Taken By The Mafia Lord

"What was your mother like?" Arianna asked out of sheer curiosity.

As a child who grew up without one, she has often wondered what her mother would look like. Does she have her red hair? Where did she get her looks from, her mother or father? Thoughts like that had always filled her mind and the loss made her feel empty - she would never get to find out.

But Arianna didn't know which one was more devastating, the fact that the mother she had always longed for was alive and never bothered to come for her. It made Arianna feel unwanted and sad - just how much had the woman hated her that she never even wanted to see her face. No wonder their father didn't have a single photo of her on the walls, the woman must not have wanted her to know her identity.

Anyway, she was good, Arianna already made peace with reality. The woman didn't want her, so she wouldn't search for her either even though her father's last wish was to find her. Sorry, papa, but her life was better left the way it was with less complication. Arianna was completely sure that if her father was alive to see the kind of mess that she was in, then he would agree to her decision.

"My mother was a kind woman," Was all Marcel said and Arianna looked at him questioningly, urging him to speak on, but all she got from him was a confused look.

Arianna sighed, this was a total disaster. Does Marcel even know about the word opening up? No, it wasn't going to work this way.

So she explained to him, "I can assure you that ninety percent of people in this world would agree that their mother is kind. It's engineered into our system to want to defend not only our mothers, but our fathers as well. We would want to only see their good side because that's what makes our parents our superheroes and that is what I want to know, Marcel. What makes your mother your superhero?"

Marcel swallowed, and the slight discomfort she noticed around him told Arianna that he now fully grasped the hint of what she wanted from him.

"I don't know your definition of a relationship, Marcel, but partners share secrets. They show their weakness, with the hope that it is accepted by one another." Arianna said to Marcel, knowing that he had trust issues. Also, that was not the way of the Mafia. What if things changed in the future and she used that against him? She bet Marcel was thinking that.

So Arianna reached out and took his hand and squeezed it with assurance,

"I swear on my life that anything you tell me in here would never escape another ear," She took an oath, and only then, was Marcel able to relax enough to open up to her.

Marcel took their hand and intertwined them, staring at the action as if it was fascinating, yet he had this far away look in his eyes as if he was lost in those memories that formed part of his personality.

"My mother never wanted to marry my father," Marcel confessed and Arianna felt her throat constrict with emotion. He barely began and she was already feeling sympathy for him, what would then happen throughout the rest of the story knowing that Marcel had a rough life?

"Heck, I heard that she had plans of aborting me, but when Daniel heard that he knocked her up and she was already pregnant with a son, he couldn't let that happen. He needed an heir and a perfect opportunity just presented itself."

Arianna squeezed his hand tighter as if providing some level of comfort even though Marcel didn't show it. But she was no fool, Marcel was hurting inside. It was not easy to open up about experiences like this one, but here he was, doing it all because of her. Both of them were unwanted by their mothers, but unlike her's, Marcel's mother changed her mind in the end and accepted such a cruel fate because of him.

He went on, "Her family refused at first, but Daniel went on to threaten them and they had no choice but to give her up rather than bring on his wrath. So they got married and my mother was left all by herself and then, she had me. It was not easy to survive there with my father's brutality, but she did and the only friend she had was Victor's mother. Unfortunately, even at that, it was still not enough.

"It wasn't surprising that she fell into depression with the way my father treated her. I might have been a kid but I understood domestic violence quite well and each time, it was almost as if my father was throwing his aggression on her… as if she made him lose something precious… as if she was undeserving of him and she was nothing but a flea that bothered him…" Marcel swallowed hard, thinking about it," It was almost as if he was blaming her. "

His gray eyes bored into hers and Arianna knew he was beginning to perceive the motive behind his father's action now that he thought about it. Marcel's jaw was clenched while he was holding onto her tightly to the point of almost bruising her, not that he knew.

"I asked him to divorce him and run away from here to save her life, I could see my mother withering away before my very eyes, but she wouldn't listen. Mafia families hardly divorced because of the risks but Daniel had kept my mother away from the family business hence she knew nothing nor would he even flinch if his enemies caught hold of her. If anything, they did him a favor and Carmine wouldn't accuse him of murdering her. But my mother was damn stubborn, her only reason for living was me and she wouldn't let go. "