Dangerous Desires Part 2: A Mafia Romance (Corrupt Me series)

by A. G. Khaliq

  I just wanted you to see things from my point of view. I just want you to forgive me…

  “I didn't mean for any of this to happen.”

  She let out a deep sigh, and I continued to feel my heart twist into knots. I couldn’t even be angry. All I 447

  could feel was pain and emptiness. Anger wouldn’t solve this…

  Screaming and shouting wouldn’t bring Donte back to the family…

  “Please

  forgive

  me,”

  Maya

  breathed.

  “I really liked you, Sapphire,”

  Pedro murmured, a timid expression on his face. “I preferred you over all of the other women he'd brought home before.

  You made my brother so happy… But my brother isn't here anymore. So for that reason…

  “I can never forgive you.”

  Pedro turned on his heel, walking out of the room. Maya’s hurt expression was now replaced with a terrified one.

  “Me and you never really saw eye to 448

  eye, like Pedro and Arturo did,” Iglesias sneered. “So I can hardly give you a good judgment of character. The way I see it, you had a chance to fix this. You had a chance to come clean with him. But because you didn't, maybe you didn't love my brother like you claim you did.

  You were just too fucking selfish to do what was best for both of you. And now my brother is in jail… And I'm going to live the rest of my life without him.

  “And therefore, I can never forgive you.”

  Iglesias turned on his heel too, seething as he joined Pedro and stormed out of the room, leaving the rest of us dithering here, feeling like our souls had been ripped out of our bodies.

  Feeling like nothing.

  Maya turned around to face me, 449

  her tear-stricken eyes burning into mine in an attempt to guilt-trip me and make me feel bad for her.

  But I wasn’t going to allow myself to be swayed over by her.

  She was a bitch.

  A complete and utter fucking bitch.

  “What about you, Arturo?” Maya pleaded timidly. “Please? Me and you got along...

  “You knew how much I loved your brother.”

  It felt like my heart was in my throat. I couldn’t even compose a sentence properly, because my voice box felt so fucking dry. I could hardly get a word out.

  450

  “I -” I stammered shakily, my body trembling, “I – I have nothing to say to you, Maya.”

  Maya stared back at me with a wounded expression.

  Admitting defeat.

  Giving up all of the little hope that she had left.

  “I once loved a woman very dearly, and despite how much I loved her, I let her go because of my involvement in the Mafia,” I breathed, my heart feeling like it was tearing into shreds as I remembered my ex-girlfriend Sofia Martinez. “I didn't want any harm to come to her. If you loved Donte…” I trailed off my sentence, a tear sliding down my cheek. “You would have let him go.”

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  “Please…”

  Maya

  sobbed

  uncontrollably. “Please don't do this.”

  “You knew what a big secret you were hiding from him. You knew the risks when you pursued a relationship with him. But you didn't do anything to stop it. You let your love for each other consume him entirely.”

  I couldn’t say another word, without feeling like I was going to break down. I knew that I had to stay strong for the sake of the rest of my family, but I didn’t know how much more pain I could handle. The pain of losing my ex-girlfriend, paired with the pain of losing my brother.

  I guessed the Mafia really did get the better of us, after all.

  I turned on my heel, making my way to the door. Not wanting to look at 452

  Maya’s face a minute longer, because I would just be reminded of the brother that I lost.

  I couldn’t bear this.

  I couldn’t fucking bear it.

  I hovered at the door, as I heard Maya speak to my mother and father too.

  It felt like somebody was battering my heart with a chainsaw.

  “Please…” Maya begged.

  “I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for you, Maya,” Dad snarled, his voice strung with a mix of both venom and heartbreak. “My son loved you dearly.

  He broke off from an arranged marriage because of you…

  “Didn't pay as much attention to business because of you.

  453

  “Risked a war with the Russian Mafia because of you.

  “Defied me because of you.

  “He made so many sacrifices because of you.

  “And now, I'm never going to watch my son walk down the aisle.

  “I’m never going to watch him have children, or a family of his own.

  “I’m never going to watch him continue building his empire.

  “His legacy.

  “Making me proud.

  “I’m never going to watch him carry on making a success of himself.

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  “You've ruined everything.”

  Dad broke off his sentence, coughing up a sob as he walked away from her.

  Hearing the hurt in my parents’

  voices was tipping me over the edge.

  Pushing me to breaking point.

  Feeling like I was better off dead.

  Wishing that the Angel of Death would just take me right now and fucking finish me.

  Drag me straight to hell.

  “I treated you as part of the family,”

  Mom murmured. “And you were lying to us the whole time. I'm sorry, Maya.”

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  Those were the last words I heard before Mom walked away too, leaving me dithering in the middle of the room.

