Smitten: A Mafia Romance — Chapter 78

"Just how rich are you Jace?" Korina asked looking around the room she was in.

They were in Jace's mansion and presently in his room, she found everything in the house simply magnificent. All the decor and interior design looked simple but screamed expensive.

"Let's say rich enough." He shrugged scooting closer to her on the bed.

"Uhm uhn." She reached out a hand stopping him midway, "Do not come to me closer than that man, I am still angry at you fuck face!"

"Korina." He called and sighed, "Let me explain."

"Explain what else?" She asked, "You fucking lied to me, what did I do to deserve this?"

"It's all my fault Korina." He looked at her, his eyes pleading, "You didn't do anything, I was just scared."

"Scared that what?" Korina asked, "Oh I see you weren't scared, you thought me a gold digger."

"No, Never!" Jace looked at her astonished, "I would never think of my woman like that."

"Your woman?" She scoffed, "You do not lie to someone you call your woman."

"I am sorry." He apologised, "I am deeply sorry."

"Yea, sorry." She snorted, "Like it fixes everything." Jace only stared at her.

"I told you every single thing about me, you know every single fucking detail, from my mother's death to who betrayed and broke my heart, every fucking thing Jace and what do I get in return? I get lied to!"

Jace stared at her as she talked, he saw that pain filled her eyes and he felt bad for being the cause of her pain.

"I am sorry." He said again, "Please."

"It's hard to." Korina said, "It's hard to forgive, maybe forget, you fucking broke my trust."

"I know I did." He said, "I would do everything or anything to get you back, to make you trust me again."

"I just need to know everything that you have hidden from me, every single detail from your childhood to Now."

Jace took in a deep breath, "I promise I would." He said looking into her eyes, even though he knew it would be hard telling her everything even though it would take him through hell to tell her.

"Okay." She gave him a small smile, "I am listening."

"I didn't really have a pretty childhood Korina." He started, they were holding hands now and he was rubbing small circles in her palm, "It was terrible, I had it rough.

" Tell me about it." She demanded.

"I would." He said, "Not everything tho but I would." He reassured her.

"Okay." She nodded and watched him waiting for him to start his story.

"I was very young when my mother died, my father murdered her. She caught him cheating and got fed up cause she had been enduring all his harshness and ridiculous wickedness. She confronted him and they got into a fight, he killed her right in front of me. I stood there crying, begging, watching how he strangled life out of her, how she begged and pleaded for mercy but he did it anyway and had his men clean her body up. No trace of murder left." He sniffed, "I was only five then when he took her away from me."

"Men? Clean up how?" Korina asked, her heart was breaking, she saw Jace's eyes glistening with tears.

"Let's just say he was an influential man just like me." He said omitting the part of their being in mafia.

"But you called Claire mum, who is she then?"

"I call her mum cause She brought up, She was always there for me whenever she could, other times when she wasn't I was on my own. My dad never cared, he never spent a dime on me, he only paid attention to me when he was...."

"Was what?" She asked rubbing Jace's back trying to calm him down.

"Was extremely sickly horny." He breathed.

"Oh my God, Jace." Her eyes widened in disbelief. She knew what he wanted to say now, "I am so sorry." She hugged him close, "I am so sorry, you didn't have to talk about it."

"I want to." He said, him talking about it made him free inside, "He used me a lot Korina, and his friends too. Both male and females, they made me do things to them orally. It was sick. I was disgusted with myself and when I refuse or resisted, I was beaten to a pulp, I ended up in the hospital several times, I ran away several times only to get captured and come back to being tortured. I remember nights Claire would cry with me soothing my broken self, I remember how Russo teased me every now and then of being used by his beloved father!"

"Russo?" Korina questioned with raised brows.

"Yes, " He is my half brother." She was getting shocked as time passed.

"I had to fend for myself, I got to work at restaurants in my early adolescent years, I was really small thin and scrawny then. They didn't wanna employ me, I came back everyday persistent as ever, until I was given the job, that's how I learnt to cook. It was during these times I met Ade." He smiled sadly at the thought, "He became my friend and brother, we have come a long way together and..."

Jace was cut short by sounds of gun shots, Korina wanted to scream but he put a palm over her mouth.

He signalled at her to keep shut and tip toed to the window, he surveyed the compound his men were already all and about.

"What's going on Jace?" Korina asked frightfully as he matched back to the bed.

"We are under attack!" He said.

"Under attack how?" She questioned confused as she watched him run around the room bringing out bullet proof vests and guns. "What the hell is going on?" She screamed, "Answer me."

Jace pushed a part of the wall and it divided leading way to a secret storage room of arms. He came out fully loaded and Korina just stated in awe.

"Who the hell are you?" She cried.

"Babe I will explain." He said calmly reaching to the back of his neck and he peeled something off, "I guess I don't need this anymore."

He said in an entirely different voice, and the pieces of the puzzle was coming together for Korina, he had just removed a voice changer.

"When were you going to tell me?" She cried, they heard more gun shots.

"When were you gonna tell me you were him."

"I was going to when the time was right." He answered. Korina looked at him, his voice was all too familiar, one she would never forget. Jace Lander the man who stood before her wasn't who claimed to be. Jace was the person who stalked her, who killed Jeffrey, who had showered her with gifts, Jace was the one that was obsessed with her, Jace was the one with the voice she found attractive. It had masked that voice all this while.

Korina was running mad. Jace Lander was Darius, her stalker.