To Love in Full

Chapter 10: Nefarious

Nefarious (adj.) Wicked, villainous, despicable.

Arabella's P.O.V.

Alexander's words filled me with disgust and uncertainty. I looked around the room and stared at the men who were a part of the mafia, My family could not possibly be like them, they had never acted like them, I am not like them. How is it possible that I am related to people who have lost their humanity?

The blood coursing through my veins is what keeps me alive, it identifies who I am by holding every detail of my genetic information, but alas, it is what connects me to the mafia world. The Aetos blood runs through me, it is blood that I share with criminals and murderers. How can this be true?

"That is not possible," Nicolo said and stopped in his tracks, staring in shock at my helpless body.

"Cairo never had any children," he said and turned to face Alexander, who was now heaving heavily as he tried to calm himself. 

"Think again," Alexander muttered while he shook his head, causing droplets of water to fall before him.

Nicolo furrowed his brows and stared at the ground in deep contemplation, but he suddenly looked at me, and then to Alexander, and finally, returned those widened eyes towards me once more.

"Of course, it all makes sense now," Nicolo breathed under his breath, and started to make his way towards the wall behind me.

As Nicolo began to loosen the rope on the pulley, the bottoms of my feet made contact with the stool, but my knees started to give out and shake beneath me. Before I could fall, Manny rushed to my side and caught me as he set me down gently on the cold, hard ground. I laid my head against the stool, and stared blankly at Alexander, as all I could do was wonder who this man truly is.

"Dante, portalo nel mio ufficio," Nicolo said to the guard and dismissed himself from the basement with Leone (Bring him to my office).

"Are you alright, Arabella?" Manny asked as he lifted the rope from around my neck.

I remained quiet as no thoughts came to my mind. The sound of Manny's voice and footsteps dragging out of the room did not register with me; in my mind it was silent. I looked at Manny, with tears that blurred my vision, as he stared back at me with concerned eyes. I could not trust him, earlier he had told me that Nicolo would not kill me, but the events from just seconds ago repeated itself in my mind. That man walked towards me with no hesitance when Alexander refused to answer him. He was going to kill me. He wanted to kill me.

I could not trust Alexander, as he had lied to me from the very beginning, the very moment we met. I was starting to think that the way Nicolo trusted people was more ideal than my own approach. It hurts to lose the trust that you hold for someone, I feel betrayed and deceived. I felt like a fool. What was the purpose? Why would you lie to me? I asked myself as I thought about the taciturn man.

"Arabella?" Manny asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I am not okay, Manny," I finally answered with a broken voice and tears flowing down my face.

"Why would he lie to me about something like this?" I asked helplessly, knowing that even this man was clueless of this answer.

Manny suddenly sat down on the floor beside me and embraced me warmly. My tears stained his shirt while my head rested against his chest, and I sighed, feeling his hand caress the small of my back in his kind attempt to provide me with comfort.

"When he is done with Nico, you can see him," Manny whispered into my hair.

I shook my head against his chest. I had nothing to say to Alexander, I wasn't even sure what I would say. Confront him? Question him? Seeing Alexander with tears streaming down his face made my heart ache for him, but how could I feel sympathy for a man who had lost my trust, a man who refused to answer a question while he watched as I struggled against a rope around my neck.