The Mafia’s Forbidden Desire

ANTONIO.

On my way, I called Marco and instructed him to make sure Oliver took his bath and looked presentable before my arrival.

Marco was standing on the front porch, waiting for me to arrive when I got there.

“Welcome.” He greeted me as I approached him.

I nodded slightly in response. Noting the curiosity on his face, I decided to brief him before he asked the question I believed he had in mind.

“Nikolai Petrov called me, asking for Oliver. They have Camilla.” I told him as I walked past him, and he followed suit.

“What? How is he connected with the Petrovs? Why do they want him?” He asked, surprised.

I sighed. “That’s what I also want to find out. Where is he?”

“In the living room.” He replied.

In the living room, Oliver was seated on one of the sofas, guarded by Vito. He had taken his bath and changed clothes. Though still dishevelled, he looked way better than the way I left him.

The second he saw me approaching, a hint of fear flickered in his eyes.

“You said I was free to go. Why am I still held captive?” He asked.

“How are you related to Nikolai Petrov?” I countered his question.

“How do you know him?” His eyes widened in surprise at the mention of that name.

“Nikolai called to ask for you. So, tell me. Why does he want you?” I raised a questioning brow. “You must be so important to him for him to hold my sister hostage in exchange for you.”

“Wait. My dad kidnapped someone?!” He exclaimed, a disapproving frown saturating his features.

Dad?

“Nikolai Petrov is your dad?” I asked to confirm, and he nodded.

That was totally unexpected.

“I never thought he’d notice my absence.” He scoffed.

“But your surname is Michaels. How are you, his son?” I inquired curiously.

I was still confused.

“I took my mother’s surname. My mom was his mistress, and after finding out that she was pregnant, he dumped her. Although he didn’t leave her to carry all the financial burden, he sent money to her every month. But recently, he came back to our lives, trying to make amends.” He explained.

That explained why he wasn’t involved in the mafia realm and appeared to know nothing about it.

I turned to look at Marco and Vito, realising the gravity of the situation. We all had the same look on us.

The situation was worse than I had expected. I fucking took Nikolai’s son! Oh, I was damn lucky that I hadn’t taken his life already. We would’ve all been fucked.

“Alright. Get our men ready. At least ten of them. We are taking him to the Petrovs.” I instructed.

***

The address Nikolai sent to me led us to a secluded warehouse on the outskirts of the city. Everywhere was so quiet, only the sound of trees and breezes whooshing could be heard. It was also very dark, and the only light illuminating the space was from the headlights of our cars.

I called Nikolai to inform him that we had arrived, and the giant warehouse gate swung open almost immediately, revealing armed men assembled in a straight line.

My men quickly clocked their guns and pointed them at the men standing behind the gate in readiness.

“Take your guns down.” A voice suddenly sounded from behind them, and they obeyed, paving the way for him to pass.

Nikolai, alongside Camilla, walked through the paved way and stopped just in front of the men.

My sister looked okay. It was evident that she hadn’t been touched. She just looked exhausted from the stress of being held captive. I couldn’t say the same for my own hostage.

“Antonio.” She whispered.

“Are you okay?” I quickly asked, and she nodded.

“Where is Oliver?” Nikolai asked.

“He’s inside the car. Release Camilla.” I groaned.

“Not until I see my son.” He retorted strongly.

Sighing, I signalled my men. “Bring him out.”

They did as instructed and brought Oliver to stand beside me in no time.

“Dad. Who are all these people?” Oliver’s eyes widened as he stared at the armed men behind his dad.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

He clearly didn’t know who his father was.

“You don’t have to worry about them.” Nikolai’s gaze swept over Oliver from head to toe before returning his attention to me, his strong countenance suddenly softening.

“Forgive my manners. Good evening, Don Antonio.” He grinned, surprising me.

“No, forgive my manners. Good evening.” I said.

“Don’t tell me you are one of them.” Oliver asked again, but his father ignored him.

“You held someone hostage.” He pressed on, and Nikolai finally flicked his gaze at him.

“To save you.” He said firmly.

If only Oliver knew that this was just a fraction of all that his dad had done. If only he knew how dangerous and extremely ruthless his father was, he wouldn’t even complain about a mere kidnapping.

“You could’ve just reported to the police.” Oliver challenged his father.

Petrov shook his head at his son’s ignorance. Not bothering to reply to him, he began to walk towards us, with Camilla trailing behind him.

My men instinctively raised their weapons and pointed them at him, but I signalled them to put the guns down. We couldn’t be reckless with Camilla standing behind him and within the reach of Petrov’s men, who also had their guns up in response.

After my men put their guns down as instructed, Petrov’s men also followed suit.

“If I may ask, what did you want with my son?” Nikolai asked as he came to a stop in front of me.

“It was just a misunderstanding.” I simply replied.

He raised a brow. “How so?”

Sighing, I explained everything to him.

He nodded when I was done. “Hmm. Okay.” Shrugging, he extended his hand forward. “Nice to finally meet Don Antonio.”

I stared at his extended hand hesitatingly before finally taking it. “Nice to meet you too.”

He had a blank expression on his face, and it was hard to tell what was going on in his mind. That was slightly disturbing. Nikolai had a strict rule about his family. He never forgave whoever harmed his family. Thus, the seamless proceedings felt disconcertingly suspicious.

“I hope to do business with you soon.” He continued after we withdrew our hands.

I nodded. “I’ll look forward to that.”

Under another circumstance, Nikolai proposing business with me would have been very good news. But now I was sceptical about his proposal. I had no idea whether he was willing to let everything go after the hostage exchange or not. I didn’t know.

“Uhm… Let’s get this done.” I said, flicking my gaze between Camilla and Oliver.

“Of course!” Nikolai agreed.

Camilla moved past us and walked to the car, while Oliver also moved to stand beside his dad. He was obviously still in shock after finding out his father’s true identity.

“We’ll get moving.” I told Nikolai as I began to cautiously move backwards.

Nikolai was a deadly man who could never be trusted. So, a foul play could be at play, and we had to be careful until we left there.

“See you soon.” He said with a small smile on his lips.

My men also retreated and cautiously entered the car.

When I was about to slip inside the car, I spotted someone familiar behind Nikolai’s men, and I halted.

Diego?

I was beyond shocked.

He waved at me, smiling maliciously, like he knew something I didn’t.

This was bad. Nikolai and Diego were enemies on the verge of war, and now they seemed like allies who both had something against me. Things didn’t look good. At all.