Mafia Billionaire’s Forlorn Wife
Chapter 15

“Sir, Mr. Mancini is on the call for you, do you wish to take it?” My secretary’s question brings a wide grin to my lips as I lean back in my chair, turning slightly to stare at the dusk drenched Seattle skyline.

I have been anticipating this call.

And it is right on time.

“Yes, put him through, Carol.” Her affirmation is followed by silence through the line as I sit quietly, tapping away on my thigh as I wait for Dominico to speak.

“You bastard!”

My lips curl up in the most satisfactory grin as I rest my head back with a sense of pure peace and calmness washing over me.

“Now, now, Dom, is that a way to talk to your son in law?” I coo, knowing well enough that I am only adding salt to his wound but still being unable to stop myself.

“How dare you come onto my turf and take my business away?” He growls, his voice sounding like he is two seconds away from popping a nerve and nothing in this world could have pleased me more than this moment right now. “You’re the f*****g scum of the sewers and you should have never picked up this fight with me!”

That is when I growl, “the Bratva has always been the one true ruler of the West coast, Mancini. The only reason why you could even spread your paws here for the last few years is because you wrongfully killed my father, taking advantage of a business deal between our families. You betrayed him and now, this is just your karma coming after you, deal with it.” I hear the sound of something shattering on his side and a chuckle escapes my lips, shaking my head, I add, “and careful, Dominico, don’t do anything rash because I am only getting started.” I warn him.

I have endless devious plans for this man and the last two weeks since I returned from Paris after meeting Arabella have only been dedicated towards sending the first message to the man responsible for killing my father.

For the last seven years, my only goal has been to make the Bratva strong again, to make sure that our enemies quake with fear at the sound of my name and to make sure that one day, I can give Dominico the taste of his own medicine.

And at the moment, I have him right in the palm of my hand. I have his daughter, I have his men turned against him, I have his allies, and sooner rather than later, I will have his entire business. Starting today.

“You will come to regret it, Mikhailov. One day you will be begging us Mancinis for your life and whatever it entails but we will spit in your face. This isn’t over.” And saying that, Dominco cuts the call and I roll my eyes but the grin on my lips never once leaves my face.

However, before I could enjoy any more of this moment, my phone that I had placed on my desk starts to ring and when I look at it, I find it to be Ace calling me.

I roll my eyes, “are you going to give more empty threats that your father forgot?” I bark into the phone the moment I have it pressed to my ear.

Ace is Arabella’s older brother, and the only true heir that Mancini has now that I have taken Arabella away. He is a diabolical bastard but he has weaknesses that I know just how to exploit.

“I do not care for threats, a*****e.” Ace snarls from the other side, “I want to talk to you about my sister.”

My eyebrow quirks up at that, “what do you wish to talk about regarding my wife?” I question, making sure to keep my voice sharp.

I can already feel the agitation rising in my chest as I have to refrain myself from simply ending the call right this moment. I do not wish to talk about Arabella. Ever since I came back after visiting her, my mind has not been at peace and I have only dove head first into work because I want to stop myself from thinking about the two days I spent there.

s*x and anger. Those are all the things that I can think of when it comes to her and I have a feeling that she feels the same way.

She is supposed to return from her business trip tonight and I don’t know if I will be able to stop myself from approaching her when she does.

“You took away all the investments and assets that she has made. Give them back to her.” He growls.

I scoff at that, “first of all, you are in no position to order me around, especially since I have your f*****g business in the palm of my hand and you don’t want to find out what I can do when I am pissed.”

I would rather drink acid before I let a single Mancini believe that they have the upper hand on me. Never. It would be the end of the world before I cower in front of a f*****g Mancini.

“Listen here, dipshit, I don’t know what the f**k is happening in your marriage but you better take care of my sister. Return those assets to her, she has worked hard to procure them all.”

I let out a bitter laugh at that, “as if the Mancini brat has had to work hard for anything in her life.” Ace doesn’t know the true nature of my marriage with Arabella, but now he will, “I am simply taking away what came from a trust fund that your father set up for her. And soon, I will have every asset that you own, and I then I will move on to Dominico until your entire clan is begging in the f*****g streets.”

I have a white knuckled grip on my phone right now and I am quite sure that if Ace doesn’t stop speaking right now then I will probably reach into the device and slit his throat right now.

