CAPTIVE: A DARK MAFIA ROMANCE

by Amaya Black

  Maybe I'd put a bullet between his eyes and end this once and for all.

  A smile appeared at the thought.

  One could hope.

  Chapter 2

  Astrid

  I'd been having nightmares ever since Nova had got herself mixed up with her new husband, Liam Safaryan. However, he wasn't the one that I was worried about. No, it was his cousin with his deep green eyes and dangerous demeanor that caused me to wake up in cold sweats. In my dreams he would always be sitting at the foot of my bed, drawing me and whispering to wake up, "Little Star."

  A shudder coursed over my body as I tried to steady my hand and apply mascara to my eye lashes. I was adding just a hint of makeup to myself so that I could look presentable for Lexi's dance recital that was in the next hour.

  When my make up was done, I began to paddle a brush through my locks that I kept blond. I pulled it in a low pony tail and then went back in to fix my baby hairs into some swirls. I'd laid a nice summer dress out on the bed. It had pink and green flowers on it and went perfectly with some of the wedges I'd bought a few days ago.

  Lexie appeared in the doorway with a cup of juice and her pink ensemble that included, both a tutu and ballet flats. I'd pinned her hair up into a ballerina bun earlier and it was already starting to look messy.

  This child, I thought to myself.

  "Alexandra...please don’t spill that," I shot her a look.

  "Mom...I got it," she whined.

  It was like clockwork; Lexie turned the cup up and juice went everywhere. I could feel the desire to scream rumbling up inside of me. I coughed and tried to control myself as I went to her side.

  "Lexie Girl, you did not have it," I knelt down and took the cup away noting that it was already seeping into the carpet. "Go into mommy's bathroom and take all this off. I'll get your back up."

  "Okay, mommy," she replied her eyes wide and glassy.

  Lexie was such a tender-hearted child. Just me raising my voice even slightly could cause her to break into a crying fit and we just didn't have the time today. Stepping over the juice stain, I crossed the hall and went into her room. Because I had predicted something wild would happen, I had a backup of her costume ready and waiting.

  She was still standing in my bathroom when I reappeared.

  "Okay kiddo, let get you changed again and then mommy can get her own dress on. Deal?"

  "Deal, mommy," she smiled her eyes looking clearer.

  In no time, Lexi was clean and fresh twirling about in her dance costume. The sequins on the upper body part were catching in the sunlight. For a few moments I watched her, savoring this moment in motherhood before finally throwing on my dress.

  Grabbing my clutch and car keys, I took Lexi by the hand and we exited our apartment. The summer heat was already too much to bare at one o’clock in the afternoon. Hurriedly, we got into the hot car and I put the windows down trying to offer some relief.

  "Mommy, your car is hot," Lexi offered from the backseat.

  She had already slid on her kiddie sun glass she kept in the back seat. Her favorite Disney princess was smiling back at me as I adjusted both the air and the radio. The vocals of Dewayne Johnson filled my Porsche SUV as we peeled away from my apartment and headed off to Miss Madeline's Dance studio near Lexington Avenue.

  I hummed along, in sync with the radio and Lexie did the same. Traffic seemed to come to a stand still for a few moments but picked up again. The entire ride was a blur of Disney songs and Lexie trying to play Eye Spy every time she saw Mickey D's.

  Finally, I pulled into a spot at the dance studio. Flashes of pink tutus jetting by caught my eyes. I took a deep breath and looked at Lexi in the backseat. She was clearly ready to get out and join her friends.

  "Hey, you're gonna have fun, right?"

  "Moooommm," she said. "I wanna get out, now."

  "Lexi, it’s okay to make a mistake. I just want you to know that. You're going to do really good. You've been practicing."

  She gave me a look that said it all. In another ten years, when she was a teenager, I knew I would be getting that look more often than naught. Chuckling, I got out and exited the car. Going around to her side, avoiding other families pulling in for the recital, I got Lexie out. She reached for me wanting me to carry her inside. Even though she had recently turned six, she still had me carry her some days. It occurred to me that one day, I'd no longer be reached for and it silently broke my heart.