  I watched Maya run away, bolting out of the house at full speed, feeling embarrassed, hurt, broken…

  And I allowed myself to fall down to the floor in anguish, kicking, wailing and screaming for Donte.

  Praying that God would fix this.

  Praying that God would pull through.

  But I knew that it was no use.

  I knew that there was no coming back from this.

  It was the end.

  456

  It was over.

  It was fucking over.

  The last chapter of Donte’s life…

  Was fucking closed.

  Because now, he would be living in a box, till the day he took his last breath.

  And when he took his last breath…

  He would be buried six feet under the ground in a box, too.

  457

  48

  maya

  As soon as I got home, I ran to my room, crying. It felt like I was suffocating. Even his family didn't understand things from my point of view...

  I was so emotionally hurt, so fucking broken.

  458

  I knew that I couldn't save Donte now.

  So I did the only thing I could do...

  I started packing my bags.

  Gathering all of my belongings, putting them into boxes...

  Ready to move away.

  I felt too humiliated to face any of my friends now...

  Not Maisie,

  Not Millie,

  Not Yasmeen,

  Not Mikail.

  It wouldn't be long before 459

  everybody found out the truth.

  It would probably be in the damn papers soon.

  Donte Abruzzi, founder of Indigo Limited, arrested for murder...

  And then everybody would know who I really was.

  That was all I ever did.

  Run away from my problems, rather than face them.

  I was weak.

  Weak and timid.

  Running away was all I was ever fucking good for.

  Running away from Fibonacci.

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  Running away from the illegal underground fights.

  Running away from a relationship with Brett.

&nbs
p; And now...

  I was running away from reality.

  The reality that I'd ruined the love-of-my-life's life.

  The reality that I'd been lying to all of the friends I'd made here.

  The reality that I'd broken Donte's family's hearts.

  I'd have to move far, far away.

  Start a new life in France or something.

  461

  With a new identity again.

  A new look.

  New friends…

  A new life.

  And then run away again when shit over there got too tough, too.

  I never had a stable life.

  My whole life, I’d been on the move.

  Probably why I couldn't keep a friend for more than a few fucking months, and the one time I learnt to love again, I fucked it up with my own background and past.

  My own damn insecurities.

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  I fucking hated myself.

  I didn't have time to cry.

  I needed to keep on packing, and get the fuck out of here as soon as possible, before all of my friends started lurking.

  Wondering why Donte wasn't turning up to work.

  Wondering why I wasn’t turning up to work.

  Wondering why I wasn’t in my flat anymore.

  I started carrying all of the boxes to the main room.

  Packing, and then carrying.

  463

  Packing, and then carrying.

  Packing.

  Carrying.

  Packing.

  Carrying.

  And then, I would call a van.

  And go straight to the fucking airport.

  After about an hour, I was all packed. I had all of my boxes in the living room, and I was ready to go. I let out a sigh, as I felt my eyes well with tears. Because these boxes didn’t just hold my possessions.

  They held all of my memories, too…

  “I should call the moving van,” I 464

  mumbled to myself.

  I took my phone out of the pocket of my jeans, holding it out in front of my face as I began shakily tapping in the number of the company. I’d typed in about half of the phone number, but then there was a ring on my doorbell, that caused me to jolt upwards in shock because of the suddenness.

  “I wonder who that could be,” I mumbled to myself.

  I knew that there was no point ignoring it, because they kept on pressing down on the bell repeatedly. The easiest way to deal with this would just be to answer the damn door.

  I made my way to my front door anxiously, one foot in front of the other.

  And then I felt my heart leap to my 465

  throat in shock, because I was greeted by the last person I expected to fucking see.

  The last person I expected to turn up here and fucking speak to me.

  “Arturo?” I denied nervously, at loss for words. “W -” I trailed off my sentence, taking a deep breath in. Doing my best to compose myself together and stay calm. “What are you doing here?”

  “Can I come in?” Arturo said quietly, his voice dropping to barely below a whisper. His eyes were bloodshot. He looked like somebody had walked over his grave. Donte’s arrest was taking a toll on all of us…

  “Of course,” I breathed, allowing him to make his way inside.

  “Thank you.”

  466

  He made his way to the living room, and folded his arms, a stern expression on his face. It was impossible to read him, or predict what he was thinking. I could feel my chest heave upwards and downwards as my blood roared through my body, and I swam with nerves.

  “W – What brings you here?” I stammered shakily. “I don't understand.”

  “What's with all the boxes, Maya?”

  he sneered. “You were thinking of running away when things got tough?”

  I didn’t respond. I scratched my arm uneasily, not knowing what to do or say. I’d already done more than enough damage.

