The Mafia's Heir

Chapter 42

I watched warily as my said wife made googly eyes at Afan. He either didn't notice or was pretending not to notice. It was hard to miss once you caught what was happening. His white robes flowed out around him as he stood up and addressed me.

"It saddens me to think something like this could happen while you're here. When people told me about this, I thought you would never do something like that. It disgusts me, Youngmin. I trusted you. Cynthia trusted you." Afan sighed. "From now on, you will address me as I am."

"I won't do it. It wasn't me," I argued. Why was I even trying to explain myself to him?

"Then don't address me at all. You are dead to me." His eyes shifted slightly and I swear I saw him wink. Was he still on my side? Before I could second guess his actions, Afan stormed from the room with Cynthia hot on his heels. Why did I fall for someone like her?

It hadn't even been long since I was thrown in the basement again. The mafia party was last night and if I hadn't showed up and met Ren, Cynthia would have had a lot of explaining to do. The talk we had didn't do much for her image. If she knows, and I'm sure she does, that Ren has Christian, it could be the reason why she was desperate to look so nice and bubbly in front of her.

The worst thing about being in the basement was having to share it with my uncle. I thought he was dead, but he was always a strong man. He wouldn't speak to me even when I acknowledged his existence. All he'd do was stare at me then close his eyes. At one point, I thought he'd died because he didn't seem to be breathing. When I walked closer to him, he snapped at me.

By the time I could hear the guests arriving last night, I knew no one would even remember I was here. I thought Afan would have come by then and talked to me, but I hadn't seen him since Cynthia ran after him. Where did they go? Why was I even worried about their relationship?

The soft Italian jazz forced its way under the door and to my ears. It was soothing, but it wasn't helping my predicament. I wanted out. I wanted to be there when Ren showed up. Before she went back on her word about having Cynthia not know we're cousins.

The door to the basement creaked open. I thought it was Afan finally coming to see me or a servant telling me I could go to the party. Nope. Two figures I recognized almost immediately filled the doorway. A brighter light clicked on, nearly blinding me. Elias and Mariano smiled at me and asked a guard to take me to my room.

"It's about time we explained everything to you," Mariano said. "See you in a few minutes."

Mariano and Elias watched as Youngmin was led out of the confining room. Josiah dared to finally lift his head and wished he hadn't. Standing before him were the two men he'd thought he killed in Rome. They smiled at him knowing he was surprised at their presence. If they had really died when he attacked them...things would be worse for them.

"Sorpreso di vederci?" Elias asked.

Josiah grimaced and hung his head again.

"How..." He managed to force the word past his chapped lips. "I watched...you both die. How..."

"Anch'io ho visto morire! Pensavo fossimo finiti." Elias put a hand to his neck. "Nice try. You didn't watch us long enough."

"Immagina solo se fossimo davvero morti," Mariano said. "Your punishment would be molto peggio. This...is just a taste of what the Italians can do."

"Pushing us off that cliff was just what we wanted you to do. We were equipped with lightweight parachutes." Josiah scoffed. "You've lost your touch. I wasn't even scared when you ambushed us. How'd you get to Rome before us anyway? How'd you guess we'd land there?"