Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 474

ASHER

"So I stopped being your consigliere, and I became the brother you needed."

The anger returned.

"You put their lives on the line.... They could have died."

"I know." His answer came immediately. "That possibility existed.... But I also had my own trusted few men following from a distance. They were never alone; I had contingencies in place. Had exits, I had backups."

"I planned for everything that could go wrong." He glanced toward Leon. "I didn't want him remembering today."

My eyes narrowed.

"I gave him something." He admitted.

"You did what to my son?" My voice echoed through the clearing.

Luca didn't flinch.

"I gave him something safe. A mild sedative. It'll keep him asleep for a few hours. That's all."

My fists clenched. I wanted to hit him so hard...

"He would've fought back. You know Leon, and you know he's stubborn as can be. He would've tried to be brave; he would've tried to protect his mother. He would've remembered everything."

His voice became quieter.

"I didn't want that for him. I didn't want him growing up with memories of this, so I had Ariella's mother put it in his tea. That's all."

My eyes drifted to Leon.

"He's fine."

Leon was still sleeping peacefully. I hated this. I hated every second of it. I hated what Luca had done, and I hated that he had made this choice without me. But standing there... Looking at him... I also understood why. Because if he had asked me... I never would've let him do it.

"And that's precisely the point. Because we're supposed to protect them," I snapped. "Not use them as bait. Not put their lives on the line."

I shook my head.

Luca quickly spoke.

" You know you never would've come here on your own. You know you never would've gone to see Yuri Volkov if it wasn't for me," Luca replied. "I led you there, and I led you here."

"I made sure you got here, I made sure you came to save them, I made sure that, even though I couldn't tell you, everything was covered," Luca said, looking me in the eye. "I made sure you got here, I made sure you got to save them, and I made sure we could finally put an end to this."

I closed my eyes and buried my face in my hands. Because what the hell?

Just when I was losing my mind because Ariella had left and gone to her mother's house... The fire. Finding out Ariella and Leon had been kidnapped. The hospital, and now this.

I looked back at him. "I don't know what to say to you right now," I admitted.

Because it was the truth.

"Okay," Yuri said, clapping his hands together. "Let's wrap this up."

He turned towards me.

"The Famiglia men are yours to do with as you please. And the Bratva are mine to do with as I please. As we agreed."

He extended his hand. But my eyes drifted back to Bastian, who was slowly beginning to regain consciousness. I didn't think that a single gunshot wound to the leg was enough. Not after what he had done, not by a long shot.

I looked back at Yuri.

"He touched my wife." My voice was flat. "He touched my son."

Yuri let out a long sigh.

"What do you want? I can't let you have him. We already agreed to this. He's an asshole, but he's still my brother, and I will make sure he stays the fuck away from you and your family. I already know how I'm going to use him, so there won't be any arguments about my succession as Pakhan."

I still wasn't satisfied.

"We already talked about this." He groaned.

"Yeah. I get that, but I'm going to need something of his."

Yuri frowned.

"What?"

"I'm going to need his hand. The hand he used to touch my wife and the hand he used to touch my son when he threatened her."

Silence. Yuri rubbed the back of his neck.

Bastian's laughter disappeared.

"You would cut off my hand... for him?"

"No." Yuri shook his head. "I'd cut off your hand because you're an idiot. You endangered the entire Bratva, and you started a war without authorisation. Let's not forget you ignored direct protocol, involved outsiders, and then you failed."

Bastian clenched his jaw.

"I didn't fail."

"No?" Yuri gestured around us. "You're bleeding, You're surrounded, your men are either dead or captured, and You've got guns pointed at your head."

He smiled.

"Looks like failure to me."

Bastian's face darkened.

"You don't understand."

"No." Yuri nodded. "I understand perfectly. You wanted Father's approval, you wanted revenge, and you wanted to become Pakhan."

His smile disappeared.

"But instead...You embarrassed the Volkov name."

Silence stretched between them. Then Bastian laughed bitterly.

"So that's it? You're choosing them?"

"I'm choosing the Bratva." Yuri's voice became cold. "And right now... They're better for business than you are."

Bastian looked at me, then at Ariella and then at Leon. Finally, he looked back at Yuri.

"So you're really going to let him cut off my hand?"

Yuri sighed.

"I said he needed your hand. I never said he was keeping the rest of you."