“That is where you’re wrong, Rhys.” Ace drawls from the other end, “there was never a trust fund for Arabella. Our father didn’t think of her to be a worthy Mancini and she has had to work for everything that she currently has. Every house that she has built, every business that she has opened. It was all her. So, if you think that she was ever a brat, then there is no one more foolish than you in this world.”

The revelation has my heart stopping for a moment and when I do not respond, Ace continues, “now, I don’t know what the f**k you mean to do with my father but you should know that my sister loves you. The only reason I supported her for this marriage is because I thought you were mad about her. Keep the rivalry to us men, Mikhailov. Don’t play with Arabella’s heart in the process.”

“Your sister told your cousin that she was only marrying me because she wanted the Bratva money, Ace. Don’t pretend as if she’s a f*****g saint. I know who she is and she is getting everything that she deserves.” I snap at him, almost ready to end the call right now, if not for what he says next—

“She said all that because our father was listening into that conversation, Rhys.” Ace almost sounds bored than anything else, “do you really believe that she would do something like this? She didn’t want our father to disown her completely, and she was keeping up a pretence back then.”

“You’re lying.” I growl at him, not wanting to admit that his words were actually affecting me.

What if he is telling the truth? What if what I heard back then was a lie?

Oh god…

I shake my head, no…that can’t be true. Arabella is a f*****g Mancini and she doesn’t deserve my sympathy.

She is exactly like my mother after all. Bitchy, bratty, and only cares about money.

“Don’t speak in the matters between me and my wife again, Ace. Or we will have some problems.” And saying that, I end the call, throwing my phone onto the black glass desk as I run my hand through my hair.

Gods, could it be actually true?

I mean, I remember it was just a week before our wedding and I was about to surprise Arabella in her office…

|Flashback|

I don’t know what I am doing anymore.

I know I chose vengeance upon Mancini all those years ago, but here I am, a week away from marrying the daughter.

There is just something about Arabella that drew me in and made sure that I had no way to escape her charm.

I still hate Dominico and I will destroy him completely. But I think that I can also give myself the liberty to love Arabella and keep her away from all this chaos.

I will make her fall so madly for myself that she wouldn’t bat an eye when I do come for her father. I will keep her safe.

I clutch the bouquet of pink tulips as I nod at Arabella’s assistant who is currently hunched over her desk, on a seemingly intense call before I enter the lobby that leads straight to my fiancée’s office.

I hear her laugh and from where I am standing, I can see her inside her office but she can’t see me yet. She is sitting with one of her paternal cousins— Adriana, if I am remembering correctly, and the two of them seem to be in an intense discussion.

That is when I stop in my tracks when I hear Arabella speak, “oh, you know Addy, I would never marry a Mikhailov off my free will.”

All b***d dries in my veins as I almost lose my grip on the bouquet in my hands as I stand frozen on spot.

“I mean, I know that my father is worried about me. But don’t you worry, I am going more as a mole into the dragon’s den than anything else. The fool probably thinks that I have fallen head over heels with him, but I am a Mancini through and through.”

I can’t believe my ears.

These are actually Arabella’s words.

Not anyone else’s.

But Arabella’s.

“Oh, I am so glad you think that way, Bella. Uncle was so angry at you that he was about to send my father here to kidnap you before this wedding. I calmed them down and came instead.” Arabella f*****g giggles at Adriana’s words as she waves her hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry, Addy, you can tell my father that I know exactly what I am doing. He is welcome to attend the wedding and hear me say these same things or he can wait it out till I start gaining more access into Rhys’ empire.” Arabella shrugs, as if she isn’t betraying me right this second. As if she isn’t proving all my better instincts correct. As if she isn’t trampling over all the memories that we have made over the last seven months.

I crush the bouquet in my hands, turning on my heel as I stalk out of the place but not before stopping at her assistant’s desk outside, “if you tell her that I was here today, then I will find you and rip you apart, limb from limb. Is that clear?” I growl at her, and only when she nods, completely scared because of my words, do I finally walk away.

Arabella Mancini will know pain like nothing else before.

I will make sure of it.

|End of Flashback|

No…

What I heard had been true.

Ace just wants to confuse me and distract me from my larger goal.

Arabella was in her own office. There is no chance that Dominico could have been listening into that conversation.

I am not doing anything wrong.