Chapter IV: Nightmares

Sofia was sure it hadn’t been more than a month since she began living with the Regnante heir. But one thing she was certain about was the fact that she didn’t like him, grateful for the fact that they hardly ever crossed paths given his routine of jogging, working and then whoring away the night.

Yet despite that, they saw each other around breakfast, and she couldn’t help but exact her revenge on him for his behavior at the estate.

She treated him like a speck of mud beneath her shoes, simply riling him up just so that he’d lose his temper and retaliate to her fancies. She saw that this Regnante had little to no control over his tongue when angered, and pointed out that it would be his downfall if he ever became boss. The truth behind her words having Marco’s finger’s itch to take out his gun and shut her up once and for all.

It caused a satisfying warmth to spread through her chest to see him fumbling for the words to hit where it hurt the most, but she had learned long ago to make her heart as cold as ice simply to survive in the world that they had taken away from her.

What she did not know, on the other hand, was the fact that the Regnante Mafia had been dealing with a Vendetta from the Leone Mafia.

Both syndicates countering the other’s attack, only to be retaliated with something of a greater magnitude.

And Marco couldn’t sleep because of the stifling tension of the estate.

Jayson had wormed his way between his brother and sister-in-law, leading to a misunderstanding that resulted in Nicole getting kidnapped. She was rescued relatively unharmed. Salvatore retaliated to that event by shutting down the Leone port dealing. Then Luca got mugged, and Jayson was rewarded by the burning of his warehouses; and now, Marco feared for the worst.

That constant uncertainty of event hovering over the estate like a thick cloud of smoke, the ever-growing tension wearing heavy not only on his bones but on the bones of all the men working for them. Then Sofia’s desire to rile him up didn’t help his situation and sleepless nights, nor did it help him that he let her get under his skin and snapped back every time she opened her pretty little mouth.

“I’m going home,” Marco rubbed his forehead, sitting in front of his brother’s desk at one-thirty A.M. “Please get some sleep, Salvatore,”

His brother gave a noncommittal grunt, never tearing his eyes away from the paper in front of him, and picked up a pen from its holder, scribbling like nothing was said.

Shaking his head, Marco made his way out and then towards the exit. Standing in the cold and allowed the chill to nip at his nose as he inhaled the fresh, crisp snow-laden air above him in an effort to get the stress out of his lungs.

One good thing that came out of his impromptu moving was the fact that he was much closer to work now. The drive back home feeling like nothing compared to the one and a half-hour drive he had to take before.

Parking his Maserati, he stepped out and towards the elevator, making his way up to his floor.

“Het, Dr. Marino,” He greeted the man standing opposite his door, fumbling with his keys. “Coming or going?”

“Going,” The forty-something single father sighed. “I’m on call tonight,”

“Best of luck then,” Marco grimaced. “If you want, I can check in on Cristian for you,”

“Could you? That could be great!”

“No worries, sir, I even know where the spare keys are,”

“Great,”

“Have a good one doctor,” Marco gave him a salute before opening his apartment door.

“You too,” The elder man made his way down the hall but stopped mid way. “Oh, Marco?”

“Yeah?”

“There is something off about your roommate,”

“Giordano?”

“Yeah, Cristian said something about her not looking too good,”

“I’ll be sure to check in with her too,”

“Alright,” The doctor nodded and resumed on his way. “May you have a good night,” He called over his shoulder.

“And may you have a night with no casualties,”

“Amen to that!”

Chuckling at his neighbor, Marco made his way inside and flicked on the lights, grimacing at the state of things. Clothes littered the floor, chairs lying haphazardly with an accumulation of dirty dishes developing sentient life, and yet another pizza box laid open on the counter.

God knows that’s all she’s been eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“Dio mio,” Marco groaned and pulled off his blazer, draping it over the back of a dining chair. “This woman,” He grumbled and picked up the laundry basket, stuffing all the scattered clothes into the hamper.

He cleaned away the clothes and straightened the chairs, before washing the dishes, gagging at the state of things and wondered how she managed to live in this infestation. Finally getting done, he walked into his room.

Heaving a sigh of relief to have some peace and a clean room, having taken the time to personalize his space whenever he wasn’t busy and liking the intimacy of it.

To his right, there was a door leading to the en-suite bath with an upraised platform bed to the wall against the right side of the room. The wall of his bed was covered in a world map wallpaper that had pins holding pictures of the places he had been to. There was a closet opposite his bed with windows in front of him and a door leading out to the balcony.