  My tan wedges crunched over the gravel of the parking lot, stirring a noise inside my ears as I held Lexie close. Her little body had conformed around my own and I could feel her heart beating against my own chest.

  "Lexie Girl, don’t be scarred," I whispered sweetly to her. "Mommy is here and you are going to do so so good. Okay?"

  Her response was to snuggle in closer without saying a word. I patted her back as we reached the doors a male parent held the door open for me. I mouthed a silent thank you and took her to where her little ballerina friends were. Once she realized where she was, she kissed my cheek and darted off.

  "Miss Davis, she's going to do great," the instructor smiled at me and patted my back.

  "I know... just so hard to watch her do things without me there to catch her," I replied.

  Giving Lexie one last glance, I saw I was the furthest thing from her mind. She and her best friend Camile were high fiving and giggling. I poked my lip out and went to join the other waiting parents in auditorium space.

  My reserved seat was the towards the middle with a sign on the middle that stated I was Lexie's mom. I smiled as I pulled the sign up and took my seat. Carefully, I folded the paper and placed it inside of my clutch. My cellphone began to rattle and I saw it was a text coming in from Nova. We hadn't seen each other since two weeks ago at her wedding.

  Tell Lexie good luck, the text read with a smiley face emoji.

  I grinned and wrote back. She's about to go on at any minute.

  Well come over for celebratory snacks.

  I huffed. Maybe another time.

  Is there any particular reason you don't want to come see me? I was always happy to come to your place.

  It's not you, I replied as the lights began to blink signaling to the audience that we should be quiet. The shows starting. We'll discuss at another time.

  She didn't write back after that and I took my clutch and went to put it into an empty seat next to me but stopped when I saw that there was another piece of paper stuck to the chair. Leaning in closer I inspected the sign to see who I might be sitting next to and saw that it said, Father of Lexie Davis in large bold letters.

  My eyes blinked even harder trying to comprehend what I reading and came to the conclusion that this must have been a mistake on the dance studios part. Lexie had been taking ballet for almost a year and a half and never had a sign been printed for a FATHER at any of her events. I went to snatch the sign of the chair when a hand stopped me.

  "Little Star...I do believe this seat might be taken," a voice said and caused my skin to go cold and my mouth to run dry.

  Why today of all days would this man show up where he wasn't wanted? I cringed as his thumbs moved over the back of my hand. Snatching them away with a hiss as if he had burned me, I took in the sight of Valentin Safarayan. He was wearing his black suit and tie, but a pair of sunglasses covered his eyes.

  I watched the corners of his perfect mouth turn up into a smirk and he removed the glasses before sitting down. Piano music began to play as he took his seat beside me and the tiny ballerinas began to parade onto the stage.

  "What are you doing here?" I gritted out a whisper, looking around.

  He turned his eyes on mine, green just like Lexie's. "How long did you think I would wait?"

  "Wait for what?"

  "For you to tell me about our daughter."

  I huffed. "Valentin, she's not your daughter."

  He swallowed and I could see how the movements made his corded neck look. He had recently shaved and smelled intoxicati
ng. Only in my dreams had this man been this close to me. Lexie didn't know how much I loved her because the only thing I wanted to do was go running from the dance studio and never look back. I stayed for her even though fear had started to course through my veins, and I was beginning to feel overheated.

  "She's not?"

  "No," I replied.

  Lexie's dance number was about to come up. She'd been practicing this part in our apartment for weeks. No one was going to keep me from this moment including this delusional man sitting next to me. Sitting back, I gave the performance in front of me my full attention.

  Lexie's hair still looked perfect as she twirled around, her pink tutu stiff and barely moving. Her moment was coming up and I could hear my blood pumping my ears. Her little smile was bright as she tried to ease onto the point of her shoe and spin.

  I almost clapped with glee but remembered where I was.

