Page 15 of Claimed By Him

I didn’t look up. I felt more confused than insecure. I also couldn’t stop wondering if Tony had caught up with Frederico, and I hoped to God not. These idiotically angry men would destroy each other before they ever talked it out and realized there was nothing to be so angry about.

“Look, babe,” Ari took my hand, “whatever was wrong with him, it had nothing to do with you, I know that. Christ, Fi; I’d screw you if I was a lesbian! There’s no doubt in my mind!”

I giggled, looked up at her, and squeezed her hand. “Thanks, girl. I think I just need to forget about this.”

“Yesss!” She moved her hips from side to side. “Let’s get some more drinks and dance with some boys!”

I ended up drinking most of that bottle of vodka and quietly stumbling back into the house at 3 a.m., entirely intoxicated. After washing my face, I fell into bed with no more than a large, soft T-shirt on. It didn’t take me long to pass out, but I did so wondering what had happened with Tony. Was he okay? Oh, shit, I meant Freddie, was he okay?

In the morning, I had no reason to get up, so I lay there and thought about my life. No, not just about what had happened last night but my entire life. All I ever tried to do was be true to myself. To be as bad a bitch as I possibly could because it wasn’t only what was expected of me as a mafia princess, but what I expected from myself.

But how could I do that when I had no idea what my future held for me? Was Freddie going to pretend last night didn’t happen and try to live his life according to his dad’s rules, or would he drop me as his future wife and ruin it all? The worse thought of all:Would I not only be in a loveless marriage but a sex-less one too?

Jesus. I didn’t think I could live with that. I wasn’t planning on being the cheating type, but if Freddie was going to go through with marrying me, I just might have to find a boy toy to keep my own needs satisfied. And he would have to be really good to make up for the fact that I had a sex-less marriage. He’d have to be like, like… a Tony level of hotness.

I knew arranged marriages sometimes worked like that, but for fuck’s sake, look at me. I had a perfect body. Surely I could find a husband who actually wanted me in his bed? If only I wasn’t a goddamn mafia princess whose life needed to be controlled by literally all the men she knew.

There was a knock on the door, and I mumbled, “Who is it?”

“It’s Sophia. Miss Fiona, can I come in?” The voice of our housekeeper came softly through the cracks of my bedroom door.

“Of course, come in.” I sat up in bed and wiped my eyes. Immediately my head began pounding with pain, and I tried to hide my hangover as much as I could, even though Sophia was very innocent and probably wouldn’t suspect a thing. She was an Italian woman that my father saved from her own abusive family many years ago. She was now above middle-aged and had worked as our housekeeper since before I was born.

Sophia opened the door and her cat, Leonessa, bounded inside and onto my bed. She always followed her around the house. She was also the nicest cat I’d ever come across who actually didn’t mind being cuddled. I brushed my fingers through her soft fur and smiled when Sophia sat on the edge of my bed.

“Cara.” She reached out and put her hand on my knee, speaking in her thick Italian accent. “I wanted to let you know before your father did, I know he can be very insensitive about these things.”

“Um, yeah?”

“Frederico is dead, Fiona.”

“Wait, what?” I shook my head, refusing to believe her words. It didn’t take long for Tony’s words to take hold of my mind, instead.I’m gonna kill that motherfucker. No… he couldn’t have… “How did it happen?” I asked quickly, needing all the facts to figure this out.

Did Tony really go through with it? He was a merciless, dark person, but I didn’t think he could kill out of spite. Could he? I just assumed he meant he was going to fuck him up somehow, maybe leave him bruised with a bloody nose. Would Tony really have physically killed Freddie? And for what? My honor?

“There was an accident last night… He lost control of his car and drove off the road. They say he was dead on arrival… I’m so sorry,mi amore. Come here.”

She reached forward and hugged me. I rested my cheek on her shoulder, feeling tears burn my eyes but not even blinking them away. I couldn’t understand it. Maybe Frederico really did have an accident, maybe Tony didn’t catch up with him. I clung to that hope, refusing to jump to conclusions.

Frederico was pretty intoxicated, but was hethatstoned? That drunk? No. He definitely seemed pretty sober after our little ordeal. Something deep inside me doubted that he had an innocent, unavoidable accident. Something told me there was foul play.

Tony was a scary looking man, but on the inside, he was a good person. I knew that much. Surely he didn’t cause this. I’d seen the good in him every time he pulled me out of a bad situation and brought me home. Sure, he’d punched a guy out for groping me in a club once, but he definitely didn’t look murderous about it.

So, what the fuck happened last night?

I closed my eyes, and my tears finally fell down my cheeks. Under the immense sadness closing in on my chest, I felt guilt. Could his death really have been because of me? Either way, I had a hand in it. If he was too upset to drive properly, it was because of me, and if it was Tony who killed him, it was because I hadn’t explained to him that nothing happened. I didn’t do enough to stop him.

“I, ah… I just want to lie down, okay?” I asked Sophia in a weak voice. She nodded and wiped my cheek.

“I’ll bring breakfast soon.”

She left me, and I curled up under my blanket. I felt horrific. I felt like a terrible person. This was going to haunt me forever; I just knew it.

Did Tony care that much about me and my stupid tears to chase Frederico off the road? Make it look like an accident? I definitely would not put it past him… and that horrified me. The men in my own family appalled me when they walked into the house with blood on their clothes. More often than not, they’d done something ruthless, even nonsensical in my opinion. Was Tony just the same?

8

Tony

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