THE MAFIA’S HEIR

MANUEL’S POV

It wasn’t like I wasn’t remorseful or sorry for the emotional turmoil I had caused her, but I was too shocked to even calculate my thoughts or manage my anger. I had spent the passed hour or so, making series of calls. And it wasn’t just about my cousin’s personal assistant being here under a mistaken identity, it was also about the raid that had taken place yesterday. I was so furious listening to the feedbacks from Massimo, but was more furious when the call had just disconnected while he was still trying to explain all that had transpired. Now, I didn’t know the full story, but a lot of our men were injured. The one that got me so mad was when he said uncle Alexander had been shot on the arm.

A whole lot of things were going through my head, making me reluctant to stop her from walking away in anger. I was not in the right frame of mind to make her calm down. I also couldn’t explain the situation of things to her, because she had no business knowing what the Russo family was really into. I watched as she walked away, fuming in anger. Did she even know where she was headed? I only hoped she went back to the beach house, because this island could be quite big to wander upon, without the company of someone who is used to the environment. The moment she disappeared from sight, another call came in, and I looked to see that it was Alexander. I hadn’t spoken to him since I left for Moscow. I could only imagine how disturbed he was over his father’s health. This was all my fault. If I hadn’t been stupid enough to try out something as foolish as….. I paused ny train of thoughts and answered the call.Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.

“Manuel.” He rushed out, sounding a little out of breathe.

“Alex.” I muttered.

“Are you okay?” His question came as a suprise to me. I had expected him to say a lot of things, but not check up on me.

“That should be my question.” I responded. “Are you fine? You sound like you’re out of breathe.”

“I am.” He rushed out once more, breathing frantically.

“What’s going on?” I asked, already disturbed.

“I’m just busy. I’m busy expending all of my energy on this ass hat!”

“Who are you…?” I was still talking when he interjected.

“I’m sorry bro. But I just couldn’t wait for you to return. Jacobo had to feel a little taste of my wrath.”

“You have Jacobo?”

“Of course, we do. His men as well. The ones who aren’t already dead.” He added, making me sigh. I could hear the clanking of chains and the creaking sound of a door shutting. That indicated he was leaving the guard room where Jacobo probably was.

“Alex, I’m so sorry. About uncle Alexander.”

“Just stop it already, and get back home. You can’t fault yourself for something you had no power over. You need to return, there’s a lot going on.” He said, his breathing finally normalizing.

“What is going on? Massimo told me you got to them in the middle of the action. How did you know something was going on? If I remember, you were at the conference dinner.”

“Manuel, I had gotten a tip from Dito, just a few minutes before realizing that my personal assistant who had excused herself for a pee, had been captured. Luckily, some of the security personnels had been present to witness the scene. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have guessed she had been abducted by X. Bianca is such a wonderful lady. She doesn’t deserve to be dragged into this mess.”

I had wanted to tell him I was with Bianca, but the other thing he said had pulled my attention more. Did he just say X?

“Has Massimo found out whom X is?” I asked.

“I doubt. But I think Dito has an idea who he is. For him to have found out about X’s intent to attack us through Jacobo and his men, I think he is close to unraveling who the bastard is.” Alex spat, sounding really pissed. “I had flown back to Milan immediately, to know the situation of things. When I got there, Dad explained all that was going on, and we got prepared. What we hadn’t seen coming was the fact that Jacobo may have had an inside help.”

“An insider again?!!” I growled. This was really getting out of hand. They may have been few of them who had done it, but it didn’t change the fact that is was formally a rare occurrence.

“Yeahhh.” Alexander replied. “But the good thing is that the bastard was caught. Another good thing was the help we had gotten from our rogue members.”

“Rogue members?” I asked, not really catching onto what he was saying.

“Yes. The men who had aided Jacobo the last time. I’m glad we finally didn’t have them killed. They proved to be of great help yesterday.”

“How?”

“You were right when you decided we use them to our benefit. Marco had informed them of….”

“Marco was in this too?!”