  Lexie's little foot slipped out from under her an she fell flat on the stage. A collective gasp went out from the crowd and I immediately wanted to run to her. I went completely still, as the piano music continued on and the lights pulsed. Lexie gathered herself and kept on shaking. I bit my bottom lip in excitment as she got back in sync with her fellow ballerinas.

  She was like me in that regard.

  Even if she had a slight slip up, she would keep going.

  Just like I'd taught her.

  I looked over to Valentin, who seemed engrossed in the performance and I noted his hand had gripped the arm rest.

  "You should leave,"I whispered.

  He glanced over at me. "We both know that she's mine. For fucking Christ's sake, why didn't you tell me, Little Star."

  That part of myself that wanted to scream was starting to rear her ugly head. The urge to stand up and shout and tell him to go to the furthest reaches of hell, had to be pulled back in.

  "Don't fucking call me that," I whispered trying to keep my voice low.

  He turned his stare back to the stage before meeting my own again. No matter what I did, or how hard I tried, his eyes had always haunted me through Lexie.

  "You are not going to waltz into my life, into my daughter's life and think you can have a say in anything concerning her."

  A smirk bloomed on his face. "I thought you said she wasn't mine, Littlest Star."

  I huffed, my palm itching to smack that smug ass look off his face. "She's not."

  "I'll be seeing you both, Astrid," he stood and left then.

  For a few moments, I didn't move and I don't think I could breath. Just like in my dreams, I knew that Valentin was coming for me. He was going to find a way to take Lexie from me and all I could do was pray to God that he would show me mercy.

  Chapter 3

  Valentin

  I had casually overheard a conversation between my cousin and his brand-new bride, Nova taking place in the kitchen, weeks ago. They had been preparing dinner when the subject of asking Astrid and her daughter Lexie over for dinner started.

  I had stayed partially hidden in the shadows because I wanted to hear more of the conversation. Nova had been chopping onions and carrots to go with the chicken when she mention that she hadn't heard from Astrid much.

  "Can you blame her?" I'd heard my cousin ask.

  "Well no...but I miss her. She is busy with Lexie though; she has a little dance recital coming up in a few weeks."

  Liam had leaned down and kissed his new wife on the cheek. "Astrid will come over eventually. I don't think she wants to be around Val right now. Let her work through that."

  "Yeah and there's that...do you think?"

  "Do I think what?"

  Nova had stopped chopping and looked him in the eye when she asked the question everyone knew the answer to.

  "Do you think Val is Lexie's father?"

  Liam was silent for a few moments and I didn't give him another moment to say anything before I'd came in and spoiled the conversation. That was how I'd found out that Lexie was into dance. The next day I'd had feelers scouring for information on where she took dance and then called the dance studio.

  The look on Astrid's face when I'd caught her about to tear the paper from the seat had been nothing short of pure bliss. I could see the hatred leaking from her eyes and I didn't care. As much as she hated me for whatever her reasons were, I hated her more. How dare she care my daughter from me.

  Then the way she let the lies drip from her pretty little lips. She had lied for so long about it that she probably had herself convinced that I had had no parts in making that child. To think I would have never known had she not gotten into the car that night that Nova's sister had went missing. Astrid would have kept right on with her lies, never letting me in on my daughter's life.

  I was still in disblief.

  I had fathered a child.

  Sweat was beading at my brow as I sat at a red light. Someone honked a horn behind me, and I realized that it had turned green. My thoughts floated back to the little dance studio full of proud parents watching their little girls and a few boys dance away on the stage.

  I had missed out on so much, including Lexie taking her first breaths in this cruel world we lived in. I was no knight in shining armor; I was the furthest thing from it but Astrid.

  She was a cruel, cruel monster to keep me out of the picture.

  To keep me from what belonged to me.

  My cellphone began to ring and I saw it was Liam calling. My finger hover in hesitation over the phone button but I answered anyway. I wasn't in the mood to talk.

  "What is it?"

