Sinful Alliance: A Reverse Harem Story

Seventeen

Weeks passed in a blissful blur and I'd never felt happier; I had been cleared by the doctor and wasn't working as much so I was able to start getting into art again. One night the loss of Silvano's warmth woke me. I groaned a little as my eyes scanned the dark room to see there was no light on in bathroom and I slipped out of bed; him disappearing in the middle of the night has become a habit and I would often find him behind the barely ajar door of his office talking on his phone. I'd stay in the hallway listening to him take care of what I knew was mafia business. Over our time living together I'd been able to piece together what his 'business' was and it didn't bother me because he kept me clear of the shadier side of it all. On the nights I couldn't find him I started to think the worst, what if he was already tired of me and had found another woman that he was sneaking out in the middle of the night to see. When I was on the first floor I saw that the light was on in his office.

"We have to do it tomorrow night," I heard him tell whoever was on the other end of the phone. "I know he's been part of the family for decades but Vito is now a liability and can't be trusted. He went against the family and I can't let that go unpunished.... I've got to go."

I heard the call disconnect and turned to rush back upstairs. As I lay beneath the comforter my heart was hammering in my chest and I clutched the blanket around my body, listening to his footsteps come up the stairs then the bedroom door opened. I could hear him cross the rug covered floor and his phone was sat on his nightstand before he climbed into bed with me. "I love you my Sweet Girl," he whispered and kissed my shoulder as he wrapped an arm around my waist. I have to act normal, because I know he'd have me dealt with if he knew that I'd heard his plan to punish Vito, a man who was like an uncle to him.

"I love you," I whispered passed the lump in my throat.

___

It took everything in me to act like nothing was wrong the whole next day and when he rose from beside me that night I was wide awake. I listened as he descended the stairs to the main floor then rose to follow after him. We descended into a large basement that I had no idea was beneath the house. Silvano entered into a room that was lit by a single light bulb where his men waited for him. Vito was tied to a wooden chair and looked toward Silvano as he entered. I peered around the door as they began to speak in Italian that I still couldn't understand.

I don't know what scared me more, the pure brutality of how they were beating Vito or the cold expression on Silvano's face as the other man's bloody chin fell against his chest. My body trembled as I turned to stumble back up the stairs. When I made it to the first floor my blood was flooded with adrenaline, and I rushed to the office where I dialed the combination of the safe behind the painting of Mount Etna; he'd told me if anything ever happened I could use the money inside to get somewhere safe. I didn't take all that was there but enough to get back to the city and have a little extra to get farther away. With bundles in hand I went to my closet shoving the money into a duffel bag then tossed in clothing before pulling on a hoodie, a set of sweatpants and sneakers.

I slung the bag over my shoulder and went to the bottom of the stairs listening to the silence of the house; they must still be in the basement. Luckily, I made it from the house and property without being seen. I walked down dark alleyways until I made it to a gas station that was a thirty-minute drive outside of Oyster Bay where I bought a cheap cellphone that I activated in the bathroom before dialing a number I knew by heart.

"Goddess Black," Vartan's gruff voice answered after a few rings.

"Vartan," I sobbed into the phone.

"Ava? What's going on?"

"I-I... Can you come get me?"

There was a brief moment of silence. "Where are you?"

"A Stewart's Shop outside of Oyster Bay."

"I'm on my way."

"O-okay." The line went dead and I hung up the phone wiping my eyes.