The main reason he had opted for the smaller room was because of the fact that he would have a balcony, the master bedroom did not provide that feature.

Stripping out of his suit, he showered and got changed into a black hood with sweatpants, deciding on warming two pizza slices before settling down in the lounge and continued watching the anime he had been watching.

Being fluent in Japanese, he didn’t need the subtitles and enjoyed the show.

He had told himself that he’d only watch three episodes and then go to sleep, but the cliffhanger at the end had him groaning into his hands and sitting on the edge of his seat. Having no choice but to turn on the next episode if he wanted to get some sleep after all this was over.

“I need hot chocolate,” He shook his head and made his way to the kitchen.

Sofia found herself back in her mother’s hospital room, sitting beside an empty bed and stared at the walls surrounding her. Trying to get up, she gasped to find herself glued to her seat. Blinking once, the view shifted to that of her lying strapped to the hospital bed, trashing against her restraints as a chill went through her bare body.

Tears streamed down her face with her voice muffled to her ears and stilled to hear something metallic drag against the ceramic tiles of the room. The strong stench of alcohol overpowering her senses as the fear prickles at her skin. Knowing what awaited her.

A metallic rod appeared above her in the darkness, slamming down onto her midriff as Sofia awoke with a gasp, choking on her sobs and tears as she tumbled out of bed, gasping for the breath she needed. A broken sob escaped her as she clumped against the cold floor, hugging herself in the darkness of her room.

She had been so busy gasping for breath, she never heard the soft knock followed by the opening of her bedroom door.

A startled gasp escaped her to feel something get draped over her shoulders, instantly backing away and collided with her nightstand, clutching at her head.

“Good lord, woman,” Marco’s voice spoke softly as he crouched before her and rubbed at the abused spot, Sofia’s eyes widening to see him and her heart dropped to her feet to realize that he was here and had seen her break down.

“I’m fine,” She choked through the lump in her throat and tried to push him away.

“Bullshit,” Is all he said as he fixed the blanket over her shoulders and picked something up from beside him. “You’re traumatized, and it doesn’t go away by saying ‘I’m fine’. Believe me, I know,” He scoffed and held out a mug for her, Sofia blankly blinking at him.

“Drink,” He grabbed her hand and made her hold the mug. “You’ll feel better. I promise.” Marco sighed and sat down beside her, leaning against the bed as he threw his head back, blinking at the closed curtains of the balcony window. 

Standing up from his place on the floor, he opened the curtains and smiled to see the white dots glinting against the black ink of the sky, allowing light to flood in through the window as he went and returned to his previous position, his eyes sparkling to know that he could see the sky perfectly from his place.

Sniffing the drink in the mug, Sofia’s eyebrows rose to catch a whiff of the chocolate. Looking up at Marco’s side profile from below her lashes, she took a tentative sip of the drink, taken aback by how good and sweet it tasted; her mind instantly sidetracked from her emotional state.

“Did you know,” Marco spoke softly with his forearms resting on his kneecaps and his gaze out the window, the moonlight pouring in and softening the edges of his face. “You can’t actually see a million stars on a dark night. Despite what media says, you cannot see a million stars anywhere, there would not be enough space nor would they shine as bright. On a good night, a person with twenty-twenty vision can see up to two-thousand-and-five-hundred stars at one time,”

Sofia looked out the window at the words, her eyes taking in the sparkling orbs hovering in the sky as she pondered over Marco’s words.

“Cristian was worried about you,” He spoke after a few silent minutes. “That kid seems to like you,”

“I like him too,” She muttered with a sniffle, wiping at her cheeks. “He’s pleasant company,”

Marco simply chuckled at her, taking her word for it.

“I can only assume this is not the first time you have woken like this,” He said as she stilled in her place, shuffling uneasily. “That’s okay, I don’t think you any less of an arrogant bitch, and it just proves that this bitch, is just as human as the rest. No matter how much she tried to prove otherwise,” 

“I don’t think it’s any of your concern,” She muttered as she took a sip of the drink in her hand.

“Maybe not,” He shrugged, not tearing his gaze away from the window. “But I think it’s worth mentioning is that trauma is now what happens to you; trauma is what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you,” Marco stated and got up from the floor, dusting off his sweatpants as he didn’t meet her gaze.

“Those who have been traumatized will never be what they were.” He began to make his way to the door, Sofia’s eyes fixated on his back as he stood in the doorway of her bedroom. “They are remade into something that is beyond measure stronger, more beautiful, kinder, and empathetic. I wonder if that applies to you as well,”