The Mafia's Princess

Chapter 22

The event had already started almost an hour ago, but Darnell wanted me to descend the stairs at 8 instead of 7. It is for a little show I'm guessing, since Sebastiano doesn't know Darnell has me.

It's 7:58 and I begin to walk down the hall towards the ballroom staircase. My long pink dress flows behind me as I approach the stairs. Before placing a foot on the stair, I look for Darnell's signal. We made direct eye contact and he nods.

Placing one foot at a time, I did my best not to waddle down the stairs to him. I could feel all eyes on me as I did so. I tried to not let my eye contact waver, as to show I only want him. As if.

When I reach the bottom step, Darnell comes to me and pulls me in for a short kiss. In my ear, he whispers, "Thank you, my love." Giving my cheek a peck, he pulls away and bends down to my stomach level, whispering, "Can't wait for you to be out of there so my own children can blossom in there." I pretend to not hear it as he places a fake kiss on the top of my stomach.

As he does so, a kick hits his lips and then keeps sending kicks around the womb. Darnell backs away quick and scoffs, "Fucking bitch." I try not to laugh as I slightly pull away, clearly my daughter does not like him and that's the only sign I'll ever need to not like a man.

I hold my arm out as he takes my hand, leading me to the middle of the floor. It makes me nauseous, the way he's obviously trying to make sure we're seen.

Darnell bends down to kiss the tops of my hands and as he does so, I look around for a familiar face. My heart races as I catch sight of Sebastiano and Belmont standing at the top of the staircase.

Darnell pulls me in, swaying us around in circles. I keep my eyes trained on Sebastiano, hoping he'll notice me, but he doesn't. Glancing at Darnell, I can see him following my gaze. When we make eye contact, his face is stone cold, frightening me.

Suddenly, Darnell roughly pulls me through the sea of guests. My heart is pounding in my chest, scared of what will come if Mathis gets me alone. Desperately, I search for my brother or Sebastiano or anyone who can save me.

As we get further from the ballroom, I begin grabbing onto things to save me. I cry out, "Stop! Darnell. Help, somebody!" Once we are behind closed doors, Darnell lets go of me and I drop to the ground with a thud. My arms cradle my stomach, protecting her.

A loud smack rings through the room and my hand quickly goes to my aching cheek. My arm is grabbed as Darnell pulls me to my feet, throwing my body to the wall. "You pathetic whore, you will obey me!" I shake my head violently, "I will never-".

Before I can finish my sentence, his large fist makes contact with my cheek and eye. I groan in pain, dropping to the floor, tears running down my face. Darnell walks to the door, "Fix yourself before you return. If you're not out there in five minutes, you won't like what happens next."

When the door swings shut, I begin to sob. Unsure of what may happen next, I sob for my unborn daughter and for myself. After giving myself a minute to cry, I stand up and slowly walk to the restroom to pull myself together.

I gasp at the sight of myself in the mirror. My eyes are puffy from crying, the blood from my cut cheek mixing with the tears. I try to clean my face but my wound is taking forever to stop bleeding.

Finally, after a few minutes, I get my face looking the best I could do. I know it's been more than five minutes so Darnell probably realized his demand was unreasonable with a cut that deep.

Taking a deep breath, filling my empty lungs, I exit the room. As I enter the ballroom, I notice Darnell is standing on the stage with a microphone in hand. Once he notices me, he yells, "And here she is! My lovely fiance, Madeleine Dubois!"

When I reach the stage, he pulls me up and puckers his lips. Hesitantly, I give him what he wants, instantly regretting the gross kiss. It makes me want to gag. Once we pull apart, the crowd claps. I fake a big smile and look up at Darnell as he begins to speak.

"Madeleine and I will be getting married as soon as possible. We are very excited for this arrangement-". A man speaks up, "But isn't that child she's carrying of Romano blood?" Darnell's grip on me tightens as he grows irritated. "Any child of Madeleine is a child of mine," he says through clenched teeth.

"What does Sebastiano think of this?" "Do you plan to take the role of Boss?" Questions begin popping up from everyone. "Madeleine, is this what you want?" My head shot towards the person who asked the last question. A throbbing in my chest occurred when I saw who it was. Belmont's eyes looked sad, and next to him stood a solemn Sebastiano.

Before I could respond, Darnell spoke up in frustration, "I speak for Madeleine. We are in love." Belmont started towards the stage with balled up fists by his sides, "Why is there a fresh cut on her cheek then?"

Darnell laughed, "Anger does things to people. You of all people should know, my friend. I apologized to Madeleine, didn't I?" He looked at me to answer, so I did. "No, actually you didn't." His face turned sour and he nearly slapped me right there.

I dropped to my knees and shielded my face. When I opened my eyes, Belmont was on top of Mathis, throwing punches to his face. Darnell tried blocking them, but was failing. Sebastiano ran to my side and slid me off the stage, holding me bridal style as he walked through the confused crowd.

I cuddled into his chest, taking in the smell of his cologne. Suddenly, he passed me off to Lucian. "Take care of her, I've got to go help Belmont." Lucian nodded and took me to the car, in a rush. He buckled me in and looked towards the mansion.

Rolling my eyes, I say, "Lucian, you can go back if you need to. I'm fine in here." He looked as if he was contemplating it, then he sighed. "If Sebastiano isn't back in two minutes, I'm going in." I nodded, "Sounds good."

Ten minutes passed and Lucian exclaimed, "Fuck it. I'm going in. I'll be right back!" He closed my door and ran into the building. I sighed, rubbing my stomach. All of a sudden, a wetness drips down my legs. I gasp, "No! No, no no!" Looking underneath my gown, I see a large amount of clear liquid pooling in the leather seat.

I practice deep breathing, knowing contractions should be starting shortly. Within minutes, I was correct. Groaning in pain, I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

Knowing I need help, I open the car door and push myself out. Waddling towards the door, I drop to the ground as a massive contraction hits. "No, this isn't good!" I scream in pain and a nearby man runs to my side.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" I tilt my head to look at him and he gasps. "Madeleine." He slaps a hand over my mouth and then struggles to pick me up as I kick my legs. I scream into his palm while he carries me to another vehicle.

Three more men ran to his side to help him. One jumps into the driver's seat and the others find seats around me. In the middle seat, I sit crying out in pain and fear as more liquid flows down my legs. This time, I don't need to check. My dress skirt is soaked in red