Chapter 151 - His Red

"Don Marino?"

The man looked at his boss in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he just heard. No, it must be his auditory hallucination. Right? Of course, it would be. He would never believe the words that just left Don Marino's mouth. 

"You didn't hear me wrong," Alessandro Marino said as he placed his index finger below his chin. He appeared as if he was deep in thought. 

"W...why?" Yes, why would Don Marino want his own daughter dead? The same daughter he spent a lot of resources to find. Also, the daughter who was now married to the only man capable of pulling them out of the mess. 

Don Marino shook his head as if mocking himself. What was Persephone now to him except for a ticking bomb ready to burst anytime soon? 

He didn't stop Santiago from marrying his other daughter when Sophia betrayed all of them. It was only because his family was at fault. If he had controlled and taught Sophia well, the situation would not have arisen. 

Still, he could have prevented Santiago from marrying Persephone but he didn't. It was simply because of his own greed. He didn't mind finishing off Santiago Vitello once he had served his purpose but it was a pity that Santiago had yet to serve his purpose and fulfil the part of his bargain. And if for that, he had to get rid of his waste of a daughter. He wouldn't hesitate to do so. 

Instead of this monologue playing in Don Marino's mind, he didn't let a word slip his mouth. His new consiligure already knew more than he should. In order to prevent himself from killing this one too, he just smiled at him wickedly, "Why not? If I can be the reason for her existence, I can so well be the reason for her demise?"

Well, what could the poor consigliere say in front of the higher authority? 

He had always heard that Alessandro Marino was a demon who wouldn't mind sacrificing his own blood and flesh to achieve his goal. However, it was his first time experiencing it firsthand. Even the biggest criminals like them work according to some set of rules and principles but Don Marino pays heed to nothing.

"I will make preparations, Don Marino," The consigliere said with a nod. 

Don Marino hummed in reply, still deep in thought. 

When the other man was at the door, he heard him say, "But do note to find a scapegoat first. I don't want people talking about how I, Alessandro Marino, got my daughter killed for getting impregnated with a bastard. After all, I have a reputation to maintain. And my son-in-law has no idea what kind of shameless woman has been warming his bed." 

What Don Marino at this time didn't know was that his daughter had long discerned that marriage to Santiago meant her death at the hands of her own father! She had always known that instead of letting Santiago find the truth, his father would quietly and skillfully get rid of her. She and her unborn child would be murdered mercilessly in the cold blood. 

Even the thought was enough for one to shudder in fear… But Persephone? She had been living with this fear ever since she entered Santiago's house. If her heart was telling her to ask Santiago for help for whatever mysterious reasons, then her mind was imploring her to run away from the place where she would be killed if she stayed any longer. 

But where could she go? 

Where could she leave all her horrors behind? 

Where would she be free?

Most of all, where would she be safe? 

… 

"I can't believe this…." Killian muttered when he saw that the man who put him through shit all night was back in the hotel bar and gulping down alcohol like freshwater. 

"What the hell is wrong with you man?" Killian asked Santiago. "Even Nash is more disciplined when it comes to drinking." 

Santiago grunted but didn't reply and drank the glass that he was holding in his hand. 

It was the middle of the night and he was sleeping beside his bed when he received the call from the hotel reception that the drunken man he booked the room beside his, was causing a commotion in the hotel bar. And when Killian reached there, he found that Santiago had beaten two boys who were probably in their early twenties. 

Fortunately, he handled the situation and the police were not called. But it didn't mean that he was handing the drunk Santiago quite well. 

So, in a fit of anger, he scrolled through Santiago's phone and his finger paused on the contact saved as 'My Red' and he snorted. 

On the other side, Persephone woke up with a shriek. She threw the duvet off her body as she found her nightgown wet with sweating. She was paying badly as if she had run a marathon. Well, she was… in her nightmare. 

She vividly saw someone running after her with a knife in his hand. What scared her the most was not the man running after her for her life but the infant she was holding in her arms! 

In her dream, someone was after the life of her newly born infant and she was running with her baby to protect from all the dangers. 

Resting her head against the headboard, she caressed her belly. "Don't worry baby! Mama won't let you hurt ever. I promise." 

As she was talking to her baby in soft whispers, her phone that was placed on the nightstand started vibrating before it rang. 

She checked the time as it was indeed late and she questioned in her heart as to who could call her at so late. She didn't know what persuaded her to pick up the call in the middle of the night and that too from an unknown number. 

"Hello?" She said first. 

"Is it Persephone?" The familiar yet unfamiliar masculine voice said from the other side of the phone. 

"Yeah, you are?" She softly asked. 

"Well, I'm talking from Hotel Maple and your husband is quite drunk. I found your number in his phone and so I called you to inform you to pick him up," The man said and the line disconnected. 

Killian didn't Persephone a second before hanging up on her. 

Persephone just looked at her phone in bewilderment. 

"Santiago is drunk?" She asked herself. "What does it has to do with me?"

'He is your husband,'her heart argued. 'You can't let him to spend a night at the hotel. How uncomfortable it might be for her?' 

'A badass man like him can be uncomfortable ever?'her mind scoffed. 'A husband who twice after getting married doesn't deserve to be bothered over." 

Persephone let her heart and mind argue all they wanted and left her room to knock on Emmanuel and Romeo's door. She couldn't leave the house alone. It was Santiago's direct orders. 

"Miss Persephone?" A sleepy and half naked Romeo opened the door. 

Persephone was expecting a similar scene when she knocked on their door and so her back was facing his face. "Santiago is drunk in a hotel bar. Can you please pick him up?"

"Sure, but I don't have an international license," Romeo said, quite embarrassed while scratching the back of his head. 

"Well, I can drive," Persephone offered. To be honest, she was a very bad driver. And so she usually didn't drive but since Romeo didn't have a license, she offered to drive. 

… 

"Umm, someone called me saying that my husband is here in the bar," Persephone said to the receptionist as soon as she reached the hotel. Romeo, who was accompanying her, was standing behind her. 

"What is your husband's name?"The receptionist asked her with a polite smile. 

"Santiago,"Persephone said. "Santiago Vitello." 

Call it her imagination or whatever, but she noticed that a look passed through the receptionist's name at the mention of Santiago's name. 

"Just a minute ma'am," The receptionist was still smiling at her with that professional smile. Moments later a young woman came to take her to the bar where she informed them how Santiago had gotten into a fight with two other drunk boys. 

Persephone saw Santiago sprawled on the counter, several empty glasses and a bottle lining up. Even a blind could see how drunk he was. No wonder, he started a fight with those boys. 

What surprised her the most was not that he got into a fight but the fact that even the badass Santiago Vitello had days when he couldn't handle his shit and had to drown his pain and suffering in the bottle of liquor. At this moment, she started seeing him as a fellow human being who experiences all the emotions that sometimes her not the mafioso who only know how to kill and loot.. Perhaps he had always known that behind his tough exterior, lied a vulnerable man who he was afraid of showing.