The Mafia’s Forbidden Desire

ROSALINDA

I didn’t know if it was from crying too much, but my entire body felt weak and sick. Regardless, I still found the strength to go see my sister, as I couldn’t wait for a second longer. I needed to see for myself that she was fine, even though I had been told that she was. Antonio had suggested we go see the doctor first, insisted even, but I was adamant on seeing my sister first.

I had dreamt about losing her to the cold hands of death during my brief nap, and my heart couldn’t help but beat faster as we got closer to the ward she was in. What if my dream was true? What if I truly lost her? What if they told me she was fine just to give me fake comfort? My mind wouldn’t stop being a dark mess, as those thoughts coursed through my mind.

Stopping in front of the room, Antonio opened the door and held it for me to enter. My eyes lit up, and warmth saturated my entire body when I saw Sofia laying on the bed, surrounded by my family. She was alive!

My lips spread into a very wide smile as I hurried towards her, leaned in, and wrapped my arms around her. “Thank God!” I exclaimed, smiling widely, with tears streaming down my face-tears of joy.

“I heard you were scared of losing me.” She spoke, her voice barely audible.

“Me?” I pointed at myself, shaking my head with a grimace.

“You liar.” She accused, smiling.

“What about the babies?” I alternated my gaze between everyone in the room, asking no one in particular.

“In the incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit.” Mama replied.

“They are beautiful.” Matteo said.

“Really beautiful.” Papa affirmed.

I snapped my gaze at him, raising a brow. I thought he despised them even before they were born. I guess Oliver being a Petrov changed everything. Speaking of Oliver…

I turned to look at Giovanni and asked, “Where is Oliver?”

“He went to get something from the store, as requested by his lover.” He replied, grinning.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

Blowing out a long breath, I hugged Sofia again, pouring out my feelings this time. “I wouldn’t have been able to live without you.”

“I know.” She said. “I love you.”

“I love you too, little sister.”

Directing her gaze towards the door, her eyes narrowed as she stared at Antonio, who was leaning against it. “Why is he standing there? He seems like a threat.”

“You know he’s not.”

“He’s not?” She settled her gaze on me. “But why’s he frowning so hard?”

“Perhaps it’s because our marriage, which was scheduled for today, couldn’t take place because of you.” The words slipped out of my mouth. I gasped and clasped my mouth with my palm the second realisation dawned on me.

I could feel everyone’s heated stare on me, and I shut my eyes tightly closed in regret. I shouldn’t have said that.

“What?!” Came Mama’s exclamation.

“Oh, shoot!” Gio’s followed.

“Start talking.” Sofia urged.

“You better be kidding.” Matteo was the last to express shock.

Papa was oddly quiet, and his silence scared me more than his words would.

I definitely shot myself in the leg. But since I had mistakenly spilled, I might as well just let the cat out of the bag and be free of any guilt.

Inhaling a long breath and exhaling, I told them about our failed plan to get legally married today.

“Interesting.” Gio folded his arm across his chest, an amusing smile on his lips.

In my innocent defence, I spurted, “But we would have still had the white wedding and all with the family.”

“That doesn’t excuse it!” Mama exclaimed, visibly enraged.

“It was an impromptu decision, and we were going to tell you.” I told her in an attempt to salvage the situation.

“When? After the wedding?”

I went quiet, unable to find the right words to say in response. There was no explanation I could give that would make sense. I had messed up. There was no denying that.

I darted my gaze between all of them. “I’m sorry. Truly sorry.”

A prolonged moment of silence ensued while they all stared at me before Giovanni broke the tension, his gaze shifting between everyone as he spoke. “Come on, we won’t allow a trivial matter to dampen our spirits, especially when we are currently jubilating Sofia’s survival.”

“He’s right.” Sofia added, staring directly at me with a smile on her face. “I don’t want bad energy around me.”

I smiled back at her. A strange wave of thirst suddenly hit me, and I promptly stood up to get some water. But as I took a step, another wave of dizziness struck me, causing me to stagger backwards a bit.

“Alright, time to go.” Antonio announced m before walking towards me in long strides and wrapping his arm around my shoulder to support me.

“Are you okay?” Mama asked, concerned.

“I’m fine.” I replied, smiling at her. “I’ll be right back.”

Without protest, I followed Antonio out of the room.

“I don’t think I need to see a doctor. It’s probably just the stress. I should feel better once I get enough rest.” I told him as we walked through the hallway.

“You have no idea what I’m worried about.” He said, slightly shaking his head.

“What are you worried about?” I asked.

“Your health.”

It seemed like there was something more to his worries, but I wasn’t going to press him.

Due to his influence, we were able to evade the queue and see the doctor early.

“So, what’s wrong with you?” The doctor asked.

“I vomited earlier. I feel dizzy and really weak. Although I believe it is because of exhaustion, I cried to a stupor last night. But Antonio wouldn’t listen.” I explained to the doctor.

“Shut up and let him do his job. Enough with the self-diagnosis.” Antonio hissed.

I rolled my eyes.

“Is that all?” The doctor asked, and I nodded.

“When last did you see your period?” His question caught me by surprise, and I narrowed my eyes.

“What?” I asked, thinking I didn’t hear it right.

“When last did you see your period?” He asked again.

Did he think I was pregnant? Of course not.

“Last month,” I replied confidently, adjusting in my seat.

“Although my periods have been lighter than usual for the past three months,” I added.

He scribbled something on a piece of paper before looking back at me. “We’ll have to run some tests, including a pregnancy test.”

“But I’ve had my period this month, so it’s not possible for me to be pregnant.” I queried.

“Some pregnant women may notice light spotting around the time when they would typically have their periods, leading them to mistake it for menstruation. So, we’ll have to run a pregnancy test also.”

My heart skipped a beat. Oh, no.

*** We were directed to the laboratory, and some of my samples were taken for tests before we returned to Sofia’s ward to await the result. My anxiousness was so palpable that everyone around me noticed and asked if I was fine. But I just smiled and lied about being okay. How could I even tell them that there was a possibility of me being pregnant?

If I were pregnant, I would have known, right? I asked myself. I had been through the journey before when I had Carlo. I refused to believe I was, but the more I thought about it, the higher the possibility weighed. My appetite had increased. I had gained a bit of weight. My sleeping pattern had also changed; I slept a bit too much now. Don’t even get me started on the cravings.

Antonio’s phone chimed, and I became alert, curiosity threatening to suffocate me.

My eyes widened. “Is it out?”

He nodded, his eyes lighting up and a wide smile spreading on his lips. He looked too excited, and I couldn’t figure out why he had that expression on. Was he excited that I wasn’t pregnant or because I was?

“Is what out?” Sofia asked curiously, and I shook my head.

Mama, who was standing next to Antonio, snatched the phone from him and quickly read the content on the screen. Antonio didn’t even attempt to stop her from reading.

“Pregnant?!” She exclaimed, her eyes widening. She hoisted her head to look at me. “Oh, my God, you are pregnant!”

“I’m pregnant.” I murmured to myself.

I didn’t know how or why, but a strange force within me suddenly drove me to tell them about Carlo’s paternity. I had been wanting to get it off my chest for a while now.

“He’s also Carlo’s father.” I breathed, earning short gasps from every corner.

I didn’t need to mention a name as all suspicions drew to Antonio, jaws dropped and eyes wide as they all stared at him.