Gabriele’s POV
“Please don’t kill me…” Eleana continued mumbling but I was no longer listening to her.
How could Arianna do this?
I got up slowly from the floor and straightened my shirt as I got up. My heart darkened as I felt anger brew deeply within my chest.
How could she?
“It’s fine Eleana. You will stay here for a few days as punishment. Basilio will take you out when it’s time,” I said to her and walked out of the room.
I knew Eleana. This wasn’t something she would do. It was definitely coming from Arianna. This was something she was capable of.
The sound of my shoes resonated around me as they kissed the tiled floor following the rhythm of my walk.
Arianna had gone too far now.
I went up the stairs and took a turn to my office, where I had told her to wait. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she ran off from there and was hiding somewhere in the house right now.
The door to my office came into view and my feet hastened. I kicked it open and found her sitting innocently on the couch just like I had left her.
“What happened?” She asked getting to her feet.
My eyes narrowed at her pretense. How dare she try to play me a whole Mafia king?
I got closer and pulled her by the arm towards me. “How dare you?” I spat out.
She was such a good actor she was genuinely looking confused. If I didn’t know better I would say she didn’t know what I was talking about.
“Gabriele… What’s going on? What happened?” She asked looking into my eyes. She didn’t even try to pull her hand out of mine like the perfect criminal that she was.
“You know exactly what I am talking about!” I hissed out.
Her eyes enlarged as she finally understood what I was going on about.
“Did something happen to Sofia?” She asked in a panic.
My eyes narrowed and I felt a strong pull of anger in my lower abdomen and my grip tightened around her arm.
“You told Eleana to escape! What were you thinking?” I yelled.
She was about to say something but suddenly paused and stared me straight in the eye.
I could see the way her chest was rising and falling as the wheels in her head turned around.
“Was that gunshot from her?” She asked in a small voice.
Was she purposely trying to rile me up or what?
“What happened?”
I dropped my hand from hers and wiped my face as my irritation grew higher.
“Is she okay?”
I held her suddenly by her upper arm and shook her roughly.
“Do you think you can fool with me?! How dare you ask Eleana to leave the house?! Why are you causing too much trouble?! Why?!”
I was so angry not just at her but at myself for thinking she could change. Arianna could never change. She was a trouble Maker with the face of an angel.
“Let me go, Gabriele!”
Her broken voice got to me and like her body had become hot, I dropped my hands from her.
There were tears in her eyes and her arms had turned red where I had held them.
There was a prick in my heart and I hated it. Why did I care if she got hurt? She deserved it for causing so much trouble!
She dropped to the couch and wiped her face.
I felt like I was receiving whiplashes. I couldn’t understand myself. What was wrong with me?
Arianna had really outdone herself and I was only reprimanding her. Why did it feel like I was doing the wrong thing?
Why did her tears hurt me so much?
I kissed my tongue to my teeth and started for the door. I needed to clear my head.
“You will remain right here until you think about what you have done!” I hissed out.
I walked out of the office and headed to my room. I stepped in and went straight to the bathroom. My head was hot from all the thoughts rolling over in it. I had to cool it.
I turned on the tap and cupped the water to my hair. The cool liquid numbed the pain in my heart just a little and I was grateful but as I raised my eyes to look at the mirror in front of me, I saw her tear-filled eyes and the pain returned.
Damn it!
I returned my head to the tap and this time, I let the water fall directly unto my hair. I refused to look at the mirror as it only brought back what I tried so hard to drive away.
The sudden sound of the knock on the door made me jump and my head hit the tap. I groaned as I pulled my head away gently this time, careful not to hit the tap again.
“Who is it?” I growled. I was pissed off at whoever it was and I was angry with myself as well.
I walked out of the bathroom and found Basilio standing by the entrance door.
“Fratello, are you okay?” He asked and I grunted in reply.
Obviously, whoever saw me would know I wasn’t okay but he would ask because Basilio always searching for new ways to annoy me.
“What do you want?” I growled at him as I massaged the sore spot on my scalp.
“I saw Arianna crying in your office. She said you… Hurt her,” he said and I raised my angered eyes at him.
“What are you now, her guardian?” I hissed. “Did she tell you what she did?”
Basilio moved closer into the room and closed up the door.
“She mentioned that you said she was responsible for Eleana’s attempted escape,” Basilio said in a gentle uncertain voice.
“Isn’t she? She made Eleana do it!”I cried out rubbing the side of my head as a migraine started forming.
Basilio came forward and touched my shoulder. “Fratello, I know you will think I am saying this because I have never really liked the other women in the house…”
“… but I don’t think Arianna did that,” he said. “She had been in her room or with you all day. So how did she tell Eleana this?”
“I don’t know and seriously, right now I don’t care! I just don’t want it to repeat itself.” I growled pulling away from him.
“But you are being unfair to her and you are letting Eleana lie to you,” he said and I paused in my thoughts.
“Eleana lied through her teeth. She is so sweet you will never see it coming. But Arianna had no hand in it.”
“How can you be so … Limited?” I screeched. Basilio could be such a pain in the ass I kept wondering every day how we became friends again.
“I know what I am saying, Fratello! Eleana is no angel! She can change into whatever character she wants to get want she desires most.”
“Eleana had been locked up for days now. There were guards at the door. How did Arianna get to her without them knowing?”
I narrowed my eyes at him as I understood what he wanted. “Fine, if you want to do an investigation then be my guest. But Eleana has no reason to lie to me!” I fired back.
“You think she doesn’t?” Basilio asked with shock on his face.
“What?”
“Sometimes I wonder who is crazier. You or me?” Basilio hissed. “Eleana will do anything to take Sara’s place! She had wanted it ever since the first day and it might have worked if Sara wasn’t cringeworthy…”
“But it didn’t because Sara was already here. Now that Sara is gone, Arianna is taken over. So if you ask me, she will lie about it,” he concluded.
“And don’t even tell me I never liked her because I actually preferred her to Sara!” He added with a raised finger.
Sometimes I was certain he forgot I was his boss and Mafia king. No one else had the right to say half the things he said to but he did… And he got away with it.
“But now, you prefer Arianna,” I retorted.
Basilio ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Fratello, please try to understand what I am telling you. Eleana is the trouble Maker here and I suspect she had some help!”
I was quiet for a few seconds as I tried to take in what he had just said.
It was true that his judgment of people was barely ever wrong, but I had to think carefully.
“Okay, let’s say you are right. What now?” I asked him with a shrug.
His explanations had helped me stay calm and somehow my anger was gone.
“You need to understudy Eleana and Nadia. One of them will break.” His eyes shone with confidence and I couldn’t help but smile at his intelligence.
I made the right choice making him my right-hand man and best friend.
“Good. What about Arianna?”
“She will go on with the deal as planned. We just have an additional plan now,” he said and I approved.
“Great then. Get to work!”