THE DEMON MATEO

Ariana’s Pov~

My husband didn't come home that night, I laid awake in the mayor’s itchy bed wondering all night where he could be.

Maybe his enemy finally got to him, whoever the fuck it is trying to blow him up,

Maybe just maybe they may have saved me from this nightmare called Mateo and I could finally run away, far from him, my father and Silvio.

Silvio…  flashes of that horrible day at the train flooded my memory, his eyes, looked murderous as Mateo carted me away like a prized livestock.

Could he be behind this? Did he know Becky and I were on board?

I shrugged the thought away as my mind wandered off to Chiara, locked up in a mental hospital, she never told anyone what happened to her that night after she asked me to leave her at the school party with Mateo.

I didn't even know Silvio was there that night, I needed to see my old friend again.

A twist on the door knob drew me away from my thought, the door crept loudly as it opened, and Mateo came in, his clothes bathed in blood, plenty of blood.

The other person couldn't have survived, with this much blood having  left them, 

I froze in fear, as he moved close to me and kissed me on my lips, I stepped back in fear, “Whose blood is that Mateo?” I asked pushing his hands away.

“Don't worry about it baby doll, I ran into a few old friends” he lied, I looked at him.

“Mateo is this the life you want to bring your child into? Who did you kill?” I asked ceaselessly, he was quiet, and then he threw a new iPhone on the bed.

“For you,” he said, he turned and headed towards the shower, he started taking off his bloody suit, throwing it on the floor, and then he ripped his shirt aggressively as though he was trying to hurt himself.

“your boyfriend sent a nurse to blow me up, but he miscalculated, he never expected that ill take you along,” he said turning back to face me, his shirt was ripped beyond recognition, and blood was seeping down from his shoulders.

I froze as I saw the blood roll down his hairy nipples and down towards his belt.

“Silvio?” I inquired, he laughed hysterically, “When he found out last minute that you were there, he didn't call it off, you know what he told the nurse?” he asked taking off the cufflinks attached to the ripped shirt, I stood there unable to move as I saw Mateo’s eyes glow in anger, “he said I overpaid, that you are a bad investment,” Mateo said slowly surrounding me, “you, Ariana, have cost me a heavy amount of money, how do you hope to settle this?” he asked stopping in front of me, 

“how do I get my one billion dollars out of you,” he asked as he leaned into me, his eyes gleaming with anger.

 “i.. I don't understand” I exclaimed stepping away from his gaze, “I never asked for this, I never wanted this, Silvio is not my boyfriend!” I declared, why is this suddenly pinned on me, why am I in their wars? I never wanted this, I never prayed for this.

I wanted a boring life, to meet a nice Maltese man, maybe a professor or something, and have his Maltese babies and live that quiet life.

But here I am, at the centre of a bloody mafia war I so desperately wanted to leave behind,  he grabbed my face and steadied it in his view.

 “Thank the Roman gods that Becky made it out alive, I would have sent your head to him in a box, with a letter demanding half price payment” 

Fear washed through my body, never felt anything shake me to my core the way his eyes stared murderously at me, the look of the blood etched on his forehead left terror inside me,  because at that moment, I knew he meant it, I'd just been a plaything to him all this while, me and my baby.

He didn't care about me or this child, we were just leverage.

My child is going to grow up, just like I did.

 He set me free and I fell backwards and thumped on the bed.

 “get dressed we leave in an hour” he said before walking away and heading to the bathroom.

Tears streamed down my face, and I quickly wiped them off, today would be the last time I cry for this asshole, I was enraged, why would he speak to me like that!

like I was his to toy with, just as he opened the shower door I picked up the phone and threw it back at him, he ducked to the side as he laughed hysterically.

 “nice try baby doll, but today will not be the day I die” 

I watched as he closed the door behind him with an evil smile.

 “I hope the next crash is successful!” I said after him.

I wish Fiona was here, she’s the only one who can get in my head and cool me down, I want to break the vase but it belonged to the nice mayor and his wife.

Still, I wanted to break everything!

I hate this man so much, who is this? When did Mateo become worse than he used to be?

Are there levels to this?

I wanted to reach for my phone and call Fiona instinctively but my phone blew up on the plane and now the one he got me I threw it at him!

Forty minutes later I was safely buckled into another plane, heading to God knows where.  

Mateo sat opposite me, he had changed into a shirt, and he kept glaring at me again.

I heard footsteps behind me, I turned and saw Julius coming, he handed the phone he was holding to Mateo.

“They moved the auction to tonight” Mateo repeated softly, a sudden quietness to his tone.

“Good, your loyalty to me does not go unnoticed, send the new coordinates to Julius” With that, he handed the phone back to Julius, continued the conversation and excused himself from our presence.

“I'm sure you can't wait to see your boyfriend again,” he remarked, I didn't say anything and I didn't look at him either.

“not speaking huh?” he asked, but I didn't reply.

I just wanted to drown myself in a huge pot of olive oil.

Something terrifying happened almost immediately.

The plane rocked again, I clenched the arms of the seat as I revisited the trauma of the first crash.

“Ah don't worry it's just the plane adjusting in the sky” a voice said from behind.

I froze in my seat, I knew that voice, it was all too familiar.

“Igor” Victor called, gesturing to join us in our aisle, I looked at Mateo hoping for some sort of answer.

Why is he here? but this time he wasn't looking at me, and he was playing nice with Igor.

I turned and I saw the horrible huge man with a bald head, his beards looked like they flowed and connected at his chin.

“We meet again,” he said, taking my hand in his, as he tried to put it close to his lips Mateo drew his gun out of its holster.

“Don't touch her until we conclude” he mentioned.

Conclude what? I looked at him as my heart raced, his gaze averted mine every time they met.

“Mateo, what's going on?” I asked, looking around as I saw two other men come into the room and standing a few feet away from Igor.

“ Igor here was kind enough to secretly help us leave Croatia without getting noticed, but there’s a small price to pay Ariana” Mateo replied.

“I don't understand,” I muttered.

He focused his gaze on me,  the light’s reflection bounced from the soft, warm hue of his eyes, as he said.

“Welcome to your Resale”