The Mafia’s Wanted Desires

ASHLEY

“Hello, Ash.”

That voice…

That dark, nerve-wracking voice, dripping with an unnerving amount of sinister. A chilly eeriness that froze up the blood that coursed through my veins.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

At first, memories of him were reduced to fragments, but as the days went by, it became hard to piece his face together and then, it was just suppressed, crumbled to dust afterwards. Like he never existed.

But those two words, were like an abrupt jolt in my memory, poking at the segment that housed the thought of him and they came barrelling towards me in waves. They consumed me, messed with my emotions and tossed them around the place.

They were so overwhelming. The flashes of the last fight that transpired between us, occupied every inch of my thoughts. It felt like I was reliving a nightmare. All over again. Each jolt to memory was more potent than the last.

“Are you fucking someone else?”

No, no, no, I don’t want to go down that memory lane. It was so triggering. Everything about his voice was so triggering.

“Do not raise your voice at me!”

It was at the tip of my tongue, to yell out so loud, for someone to make it stop, but it was as though the words died in my throat. I couldn’t even bring myself to speak if I wanted to.

“Liar!”

Please, stop.

His voice was echoing in my head as though he was right beside me. The thick, dark masculine voice was deafening. The memories were so vivid, eliciting shaky breaths from me. My eyes were so blurry. Everything in our vast living room looked and felt so distant through my vision.

“I own you, Ashley, and I will do whatever it is I want with you and your body. You belong to me. No one else!”

Make it stop.

The violent trembling of my hands and my body snapped me back to reality. A wave of coldness descended upon me, pricking my pores and shooting into my veins. It froze me up from the inside out.

“Oh, come on, sweetheart,” his deep chuckle filtered through the speakers, causing goosebumps to sprout all over my skin.

My lungs were closing in on me. I couldn’t breathe through my nose. I tried doing it with my mouth but it was such a herculean task getting air out of my system when I had none left in my lungs.

He clicked his tongue, sighing afterwards.

“Ashley!” He drew out his words. My name seeped with so much irritation that hinted at his impatience.

“Don’t__”

“A_Adam…” When I finally found my voice, it came out in a weak, croaky whisper which made me sound so pathetic. If he could take a whiff through the phone, he would be able to catch up with the raw, chilling scent of fear that oozed off me.

“Hey, baby.” I could have sworn I heard his voice soften, but unlike the effect, it would have on me months ago, where my cheeks would heat up and my heart would be left a thumping, wild mess in my chest, it was the opposite.

Disgust simmered through my veins. It enveloped me, triggering the bile I was trying so hard to suppress. An unnerving rage, which I didn’t know I had bottled up in me, consumed me and fuelled my next words.

“What do you want? How the fuck did you even get my number? Why are you calling me?” I rapped out all in one breath, my chest tightening with so much pain.

“Easy, love,” I could detect trails of mockery in his voice, which spiked my annoyance.

“Adam!” I bellowed and that earned me a menacing cackle from him. He didn’t seem fazed by anger. He sounded so amused.

“Get to the fucking point,” I said through gritted teeth.

“I want to see you, Ashley.” Adam Ruiz uttered those words so casually like it was the most normal thing in the world.

A raucous, humourless laughter that tumbled out of my mouth afterwards. The emptiness it held resonated through the vast space of the living room. I laughed. So hard. Tears began straying to the corner of my eyes.

“Am I some sort of comic relief?” He spat out those words with a hint of malice.

I chuckled, wiping my tears.

“You are joking, right?” I asked with a ghost of a smile playing on my lips as though he could see me. “Bold of you to assume that I’ll come to see you, Adam.” I scoffed.

“Yes, you will.” He sighed, tiredly. I didn’t miss the thick conviction that hung in his voice. He was so convinced that I would come to see him.

“That’s it, I am han__”

“What if I told you I could tell you about the person who has been sending you numerous texts and gifts?” His question knocked the breath right out of me, my eyes widening in shock.

“Liar,” I spat.

“I’ll text you the address.” He dismissed my words like they meant nothing to him.

“Don’t be late, Ashley.”

“We have a lot to catch up on.” That was the last thing he said to me, and then, he hung up.

I was left standing in the living room, stunned into silence with my phone tightly in my grasp. I glared into nothingness, tears filling up my eyes. My mind felt shattered while I struggled with the spark of conflict within me.

_________________

I was out of my fucking mind. I knew it. The smartest move after I received that call would be to call my husband and inform him about it. But then, involving Arden would be so chaotic. I can’t speak with him about it.

I made a resolve to speak with him about it once everything blew over. I would go to Adam and get answers from him about who has been texting him. I will tell him off after that. We have no business together anymore.

We stopped having a business together when he bailed on my ass and ran off to God knows where with the bitch he was shoving his mouth down her throat.

But then…

I couldn’t just shake off this feeling in me that I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life. I could wash off the feeling of immense dread that loomed within me, hinting at the darkness that lurked in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

You are making a stupid mistake and you know it. That tiny voice, my conscience, whispered subtly to me but I shrugged it off. I tuned it out because I couldn’t afford to be talked out of this.

“It’s the right thing,” I muttered to myself, snatching my keys off the nightstand. I didn’t bother changing out of the jeans shorts and extra large tee I was wearing. I slid my feet into comfortable slides and left the room.

The moment my bodyguards sighted me with my keys and phone, descending from the staircase, they left their positions and strutted towards me, eliciting an inward groan because I knew how hard it was going to be to get rid of them.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Gray.” One of them spoke up.

“Which of the cars would you like to take, so that we can get it ready for you?” The other asked.

“Actually…” I trailed off, staring at the trio.

“I am just going out for a drive,” I added, quickly, flashing them a soft, convincing smile. A sceptical look crossed their faces at the point at which I was driving.

“I’ll be going alone.” I dropped the bombshell.

“But__” The overly muscular one, who had been quiet since the beginning of the conversation, tried to intercept but I shut him up with an arching of one of my brows.

“The boss wouldn’t like it if you went out without us,” he completed his words. I was pissed at his disobedience but I decided to let it slide.

“I called him already.” I didn’t know where that lie came from. When I saw the relief that washed over their faces, I gave myself a mental pat.

My words of assurance elicited a sigh from them and they nodded in response.

“Alright, Mrs. Gray.”

Without saying one more word to them, I walked past them and out of the house. I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding when I stepped on the porch.

Throwing my hair in a messy bun, I got into the black Chevrolet, fastening my seatbelt.

And then, I drove out of the Villa.