“Exactly why I need you to be back home Manuel. There’s really a lot going on. I guess Marco would definitely be part of such a sabotage, if they were truly working hand in hand with X. The person I haven’t seen come into play so far, is Tawan. The man seems to have been on a low since he returned. There’s no doubt he and X have more plots up their sleeves. What we really have to find out, is who this X is, and what his motives really are. For all I know, he is using Marco and Jacobo to test the waters. There were his sticks for checking how shallow or deep the water actually was. Their plan was quite strategic. It is something both Jacobo and Marco wouldn’t have done, without making sure that they had a good backing. Now X knows our capabilities, who knows what he’s going to throw at us next?”

“I have it!” I found myself saying. Through the time Alexander had been speaking, my mind had been running wild, trying to understand and calculate a lot of things. I was finally getting a grasp of this madness.

“What?”

“Like you said, we don’t know when or what X may be planning for us next. Make sure Jacobo and Marco and extremely tortured, but remain alive. For them to have taken such a bold step against us, they must have been offered something really huge. For them to have been offered something so great, that made it worth risking their lives, they had probably seen this mysterious X. They seem to be our only key to knowing whatever we have to know.”

“You’re right, I guess.” Alex sighed. “It’s safe to say we conquered this round, but I’m not sure of the next. What bothers me the most right now, is the whereabouts of Bianca. What do they want with her? You haven’t even said anything about that. I feel that would even be the major part of…”

“Calm down.” I muttered softly.

“It’s hard to do so, knowing the innocent lady is somewhere, fighting to stay alive. The only reasonable thing I can make out of all these, is the fact that they might have taken her, instead of taking your fiance. Bianca doesn’t hold any major value to us, so I doubt they’d want her. Why didn’t you show up yesterday? In fact, what’s going on Manuel?”

“Alex….” I sighed. He seemed so worried about Bianca. “Bianca is…. Bianca is safe.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because she’s with me, here in Moscow.”

“She with you, where?!!!” He yelled into the phone, making me grimace. “How?!”

“Like you had suspected. It was a case of mistaken identity.”

“I don’t get you.”

“Massimo’s men had mistakenly abducted Bianca, instead of Francesca.” Knowing he was going to ask me another question, I quickly rushed out. “That was part of the suprise I had for Francesca.”

“To kidnap her?!”

“Yes.” I rushed out, before correcting myself. “No.”

“Manuel, what’s up with you?”

“Don’t sound like I’m going bunkers or something.” I retorted.

“But that is how it seems.” He actually seemed concerned at the moment, which made me chuckle.

“Then you should wait until you hear what the full plan was.”

“And what was it?”

“I had planned to marry Francesca, under the guise of being abducted.” I finally let it out. Pheeww!! That was really difficult.

“What?!! Manuel have you gone mad??!”

“No.” I replied dryly. “I just wanted to do something spontaneous, like you said. That way, I know what Francesca really wants.” I had expected him to give a whole lot of several responses, but not what he ended up saying.

“Don’t tell me you fucking married the poor girl!!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Bianca.” He said, and I sighed in mental exhaustion as I remembered the events that had occurred earlier in the day. “Manuel, did you marry my personal assistant?” His voice sounded steely, making me suprised.

“Alexander, you seem to really have a soft spot for the woman.”

“Which I’m even yet to show.” He countered me, making my eyes go wide in suprise.

“Alexander….” I called carefully. “What about Bella?” I didn’t want to believe it was what I was thinking.

“Christ!!!” He sounded shocked. “Are you being serious Manuel? No one, absolutely no one can replace Bella in my life. And no! I don’t like her that way.”

“Then what way? You sounded really furious.”

“How exactly was I supposed to sound, knowing the emotional crisis the girl would have gone through? She was already feeling so shitty last night, having to wear the same dress as Francesca.”

“There you go again. Why does she have Bella’s dress?! We both purchased those dresses for our women. Bianca doesn’t look like your woman in anyway.”

