Waking up Stefano was already gone, he left for work early. Taking Jackson out I find Stef's note.
Have a good day baby girl, I probably won't be home until late. Love you, Stef.
Only having a month left until my show I have to work on my projects every day I'm not working at the hospital.
Mr.Fairduth helps ease my worry a lot. Him and his wife remind me of nana and papa. Him and his wife live across the street in an old cottage-like house. They are very cute and their grandson Charlie is nice. Charlie is over there a lot, probably to take care of them although sometimes he comes over and just sits with me when Stefano is gone for a while. I know how that sounds but he's nothing but respectful. He doesn't ever try anything and always stays at arms length unless he's hugging me to say hello or goodbye. Stefano knows he comes over but he doesn't seem to care.
"Jackson!" I yell for my dog who runs back into the house.
Going back upstairs I entered my studio. Being home alone I kept the door open for the animals. Right now I'm working on a seascape in acrylic paint. Having Jackson I'm comfortable keeping headphones on. Usually I use the stereo, but I find headphones more comfortable.
After hours of work I decide to stretch and take a break. Walking into Me and Stefano's room I change from my dirty paint overalls to one of Stefano's t-shirts, it's so long you can't see the shorts underneath. Jackson usually follows me everywhere, Although he walked away from me and went downstairs before I changed. I hear a loud thud down stairs.
"Jackson!" I call out. Maybe he just slipped. "Jackson! Come here boy!" I yell again. Again I hear nothing. No running or barking. Feeling uncomfortable I decide I put the knife Stefano gave me in my shorts. I've always loved being alone but that doesn't mean I don't get scared sometimes.
Walking down the stairs I see Jackson laying down in the doorway between the living room and kitchen. I try to run to him hoping he's not hurt but feel two big arms wrap around me. I scream and kick, making the man laugh. I see another man walk into the room stepping over Jackson. Panic floods my body and tears start to form in my eyes.
"LET ME GO FUCKER!" I scream trying not to cry at the sight of my maybe dead dog and the possibility of being kidnapped. I remember my pocket knife and suddenly panic turned to determination. Grabbing it I flick it open, the men are too busy still laughing at my panicked state.
"FUCK YOU!" I yell, plunging the knife into the man's thigh. He screams in pain calling me a bitch and let's go of me. Turning around to face him I slash him in the face and run back up the stairs. I hear heavy footsteps behind me but I don't bother turning around. Running as fast as I can, I make it to my bedroom. Closing the door I see the man fall limp with a gunshot.
Locking the door I grab the bat I keep by the bed, putting the knife back in my shorts. More gun fire comes from down stairs. I can hear glass shattering and furniture breaking. The cats are peeking out from my closet. Good they're safe. My mind goes to Stefano. What if I never see him again? Was he the one who shot the man in the back? The gun fire stops and I hear one set of feet coming to the door.
"Mrs. Jones? Open the door it's Charlie" I hear Charlie say from the other side of the door. What the fuck is he doing here? Is he with the men? Or did he kill them? Suddenly the door opens and he walks in with a key in his hand. How did he get a key to my bedroom? I must have said it out loud because he answered.
"I got the key from Mr.Ferrari, he should be here soon. As far as I can tell there are no more men but he wants me to keep you here." He says shutting the door behind him holding a large gun. Why would Stefano get him to stay with me? Why wouldn't he just call the cops if he knew what was going on?
"Why? How does Stef know what's going on? Why did he ask you to come to me? W-Why do you have a gun?"I ask frantically.
"Stefano didn't hire me. Marco, his father did." He says looking at me like I had two heads. Hire? His father?
"W-What do you mean hire?"
"I shouldn't answer any more questions, Anna. That's for Stefano to do." He says turning back to the door standing guard. Trying to calm myself I go into the bathroom and splash water on my face. I feel like I'm having a heart attack.
"ANNA!" I hear Stefano yell from down stairs. Running past Charlie I ignore his protests for me to stay in the room. As soon as I exit the room I see the dead man oozing blood from a bullet hole. I gasp and abruptly stop seeing the body. Stefano, Tony and two other men come up the stairs. In my panicked state I can't take my eyes off the body. Being a nurse I've seen dead bodies before but none that were in my home or someone I haven't tried to save.
"Anna? Anna look at me." I hear Stef saying taking me out of my trance. Looking into his eyes I see nothing but panic. He pulls me into a hug, crushing me but I didn't care. I felt safe.
"Good work Charlie" I hear the older man say. Pulling away from Stef I look at him and notice that I know him.
"M-Mr. Frederick?" I ask, making him smile. I treated him in the hospital a few months ago for migraines. I remember him telling me he has six kids................does that mean Stefano has six siblings or was that a lie.
"Actually my name is Marco. Marco Ferrari. Stefano is my son." He holds out his hand and I shake it cautiously. "I hired Charlie to pose as Mr.Fairduth's grandson to watch you as extra precaution." He explains. " obviously we needed it." He gives Stefano a hard look.
"W-what?" I look at him confused then turn to Stefano who has his head down in shame. What the fuck am I missing.
"Anna we need to talk." Stefano says looking at the dead body then me. I back up, not liking where this is going. The strange men, his father, Charlie being hired, I didn't know what the hell was going on. "Baby I'm in the mafia, my family is and these men were sent by our enemy Sergey to kidnap you and hurt you." He says
"What the fuck" I state but it comes out more like a question. When I back up further from him he looks hurt. The mafia? The fucking mafia. The real mafia? Everything was a lie.
My breathing becomes heavier and I feel like I'm having a heart attack again. All of a sudden my head feels light and everything goes dark.
YOU ARE READING
His world
Romance(Book 1 of His Mafia series) My lover, Stefano. I was so captivated by his love and lust I let the most obvious details slip through the cracks. I believed his lie without question, blindly, almost getting myself killed. He kept me a secret for my...
