THE MAFIA’S HEIR

MANUEL’S POV

She looked upset as she walked away. Why did she make it seem like…..? I don’t even know how to explain what went through my mind, but God knows that I was very willing to get into a relationship with her, but she quickly turned me down before I could even say a word. Why did she suddenly make it seem like what all men wanted was the fun, without having to be accountable after the fun? More so, what if the lady in question was keen on chasing her own satisfaction as well?

As Bianca walked away, I refrained from calling her back. I was only going to alert Phillippe and Eleanor to our presence. Quietly, I made my way back to the beach house. When I got to the beach house, I couldn’t stop thinking about the story Bianca had told about her cousin. On a normal day I could care less, but today, I hoped that the poor boy and his aunt were found. I disliked the fact that it worried Bianca. And I disliked the fact that I cared so much about what worried her. It was so annoying how a lot of things that usually annoyed me, seemed just fine if it had to do with her.

Everyone knew how much I hated to see a woman weep. It normally got me angry, but today it had been different. I found myself wanting to console the lady while she cried. Maybe, it was because I felt guilty for keeping her away, while all those things occurred. Whatever it was, I couldn’t wait to get off this island, where I could be far away from her. It was such a shame that even until now, I still desired her badly.

.

.

The following day had been somewhat shocking and confusing for me. Francesca had called and she really had a lot to say. I didn’t understand what she had meant when she had said her father had given his consent finally. It took me a couple of minutes to finally understand that Francesca was proposing we get married once I returned. I suddenly didn’t know how I felt about it all anymore. This was something I had always wanted to do, but I didn’t know how to react to it now. Maybe it was because I was still very shocked that Francisco Ferrari had given his daughter and I the go ahead to get married. Unbelievable.

“Manuel?” Alexander’s voice resounded from the other end of the line, drawing my attention back to him.

“I’m sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for a moment.”

“You are suddenly so suprised Manuel.” He muttered. “Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? To merge Ferrari and Russo?”

“It is.” I replied.

“You seem to be having double minds at the moment. But then, you have a lot of time to think it through before you go ahead to announce your decision to our family. Your spontaneity paid off after all. Who knows the strings Francesca had to pull, for her father to finally accept to let her be with you?”

“I guess so too.” I agreed, not able to shake off the cold chill to his voice as he spoke.

“Good then. Things are about to go just as you wanted.” Deep down, I knew he wasn’t pleased with the turn of events. I wouldn’t say I didn’t know why though. Ever since we had the discussion about how I had started dating Francesca, I knew he wasn’t going to be happy if things ended up working out between us. According to him, I have taught my mind to believe I was supposed to remain with her. He wasn’t far from being wrong though. I had dated a few other women before Francesca came into the picture. But with the manner in which she came, I promised myself that I was never going to be the one to break her heart. If at all things were going to end between us, then she was going to be the one to call the shots on that. I had been on the verge of calling things off with her because it was beginning to seem like I was making a fool of myself, by deciding to stand on the promise I made to her some years back. Indeed, I had been hell bent on not hurting the woman who had saved my life then.

“You are not happy about it after all.”

“You’re not wrong about that.” He sighed. “I’m genuinely happy that your efforts paid off, even if I think you have put yourself in a default setting of being with her.” There he goes again!

“Alex, not everyone would have that opportunity to meet their soulmates just like you did! From the onset, you know I’ve never really been someone who is into the love thing. Plus, I don’t see any soulmate forth coming, so I’d just stick to Francesca.” I shrugged.

“You finally admit it to yourself.” He chuckled.

“I always have.” I shot back.

“No, you haven’t.” He laughed all the more. “You’ve always deluded yourself into thinking you were in love with Francesca. I wouldn’t act like I don’t understand you though. I actually do. Like you said, not all of us are destined to meet their soulmates. But I strongly believe that there is more in store for you in that area, Manuel. Who knows? Francesca might be your soulmate after all. You are deserving of every love you can get, regardless of what the death of Nonna might have made you believe.” We both went silent for a moment. This has always been a touchy subject for me.

“No.” I disagreed with him. “Nonno had made it clear to me the period Nonna had died, that I wasn’t deserving of love.” I ground my teeth against themselves in inner turmoil as I remembered the events that had occurred that period. Ever since my Nonna had died and the circumstances surrounding her death, I had never remained the same. I had carried the guilt and burden of the loss my Nonno had to bear, in my heart. And I had believed his words. Truly, I wasn’t deserving of love. In that moment, different scenes played in my head, starting from when I had run away from home as a rebellious teen.

“He didn’t mean those words! It was just from a place of grief and pain, Manuel. How long would it take for you to understand that?”

I didn’t know what to say in response to his chastisement, so I simply remained quiet.

