The Mafia’s Wanted Desires

ASHLEYText property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I watched as the girls downed their drinks at a go, getting up from their seats and picking up their purses. My eyes widened in alarm and I stood up also.

“Wait, you guys are leaving?!” I practically yelled. Their eyes softened and they shot me a sad smile, coming to my side to hold my hands in each of theirs.

“We can’t stay here forever,” Ivana said.

“Yeah, at some point, you are going to have to go inside to meet him. You can’t avoid him forever.” Dawn spoke quietly and I felt my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach. They were right. I have been sitting out here since the wedding ended and I couldn’t bring myself to go inside to face him.

“But__”

“Come here,” Ivana said softly and I threw myself in her arms, my shoulders quaking with sobs. Dawn joined in the hug, wrapping her arms around my body. The girls and I stayed that way for a while before they finally pulled away.

“Promise to come visit me always?” I asked them, and they nodded with teary eyes. They kissed my cheeks and spared me one last glance before they turned around and headed for their car. I watched as the duo got into Dawn’s car and then, they drove out of Gray’s compound.

My heart fell and I sighed, bringing my hands up to my face and wiping my tears. The compound was illuminated with bright golden lights that poured into the compound in a bedazzling manner. The sight was breathtaking. There was no sugarcoating it. I looked around the heavily guarded compound.

and sighed before spinning on my heels and heading into the house.

“Welcome, Mrs. Gray,”

“Good evening, Mrs. Gray,”

“Welcome home, Mrs. Gray,”

“Congratulations, Mrs. Gray,”

Those were the words that I heard from the housemaids, who had automatically become my maids too. There was nothing that irked me more than the title, Mrs. Gray.

Ashley Evaline Gray, that was who I am now. Whether I liked it or not.

I rolled my eyes at them and mumbled a greeting back at them, grabbing the hem of my dress and ascending the staircase. My heart pummeled loudly against my chest, with each step I took, approaching the room I was going to be sleeping in.

No, our room.

When he told me we would be sharing a room, I nearly ran mad because I couldn’t imagine how much torture that was going to be. Staying in the same room as him. It seemed like the most impossible thing on earth. I knew I was choiceless because there was no use crying over spilled milk. There was nothing I could do or say to him that would make him change his mind about being in the same room with him. It would only make him mad and I was tired of being at the receiving end of his wrath.

My sweaty and shaky hands twisted the knob that led to the room. I poked my head in and slowly set foot into the dark room. My eyes wandered around as I tried to look for the switch. And when I finally found it, I flicked them on and was stunned at the sight of him sprawled on the bed with a laptop on his legs. He was typing away on the laptop with no care in the world, thick-rimmed glasses hanging on the bridge of his nose.

Wait, he uses glasses?!

What the fuck?!

I swallowed the spit that was starting to build up in my mouth, and then I took a deep breath and shut the door behind me. An act that didn’t even earn me the slightest blink in my direction. He was so focused on what he was doing. I gathered the hem of my wedding dress and headed straight for the bathroom, where I stripped out of the dress and got under the shower. Once I was done showering, I wrapped a towel around my body and folded the dress neatly, tip-toeing out of the bathroom.

I skidded into the closet and released a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I shoved the wedding dress into a drawer and took off the towel, changing into a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top. I stepped out of the closet and approached the bed intending to get a pillow and sleep on the couch.

There was no way in hell I was going to sleep in the same bed as him. I went to the other side and spared him a glance. He didn’t remove his gaze from what was in front of him. Then, I picked up a pillow and turned around to leave.

“And what do you think you are doing?” He asked, blankly, his eyes fixated on his laptop. I froze in my steps, blinking, and then, I turned to him, frowning.

“Well, what does it look like, genius?!” I snapped at him.

“Don’t use that tone with me, Peach.” He spoke, his voice dangerously calm. It held the kind of calmness that sent chills crawling down my spine. I swallowed, audibly, mustering up my courage to defy him.

“I don’t care!” I fired at him.

“I am not sleeping in this bed with you. Oh, I would rather shove hot iron down my throat than sleep in the same bed with a monster like you!” I yelled further, breathing heavily. He was quiet. Very quiet and that didn’t sit well with me. He stopped typing and looked up, our eyes locking in a stare. I couldn’t read him because the expression on his face gave nothing off. He was as blank as a sheet of paper.

“Do not make me shut you up with something that will keep you busy for the rest of the night,” he deadpanned. My brain went blank for a moment, trying to grasp what he just said and when I finally did, my face flushed and my eyes widened.

“You sick freak, I would rather jump in the ocean than suck you off! Fuck you!” I shouted, hauling the pillow in my hands at him. I threw him a stink eye and spun on my heels, heading for the door.

“GET YOUR PRETTY ASS BACK HERE!” He barked and I flinched, spinning around with wide eyes and wondering how his voice could be that thick and overly loud. It was deafening, even. I knew he wasn’t kidding with the way he had his blazing eyes pinned on me.

“Don’t make me do it for you. Trust me, I have no problem doing that.” He added, audaciously. I swallowed, fiddling with the hem of my tank top before sluggishly making my way to the bed. I got out of my flip-flops and climbed on the bed, facing the other side and not wanting to look him in the eye. I heard him exhale before trying to cover me with the duvet.

“Don’t fucking touch me, Arden! Keep your horrific hands to your fucking self!” I yelled at him and pulled the covers over my head, sniffing. I didn’t hear anything from him other than the sound of his fingers hitting the keyboard on his laptop.

I let out a shaky breath, squeezing my eyes shut. I hate him. I hate this house.

I hate everything and by the time I am done with him, he would willingly file for a divorce. Does he want a battle? I’ll give him WAR.