The Billionaire's Mafia Wife

"You are going to marry Joffrey next month, Devon. The families have already talked and planned the wedding months ago. Why the sudden disagreement, dear? You said yes a week ago."

Devon just looked sadly at her snow-paled mother from her pink bed and shook her head in defiance. She agreed then because her father forced and threatened her that he would kill her best friend but now that Ariane is dead, there's no reason for her to blindly follow them.

"Mom, you know exactly why. I had no choice. Dad squeezed the hell out of me. He will kill Ariane!"

Melena sighed and sat next to her and stroked her long black hair which Devon got from her side.

"Marriage is not such a bad thing, daughter. I married your father when I was 23, the same age as you now. Joffrey is a lovely man for you and he likes you during the family gathering. I saw the spark in his eyes. He will take care of you."

She couldn't help but feel her bones tingling in disgust upon remembering the lust she read in his eyes that night as if he would automatically feast on her the moment they would be alone together.

"You forgot that he begged father for my hand just because of my face. Dad loves you truly but we all know Joffrey is a cruel man. He's notorious for physically hurting his girlfriends. Mom, do you really want me to be wed to a man like that just because of a brewing alliance?"

Melena stood up, her patience slowly eroding.

"I would gladly hand you to him and to anyone than to be caught up with a man like Daemon. This conversation is over, Devon. If you want to still enjoy the favors of your father, then be a good child and obey him. Marry Joffrey. I won't tolerate any objection."

Melena walked out of the door and left Devon in a state of panic. Pulling herself together, she thought of anyway, anything that she could do to get out of the situation.

She lay on the bed, took out her phone from the pocket of her jeans and called Elise, the only remaining one who can help her now. After talking with her friend, she began packing a small bag filled with some clothes and cash to last her a month. She's sure her family will scour the whole state looking for her the minute she's gone so she should be somewhere preferably on the other side of the planet by then.

Going against the wishes of her father, the leader of one of the surviving mafia groups in the country, will get her punished. Gestoni Farrows knows no family and blood. He will raise that gun even to his youngest child and only daughter.

"Mom said she would willingly give me to Joffrey and anyone other than Daemon. Well, I say I don't like both of them. I will marry no one."

Daemon is the leader of the rival of his father's group, the one her father wanted to take down so badly. Several emissaries from both of the groups went to and fro to offer peace talks to stop the ongoing war between the two but none was ever successful.

Some suggested her to be wed to Daemon which her parents resolutely contested. As a consequence, the wedding with Joffrey was rushed as if Daemon would really think about marrying her.

Everybody in the district knows that he is in a love and hate relationship with Maddy, a senator's whore. Rumor has it Daemon assumed the position because of her.

She didn't go out to the dining hall for the dinner that night. A maid brought her food to her room but she didn't eat anything. She's busy plotting a way to escape.

"I cannot let myself be this way forever. There is a way. There must be a way for me," she said to herself and rose to see the moon deep into the night.

Growing up in a family full of boys, Devon has to be the yes woman in the house together with her mother who can't seem to say no to his husband. Her life revolved around pleasing everyone especially her father who only eyed her as a human being who will strengthen the stronghold of the mafia group to the 16th district by marrying her off to Joffrey, her father's one devoted friend and the number one enemy of Damon Druft, the cold and cunning leader of the Magista group.

"If only I was a little bit stronger. If only I am more powerful than I am now then I will not definitely be forced to marry. If only I..." She stopped when an idea hit her.

"Wait a minute." She ran back into the bed and got the yellowish piece of paper inside her favorite pink pillow. She read the embossed number on the paper and bit her lips.

"This could be my last resort, my last chance. I don't care if this is betrayal to my own family. They have already betrayed me the moment they ignored what I really wanted to do in my life."

With the paper in her pocket, she went out of her room and quietly slipped out of their house amidst the darkness of the night. She carefully repeated in her head the images of the blueprint of the house so as to prevent herself from getting caught. When she was on the road, she breathed hard and put on a hoodie to cover her head and face. Afterwards, she hailed a taxi and asked the driver to drop her at the address written on the paper. The man recognized the place and glanced at her.

"Miss, do you really want to go to this place? You know there are many women and children disappearing in these places. I could bring you back to your home," the man said in his most concerned voice.

Devon shook her head hard. "I know that many women are disappearing here but I also know that that place could be the most secure place for them. Bring me to Alley 56. I need to meet someone there."

The taxi driver just nodded and drove away. Devon is afraid by the way she curled her hands on her lap but she shoveled it back to her head. She will not waste time entertaining thoughts like that. She will try this opportunity and wish herself luck.

After paying for her fare, she hurriedly ran to the gate of the lone building in the entire Alley 56, a flourishing commercial building by the day and a black market at night.

A big man with a beard stopped her from going inside. He blocked her and pushed her aside. "Hey, little children are not allowed inside. Go home, kid."

"I'm not a kid. I'm an adult and I need to enter. I need to meet someone inside. Let me."

The man chuckled and scratched his head. "Ah, another one of those teenage girls who wants to date her boyfriend inside. Listen gal, this is not a place for you. Go tell your boyfriend to meet you in a park!"

"I told you I'm not kidding. Let me inside. I need to see someone."

"And who will it be? Daemon?"

"Yes!" she blurted. "I need to see him. I need to talk to Damon."

He laughed. "Our boss doesn't just talk to anybody. Go home."

"I am not just anybody." She removed her ring and gave it to the man. He inspected it and when he saw the eagle insignia carved on the ring, he looked as shocked as ever.

I took off my hood and looked at him intently. "I'm here to see Daemon Druft. Tell him that the daughter of Gestoni Farrows wishes to see him now."

