Mafia Boss's Secret Wife

Chapter 10: Decision

I know better than to follow a strange man into a dark and narrow alleyway, but as I make my way through the swarm of people, trying to understand what and how exactly it happened, I understand that the devil was amidst us, not taking shady alleyways. He was walking in the daylight, wearing a rosary wrapped around his wrist while breathing deeply from his cigar.

Thomas, leaning against a police car, wearing a pair of round shades and a log coat that comes all the way to his knees, opened, showing the white turtleneck and black tailored pants in which the shirt is tucked, stares blankly at the burning building.

“There is no one inside!” I hear somewhere in the distance and I recognize the voice of the security guard of the building.

“This time.” Thomas comments as he exhales deeply and lets out a thick cloud of smoke.

He plucks the cigar from between his lips and his face turns to me. A twisted and wicked smile curls on his otherwise emotionless face, before he stomps on the cigar and walks away without another word.

I know damn well I am supposed to follow, but I am rooted in my spot, watching him put distance between us, hands in the pockets of his coat, the cross from his rosary dangling out of the pocket. A silver cross…

“Persephone!” Karina’s voice makes me hurry and turn around.

She is running towards me, eyes wide, in a frenzy. Behind her, one of the policemen stands, gun in hand, pointed in her direction. My chest swells with fear and I take a step forward. A loud explosion fills the sky, the flames roaring closer to the sky than before, fueled by the explosion, Karina collapses in my arms and everything seems to stop for a moment. Even my heart.

My eyes are pinned on the policeman who lowered his gun slowly, his phone pressed to his ear.

He-

The screams and the noise dims down and over the deafening sound of my heartbeat, Karina’s voice breaks through, bringing me back to reality. She was holding my face harshly, cheeks stained with tears and words slurred with sobs.

“I thought you were inside!” She keeps repeating over and over again, steadying herself and shaking her head in a chaotic frenzy.

My eyes move to her and I scan her immediately. She was… not bleeding! She wasn’t shot, she-

My head whips and I stare in the opposite direction. Thomas’s back is still turned to us, he is far and out of reach, his phone pressed to his ear and I can only guess this was his doing.

Knees give in and both me and my friend collapse to the ground, knees scrapping on the rough pavement while we embrace each other.

I have never felt more terrified than now. Thinking that I was to hold a dying friend was never on my list of things I wished to never experience. Never thought it was an option until today.

One thing was certain though. Thomas has made a clear point. And I had to hurry… before anything else happens.

I stumble up on my feet again and peel away from Karina who seems to not be able to stop blabbering. Something about worry. Something about a dream…

It was not important right now. I leave her behind as I rush through the ever growing crowd, chasing after Thomas.

Utterly lost and left behind, I come to an abrupt stop and give myself a second to look around. The chaos spreads as the building lets out a raging sound that has everybody screaming and yelling and mainly regretting they have been bulking around. Debris is sent all around the building and I see a huge chunk of cement collide with one of the nearby buildings. This has gotten out of hand a bit too fast… and I only had myself to blame.

If only I would have taken his threat to heart and didn't waste any time in complying…

In a haze ,I look around and turn and search for him in the crowd. Right when hope seems to die, I spot him. Not too far, yet out of reach. Something within me, just at the sight of him, wanted to turn around and run the other way. But I knew better. I mustered all the courage I could find within myself and made my way to him.

It's not unexpected to see him disinterested. He turns his head to look at me, no smile, no emotion really. He was just like always, a statue. The tension between us feels just as thick and uncomfortable as the smoke of the angry firI am the only one affected by it. I breathe in deeply, my eyes moving all over his figure before pinning on the ground, silently waiting for words to come back to me.

"Come." Thomas was the one to speak when he noticed my hesitation and lack of courage.

A cold shiver rushes through my body and I can't help but feel utterly and completely disarmed. With his hands in his pockets, the man turns on his heels and doesn't once look back to see if I was following. But I am. Silently defeated, I walk behind him, mulling the same thoughts, over and over, in my head.

I was trapped. I was never going to get back to my normal life. Everything that was now happening was my fault. No one I knew was safe. He had the upper hand. He could easily get to me… I had to make sure he would never come to those I loved.

Thomas walks away from the whole scene as if the fucker did not start the fire himself. He doesn't care about the panicked people, he doesn't care about the dozens firefighters risking their life to stop something he willingly did. As if he doesn't have a damn consciousness!

He stops in front of a car. A Bentley I've seen before… I feel beads of sweat forming on the back of my head, and my skin turns to goosebumps. He opened the door of the car. If I got in, my life was going to be over.

My eyes scan the car, our surroundings and him once more. Oddly enough, he seemed very patient today. He leaned against the door, holding it open, waiting for me to get inside. He didn't say a thing, but I could feel his gaze on me. It was as if he was trying to pierce a hole in my head. Was he trying to figure out what I was thinking? Not as if my panic was not obvious…

"If I get in-" the words come out shaky and insecure and I feel like a fool once more. "- will you stop this madness? Will my friends be safe? And my mother?!" the questions come tumbling, overwhelming my already chaotic mind.

Tears pool in my eyes. Tears I have been holding back for a while now.

"You have my word." Thomas answers and I can't help but let out an unamused huff.

"Yeah. As if the word of a criminal is of any value -" I mutter as I crawl into the backseat of the car.

Thomas watches me with a certain hesitation. He wanted to say something. Something smart? Something stupid? I can see the way his jaw clenches and his lips press in a thin line and before I can mock him for it, the door is slammed close and I am alone in the back.

A shaky exhale escapes me and before I can understand what is happening, the car starts and we drive off. But Thomas never got in the car…. What was happening?!

In the driver's seat there is someone I have never seen before and strangely enough, I feel safer than if Thomas was driving. There were a few things I was certain of right now and one of them was that no one dared to cross Thomas Bechtel. If the man wanted me safe, I'd be safe.

But what if he didn't?

What if the bastard didn’t mean to keep me alive? did I do something to upset him? Did I do something to go against the mafia? Was i linked to some gang?! No! I couldn’t be! None of this, then… why was I here in the first place?

I shift in my seat and turn to look back. Behind the car, at a distance, I can still see Thomas. I can still see the mess he did just to prove a point: that he was a dangerous man and one way or another he always got his way.

A dreadful feeling takes hold of my chest as I settle back down and grab my phone.

“Should make use of your phone service now. When we’re out of the city -“

“We’re going out of the city?!” panic surges through my veins and I start to consider that I’ve made a mistake… should have at least bargained before selling my soul to the devil.