CHAPTER 39

Lucius's Pov.

My legs moved faster than ever, in less than a minute after Anna had called I slid into my latest model Mercedes Benz car shutting the door firming behind me.

I had to set the car on auto drive. I didn't trust myself to drive clearly, seeing I was shaking in anger. How dare he? was all I could think, my heart beating sporadically.

I made a traffic stop and my phone started vibrating quite aggressively, I picked up the call and saw it was Bruno calling.

“Sir. Sorry sir, it seems he was able to make a run for it”. I clenched my fist and hit my steering wheel, and the horn responded loudly.

“Where is she?” I asked.

“Sir your wife is in your room punched in the code for her and gave her the password no one can get in Sir. Seeing I also gave her the current password”.

“Good, I'm barely five minutes away from the house”.

“Okay boss, I'll stand guard outside the room till you get here”.

I turned off the call feeling a lot more relieved although my uncle Matias had bun away knowing I was coming. At least he was now gone and would be out of my hair.

Fresh annoyance seeped into me as I remembered how frightened Anna sounded on the phone. I gripped my steering wheel in anger, my knuckles white.

I have to do a better job of protecting her. What I didn't understand was why Matias was working double time to make sure I ended up with another woman. Could there be more to this? Or maybe I'm overthinking.

The car drove into my estate smoothly and came to a halt at the mansion. I jumped down and had to strenuously refrain from running to my room to check on Anna.

This was one of the controlling parts of being a mafia lord, even if I had a heavy storm brewing in me as long as I was in public view I had to act calm and collected.

Ignoring the greetings of my men and staff along the way due to the urgency to get to my room I took longer strides. Just as Bruno had said, I found him pacing outside my room standing guard in case Matias still had any more tricks up his sleeves.

“Welcome back Boss,” he said nodding slightly.

“Thanks” I managed to say as I punched in the code allowing the door to open automatically. “You may leave,” I said to Bruno before stepping inside dismissing him to do whatever he pleases.

Anna's head shot up the moment I stepped into the room, it broke my heart to see how worried and slightly red in anger she looked. A part of me wished Matias was here so I could teach him a lesson he would never forget.

I quickly walked towards her sitting next to her on my bed. “I'm so sorry, it'll never happen again. Did he touch you, explain to me in detail what happened?” I said pulling her to my chest.

I heard her take a deep breath before she started recounting what had happened.

"It all started when Jolyn barged into my bedroom and I decided to reprimand her for her rudeness before” I listened to her continue anger welling up in his chest as she recounted how Matias had dared treat her in my absence.

When she was done I pulled her even closer “I'll handle it I promise, Matias will never come that close to you ever again I'll be sure of it . I'm so sorry I wasn't there”.

“It's fine, nothing happened. He just really ruffled my feathers” her sweet voice responded.

“ But can you be honest with me ?” she asked.

“Yes, anything” I responded too eagerly.

“Why exactly is it that I'm not well accepted in your family, Mrs Jones excluded of course”.

I didn't want to talk to her about it but I figured she might as well know“They have an issue with you because they claim you're not of mafia true blood as your father retired his clan’’

“That doesn't surprise me seeing how they all quickly abandoned me and ran off” Although her words seemed harsh I could hear the hint of sadness in her voice.

I squeezed her even tighter, so she would know I was right there for her.

“I'll find them for you I promise,” I said, she simply nodded.

I don't know how long we stayed in that position just holding ourselves, I didn't let go till she fell asleep. I gently laid her on the bed and decided to go back to work but not before writing a note.

I couldn't get Matias but I could get to her head maid, the young lady she had complained that started it, “Dominick" my voice bellowed through the house, he came scurrying up “Sir, welcome sir”.

I nodded, “Find Jolyn? and tell them she is fired and if she doesn't get out of this estate in the next thirty minutes, exercise any means including through force”.

Dominick gave me a surprised look aghast at my request but he knew better than to ask. He simply bowed “As you command sir,” he said, turning to take his leave.

I ran my fingers through my dark locks of hair, letting out a sigh of frustration. I still hadn't found out the identity of Monterio's son and I could almost swear he was probably up to no good, trying to form alliances without my permission or knowledge.

I jogged down the stairs to utilize daylight and see if I could find any useful leads concerning Monterio's son.

Anna's Pov

The moment Lucius stepped into the room I'm sure I let out an audible sigh of relief, although he tried to look calm I could sense how worried and upset he was.

He held me in his arms and asked what had happened, which I narrated. He surprised me again by vowing to protect me and not let anything happen to me despite the fact I hadn't known him well. I knew I could count on those words.

But something still bothered me. Why does his family not approve of me?

I had to ask and I could see his reluctance but he explained. I didn't even blame his family, they didn't want weak blood association with them, and marriage is one of the ways to secure connections and power.

But he threw those things away just to marry the daughter of a coward. I didn't understand my feelings towards my family after all they had abandoned me but still, I missed them sorely.

Then I heard Lucius' deep velvet voice “I'll find them for you I promise”.

I wondered how he always managed to read my mind accurately, my throat felt tight with emotion and tears so I simply nodded.

His warm embrace seemed like the balm I needed and I drifted into sleep. By the time I finally opened my eyes, I noticed I was alone in bed.

I got up stretching when my eyes caught a sticky note stuck to the side table my phone placed over it as an extra hold.

I smiled to myself picked up my phone and removed the note smiling even harder as I read it, "Don't worry about anything, I have it under control. I'll be back soon. I have another meeting”

I glowed with warmth and satisfaction, so I decided to scroll through my phone again just to keep me occupied at least.

The moment I logged into my social media account I noticed a serious oddity, my followers had increased to almost two million new followers.

I shrieked and dropped my phone in surprise and fear wondering if my account had been hacked and the hacker was just playing around.

Confused, I decided to scroll through the hashtag trending to see if it'll offer any insight only to see pictures of myself and Lucius in Paris together plastered all over social media.

The top article was, "Billionaire Lucius Moteri Reveals the Identity Of His Secret Wife, a small town Girl Anna”. It made sense why my followers skyrocketed from a struggling 600 to almost two good million.

I checked my DMs and saw invites from celebrities asking me if we could hang out, I wasn't sure I was in love with new developments despite the glitz and glamour.

I appreciate the simple life, I scrolled down further and my eyes caught the DM's of my two treacherous ex-best friends Kylie and Lu.

“fake friends” I muttered to myself, still feeling the venomous sting of their betrayal. An idea quickly popped into my head, if anyone knew about where my family was last seen or any such information about them it would be them.

It would be them, for that reason alone I decided to respond to them both, asking if they were free the next day.

They responded almost immediately, agreeing to it. I smiled darkly. They had no idea I was aware of their thoughts of me. Tomorrow after I get my information I'm going to go tell them off and block them everywhere.