  “Look,

  Maya,”

  he

  sighed

  exhaustedly. “I know my family don't believe that you had good intentions with 467

  Donte. But as much as I hate myself to say this, I believe you. I’ve had time to calm down and process my thoughts. I saw with my own eyes how much you loved my brother.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but then I closed it again. My throat felt dry, and I could feel fresh tears well in my eyes. I felt so damn worthless. Even after everything that had happened, Arturo was still trying to see the good in the situation…

  And I didn’t deserve his kindness.

  I didn’t fucking deserve it, especially after I’d robbed him of his own damn flesh and blood.

  “That's why I need your help,” he hesitated. “You're the only person who can help me find my brother. With you being in the Secret Service, and all. It 468

  would come in handy, very much, in tracking down his whereabouts.”

  “I don't understand,” I murmured doubtfully. “What do you mean by finding him? He's in jail.”

  “That's just it, Maya,” Arturo said quietly, his voice suddenly alarmingly cold. “He isn't in jail.”

  “What?”

  I could feel my blood run cold, and the colour drain out of my face. I could feel my heart drop inside of me.

  Knowing that this was bad.

  Really, really fucking bad…

  “I called in the police earlier, asking to arrange a visit to see Donte,” Arturo murmured. “They were confused by my 469

  call. Said that nobody by the name of Donte Abruzzi had been admitted into prison.” He broke off his sentence, balling his hands into fists. “Nothing about the murders, or anything.”

  “What the fuck?” I breathed, unable to believe my ears.

  Not being able to make sense of what was happening, and what I was hearing.

  What the actual fuck was going on?!

  “That's so fucking weird.” I trailed off my sentence, shaking my head.

  Trying to process the information in my head, but failing.

  “W -” I stammered shakily, “where is he then?”

  470

  “That's where I need your help,”

  Arturo breathed desperately, looking completely and utterly numb and defeated. “I don't know where he is. I think your boss had some sort of ulterior motive. If he was really going to arrest Donte for his involvement in the Russian Mafia, he would have arrested the whole family. Not just Donte. He must have some sort of vendetta against Donte. I can't quite put my finger on where I've seen him before, but I think him and Donte have history, and your boss wants revenge.”

  Arturo let out a deep sigh. I could feel my body tremble with terror.

  Shaking with the fear that something bad could be happening to Donte right now, and I didn’t have the slightest fucking idea about it.

  “His motive was never to put Donte 471

  in jail,” Arturo sneered. “Because it isn't Donte who's behind those murders.”

  “W - What are you implying?”

  Tears started to spill down my cheeks, grief overtaking my body and clouding my vision and mind.

  “Because they both have history, and your boss wants vengeance…”

  “W - what?!”

  “I think he wants to kill Donte,”

  Arturo breathed.

  “No. NO!” I screamed bloody murder, feeling my chest constricting.

  I couldn’t breathe.

  I couldn’t fucking breathe.

  472

  “This is why you have to help me!”

  Arturo roared.

  “W – what can I do?!” I cried hysterically.

  “We have to find Donte before it comes to that,” Arturo said quietly.

  473

  49

  maya

  Me and Arturo were on our way back to Washington, where my base for the Secret Service was. I knew that I'd left, but I was praying that my identity scanning card would still work. And I provided A
rturo with an FBI outfit just like mine, so that it wouldn't arouse suspicion when he came in with me.

  474

  After a long drive for hours, we finally arrived at my base. I made my way inside, and Arturo trod carefully behind me. We reached the door, and I let out a nervous sigh that I didn’t know I was holding.

  “This is my base,” I explained.

  “Let's hope my identity scan still works.”

  Arturo nodded in response. I said prayers to God inside of my head before I scanned the card against the detector. I was expecting it to flash red, but it flashed green, and the door opened. I couldn’t believe my fucking luck.

  Finally, something was going right for once, after everything terrible that had happened lately.

  “It's working!” I breathed. “It's open. Let's go inside.”

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  We made our way inside to the main room.

  “What now?” Arturo asked,

  shrugging and furrowing his eyebrows, immersed in thought.

  As I searched the room, I couldn't see Brett anywhere. I found this weird…

  Brett always turned up to work, without fail. I guessed things had changed since we broke up.

  “Let me take you to the security control room,” I said quickly, and led him to the direction of the room.

  Arturo nodded, following my lead.

  We made our way inside, where there was a big security system plastered across the wall.

  476

  “Here, we have the most powerful system that connects all of the security cameras in the world,” I explained. “It really helps in tracking down a person.

  So if Donte and my boss have appeared on any security cameras, if we cross-search their faces, it should give us the locations that they went through.”

  “That's

  fascinating,”

  Arturo

  murmured. “Give it a try.”

  I nodded, inputting their pictures into the system.

  “Inputting faces…” I murmured to myself. “Reverse-searching…”

  Seconds passed by, but then a red light started to flash on the security panel.

  “Action blocked?!” I spat angrily.

  477

  “What's going on?” Arturo denied.