Busted.
“Oh God! Not on the counter. Please not on the kitchen counter!” Mom gasped.
I quickly pushed Artur away and jumped off the counter. “I swear, we were just hugging. We weren’t going to take it that far.”
Artur’s cheeks were slightly red and I felt myself blushing too.
“Maddie,” Mom warned.
“I know. I know. It won’t happen again,” I sighed.
“Well, I have to go. See you at breakfast,” Artur said before leaving. Before he walked out of the kitchen, he sent me a wink.
Coward. I couldn’t believe he left me alone to deal with this.
Mom was glaring at me and I pouted, giving her my best puppy eyes.
“Mom. I swear we weren’t going to do anything on the counter. It’s clean,” I said.
“Maddie, are you using protection? Please tell me you are protected.”
Here we go again.
“I think I got that covered.”
“Okay. I was just checking.” She shrugged before moving to the oven. “Where is Ayla?”
That was a good question. She was late.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her,” I said, growing slightly worried.
Mom stopped what she was doing and gave me a worried look too. “Do you want to check on her?”
“Yeah, I should,” I agreed before making my way out of the kitchen. I quickly went upstairs and stopped in front of her bedroom. But she didn’t answer when I knocked.
Growing more worried and with panic going through my body, I opened the door and walked inside. “Ayla?” I called. There was no response. She wasn’t in her bedroom.
Was she with Alessio?
These two were so adorable. If they didn’t get together any time soon, I would have to take care of it myself. Both of them were too stubborn.
They definitely needed a helping hand.
I was about to turn back around when I saw the bathroom light on. My eyebrows pulled up in confusion and I walked toward it.
She probably left it on.
I pushed the door open, but the sight that beheld me took my breath away, causing my heart to drop in my stomach.
Letting out a scream, I ran into the bathroom and fell down beside an unconscious Ayla. She was covered in blood.
“No. No. No,” I whispered in panic and fear.
Pulling her body to mine, I held her close and noticed the long gash on her arms.
“Oh God!” I cried. “Ayla! Why?” I gasped as tears ran down my cheeks.
My stomach cramped and I felt sick. My heart was heavy like an invisible pressure was pressing down hard.
“No!” Pulling her tighter to me, her blood covered my dress.
I screamed.
“Mom!”
Patting Ayla’s hair, I continued to cry.
“Alessio!”
Chapter 33
Alessio
“He is threatening the people. They are scared,” Phoenix said as we walked out of my office. I tried to keep my anger in check but it was coursing through my body with such ferocity that I was shaking with it.
Ever since the news went out that Alberto had killed Alfredo, my people were scared. Considering he killed a Boss and took over, they knew he was serious with his threats.
“What’s your plan?” Viktor asked beside me.
“He won’t be getting to my people. I will make sure of it. Artur, I want you to keep an eye on everyone. Make sure the Watchers are on task and reporting everything back,” I replied in a calm voice, even though I was feeling anything but.
“Yes, Boss,” he replied quickly before giving us a nod and walking away.
Turning to Phoenix, I nodded at him. “Let the main families know that we will be visiting. I want to talk to them personally.”
He nodded in response and quickly fished his phone from his pocket. After typing furiously for a few seconds, he placed it back into his pocket. “Done,” Phoenix said.
If Alberto really thought he could overpower me and take my Empire, then he was highly mistaken. I had built this empire with my bare fucking hands for almost ten years. Half of my life dedicated to make it the strongest mafia family. I wasn’t giving up now and I sure as hell wasn’t losing to that fucker.
We were walking down the stairs when a sudden scream stopped us in our tracks.
Nikolay already had his gun out and I saw Phoenix and Viktor reaching for theirs.
My eyes widened when I heard my name. Reaching behind my back, I took out my gun too.
“That’s Maddie’s voice,” Phoenix hissed, but I was already running back up, taking two stairs at the time.
When I reached the top of the stairs, I paused, looking left and right as I tried to figure out where she was. I heard her scream again, and with my heart pounding hard in my chest, I turned toward her voice.
“Shit,” I whispered. It was coming from Ayla’s room.
The door was open. Pointing my gun forward, I pushed the door wider with my other hand. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that my men were in a similar position.
I gave them a sharp nod before moving inside. They followed close behind. Walking further inside the room, I tensed when I didn’t see anything.
The room was empty, except someone was sobbing.
Turning to the side, I saw the door of the washroom open and the lights were on. Before I could move, Phoenix walked over to the door and pushed it open.
“Oh, shit! Shit! Fuck!” He panicked and rushed inside.
My heart was wild and my stomach dropped at Maddie’s cry. I followed Phoenix, but when I got closer, the smell of blood hit me. My eyes went wide in alarm and I ran inside.
The sight almost brought me to my knees.
Maddie looked up at me with tearful eyes and sobbed. “Ayla. She…”
Ayla was covered in blood. Her eyes were closed and she looked deathly pale. A look I never wanted to see on her. Rushing forward, I sank down to my knees beside Maddie.
“Here,” I heard Viktor say beside me. I glanced up and saw that he was handing me some towels. “We need to put pressure on her wounds to stop the bleeding.”
He was right. We had to stop the bleeding.
“Call Sam!” I ordered harshly, without tearing my eyes from Ayla’s face. Taking the towels from Viktor, I placed them on the cuts and pressed down gently. She didn’t move. Not even a flinch. Maddie was still crying silently, her chest heaving with each quiet sob.
Leaning forward, I took Ayla from her arms and pulled her closer to my chest, not caring one bit that I was getting blood all over me.
I brought a hand up and palmed her cold, pale cheek. “Ayla?” I whispered, my voice sounding hoarse and strange even to my own ears.
She didn’t respond. Instead she laid limp and still in my arms. But she was breathing. It was faint, but it was there. Ayla was alive and I forced my brain to accept that fact even though it felt like my heart was being split into two. The pressure building there was unbearable and my stomach cramped almost painfully.
The last time I felt that way was when I witnessed my mother’s death.