I couldn’t believe it. For several minutes, I kept checking if she was real or not. My left arm was bandaged so I couldn’t raise it to touch her. I had to struggle a lot with my right hand on the other side before I could reach her at the far end of the bed, where she placed her head beside my legs and was sleeping.Irena was beside me like she never left. She was in Italy and I had turned the whole country upside down just to find her but I couldn’t. The thoughts of where she could have been clouded my mind for a while but I shook it off eventually and just had a fill of her face. I kept staring without breaking the gaze off. Even with the roughness of her skin, she was still beautiful.“What is going through her mind? Even in her sleep, she seems disturbed. What did she know and why did she run away?” I couldn’t stop thinking.I summoned up the courage to touch her forehead slightly so I could tuck the stray hair lurking around her face behind her ears, and that woke her up. Her rou
|Rocco|The shock on my face was too much to hide. I never expected such an attack. Even the grip I had on her hand softened immediately and she used that opportunity to remove her hand from mine.“What do.. what are you… I mean, what do you mean by that? My father killed yours?” A successful statement struggled to find itself out of my mouth. I was really dumbfounded.The only thing I knew at that time was the fact that Luca was responsible for the murder instead of her mother. The investigation to get several pieces of evidence was still underway so I didn’t tell her yet. This new revelation got me wondering how her father killed her dad and why.“What do you mean? Can you explain in clearer terms? I really cannot understand what I just heard.” I had to let her know; my brain refused to digest it because it was too big.She left the room in silence and my shoulders dropped in defeat. She only made me realize the reason why she couldn’t laugh with me anymore, so dating was out of the
|Irena|I knew I had to tell him sooner or later. I wouldn’t be able to hide it forever, so it was a perfect opportunity to pour out my mind when he grabbed my hand. His face said it all; he couldn’t do or say anything after the revelation. Truthfully, there was nothing he could ever say to ease my pains, sorrows, or hurt. His father had committed a heinous crime, and there was no way I was going to overlook that just because I loved him.I stomped out of the room to see Bojana texting someone furiously, but I didn’t care about her. I just walked off to join Auntie in the restaurant like I had always done. I needed to be apart from him before I did anything crazy. The extraordinary pain I was feeling inside was too much to explain, but I just had to carry the cross of the cruel fate.“Are you sure you don’t need to rest? You look like you might faint any moment from now,” she turned to me. Her forehead was folded with concern as her hand roamed my face and neck to check how I was feel
Ever since Rocco was brought to my house to live with us, something caught my attention, but I displaced it because I didn’t want to look jealous of Bojana’s closeness to him now that they all had one room to share.The very first time was when I came out of the room to have a glass of water on their second night in my house. She was sitting in one of the chairs and didn’t expect that someone would come out at that time.Immediately my leg connected to the small chair on the way, which I didn’t see because of the sleep in my eyes; she jumped up in horror and clenched the phone to her chest.“I didn’t know that you were here,” she was firm but the challenge of trying not to stutter was evident in her voice.“I didn’t have to announce my presence everywhere, do I?”Even though I was half asleep, my mouth wasn’t tied, so I fired back at her. She didn’t have the right to tell me how to walk in my own home when I was only providing shelter for them. I heard her whisper a low “I’ll call you
|Rocco|Lately, I had observed that Bojana had been a bit weird. She had been hiding little information from me and would step out to take her calls, respond to her chats, and was unusually quiet. I was tempted to ask her, but I knew if she wanted me to know, I wouldn’t have to ask, so I decided to let her be and wait for her to come around by herself.That very day, she woke up very early and rushed out of the house that she had to meet with someone after helping me dress the wound for the morning.“Did you not get a good sleep? Your eyes look puffy,” I remarked, and she only shook her head before muttering a low “I am fine. I guess I need to take more rest.”We left it at that since I didn’t want to probe her too much. No matter how close we were, I still needed to maintain the boundaries of taking care of our personal issues whichever way we deem fit.“I will be going home today,” I continued.Without stopping, she responded that she was already aware of that because Martins told h
|Rocco’s Past|That very day, the rain poured like it would flood the whole city. It was like never before; everyone wondered why there was so much rain at that time considering the festival was always held during the dry season to avoid any disruption of rain.The street bubbled with several foreigners mixed with the locals as they all trooped into the shrine where the statue was kept to make their wishes. The Azum festival was the biggest festival that had ever been celebrated in the entire country. Everyone dipped their hands into the yellow cauliflower mixed with dye at the different bowls placed at several joints in front of the shrine as a form of sanctification before entering for the celebration.The priests had finished the prayer rites, gave rules and guidance, dos and don’ts, the places off limits, and every other thing they needed to know before declaring the festival opened for the year.“It’s so crazy. People are really here from all the corners of the world,” the man wo
