Taken By The Mafia Lord

Marcel felt like a train wreck when he finally woke up. And did he forget to mention that he was also late to go see his cousin Victor in the hospital; it was nearly eleven in the morning. Hence, the first thing he did was to pick up his phone and call Arianna to know how Victor was doing. Or he tried to because she called him right at that moment.

Hello…" Marcel answered hoping that his voice didn't betray him. He should be at the hospital by now.

"How's Victor?" He asked in concern, hoping to God he wasn't about to go relay bad news to his aunt, Carmine. What was he going to tell her? That her son died on a mission that he sent him? The woman understood the risk that came with their occupation, but still, it was going to be heartbreaking.

"He's awake," Arianna announced.

Marcel let out the breath that he had been holding in.

"Is that so?" He wanted to confirm.

"Yes,"

"Thank God," Marcel let out a long deep sigh. So no bad news then. However, it crossed his mind that the only reason he had been able to sleep this soundly was that Arianna kept watch over Victor and so he asked her,

"Thank you for taking care of him, love. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Arianna said to him, and just when he was about to appreciate her for all of her efforts last night, he heard,

"I just saw your father,"

Dang!

His silence was a knee-jerk reaction as it took Marcel over a minute to digest what he just heard, and when he finally spoke a word, he asked,

"Did he hurt you?"

While other men would be excited that their father took out time to visit the woman they were interested in and get to know her, the same couldn't be said for Marcel. He would rather his father not see Arianna till the day he died. Yeah, he didn't want his unappreciated interruption in his relationship.

"No, he didn't, but he mentioned something strange."

"What?"

And just like that, Arianna narrated their entire conversation to him and Marcel pinched the space between his brows as he sighed, "It's a long story."

"I'm all ears." Arianna insisted, and it wasn't surprising. Moreover, it was a critical issue. If Daniel already found out that he lied to her and assumed that she was not pregnant, then Daniel's next stop would be at his place. His father doesn't appreciate people making a fool out of him.

Left with no choice he narrated the event to her, saying in the end, "He was bound to find out one way or another that I fooled him. However, he can't know that you're pregnant for real. Keep the news from everyone for now."

"Fine," Arianna said but he could sense the hesitation in her voice. Marcel knew that he was asking a lot by telling her to keep her pregnancy a secret, but this was not the time. He needed to figure out his father's shit as well. One time, he's against he and Arianna, and the next, he's rushing them into a relationship. Something smells fishy.

" I want …"

"I'm sorry Marcel, but I have to go. See you later. Love you." Arianna ended the call before he was through with his words.

Marcel exhaled loudly, she must be busy or something. He turned and nearly suffered a heart attack.

"Dude!" He called out to Samson, the lion who must have been standing at the side of his bed all this while without making a sound and staring intently at him or so he thought. Marcel glanced down at his phone and figured it out.

"Yes, it's her." He confirmed what he was thinking. Who said animals were not intelligent?

"However," Marcel added in disappointment, "She's not coming home yet."

Samson made a rumble deep in his throat, but that didn't stop Marcel from reaching for him, saying, "I know you miss her buddy, I miss her too."

Marcel intended to embrace and comfort him, however, Samson turned at the last minute, swiping his tail in his face instead, and pawed away leaving a stunned Marcel in his wake.

"That proud, cocky bastard!" Marcel hissed through gritted teeth. Who even let him out of his den?

These days Samson was being so temperamental that one would think that he was having his period. What if he's in heat season? Would he have to go find Samson a lioness that Victor would probably name Delilah? His cousin had once joked about it.

But then, Marcel wondered where he would go find a lioness that the bastard would probably knock up and deliver numerous lion cubs that would litter his compound. Not to mention that mother lionesses are much more fearsome. He didn't have the time to go tame another creature, not to mention the cubs.

No, no, no, the thought of it brought a headache to Marcel. At the moment his problems were choking him, add a lioness to it and he would drown. Not to mention that females were too much trouble. He would have to find a way to make Arianna come down here and appease the angry lion.

A groan left Marcel's lips the instant he tried to stand up to his feet. Arianna had not been kidding when she said he needed bed rest. His ribs hurt and the breath was knocked out of his lungs. Marcel was tempted to return to his bed, but he couldn't, there were just so many things he had to do.

For starters, Daniel would undoubtedly come to his place to blow off some steam and play the victim in his twisted game. Then, he had Winters to deal with for running away without even calling for once plus the aftermath of yesterday's disaster. So yeah, he was not given the option of bed rest.

Standing was impossible, the pain was piercing, hence he reached for the nightstand, albeit with difficulty, and pulled out one of the drawer, taking for the pain relievers that was given to him by the doctor last night. Marcel drank over the recommended dose by one pill, he needed a quick effect.

"Only ten minutes," Marcel said to himself as he laid back on the bed for a short rest.

But he woke up hours later instead.