Page 78 of Ruthless Mafia Daddy

I found Annalise standing wide-eyed in front of the door with a bowl of soup in hand. I was certain she heard everything that went down, and I brushed past her without a word. She was Arielle’s problem, not mine.

CHAPTER 35

Arielle

“Call me if you need anything, anything at all, okay?” Vivian said, pulling James into a bone-crushing hug.

“Yeah. Don’t be a stranger, kiddo,” I added, smiling at them.

“I’ll try,” he replied with his signature boyish grin. “Viv, I won’t make it to the plane alive if you keep squeezing me like that.”

“Just give me five more seconds,” she groaned, pulling him impossibly closer to her and earning them weird glances from people at the check-in while I stood there, watching with an awkward smile.

A lot had changed during my absence and with that wave of change came a bond between Vivian and James. Apparently, following my rebellion, father ordered them to return home, keeping a close leash on them which resulted in Vivian developing a protective big sister instinct towards him.

“You visit for holidays, right? Jason will be mad if you don’t.”

I rolled my eyes at her antics. “We both know Jason won’t be very mad about that. Let the boy go before he misses his turn.”

“Be good, okay,” she said, finally releasing him from her hold.

“I’ll try,” he smirked before turning to me and pulling me into a surprising hug. “Thanks, Arielle, for everything,

“It’s fine,” I replied, hugging him briefly.

We waved goodbye, and Vivian ended up crying like a baby the entire drive home.

I’ve been home for two months, and I completely devoted my first month to clearing the names of myself and my adopted siblings, deleting traces of hidden identities, and freeing ourselves from the life Henry created for us.

We were in luck, and the old man had no one to fight for him or avenge his death. He was pretty much an asshole to all and had no family left behind, so there was no final battle to be won.

His enormous wealth was split between us, and what was left went to charity—mostly the orphanage—to make up for the damage. We equally found the officials who were responsible for our adoption and brought them to justice.

James spent some time with us, mostly because he wanted to form a relationship with Jason and me before leaving. Henry’s betrayal brought us closer, opening us up to the fact that we were the only family we had.

Life was slowly getting back on track, and I was adjusting to being just Arielle. I chose to keep the name over Cara since the only person who called me that was dead, and I wanted the name to die with him.

“That’s not the way home,” Vivian pointed out as I made a diversion to the right instead of taking the straight route.

“I know, Viv. Jason won’t be home till two, and I just need some time to cool off before returning to being treated like a fucking parasite.”

“You still haven’t spoken to him?” she asked, her warm gaze resting on me.

“There’s nothing to say, Viv. This is my life. I’m going to be forever tethered to a man who hates me.”

“I don’t think he hates you, Ari. He’s hurt, but I don’t think he hates you. It would be weird if he welcomed you with open arms after what happened, and you know it.”

I let out a soft sigh, feeling the weight of the past days perpetually stacked on my shoulders. Vivian was right, but it didn’t make things easier.

Mikhail avoided me like a plague. He left most of the messages with Maya and only spoke to me if it was totally unavoidable or he had to with Jason.

I had gone from being the object of his complete devotion to blending in with one of the abstract paintings on his wall—unimportant and barely noticed—and it hurt a lot more than I imagined.

My only consolation was how happy he made Jason. He was ecstatic to discover Mikhail was his daddy. He was also at the receiving end of the purest love from multiple people.

Enzo showered him with the most expensive gifts. Vivian took him to all the parks and fairs in the whole of New York while Maya made sure he had a taste of every food he saw on TV. When living with Mikhail got really difficult, I comforted myself withthe love my baby was receiving. He deserved all of it after the life we had in Italy.

“So, what do you suggest I do?” I asked, pulling my lips between my teeth.

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