“You have to kill Bruno on sight if catching him alive proves difficult,” their boss instructed them before dispersing them.Bruno Lorenzo had been a terror in town ever since he got the backing of the high-ranking people in power. His brutality was concerning, and something had to be done to it before he wiped away the entire city.Every single day, he would kill nothing less than two people in the most terrifying way. He once had someone covered alive with acid and threw the body out in the rain without a proper burial. Everyone knew he was the perpetrator, but nothing anyone could do about it.“Everyone is afraid of Bruno Lorenzo because no one wants to lose their lives,” one of the police officers remarked as they deliberated on what to do about him.“He seems to be on a psychopath level. How can anyone even do this?” Andrej remarked as he went through his profile“He’s got to be kidding me,” Marko exclaimed, flipping through the page ferociously.“Unbelievable right? That’s why w
They marched back into the town and were led by the boy in the hood who knew Marko’s house. Unknown to them, Andrej had told his wife that if he doesn’t come back within the hours of one and two in the morning, she should flee with her son, Kovac.“I think something must have happened; we need to escape right now,” she tapped Irena’s mom, who had dozed off while waiting with her.They didn’t waste any time and rushed up to pack after waking the kids. Thanks to Kovac’s mom, they were able to escape before Bruno’s men came to the house.“Find them! Don’t ever let them get away!” His voice trembled with every word that came out of them as he gulped down the alcohol from the bottle in his hand every minute.They searched for them but couldn’t find them until they had to withdraw at daybreak. Unknown to them, they were hiding at the grandma’s house till the coast was clear. Early at dawn, they rushed to the dock, Marko told them, and took the first boat to Kovac’s town, where they settled
Her body was moved to the morgue, while Rocco was also arrested alongside the other politicians, officers, and everyone involved in the scandal that had broken out. Luca was dead, so there was no way to prosecute him for what he had done.“We just got a video confession sent to the police mail. Ms Bojana confessed to everything,” one of the officers brought in a laptop to the investigation roomThey watched the video and also showed it to Rocco, who couldn’t believe his eyes. Bojana confessed to all the crimes with sufficient conviction that she committed them. She provided evidence of killing the people she killed, filmed Luca’s warehouse, and confirmed that she was in charge of smuggling the drugs and weapons.“All Rocco did all his life was chase the truth of his parents’ deaths. I was the one that joined hands with who placed Rocco on the seat as a puppet. He didn’t do anything. He will be stupid enough to take the blame for me so I am doing this in advance.”Tears rolled down h
That night, Bojana opened her eyes after the anesthesia wore off and jumped down the bed with a groan. The nurse that was attending to her tried to keep her still but she only gave her a jab enough to put her to sleep.“Sorry! I didn’t mean to do this but I had to,” she whispered, helping the unconscious nurse on the bed so she could sleep properly before she rushed outHer first stop was a clothes shop, where she purchased black leather pants and a jacket.“Bring me the bike. If you tell anyone, I will kill you with my own hands,” she placed a call through to one of the men who was working with her in the automobile shop.Fifteen minutes later, the guy showed up with the motorcycle and a small briefcase he placed at the back.“Everything is intact. Please stay safe.”Ignoring his line, she jumped on the bike and fixed her helmet before she zoomed off“She’s in a murderous mode. I’m so sorry,” the man panicked as he watched her disappear into the street.***After a fifteen-minute rid
Martin made sure all the dead men were given a befitting burial and took Bojana to one of the biggest hospitals.“Do everything to save her. I will make sure you get compensated handsomely.” He had instructed one of the doctors who got to work immediatelyThey had to wheel her to the theater, where they operated on her wounds and every other part that needed to be fixed before she was wheeled to the intensive care unit for further treatments and proper monitoring.Her recuperation was fast; it was obvious that she desired to live desperately. He couldn’t understand how she got to the front of the villa but a deep side of him was glad to see her again. He had been worried about her and where she could be. Also, from her appearance, one could see that she had been tortured brutally. All her body was filled with bruises and wounds. Her breathing was barely coming up; she was almost dead.“She got hurt a lot from the people who did this to her but her life is no longer in danger. However,
