Taken By The Mafia Lord

"That took longer than I thought," Natalie commented as soon as Eric came into the living room. She had expected her daughter would not be accommodating and would kick him out of the room immediately.

"Yes, we had a bit of an adult conversation and I might have told her that we are a couple," Eric said, reaching for her hand and taking it, intertwining their hands together with a small smile.

"Oh," A blush crept to her face. She turned to him, not directly looking him in the eyes as she asked, "And how did she take it?"

He pursed his lips, "Well, surprisingly well. There was no screaming or cursing, or violence, well, a little bit of sarcasm was involved," He listed out.

"That's not surprising." She said,

"Well, I mean, she took it better than I honestly thought she would. Even if she bears any resentment, I understand her. When my mother died, my greatest fear was of my father remarrying. I mean Ephraim and I could handle ourselves, we were grownups. But Elvis, Ezra, Elijah especially," He emphasized, "He was just a kid and I have heard of how destructive stepmothers could be."

"As the eldest and twins at that, Ephraim and I weren't always around. We were always on the go with father learning how the family business worked and I didn't want my brothers to suffer from my negligence. But then…" He looked at her with a bright expression, squeezing her hand affectionately, "You came along, and everything just kind of sorted out."

"I'm not happy with how your past went, Natalie, but sometimes I think it was for a greater purpose. You were sent for me, a guardian angel."

"Oh please, stop it!" She hit him on the chest, playfully. Natalie went red in the face and hid away in embarrassment.

"So I get it if she doesn't like me, I'm not rushing it. It's kind of too much on her at the moment, knowing that her mother was alive all these years and the fact she was getting married to the brother of the man that she was once in love with." He sighed," Arianna needs space to accept all of this. "

"Well, she would get enough time here, and you haven't asked me how it went with Rose."

"Oh!" He finally remembered and leaned closer to her.

"I was nervous over nothing because Rose can't wait to see Arianna. She says it's like having a big sister and she's been praying for one all along," Natalie announced enthusiastically.

"That is alright, and relieving at the same time." Eric breathed, "I think I need to make a call to…" He felt his pocket and came up with nothing.

His brows furrowed at once and Eric stood up to check his pocket properly. He was sure that he had his phone on him until he entered…

"Shit!" He cursed and turned, making a beeline to Arianna's room at once. Eric was so carried over by his role as acting stepdad that he forgot Elijah's warning that the girl was a natural at lifting things that don't belong to her.

This was the first time that he had a pickpocket in his house and he did not know how to feel about that.

"What is it?" Natalie was confused. She didn't know what was going on and that made her anxious.

"She took my cell phone!"

"Who…?" It finally dawned on her and she followed after him.

Eric didn't even knock, he simply pulled the door open and walked in without notice. Lo and behold, Arianna was standing in the corner of the room with the missing phone pressed to her ears.

The blood paled from her face, "Shit! They're here!" She said to whoever was on the line with her.

Although Eric didn't need to guess who she was on the phone with, it was probably Marcel or whoever else she thought could get her out of there.

"Adele -!"

He simply ripped the phone from her ears and she glared at him. And here he thought they were friends when it was all a pretense. Seems she took after her mother after all.

"What have you done?!" Natalie came to stand in front of her, fuming.

"You can't keep me here! I deserve the right to make my choices and I don't want to be here. Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Arianna shouted at her, frustrated.

She was tired of all of this. Why were the elderly ones making this huge deal? The problem was with them, not her and Marcel. They were innocent of all of this. She and Marcel loved each other and simply wanted to be with one another without all of this trouble.

"Because you're my daughter and I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did!" Natalie told her sternly. Nor did she look ready to yield to her childish request anytime soon.

In Natalie's eyes, Arianna was still a child and had not seen half the destruction, anyone with Luciano blood was capable of wreaking. She had seen it all in her days and it was her responsibility as her mother to keep her from the path of destruction. Arianna might not understand it now, but she would thank her later in the future.

"This is not a mistake!" Arianna cried out, sliding to the ground, "I love him! I love Marcel and he would never hurt me. You just don't understand!" She spoke through her tears, trying to convince her mother and as strict as Natalie was, her heart melted at the sight.

She has no other choice but to go over to her daughter and pull her into her arms. Natalie said to her,

"I am so sorry,"

She didn't want her comfort, Arianna wanted to push her away. Her mother was responsible for all of this, but she found herself hugging her tight as if her whole life depended on her.

"I'm so sorry, my baby," Natalie comforted her.