Chapter 578
But then, that scene of Arianna and Aziz staring at each other with unspoken words between them flashed in her head and she shook it away. Her mind was probably making up things, and who knows, this was pregnancy signs, she reasoned.
There was no way that Aziz and Arianna could have met each other before now unless he was.... cold dread washed over her and her stomach twisted sickly at the sudden thought on her head.
No, no way, Aziz couldn’t be Elijah and she was thinking nonsense.
However, the clues began to come together in her mind. Marcel had a suspicion that Elijah had already infiltrated his gang and that was the same time Aziz came along. He was too skilled and that was something only someone with experience like Elijah could do.
Aziz couldn’t be in love with Arianna, but Elijah was and the bastard would be willing to use anything or anyone... to get her out. Adele trembled and she swallowed uneasily, was Aziz truly Elijah?
No!
Her mind couldn’t believe it. No, she didn’t want to believe it. The father of her unborn child couldn’t be Elijah. So she found facts to counter that belief.
Aziz had a father who taught taekwondo and could have got all of his skills there. Marcel said Elijah was left-handed, but Aziz was right-handed. If Aziz was Elijah, there were plenty of opportunities for him to have taken Arianna already, but he didn’t. Here he was. So he couldn’t be Elijah.
.....
At that moment, as if Elijah sensed her suspicion, he smiled widely at Adele and it melted away every doubt in her mind. Elijah liked Arianna, and Aziz liked her. They couldn’t be two people. Aziz wasn’t Elijah, Adele forced her mind to believe it.
“Are you well? You seem pale,” Aziz came over to her, feeling her forehead with the back of his hand.
Adele was relieved. Hugely relieved. There was no way this caring man could be Elijah. It was impossible. Elijah was a stone-cold mercenary who cared only for Arianna, which was why her cousin, Marcel held onto her. With Arianna in his hands, Elijah would come back for her.
“I’m fine now you’re here,” Adele smiled up at him, her heart racing. She was falling for Aziz and she knew that.
“Adele,” Marcel called and her attention snapped to him. It was time to go.
“Sure,” She nodded and turned to Aziz once and placed a peck on his cheeks, “I’ll be back before you know it.”
“I’ll be here when you’re back,” He promised her, planting a kiss on her knuckles.
Whatever fears Adele had earlier vanished completely. Perhaps, Aziz had feelings for her. She knew It was kind of stupid hoping for stuff like that to happen when their relationship was as clear as day, however, there’s no way Aziz doesn’t feel a thing for her. Even if it was little as candlelight, Adele didn’t mind because she was positive she would make him fall for him.
She then walked over to Marcel and together they left. But before leaving, Adele cast one final look at them and saw Aziz taking a seat across from Arianna. She had to force herself to stifle the feeling of Jealousy inside of her.
It was obvious that Arianna was madly in love with her cousin, Marcel. It was Aziz that she was worried about, but then, he wasn’t stupid enough to go after Marcel’s woman – not unless he was Elijah. Adele winced inwardly, shutting that stupid voice that slipped into her mind again.
“You have a lot on your mind,” Marcel said, startling her.
“No, it’s nothing.” She said, looking ahead.
“So it has to do with Aziz then,” Marcel figured it out, nor was he going to let it go. He suddenly stopped, and looked at her seriously, “If he’s using you, Adele, you have no reason to hide that from me. ”
“No! Of course not!” Adele rejected the idea, “He’s not taking advantage of me or something, it’s just that...” She let out a deep breath and decided to come clean.
“Our relationship is a fling.”
It dawned on Marcel, “But you want more,” He saw the truth in her eyes. Adele had that same desperate look he had a month ago when he was dying to have Arianna accept his feelings for her. Why does the Luciano family have such tough luck when it comes to love? It was the only challenging factor in their family.
“Yes.” Adele admitted it, embarrassed. Her cheeks were rosy and she used her hair as a curtain to hide her face from Marcel’s scrutinizing gaze. This was the first time she was opening up to Marcel on a personal level.
Even though both of them were cousins, Adele came from the side of the family Marcel detested, hence their communication was straight to the point and profesional.
She laughed sheepishly, “I sound stupid, don’t I? I mean falling in love was never part of the plan. I wanted to get myself established first with this chance you gave me, you know. Make more opportunities for women to participate in this organization, the Mafia is unfair to women.” She shrugged, “Our role here is to only live for our husbands and children when we could be so much more.”
“But then, you think you can no longer do that now that you’ve fallen in love?” Marcel figured her out.
He shook his head, “You are indeed a fool, Adele.”
“Am I though?” Adele asked, looking him dead in the eyes, “Have you forgotten that for people like us, love is a bullet to the head.” She reminded him of the implications of holding someone dear to his heart in a world like their own.
Once their enemies struck, it was always at the people close to their hearts because that was where it hurt the most. And there was nothing as dangerous as a Mafia with nothing to live for – there was no more inhibitions nor conscience.
“I would rather die young yet experience the short-lived beatitude I had with Arianna than live for long yet dead inside. She made me feel alive and I would never regret it even if I died today.” Marcel told her with all conviction inside of him. Arianna was his everything now – even if he was still mad at her.