye suddenly started itching, and I instinctively rubbed it with my hand-an action I immediately regretted.

“Damn, pepper.” I exclaimed as my eyes began to sting with pepper. I had used the same hand I used to chop the pepper for the meat sauce to rub my eye.

I quickly rushed to the kitchen sink, splashing a generous amount of water over my eye. But it didn’t work; my eye kept stinging, and I became frustrated, not knowing what to do.

Camilla appeared beside me, holding the salt container. “Here. Have a taste of this. It works.”

I was skeptical, but I decided to give it a try. After putting a very small amount on the tip of my tongue and swallowing, the stinging stopped, like magic.

“It worked, right?” She asked, and I nodded.

“Where’d you learn this from? I’ve never heard of it until today.” I was amazed.

“It’s a trick I learned from my mom.” She told me as she walked away from me and returned the salt container to its rightful position.

“Mommy.” Carlo called, hugging my legs. Only then did I realise that he was already next to me.

“Mommy is okay.” I leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. I didn’t want to touch him with my hands before washing them. “Go back and sit, baby.”

Like the good boy that he was, he obeyed.

I glanced at Camilla, my view of her changing as I stared at her. She wasn’t so bad after all.

“I’m making spaghetti bolognese. Would you like to have some?” I asked.

“Just because I helped you with the pepper issue doesn’t make us best friends.” She sneered as she opened the refrigerator and tugged out a bottle of water.

“Why do you hate me?” I suddenly asked, drawing my brows together. I knew it was because of Antonio, but I was curious to know why exactly.

She scoffed. “Hate you?” She chugged down a gulp of water before continuing. “You’re not worth my emotions, darling. I don’t hate you. I simply don’t give a fuck about you.”

“Oh, cut that crap, Camilla.” I inched closer to her in order to have a better conversation with her. “Please, tell me the truth.”

She sighed, contemplating whether to tell me or not.

“Well, you were fucking my brother while he was engaged to your sister. That’s an insane level of pathetic.” She spat after a few seconds, her voice dripping with disdain. “I couldn’t hate Antonio for being such a dick, obviously, because he was my brother. But you? I couldn’t not hate you.”

“What?!” I exclaimed, narrowing my eyes at her unsubstantiated conclusion. I glanced at Carlo, and after confirming that he was busy with his iPad, not listening to our conversation, I continued. “Yes, I admit that we were attracted to each other even before the engagement was dissolved. But I promise you, Camilla, nothing ever happened, not until the engagement was called off.”

“Nothing?” She asked with a raised brow.

“Nothing.” I confirmed.

“Then-” She slammed her hand over her forehead and sighed before looking at me again. “My bad for jumping to conclusions, then.”

“So, are we good now?” I asked, staring at her with hopeful eyes.

Opening her arms, she wrapped them around me and gave me a gentle tap on my back. “Sure.”

I never anticipated reconciling with Camilla during our time at the safe house.

“But that’s not the only reason I didn’t like you, though.” She confessed as we pulled away from the hug.

I raised a brow. “What else?”

“You guys get to be together despite all the circumstances that surround your love. But he wouldn’t let me be with the love of my life. I wouldn’t lie; I was hurt and jealous. But then I realised it wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m sure he’ll come around.” I assured her. “Once he thinks about it, he’ll realise all that matters is your happiness.”

She raised a brow. “You think?”

I gave her shoulder a little squeeze. “I know.”

“So, what’s up with the both of you?? quarrelling already?” She suddenly asked, changing the subject.

“Nothing.” I quickly averted my gaze. I wouldn’t be the one to break the news to her.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to share. I understand.”

I darted my gaze at her, pressing my lips tightly together. “No, that’s not it. It’s just that it’s complicated, but you’ll know soon enough.”

She placed her hand on my shoulder, looking directly into my eyes as she spoke. “Whatever it is, just know that Antonio cares about you. I’m very sure of that.”

I nodded in response, a small smile touching my lips. Of that, I was sure also.

We ended up eating breakfast together while chatting about random things. She was such a fun person to be around, making me laugh uncontrollably every minute.

Afterwards, we went to the living room to watch movies in order to pass the time because there was basically nothing else to do. And as Camilla turned on the television, the news that was being broadcast immediately caught our attention. We tensed, listening to it attentively.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Sergio Ricci, a multibillionaire and prominent business tycoon, was fatally shot in front of his mansion. Authorities suspect the involvement of a mafia gang, but no suspects have been apprehended.”

My heart rate accelerated as I horridly picked up my phone, my fingers dialling Antonio’s number as fast as they possibly could.

“Have you seen the news?” I asked once he picked up.

“About Sergio?”

“Yes.”

He sighed. “I just saw it.”

“When did you do it?” Was the next question I shot at him.

Blowing out a sharp breath, he replied. “I didn’t do it.”

“What?!” I exclaimed, confusion masking my features.

If he didn’t do it, who did?