“Bella herself, asked me to give it to Bianca. The dress was a small fit. She had added quite some weight with the pregnancy, so…” He explained. “And as for Bianca, I had in mind to take her under me. Manuel, the lady has a lot of potentials that are wasting. She’s really smart. She’s a gem, and you know how much I love to work on gems.”

“So she’s like a daughter to you or what?” I jested, purposely trying to rile him up.

“Do you even hear yourself?” He asked, and we both burst out laughing. “Well, the aim wasn’t to make her my daughter.” He laughed again. “The aim was to become her mentor.”

“But you said she’s so efficient being your assistant. Are you really sure you want to….”

“Trust me Manuel, I would definitely find someone who can live up to expectations just like Bianca has done. But I need Bianca to be of use to me in a much better place.”

“Is this what I’m thinking?”

“What are you thinking?” He teased.

“Do you trust her that much?”

“I guess trust progresses with time. Time would tell.”

“Don’t you think that project may be too much for her to handle as a start? Moreover, what do you think Nonno would say about this? His granddaughters; our cousins, all wanted a chance to handle that project as well.”

“But he asked me to oversee the project, which means that I get to choose who’s best for the job. And as for her capability, Bianca adapts very quickly.”

“You have so much faith in the girl.” I chuckled, suddenly getting interested in the lady.

“Well, that is what it takes to be a mentor. So far, I think I’ve mentored the best students.” I was so sure he was grinning. He wasn’t wrong though. Alex had mentored a couple of people, who have ended up being useful to the Russo empire, through their various high profile positions. I guess he plans to do more. I was pleased. “Manuel, send Bianca back to me in one piece.”

“So sorry about the whole mix up. She’d be back tomorrow.” I assured him.

“And I hope you didn’t marry her?!!” He asked, making me scoff.

“Are you serious right now? Massimo’s men may have been blind to mistake her for Francesca, but I’m not. Neither is she daft to see me and still let me wed her.”

“Good.” He sighed. “Spoken to Francesca yet?” He asked, and all I really wanted to do was groan so loudly.

“I guess that’s another part of the whole drama I’m hoping to avoid.”

“Oh, you can’t my dear.” Alex laughed. “How dare you take the woman who wore the same dress as I?” He mimicked Francesca, making me laugh.

“Naahhh… I doubt Francesca would be as petty as that. But she’d definitely be furious about the fact that I wasn’t with her on her birthday.”

“You should talk about the fact that she’d be furious you thought you could abduct your way into marrying her! Spontaneity in marraige?! What the hell were you even thinking?”

“I really don’t know.” I sighed, facepalming myself. “You had suggested it as a joke, but later on, I thought it was a good idea.”

“Now you know it wasn’t. No wonder you didn’t tell me. You knew I was gonna talk you out of it.”

“But Alex, do you really think Francesca could have turned me down?”

“I don’t think I’m the best person to ask that question.” He sighed. “You should have that talk with her when you return. You both are not getting any younger. And there’s really no fun in just dating and breaking up, over and over again. Nothing new. You are now Don, and should take your love life more seriously. In case you do not realize, you need an heir sooner than you think. It would not be funny if Nonno decides to speak with you on this matter. The old man had probably held himself back from showing his displeasure over your choice to be with Francesca. I guess he is silent for reasons best known to him. But then, If Francisco doesn’t want you for his daughter, then just….”

“Alexander, you know the circumstances surrounding Francesca and I.”

“You’re overthinking this.”

“She saved my life!! A Ferrari who saved my life, Alex. What’s there not to overthink?”

“Fine. Francesca saved your life some years back, and you think marrying her or being with her is the only way you can return the favour or show how thankful you are? Are you even with Francesca because you love her too, or just out of gratitude and obligation? I’ve never really wanted to have this conversation, but I think it’s time we did.”

**********************************

I walked back to the beach house after my long conversation with Alex. When I had asked my men and Massimo’s men about Bianca, they claimed she hadn’t come here since the drama at the wedding venue.

