Betrothed To The Mafia Lord

Chapter 35

Luca’s POV

I exited the office after a little while without ending up getting any bit of work down, it was of no use, my

mind was too unfocused to get any more work for the day and I ended up giving up trying.

It was currently some minutes after ten pm and I was making my way through the office building and

into the empty elevator. I massaged my fingers through my hair and tugged on the roots a little just as

the elevator doors slid open and I got out in an instant. I headed outside the building and nodded my

head at the receptionist who greeted me good night as I walked past her desk, all the way outside the

office building.

“Get in the driver’s seat, you’re driving me home tonight.” I said to the guard who usually follows my

car, and sat in the passenger’s seat, beside the driver.

“On it, sir.” He replied and tugged the back seat’s door open for me, I got in and tugged the door close

myself. I knew he knew how to drive really well so I didn’t need to worry about him crashing the car with

me in it.

The car pulled out of the company’s premises, into the busy express roads of Venice and I slumped

completely into my seat, stretching my legs out against the driver’s seat and bending my back against

the chair a little in order to give my back muscles a much needed stretching. The cars windows were

pulled wide up and I stared out the window, wondering if there was anyone out there from the auction

who was currently monitoring my movement and following my second car containing the rest of the

guards.

I’d have to be extra careful than I used to be on a normal day, from now on. I’ve always had guns on

me everyday, and a knife, Incase anything happens unexpectedly. There were also different weapons

in the office, we’ve only been attacked there once, one certain morning, in the winter.

Everyone had suddenly poured out of their different offices the moment they heard the loud sound of a Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

gunshot going off, instead of them remaining right there in their office like normal, sensible people.

The people who had caused the commotion had made use of that time to get on different floors,

deactivating the whole elevators from moving from one floor to another. Once it got fixed by those

people, a crowd of people dressed in orange poured into the hallways immediately.

Worst, I hadn’t been at the office at that moment, which made everyone finally come to the conclusion

that they were too scared to come when I was in the company’s premises and had monitored and

waited on me until

I left for somewhere else. It was a good thing James was here at the office then, he had raced through

the long rows of staircases because the elevators were currently not functioning at that moment. Once

he got there, he fought with the dude controlling the elevator and had it fixed immediately, which had

automatically soiled the people’s plans because they had hoped the workers would remain in there

without any option of leaving.

The guards and security guards were finally able to intervene together with the supervision and help of

James and together, those that actually organized that attack caught before they could escape. The

police got involved because everything that happened was completely legal, and ever since then,

we’ve upped our security even more in the office, and I had done the same for the house.

Which was why I had placed two guards on Sofia the very next day after we got married, because I

knew how risky it was being without a guard, in this world of ours where almost everyone with greed in

their minds are brutal as hell and had no care for anyone and anything, all that matters to them was

finding what they came to get and taking what they want.

I sighed and tugged my phone out from my pocket when it suddenly started vibrating against my thigh.

I accepted the call on seeing who it was.

“Where are you, man?” James’ voice came up immediately. I placed the phone against my ear and I

stared at my fingers while the car moved at a steady pace, barely jostling me around, thanks to good

roads.

“What is it?” I demanded, feeling emotionally drained and having no strength in me to entertain James

for so long, at the moment.

“I hope my ears aren’t deceiving me right now, and that I am indeed hearing faint sounds of moving

cars and homes and the sound of someone in a moving vehicle, and not someone still sitting still in an

office, working himself to death.” James said calmly without any pauses and I patiently waited for him

to get it out completely.

“I’m hanging up on you right now.” I informed him and heard as he chuckled quietly for a few seconds.

“You still haven’t hung up, by the way.” James’ voice drifted into my ear after about a minute and I

rolled my eyes, knowing that he had only said that to try to goad me into losing it.

“What do you want, James?” I echoed again after a few more minutes. I dragged my fingers through

my hair once again and breathed out a slow sigh. I leaned my head against the headrest and allowed

my eyes to slid close, with the phone still pressed against my ear.

“I just wanted to check on you, and how you’re doing and shit… and most importantly, if you’re still at

the office or heading home.” James replied, all traces of playfulness completely out of his voice this

time.

I scrubbed my hand over my face for a few seconds, the demarcation between the front and the back

of the car wasn’t closed at the moment, which automatically means I won’t be able to reply to him In

details.

I’ve always put up a font in front of the whole guards – in front of everybody, rather, except James.