Daemon Druft in his early thirties with his signature shoulder length hair and arm sleeve tattoo looks as gruff and as ruthless as ever. Devon first saw him at a convention for the arts when her college buddy asked her to accompany him. He's with Maddy then while picking up an impressionistic painting in the gallery.

She spent her whole time staring at the man who stood the tallest among the people there. In awe of his majestic hold of himself, of the power she knows he is proud of controlling.

That's when she realized about the reason for her father's obsession with power and that's when an idea began to take a seed inside her.

"Are you sure you are a Farrows?" asked the man while still looking at her ring.

"I am. If you are still doubting, then why don't you call Daemon for him to see me himself. He knows who I am," she said with her head high.

But the truth is, she's just lying. There's no way Daemon will recognize her. He didn't ever have the chance to meet her even in the banquet held by the old and wise Farriah. Daemon came to the event but she hid in the kitchen throughout the whole time trying to prevent herself from seeing Joffrey.

"I will bring you to him but if I find out that you are lying, I will wring that small neck you have and feed it to my ducks."

"Oh, you are a little too hotheaded," I softly said, which turned into a gasp later when he dragged me inside the humongous building.

The interior of Daemon's lair is just like him. Dark, foreboding, and intimidating. The whole walls are covered with paintings. Even the ceiling is painted with the familiar scene from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel painting.

Inside the big hollow building are glass boxes that house something she can't clearly see from her position. On each of the glasses are two guards with guns on their sides while the guests look.

These must be the relics Daemon loves to sell every night. Rumor has it that aside from drugs and gun cartels, Daemon also has a monopoly in the district when it comes to art smuggling.

"Stop looking kid and watch where you're going," the man's voice rose when she almost tripped on the boxes on the floor.

They had walked down to the basement area of the building where the light was so dim.

"Where are we now?" she asked with a tinge of fear when they stopped behind a metal door.

Devon looked around the floor with the help of the faint light coming from a small bulb in the low ceiling of the basement.

"You're here to see the boss so you'll see the boss."

The man pulled her arms and opened the door and pushed her inside. She squeaked in low pain when she hit the floor but immediately got up when a moan of a man in pain startled her.

"Lost are you, little one?"

A chill ran down her spine when a rich dark tone of a voice sprang from behind her. She slowly turned around and batted her eyes to adjust to the glaring light of the room. Devon blinks when she is finally face to face with the man she never thought she would have the courage to meet.

She shook her head nervously and tried to appear courageous but she immediately dropped it when she saw Daemon grin while studying her face.

"N-No... No, I'm not. I... I am here to see you."

He cocked his brow and put his foot on top of the head of the man lying on the floor that she just noticed by now.

"Oh, you're here to see me. Why would a little kid like you like to see me? Hmmm?"

He crossed his legs and put his hand on his cheek while his other hand reached for his pocket and took out a cigar.

"Could you light it for me?"

She immediately walked to the table where the lighter was and picked it up avoiding the sight of the man on the floor that is now unconscious. She lit his cigar and took steps back to regain her composure.

"Thank you. Now why would you want to talk to me, Ms. Farrows?" He said it in the most casual but probing tone that she couldn't help but take a long breath.

"I... I need your help..." She stopped when she realized something. He knows her?!

"Wait, you know me, Daemon?"

"The same way you know me, Ms. Farrows. Now what would the only daughter of my sworn enemy be doing in my own territory? Care to share it, Devon? Share it with me. Depending upon the circumstances, maybe I could be generous enough to help you."

She gulped and prepared herself. This is it. It's now or never.

"I..." She breathed again before looking directly at his droopy wild eyes. "I want you to take me in, Mr. Druft. Take me Daemon, please."

There. She finally said it but the obvious nonchalance on Daemon's face tells her he is not liking the idea.

After a minute of awkward silence, the man laughed and then stood up to stalk her. She took a step back and then another before finally resting to the wall when her back hit the doorknob.

"Could you please repeat what you just said, Ms. Farrows? You want me to do what?"

He puffed out a smoke on her face and smiled dangerously.

"I... I wanted you to take me in for the time being. You see, my father wanted to marry me to Joffrey Dylan and I don't want that."

"And you would rather be with the enemy of your family?"

She nodded. "Yes, because I know you don't hurt children and women."

Daemon put off his cigar by sticking it to his own flesh in the hand. They both watched it create a searing burn on his hand.

"You are not just a simple child or a woman, Devon. You are a Farrow, a child of my enemy. What makes you think I would get myself involved in whatever family matters you are experiencing right now? I only want to be the only surviving leader of the entire district. Nothing else."

She swallowed the lump in her throat to ready herself.

"That's how I hated to be with Joffrey, that I'd rather be with an enemy."

Daemon walked away from her and sat back in his chair.

"Everything has a price in this world, Ms. Farrows. What could you offer me?"

She thought for a moment. What a dumb thing for her to not think of this. Of course, Daemon would always want to get something from every deal especially when it involves the wrath of her own father.

"Are you now willing to take me in at least for a time being? If you do, then I could work for you day in and night. I will do everything you want me to do. Just please, let me stay here. They will never think that I'd run here of all places."

"Nah, nah." Daemon clicked his tongue. "I have enough workers, Farrows. But I lack something that only you, a woman, can give me."

Her eyes widened in confusion. What could be that?

"I... I don't have enough money," she softly said which elicited a laugh from him.

"Ms. Farrows, I will give you money if you ever give me what I want." He clasped his hands and stared at her bosom. "Bear me son Devon and I'll protect you forever."