The Mafia Don's Temptation

ARIA

Flashback

"You bi**h!" Jacob's voice thundered through the room just before he slammed my head against the wall.

A sharp, blinding pain shot through my skull as I crumpled to the ground. Black spots clouded my vision, and a warm trickle ran down my forehead. Blood. My body felt like dead weight. My limbs felt weak and unresponsive as I struggled to push myself up from the cold floor.

"You can't run from me," he snarled. "Never!"

Tears burned my eyes as I caught sight of my packed bag, lying just a few feet away, and the sound of his expensive Armani shoes clicking against the floor as he approached me made my pulse hammer against my ribs.

"I'll kill you today," he growled.

My stepfather never joked. I knew he had every intention of making good on that promise.

Panic surged through me as I frantically searched for anything I could use to defend myself. My breath hitched when his grimy fingers clamped around my ankle, and a terrified scream tore from my throat as he began dragging me back toward him.

Instinct took over. My hand shot out to grab the jagged remains of a broken lamp beside me. Without thinking, I twisted onto my back and drove the sharp edge straight into his leg.

"F*ck!" Jacob groaned in pain before collapsing onto the floor.

Adrenaline surged through my veins as I scrambled on top of him, straddled his hips, and with every ounce of strength I had left, I plunged the glass into the side of his head. His agonized scream filled the room as blood gushed out of his wound.

I staggered back, panting. My hands trembled as I grabbed my bag, and without waiting to see what happened next, I rushed towards the front door.

As I pushed through the front door, Jacob's voice rang out behind me, his words sending a shiver down my spine.

"It's not f*cking over, Aria!"

End of Flashback

The house before me was smaller than I expected. The windows were dark, the wooden front door seemed to have been worn by time, and there were thin vines curling up the side of the house. The air was crisp with the scent of rain-soaked grass. A dim glow from an old street lamp cast shadows over the building. That only made the house look more eerie than it already was. 

It was the house my mother grew up in.

I swallowed against the lump forming in my throat as my fingers curled into trembling fists. The paper I'd stolen from Jacob's office, the paper containing my mother's home address, was already soaked from my sweaty palms. I didn't care anymore. I was home.

Even though I hadn't seen my mother's family before and they had never seen me, I knew they would take me in. They had to.

I marched forward and knocked my fists against the door. I waited for a few seconds and was about to knock