“I know what you’re thinking right now.” Alexander muttered. “No, your life is not messy. And I know you still feel guilty over everything that happened, but Nonno had long forgiven you. He has shown you his support in different ways possible. So stop feeling guilty whenever you think about that incident. This is life, and it’s not so nice atimes. Your experiences should make you better. Do you hear me?” He queried, and I nodded, forgetting he couldn’t see me. It was really days like this that made me feel like a younger brother to him. The way he lectured me like a child.

“Yes, I do.” I mumbled.

“Good then. All that should be in your mind is the next step to take concerning Francesca. Mind you, I guess Nonno would be quite impressed you had been able to merge both families together.”

“Or he would detest the fact that I brought an enemy into his home?” I countered, making Alex chuckle.

“I doubt that Manuel. Who knows why he has been so silent ever since you both started seeing each other 4 years ago? I guess the idea of Ferrari and Russo becoming one, never seemed like a bad idea to him. If he thought that way, then he would have tried arranging your marriage to a more suitable heiress by now.” We both laughed at the thought. So far, it had just been Dante and Alexander that had gotten married amongst my eligible bachelor cousins. It was suprising how they had both been let to marry women of their choices. Not without a little struggle though. Nonno had especially not been so pleased about Alexander’s choice of woman. Bella had just been a broken addict who worked in one of our factories, when Alex found her. I guess it was an instant attraction for him. Regardless of the fact that she wasn’t clean, he had taken it upon himself to get her rehabilitated. When I thought about how far they had both come now, it pleased me greatly. I had always thought I would end up getting married to either Francesca, or some other woman my Nonno would pick for me. I guess by the look of things, Francesca was Nonno’s choice.

“You’re right.” I grinned. “Nonno has nit said anything because he is fine with my choice. I would officially announce my plan to wed Francesca the moment I return.” Slowly, a small smile made its way to my face. I should be happy after all. I was finally getting what I wanted, and it only dawned on me that my choice seemed pleasing to my Nonno.

“Great! Come back home already and stop disturbing Nonna in her place of rest.”

“Get off my phone already.” I laughed at his words, before hanging up the call.

After ending the call with Alex, I got busy with the works that Julia had mailed me earlier in the day. It was such a relief that nothing with Bianca had become complicated. I was grateful she had a boyfriend and had turned down my offer to be in a relationship. How else would I have dealt with the situation if reverse was the case? Would I have told Francesca that I had cheated on her and suddenly started dating another woman under 2 weeks? Just after I planned a suprise wedding for her? I chuckled humourlessly as I thought about the whole thing. I hated messy situations, and my life was quick becoming the center of it. I still felt bad about how things had gone with Bianca, but I was glad it wasn’t a case where she and I became awkward around each other.

The rest of the day had gone in a blur and in no time, it was evening again. Time for my nightly walks with Bianca. I wondered if she was gonna be up to it today, considering how foul her mood had been when we parted ways yesterday. I know that with the most recent turn of events, I wasn’t supposed to continue my walks with her. But then, there was this peace I felt whenever we just walked together in silence. Very satisfying peace. It reminded me of my Nonna.

I walked into the bathroom for a quick shower and in no time, I found myself in front of Bianca’s beach house. I guess I was going for the walk tonight. I walked into the beach house and made my way to her room and just as I got there, I met the door of her room widely ajar.

There she was with Eleanor, having a conversation I wasn’t really sure about while laughing their hearts away. The moment they noticed my presence, their laughter died down. The next second, Eleanor was making her way out of the room. We were finally alone and I spoke up.

“I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me toni…”

“Definitely!” She grinned, making me suprised. She seemed hyper tonight. “Lead the way.” She said and I did. I turned and started walking out of her room, towards the entrance of the beach house, with her following behind. Once we were out and could breathe in the fresh air, I let out a satisfactory sigh.

“You seem excited tonight, compared to your mood last night.”

“Hmmm.” She hummed. “I am. I spoke to my parents with Eleanor’s phone today.”

“You did.” I nodded, hoping she wasn’t going to suddenly go berserk on me the moment she remembered what I had done. She could be quite unpredictable.

“Yes. And they gave me great news.”

“About Mila?” I asked, slowly getting excited as well.

“How did you know?!” She squealed and giggled in between. “Ethan and Peggy’s abductors were apprehended yesterday!” She chimed excitedly.

“Oh wow! Some good news finally!”

“I know that, right?” She smiled. “Thankfully, Peggy is fine even though she had sustained quite the injury.”

“That’s a relief. Peggy is Mila’s sister in law right?” I asked, quite unsure.

“Yes, she is.”

“So, was Claudia truly the one behind it all?”

“Actually…” She cracked her knuckles. “It was she.”

“Wow.” I whispered in disbelief. “It’s good to know that she would be made to face the beat of her own drum soon.” I sighed, truly appalled by the said woman.

“Yeah. I’m glad Mila and her family are safe now.”

As one would already expect, we both fell into a moment of comforting silence. After a while she spoke again.

“It was a mutual agreement.” She muttered, looking like she was holding back a smile. A mutual agreement? What was she talking about?