“Luca?” James' voice nudged me back to the present moment once again and I breathed out another

sigh, my head was starting to pound really badly at this point.

“I’m heading home, at the moment. I’ll text you once I get home tonight.” I replied to him and heard his

mind move, without him saying a thing.

“The guard’s driving,” I added and heard something that resembled a relieved sigh escaping his lips.

“That’s good, I guess. Please text me when you get home.” He answered back and I nodded my head

despite the fact that he couldn’t see me and ended the call almost immediately.

I dropped my head onto the headrest once again as my head pounded strongly on one part of my

head. I really needed to get something into me, make use of some drugs and get some sleep.

I wasn’t even sure if Sofia was still going to be awake at the moment, but I really hoped she wouldn’t

be. This was the earliest I was going to get home since I got married. I had wanted to still stay behind

at the office until an hour to midnight, but the heaviness in my heart, which I had no idea where it

actually came from, and the pounding of my head, including the tiredness in my bones, made me

reconsider after a few minutes.

The car drove on and on and I wished my problems could drive themselves out of my life, head and

mind at that same speed.

Another small sigh escaped my parted lips.

******

I headed into the house, climbing up a few stairs slowly to avoid my headache from going up a few

more notches. I stood outside the door and waited for a few seconds, I knew Sofia’s guards would have

left for their homes by now since it was already some minutes to eleven pm.

I fished out my keys and inserted it into the door before turning it around and getting the door open. I let

myself and closed the door silently before locking it up once again. The lights in the lounge were still

turned on and I turned it off as I walked past it, into the living room. The living room was empty as I had

expected, and I made my way towards the kitchen slowly.

I stood at the doorway and stared at Matilda who was the only occupant of the kitchen at the moment.

She was currently washing some kitchen utensils while rinsing the rest of the things in the sink and

carefully stacking them into the dishwasher.

I watched as she wetted a small cloth and carried a bowl of water in another hand before turning

around and pausing in her tracks. A shocked sound slipped out of her mouth just as the things in her

hands slipped out her slacked grip and she proceeded to grab her chest, whine breathing deeply,

heaving deep breaths in and out of her lungs.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Mr Ricci, you scared me so much just now!” She cried out and I chuckled

quietly before staring away from her, down to my feet. I was still standing at the kitchen’s entrance and

was currently leaning into the wall beside the doorway.

“I didn’t mean to, you shouldn’t be that jumpy because no one can come into the house once it’s late

except me.” I finally said to her before glancing back up at her. She had picked up the empty bowl and

wet towel and was cleaning up the spilled water when I finally replied to her and I watched as she

paused in her tracks and glanced up at me.

“I didn’t think about that, I’m sorry.” She replied and I nodded my head as I started to slowly make my

way into the kitchen. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” I answered her as I paused beside the counter.

My gaze landed on the other side of the counter and noticed that it was still a bit dirty with little bits of

food here and there, and a little spilled water on another part, I guess that's what she had wanted to go

clean up when she had sighted me.

“I’m so sorry about this mess, I had meant to clean it immediately we had dinner.” She said as she

started to mop the whole spot clean. Matilda and I hadn’t really gotten along the way Sarah and I did. It

was probably because I’ve barely got any time on my hand for chit chats and she had only gotten here

about two to three years ago, compared to Sarah who had been working here for over ten years.

“It’s alright, you can clean up the kitchen whenever you want,” I said to her, because it was true. I’ve

never had to complain about her ever since she got employed, and I’ve never ever dictated when her

chores were supposed to be done, that was none of my business and all that was supposed to matter

to me was that she does her job well, which she has always done. It wasn’t like I also make use of the

kitchen frequently.

“You and who had dinner here?” I asked her as I headed towards the tap and picked up a cup from

neatly stacked racks of cups before proceeding to fetch cool water from the kitchen’s tap.

“Oh, Sarah, Sofi– I mean, Mrs Ricci and I.” She replied and I didn’t miss the way her eyes had widened

at the tiny slip she had made around Sofia’s name.

My eyes narrowed at her immediately as my brain started to work. Were Sarah and Matilda

disrespecting Sofia because she was so young compared to them?

That particular thought echoed in my head and I placed my half filled cup of water on the counter

behind me before leaning against it and staring straight at her.

“Have you been disrespecting my wife all these while… because she’s quite younger than you?”