Chapter 1

"I CAN'T DO it, Arthur." Laura sobbed. "I just can't. That is not the way of life I want to live. That is not the way of life I want to carve out for…" 

Arthur hushed her. He took a step to embrace her but she recoiled slightly. He clenched his fists beside him and looked around the room they were in. 

A guard stood at the door, and about 3 or 4 more were positioned outside. 

"Laurie, I can leave the family. I can leave all these behind if it would mean I have to stay with you." Arthur said, gently. "We would start all over. Together. From scratch." 

Even as the words left his mouth, his brain registered two things. 

One was, it was easier said than done. You can not just wake up one morning and decide to back out from the third biggest and deadliest mafia family in the New York underground. Especially when you're the first son of the godfather and the heir to the family.

The second thing his brain registered was that Laura would not agree to it. She was scared. 

She shook her head. Her light brown straight hair cascaded down her neck and shoulders. "You can't do that. They would come for us." 

Arthur held back a chuckle. "You have been watching too many TV shows, my sweet." He took a step forward and cupped her face with his hand. He was internally pleased when she did not flinch. "Nobody would come for us." 

She stretched up and locked her lips with Arthur's in a passionate kiss. 

"Goodbye, Arthur." She said when she pulled away. 

And she turned and walked away. The guard opened the door as she approached it. 

Arthur stood in the middle of the room, dazed for a second. By the time he caught himself, Laura was gone. He ran out of the room, closely followed by the guard. His men outside were hanging around lazily soaking up the afternoon sun. 

He sighted her getting into a cab. 

"Laura! Laura!" He yelled and hurried after her. "Please wait!" 

She said something to the cab driver and he sped off from the curb, leaving behind a plume of smoke. 

Arthur stood, dejected on the curb. His men stood at respectable distances from him. 

"Shall I follow her and gun her down sir?" A small man by his side said. 

He looked up at the person that had spoken. "Where is your gun?" He asked, stretching out his hand at the man.

The small man reached behind his back and brought out a glock17 pistol. He placed it on Arthur's hand. 

Without second thoughts, Arthur pointed the gun at the small man and fired at there in the street. The man slumped. Dead. 

"Anyone utter anything like that again, and it'll be his family lying on the floor." He said to the remaining men in a deadly tone. "Two of you, clean up this mess." He gestured with the gun to the small man and the pool of blood. "The rest of you, follow me. We have work to do."  

He stalked to the limousine, a guard opened the door as he approached. He folded himself into the limousine. His cousin, Diego sat on a chair, holding a glass of wine. 

"Damnn… you look like shit." He said. "With the way your face is screwed up, I take it that it did not go well." 

Arthur kept quiet. 

Diego leaned forward and tapped on the driver’s partition. "Oi, Take us to the mansion, will you?" 

The driver nodded and put the car into motion. Behind them, an entourage of two black SUVs followed dutifully. 

Diego pressed a button and the glass partition covered up. Giving the two men in the car some privacy. 

"You should not go about shooting your men in the broad daylight," Diego said to Arthur. "I didn't even know you knew how to shoot." 

"Of course, I know how to shoot," Arthur muttered. "Old Papi made sure of that." 

"What did she say?" 

Arthur sighed and pulled his tie loose. "She did not even want to let me touch her." 

"I figured as much." Diego mused. "Don't think about it much. She was good for you, but she would not fit into our world." 

Arthur leaned over and withdrew a bottle of whisky from the ice bucket. "That's the problem." He said, slugging down the whiskey and spilling it down his throat. "I was willing to leave 'our world' for a chance with her." 

"You can't do that," Diego said. He had a shocked expression on his face. 

"Oh, I can't? Why is that?" 

"Don't give me that sarcastic tone!" Diego snatched the bottle from Arthur's grasp. "The Campus is holding the graduation party today. Are you sure you don't want to check in? Who knows, you might find another person there." 

Arthur slumped back in the soft cushion. "No. Going back there would remind me of Laura… and I have every plan of forgetting her." He sat up, with a strange fiery light burning in his eyes and his jaws clenched in determination.  

LAURA’S EYES BURNED with unshed tears as she directed the taxi driver to her apartment on 114 East Street. 

"Are you okay, miss?" The driver asked, meeting her eyes on the overhead mirror. 

"Yes sir." She mumbled, refusing to meet his eyes. "Please, you can drop me here." 

The taxi pulled over to the side of the street and stopped. "Those men back there… " The taxi driver said. "Those are bad men, miss. I know them just by their looks. You don't want to get involved with them. I would advise you to watch your back and always lock your doors." 

She opened the door and half tumbled out. "Thank you." She reached into her purse to retrieve the taxi fare, but her hands were shaking so hard that the purse fell to the floor and spilt its content. 

"Don't worry about the fare, miss." The elderly driver said. "You just make sure you are okay." With that, he gently pulled away from the curb. 

Laura stood on the pavement for a while, watching the taxi drive away before she stooped down to gather her things. 

She walked into her lobby and up her apartment, grateful for once that the lobby man was not in his post. She was not in the mood for chit-chat now. 

She dumped her bag on her chair and walked into her bathroom. 

She had been suspecting it since last month. She noticed even the slightest change in her body and when this one came, she knew. 

But she had to be sure. 

After a few minutes, she came back out of the bathroom. 

The two red lines on the pregnancy kit confirmed her suspicion. 

She was pregnant. 

For who she just found out was a billionaire Mafia Lord. 

For who she just broke up and walked away from. 

For who she did not want to have anything to do with in the future. 

She leaned her back against the wall clutched her belly and slid down to the floor, dejected. 

The tears started pouring again but she was not going to lose this child. This was her baby and she was going to keep it. 

Arthur does not have to know.

With a new determination, she smashed the tears away from her cheek with her palm and stood up on shaky legs. 

She stood up and checked her phone. 

Pictures and posts from their graduation party filled everywhere. 

She sighed, while her classmates were happy at a graduation party, drinking wine and getting high, she was in her room, moping and carrying the child of a Mafia. 

Her stomach grumbled. She was hungry. 

She absently realized that she had not eaten anything since the day before. 

She got up from her bed to get something to eat but as she stood, the floor tilted and she felt herself fall heavily on the hardwood floor. She slipped into darkness.