“Wh…”

“Eleanor.” She cut in. “It was a mutual agreement of benefits between she and Phillippe.”

Ohhh!!! Now I got her point. I was about making that face of ‘I told you so’, but refrained from doing so.

“Oh? Good for them.” I simply stated.

“I’m sorry about my outburst yesterday, and how I just walked away. I thought Phillippe was purposely playing with her feelings.” She explained.

“Even if that was the case, Bianca.” I sighed. “They are adults and can make decisions for themselves. I found it difficult to believe you could let people’s business disturb you that much.”

“Eleanor has become a friend during the period we’ve been on this island. It’s only normal I frown upon situations that doesn’t seem to be in her favour.” She shrugged, and I nodded. Fair enough. “I hear the ban would be lifted in a fews days indeed.”

“Heard so too. It’s time I returned home moreover.” I said.

“Hmmm. Same here.” She nodded. We fell into another minute of silence, before she asked another question. “Why didn’t you tell me that this island belongs to you?” Okayyy. I wasn’t expecting that.

“Eleanor has been telling you a lot, I see.” I chuckled.

“This place is sooo beautiful and big. I wounder how it was possible for you to acquire something this p.”

“Money.”

“Sorry?”

“I said money.” I repeated. “Money made it possible to acquire a place as fine as this.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“As expected.” She scoffed playfully, making me smile. I had not expected what I did next. Here I was, explaining to this lady something I hadn’t really talked about in a long while. It wasn’t even like she asked me to. Even though I hadn’t given her the details, it was still surprising that I had said anything at all.

“My Nonna was a Russian, you know?”

“She was?” Bianca looked suprised.

“Yes.” I nodded. “This island had been one of her favourite places in the world.”

“Very much understandable.” Bianca smiled.

“She was buried here when she died.”

“Like…. here?” She looked like she wasn’t believing my words. I couldn’t blame her. “For real? Not in Italy? Your family was cool with that? But why was that?” So many questions at a time.

“That had always been her wish before she had died.” I muttered, suddenly not feeling like saying more.

“And you bought the island in order to honour her. That was really so thoughtful. You are such a nice grandson.” She grinned.

“Hmmm.” I plastered a small smile on my face. If only she knew exactly how Nonna had died. Wanting to change the subject, I pointed towards the beach I had found her laying the first night she had gone missing. “There.”

“What?” She asked, turning to look at where I pointed.

“You had been almost unconscious the night I found you here.” I watched as her eyes slowly dilated as realization set in.

“Oh.” She muttered, looking embarrassed.

“No need to be embarrassed.” I chuckled. “If it’s makes you feel any better, you were the first missing woman I’ve ever looked for.”

“Really?!” She stomped her feet in playful annoyance, making me laugh heartily. Just as I laughed, I could see the curls of her hair bounce around as she stomped her feet and vigorously shook her shoulders. Oh, that hair. I could stay all night just admiring it. How could a human being have such a pretty head?

“I could literally stare at your hair all night. Beautiful.” I had expected a lot of reactions from her, but not the frown on her face. Actually, that frown wasn’t all that unfamiliar. If I remember quite well, she had given this same reaction the first time I had ever seen her at Alexander’s office. I remember telling her she had a beautiful hair, but was suprised to see her frown. “Why?” I asked in confusion.

“Why what?” She asked.

“You hate it when people compliment your hair? This is not the first time you are giving a negative reaction to my compliment.” She was quiet for a while, before finally respondin.

“Well, let’s just say I didn’t grow up with the orientation that I had beautiful….” She paused her words, as if recollecting her thoughts. “Actually, I had the orientation. But let’s just say for some reasons, I thought I had the ugliest hair. I am really working on becoming confident about my hair, but let’s just say I tend to give a reflex negative reaction sometimes. Atleast, it’s not as bad as it used to be when I was in high school. In high school, I literally wore a scarf or headwarmer everyday.”

Hearing her say all that only made me interested in knowing what might have made her behave so.

“Do you mind me asking why you did all that? It’s quite shocking to see that you do not realize how unreal your hair makes you look. It’s too beautiful to be true. So I can’t help but wonder why you think opposite is the case.”

“Let’s just say there was this guy at school. The rich and popular kid who bullied me for the better part of my high school days. He always told me I had an ugly hair colour that proved I was indeed a freak. The whole school thought he was right, and so did I.”

“Biancaaa…” I couldn’t believe all that crap right now. I wanted to laugh at how stupid she was, but on a second thought, she had just been a young teenager seeking validation. “They were all fools. They probably still are. It takes only a fool to think you’re a freak.”

“Hmmm.” She nodded, probably still doubtful of my words to her.

“You know what?” I asked and she slowly shook her head, probably wondering what lie I was going to tell her next. Though it wasn’t a lie.

“I should begin to call you something else.”

“Something like what?”

“How does ‘Pretty head’ sound?” I watched in amazement as she laughed so heartily, before sighing deeply and looking at me.

“I think I’d like that.” I liked it too.