“Alexa?” I enquired.

“She drove away a while back.” The guy whose name was Philippe said. He seemed to be the bright one among Massimo’s men. “Though she said she’d return soon. Said something about getting the miss some clothing.”

That was really thoughtful of Alexa. Though I felt sad that her efforts at making the wedding a success, had gone to waste.

“When Bianca gets back here, let me know.” I instructed, before walking into one of the rooms. The aim had been to get some rest and sort my thoughts out, but I guess it was funny of me to think that was possible. The moment I had laid on the bed, Francesca’s call came in, and we had quite a messy quarrel. After I ended the call, I finally made a decision concerning Francesca and I. I guess the spontaneity paid off after all. Now I knew Francesca wouldn’t have accepted to marry me, if I had succeeded in getting her here. It made me think about what Alex and I had talked about. The incidence that occured 4 years ago had only made me obligated to be with Francesca. I wouldn’t deny the fact that I did care about her a great deal. At some point I think I really loved her. But what I also wouldn’t deny is the fact that the situation she had put me in, is only making me derail in my obligations as Don. I was already 30, and it was time I settled down. I couldn’t keep playing these endless games with Francesca. For that reason, I was going to do it when I returned to Milan tomorrow. I was going to break up with Francesca. This time, it’d be for good.

By the time I finally slept, it was already mid afternoon. I had slept in for much longer than I had expected. When I woke up, it was already 7 in the evening. The first thing that came to my mind was calling my pilot and making arrangements for our trip back to Italy tomorrow. What I just had not seen coming, was the response I had gotten from him. I felt my heart fall to the pit of my stomach.

A travel ban? Now of all times? God! What the hell was I going to tell Bianca? She was already very furious as it was. Telling her our stay had been stretched to an extra week was going to make her go crazy. I really couldn’t deal with that.

After sitting on bed and thinking for a while, I decided to go speak with her. Asides from the fact that she deserved a good apology, I also had to let her know the new turn of events. I was Manuel Russo, never scared of anything. But remembering how angry she had been this morning, I dreaded seeing her in a worse mood. Nonetheless, I changed my clothes and made my way outside the beach houses, where my men were.

“Why didn’t no one come to inform me about Bianca’s return?” I asked no one in particular.

“Our apologies Don, but the miss is yet to return.” One of my men replied, and I found it hard to believe.

“That’s not possible. She is supposed to have….” I trailed off, before speaking up again. “And you mean to tell me that none of you have gone in search of her?”

“We all did, Don. But we couldn’t find her anywhere.” Phillipe replied.

“They are telling the truth my friend.” I turned to see Alexa. “The bella is yet to return. We’ve also looked everywhere for her, but didn’t find her.”

Oh fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! I promised to bring Bianca back to Italy in one piece. She couldn’t go missing now. Before I could even place my thoughts together, my legs had swung into action. This island was very big, and that had been part of my fears when she had walked off in anger. I just hope she wasn’t hurt in anyway. I could hear the sounds of my men following me behind, but my mind had been more focused on finding Bianca.

I don’t know how far or long I had walked for, but I could tell that my men may have lost me. I couldn’t hear them behind me anymore. Just when I got to the one of the beaches on the island, I saw a body far off, laying on the soft sand. I quickly made my way towards the body, not doubtful for a single moment that she was the one. When I had finally gotten to her, I squatted to her level and looked over her features under the bright moonlight. Now, I felt remorseful for how exhausted she looked. I wasn’t one to get so emotional, but for some reasons, I felt terrible. Sighing in equal exhaustion from fear that she may have gotten lost, I found myself stroking her exquisite hair. It didn’t just have a beautiful color, the texture was so soft as well.

“Biancaaa…. I really do hope you forgive me.” I muttered, thinking about the travel ban and how she was going to react to such news. I scooped her slender body into my arms and for a moment, she opened her eyes. She didn’t stay awake for more than a few seconds, before closing her eyes again. I guess we were stuck here together for the next week.