The Mafia’s Wanted Desires

ASHLEY

The wave of tiredness that washed over me got stronger with each passing second, heightening my distress. Staring out through the window of the conference room was something I loved to do.

But right now, all it did was spike my anxiety further than it was. It ought to serve as a distraction, but it had me drifting in and out of my thoughts. The scenery, the atmosphere, none of it seemed appealing.

In a way, it was getting on my nerves.

Reverting my forlorn gaze to my employees, I arched my brow at them rudely. They were all staring at me like I had grown two heads and it was very irritating. At some point, I began thinking I had dirt on my face, judging by their bewildered expression.

My frown deepened when my eyes flitted to Aurelia, who was standing by the projector, sporting a blank face.

“What?” I barked harshly and I wasn’t even sorry for it. I didn’t like how they were staring at me like I was an Alien that dropped from the sky.

“We are sorry, Mrs. Gray.” They apologised, eliciting a scoff from me.

“I was trying to ask what your view was on the presentation.” Aurelia cut in, calmly. The blank expression on her face didn’t falter.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

I rolled my eyes and sank into my seat.

“Just get out. All of you. We’ll take this again.” I gave a dismissive wave of my hand in the air. Their sighs echoed in the room, but I paid no attention to it. They rose to their feet and filed out of the conference room, leaving me all to myself.

“Are you okay, Mrs. Gray?” Aurelia’s lilting voice pierced my thoughts and I looked up to meet her gaze.

She was still standing by the projector. When she saw she had my attention, she strutted forward and took a seat at the table. Her eyes softened for a bit.

I sighed and brought my hands to my face, massaging it.

“Yeah…” My voice trailed off and I paused.

“You don’t look like you are. You are always so active during our conference meetings, but these days” She paused and that caused me to spare her a glance. “You have been so withdrawn.” She added.

“I am just a little tired, that’s all.” My tone was very dismissive.

The sigh that emitted from her hinted at her resignation to stop poking me. She looked at me and nodded, not because she believed me. She didn’t. She just wanted to hop off my back and I appreciated that.

If she pressed further, I would be snapping at her in no time.

“You should go home then. I am sure Riley can handle the rest of your schedule for the day.” She suggested.

Home.

A place where he wasn’t.

It has been hell these past few days. Every day, I wake up, hoping that he will be by my side when I am awake, but the disappointment crushes my soul. I might have called him a thousand times but he wasn’t picking up. His absence ate at me in a way that rendered me so void. Our conversations haunted me so much that I found myself reliving them. I didn’t know how attached I was to him until he left.

You are not just attached to him, Ashley. You love him. The tiny voice in my head echoed to me but I tuned it out.

“Mrs. Gray?”

I swung my head in her direction and flashed her a stiff smile. She stared at me for a moment and nodded slowly, hopping off the desk.

“Aurelia?” I called her and she halted in her tracks, looking over her shoulder.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

She smiled at me and walked out.

The conference room suddenly felt so suffocating and I rose to my feet in no time, prancing out of the room. I trudged into my office and started packing up.

I put a call through to Riley once I was done and she came answering in no time.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Gray.”

“Hey, Riley.” I dropped my bag on the table and turned to her. Her eyes grew pale as she approached me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am fine. I just need to go home to rest for a bit. I need you to clear my schedule for the day. Can you do that for me?” I inquired, picking up my bag.

“Sure, I can. Please, take care of yourself.” She was pulling me in for a hug before I could say anything else. Instead of protesting, I only eased into it. I retracted after a while, flashing her an appreciative smile, and I proceeded to leave the office.

I unlocked my car with my keys and it beeped softly. I got in and threw my bag on the seat beside me, fastening my seatbelt. I ignited the engine and drove out of the company’s premises.

The thought of going back home terrified me to bits and pieces. It shattered me. It crushed my soul. I was all by myself in that big house and I was slowly losing it, but it wasn’t easy at work either. If I wasn’t snapping at my workers, I was drifting in and out of my thoughts. I wasn’t even getting anything done with that pattern.

How could I be so stupid?

How could I not read between the lines and pick on my naivety? I was falling back into my old cycle and I didn’t even see it. I didn’t understand how I thought I could get anything past Arden. I should have opened up to him when I had the chance. I shouldn’t have lied to him.

A shaky breath eluded me as I clutched the steering wheel tightly. The road ahead of me was a little deserted and there weren’t many cars in sight. I stole a glance at my rearview mirror and furrowed my brows.

A black SUV was trailing me.

I wasn’t going to dwell on it that much, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling niggling at me, so I decided to step on the accelerator and increase the speed I was moving at. The car did the same and that was when my heart rate quickened.

Someone was following me.

My breath hung in my throat and tears began welling up in my eyes, making it so hard for me to breathe. It felt like my lungs were tightening up with each breath I took. I reached for my bag with my other hand and retrieved my phone, dialling Arden’s number.

It rang for a while but he didn’t pick.

“Fuck it, Arden! Pick your call!” I cried, holding the steering wheel in place with my shaky hands. The dread that seeped into me was slowly consuming me, intensifying my anxiety with every passing second.

“Shit!” I cursed.

I opted for sending him a voice message instead.

“ArdenArden! I think–I think someone’s following me. Please, call me!” I was far too distracted with my phone to notice a car speeding out of the nearest turn. When my eyes darted to the road, I let out a horrific scream and matched my brakes abruptly.

The sudden action produced a screeching sound at the contact of my tires against the asphalt. My head jerked forward and would have collided with the windshield if it wasn’t for the seatbelt that secured me tightly in place.

Tears dropped rapidly from my eyes, my cries reducing to wheezes. I jerked my head upwards and my eyes went wide with horror when I saw two hefty men stepping out of the car. I tried igniting my engine to make a reverse but the SUV was already blocking my path in the back.

My body trembled violently as the air in the car got thinner and thinner. My vision was so blurry because of the tears that wouldn’t stop drizzling down my cheeks.

And it was as though a spark jolted my brain out of the blue. I unlocked the door and got out of the car, proceeding to make a run for it. The driver of the SUV chose that specific moment to step out of the car, approaching me in long strides.

“Someone help!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“He” My words died in my throat when someone pressed a white cloth on my nose. All I did was suck in a breath and my eyelids suddenly grew heavy. I tried to fight back but I was already being swept off the surface of the ground.

“Be careful with her. The boss doesn’t want her to be hurt.” That was the last thing I heard before everything else went dark.