Taken By The Mafia Lord

“That is unexpected.” She breathed, still finding that hard to believe. Her gaze flickered down to his fingers to see there was no ring there and Marcel knew that because their gaze collided afterward.

“I’ll take it that you’re not in support of the marriage. You don’t look exactly happy.” She said to him, But deep down inside, Arianna was relieved. Although, she was never going to admit that.

“Should I be happy?” He asked that strange question more to himself.

“I would be.”

His brows raised.

Arianna understood the misunderstanding there and quickly corrected it, “That is, if I were getting married to the love of my life.” She confessed, while fanning her face. Gosh, why was this place suddenly hot?

“The love of your life, huh?” Marcel muttered, staring down and drawing God knows what on the floor.

“I must be a horrible man for keeping you away from him then,” He said beneath his breath but Arianna heard him and knew he was referring to Elijah.

.....

Elijah was the love of her life. He made her feel things no man had ever aroused inside of her. Not that she has been with other men – well, except Marcel. Arianna bet she would have been over the moon if Elijah had proposed marriage to her. But that was then, she wasn’t sure about now. She had her current situation to worry about rather than a proposal from her runaway boyfriend.

Arianna didn’t reply to that comment and looked the other way until he asked her, “Do you drink?”

But she said, “Mimi’s the fun one, I’m the responsible one.”

“You don’t drink then.” He got her point while typing something down on his phone.

As soon as he was done, Marcel pulled the phone back into his pocket and stared at her so hard that Arianna wondered if there was something on her face. However, before she had the chance to ask, he was walking in her direction.

“You’d watch me drink then,” Was all he said before plonking down beside her.

Marcel was not a huge man but when he took the seat beside her, he sure felt like one. His presence was overwhelming and made her feel uncomfortable. Damn this love seat, why does it have to be so small?

Arianna didn’t dare to move to the single fancier seat knowing he wouldn’t be happy with that. She has known Marcel’s character to an extent now.

Almost immediately, one of the staff arrived with a tray of scotch whisky but there was a bowl of fruit salad with honey poppy alongside it.

“The fruit is for you.” He said.

“Huh?” Arianna looked at the bowl and then back at him gratefully, “That was thoughtful of you.”

“I figured out it would be strange if I drank alone and you had nothing to keep yourself busy.”

“Oh.” She nodded.

He watched her, “Do you need anything else?”

“No,” Arianna grabbed the fruit salad, “I’m good with this.”

Marcel turned to the staff and gestured to him to leave and he obeyed instantly. Arianna was not exactly hungry but she had been craving snacks, but this would do.

“From now on, give me a list of whatever you want that isn’t here. I’ll have them get it for you.” He suddenly said to her, after a glass of his drink.

“Sure,” Arianna responded immediately. She didn’t know the reason for the sudden change in Marcel, but she was going to take advantage of that.

“Also, if you need anything to eat anytime, any day, tell the chef, they would have it made for you.” He told her again.

“Okay.”

“Also, you’re free to go anywhere you want except those rooms marked ‘restricted’. If you have any problem with my men, have me informed immediately and I’ll deal with their bullshit.”

“Sure, sure.” Arianna was suddenly overwhelmed by his favors. It was too much and sudden. At this rate, he might as well give her the whole world.

And Arianna was not wrong, because, in the next minute, Marcel said, “Also, you don’t -”

“Marcel!” Arianna shouted, cutting him off. When she finally caught his attention, she said in a lowered tone, “I’m good. Really.”

“If you say so then.” He went back to his drinking.

After that, there was nothing but silence between the both of them. However, even as Arianna focused on her food, she watched him out of the corner of her eyes. Marcel drank without a break, as if he wanted to drown all of his sorrows. It wasn’t healthy. Neither did she like it.

“You know, you don’t have to marry her if you don’t want to.” She finally spoke up, dropping her empty plate on the table before them.

Marcel looked at her, “It’s not exactly a matter of choice.”

“We always have choices. Just the same way you decided to imprison me here.” Arianna answered him, but quickly dropped the topic considering how sensitive it was.

She said, “You have to be with someone you love.”

“Someone, I love?” Marcel snorted, his glass stopping halfway. He thought over the words, “What a nice delusion.” He muttered before downing his drink.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Arianna couldn’t stand it anymore and snatched the glass from him, “You want to drink yourself into a stupor?”

To answer her question this time, Marcel grabbed the bottle and drank straight from it. Arianna was so infuriated that she grabbed the bottle as well and flung it halfway across the gazebo and it shattered on impact with the ground.

Marcel turned to her with blazing eyes, “What the hell was that? I asked you to keep me company, not to ruin the experience for me!”

“I’m not interested in watching you make a mess of yourself?!” Arianna yelled back at him.

He sneered, “Well, don’t act like you care because I know you don’t! You only have your eyes for your darling Elijah!”