  "Astrid called Nova, hysterical about you showing up to some dance recital..."

  A car break checked me at another light. Pushing on the horn the driver put their finger out and flipped me off. They had no idea who was behind the wheel of this car. Calming myself down I focused on my cousin's words.

  "Don't give me any shit," I mumbled.

  "I wasn't calling to do that, Valentin. But why would you show up there?"

  My long fingers gripped the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles began to white from the pressure. I flexed them slightly, letting blood flow back through them unrestricted.

  "You know why?" I bit out.

  "Is Lexie yours?"

  "It fits the time frame. I haven't had a DNA test done but I've investigated just enough...she has my eyes. Our family’s eyes."

  "Then you have my full support in whatever it is you wish to do to Astrid," Liam sighed on the other end of the phone.

  "Good. Because it's not going to be pretty. I'm meeting with someone at the site of the old warehouse today. I need to see what the holdup is in having it rebuilt. Later."

  My fingers hit the end call button before I could think. Astrid had went tattling to Nova as if she could save her from what was to come. I turned up the music in the car trying to drown out the vicious thoughts I was having concerning the mother of my child.

  Chapter 4

  Nova

  I think I was still shaking from rage even as the girl at the service window handed me Lexie's ice cream cone. After I handed it off, I sped out of the parking lot and headed to see someone I hadn't seen in a long while.

  Lexie hummed along to the radio as I went through my thoughts. She had no idea that her sperm donor had showed up at her recital. After the performance, my fingers had frantically dialed Nova and told her about my encounter with Valentin. She had tried to hush my fears but no one could do that. So, I was headed to the woman that had taught me everything I needed to know over the last few years.

  Parallel parking on the street in front of my aunt's town house, I exited and pulled Lexie out. She had a change of clothes in trunk that I retrieved before we knocked on my Aunt Kit's door. I rapped a few times for good measure and Rhonda appeared looking disheveled and smelling of alcohol and weed. Mascara had rimmed her eyes causing her to look like a racoon that had just woken up.

  "God you were knocking on the door like you were the police," she said and let us pass.
/>   "I'm sorry," I replied. "Where's Aunt Kit?"

  Rhonda closed the door behind us and pointed down the hall. I gave her a nod and headed down the hallway to my aunt’s bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, and she was laying in bed with the tv up and laughing. Her hair had turned grayer since the last time I'd seen her and she looked more tired than usual. The white duvet I'd given her for Christmas two years ago covered her bed, unblemished and still as white as snow.

  "Aunt Kit.." I said.

  She turned to me and gave me that warm familiar smile. The same smile she'd always given me in the past including the day she had welcomed me into her home. She adjusted herself in the middle of her queen-sized bed and held out her arms to me.

  "My Astrid," she said. "So good to see you."

  I dropped Lexie's extra clothes and immediately came over and got up onto the bed and left Lexie standing there. I needed this hug badly and Kit gave the best ones I could think of. Her embrace surrounded me, and I drank in her scent; she smelled of the sweet cigars she smoked and a hint of bourbon.

  "Oh Auntie, everything is so damn screwed up," I pushed my face into her shoulder.

  "Tell Auntie, everything. We'll find a way to fix things."

  "After, I get her dressed," I replied getting back down.

  Kit's hug had already improved my mood. Lexie was still standing by the bed, silently waiting. Her green eyes seemed annoyed with me and I knew that due to the excitement of the day she was tired. I put her into the extra clothes quickly, then we both crawled back onto Kit's bed. For a long while, we just sat in bed and watched the tv show marathon that was playing. Lexie had decided to fall asleep and I knew it was safe to speak then. I dared not say anything where her six-year-old ears could pick up any information.

  "My dreams or rather, my nightmare has come true, Auntie," I eyed her.

  She picked up the remote from her nightstand and muted the television. She was quiet for a few minutes before she spoke.

  "What do you mean exactly your nightmare?"

  I looked down at the sleeping angel in my arms and gave her a kiss on her pale cheek.