Martin explained that he had gathered the men in the house to prepare them for the trip the following morning while he went out to meet with some of our businessmen. I made sure my absence didn’t affect our normal business so I put Martins in charge of the deals and meetings.“Tell them I went on a business trip whenever they ask of me,” I had given him that instruction while I was living with Irena in order to recover completely before coming back to the houseThe attacks were too sudden and also happened in a very short time interval so my body felt the hit more than it should. Irena also wouldn’t release me because she was afraid something else might happen to me while recuperating.“Luca is not going to stop until someone stops him. I know it is hard to lose your men; your feelings are valid but you know that we also need to move faster than them before they get their hands on the file,” she preached as I clutched my phone in my hands“Make sure Bojana is treated back to life. She
The sound of water dropping into the bucket placed under a leaking roof filled the atmosphere. The rotten and rusty smell of metals that had been immersed in liquids took over the air as the door to the basement gave way with a huge cranky noise.Men murmuring from afar was heard before it became closer with every of their steps. Within three minutes of intense marching and walking, they were finally in the large room that looked like an abandoned warehouse.“Let her down,” the coarse voice commanded, followed by the trooping sounds of legs that rushed to the rope’s controller.“I didn’t mean to go this far but what do we do? You just wouldn’t talk. I felt bad for hurting you but the information I need from is more important to me.” his legs found their way to the prisoner’s side as he voiced his concernsA soft groan dropped off her lips as she tried crawling to a comfortable position. Her legs had failed her when she tried to stand so she ended up using her knees.“Do you think Rocc
I just realized that we haven’t really discussed Auntie and who exactly she was. She got introduced to me by my mother, and I grew up relying on her when we moved to the town. She helped me so much and brought me to stay with her when my mother got arrested for murder.We didn’t have any situation or opportunity to talk deeper about her, and I had always felt too comfortable to be bothered by all that. All Auntie did in her entire life was cook. She would cook even on days when she was sick to the bones.There was a time she collapsed while cooking because she was doing it nonstop. The funniest thing was that there was no customer to eat all that she had cooked because it was midnight. I came out to have a glass of water and saw her cooking aggressively before she passed out.“You should have just taken it slow. Why were you cooking this hard?” I scolded her as I attended to her in her room“I have to prepare it for them. If not, they might stay hungry the entire year,” she groaned in
The stare of horror on their faces showed how scary my screams and dripping palms were. We all stood there looking at each other, my body trembling with hatred and disbelief. I couldn’t comprehend all that I had just watched. A head banging headache swept me off my feet as my chest rose and fell.Before I knew it, I was on the floor with dim eyes. My body couldn’t bear the weight of oppression from my emotions. I had broken down once again.“Let’s help her up! Irena!” Auntie’s scream barely kept me awake before I passed out finally.I woke up to the fluid being passed in my body and saw the same doctor that treated Rocco during the first gunshot standing close to the door and discussing with the men. I couldn’t hear what they were discussing, and I wasn’t even in the right frame of mind to eavesdrop.“We will talk more about it when she wakes up,” was another line I heard before I slept off again.I woke up to see everyone having dinner, and they all rushed to my side when they saw me
|Irena|I realized they were trying to distract us as I cried in the morgue. My mother’s body was filled with several marks that had come from bullying and torturing. It was then it dawned on me that all those bruises I saw when I last visited her were from the maltreatment she had been facing in the correctional center.“What a foolish daughter I am. I didn’t even think deeply into what the bruises could mean. How did I end up believing that she only tripped and wounded herself?” several thoughts filled my mind as we headed to the center to get the rest of her thingRocco held me in his arms as Paul drove the car silently to the location. His soft but huge arms were rubbing my shoulder to keep me calm, but I had so much going on in my head even though my mouth was not moving.The guards at the center were taking longer than usual to attend to my request until Rocco stepped in. I had previously told him to wait for me in the car while I go alone to get her things but when I saw that t
“We have to move faster than their investigations. We have done a lot to keep this buried for years. They cannot just come to ruin all our hard work at this point,” one of the men sitting at a round table with sushi and several sashimi dishes glaring at them.“That’s why we have been taking them out one after the other. We cannot allow any loophole in this operation. One of our men is on the way to give us the report on the progress of the operation,” another responded, reaching for his cup for a drinkThe other men released a uniform groan as they released their ties, buttering their frustrations. They had all been unsettled ever since Irena found the files they had been searching for all year. They had turned the house upside down over and over but none of them could find where her mother kept it.“We already concluded that she didn’t have the file. I don’t understand how that bitch managed to hide the file till her daughter found it. We even had the inmates bully and beat her just