He gets in Aurelio’s face. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you bring her to this place?" "Calm down," Marco pleads. "We've come to help you. You're in their territory, Enzo, and you didn't have any back-up with you.""That was the deal I had with them," he spits. "You had no business coming here and you shouldn't have brought Chiara with you!""What makes you think they'll keep their word?" Aurelio asks. "You're upset that I'm here, when in fact you should be grateful that we've come to your rescue. They're going to kill you."He runs a hand down his face. "You shouldn't have interfered. Just go, get out of here." "I won't leave without you," he declares. In a lower voice, he says, "Without you, killing Giotto will be damn near impossible. I'm not going to let you die in the hands of these rascals!" Behind us, someone asks, "Is there a problem, Enzo?" It's a bulky man with the tattoo of an eagle on his right breast. He ignores him and says to Aurelio, "I can take care
I've never seen Enzo this devastated. He's kneeling beside Marco’s body. He's been in this exact position for ten minutes now. Everyone has gone, both from the de Luca side and ours, it's just the four of us and Marco’s body. They've covered his face with a shirt, but blood is seeping through it. It's a grotesque sight. "You shouldn't have come," Enzo says, finally rising. "I had this under control. I didn't want to put any of you in danger. This never would have happened if you had just minded your business."Aurelio’s response is, "Marco was the one who called me. He was concerned about you, he followed you here. He called me and asked for my help. He wanted to convince you that what you were doing would cost you your life, but instead it cost his."Enzo closes his eyes. I can feel his pain, and I want to go to him and offer him some form of comfort, but I stay rooted to the spot. "You—""You should've been honest with us from the beginning,” Aurelio says firmly. “How would he hav
Aurelio left last night.I know this because the other room is vacant and Enzo is asleep on the couch. I don't know if I should let him rest, or if I should wake him up. It's already past ten, and he's usually up by this hour, but yesterday was a traumatic day, so I decide not to disturb his sleep. How I miss waking up to Aurelio preparing breakfast for me. It just felt so good, being taken care of for once. I've even managed to gain some weight. I start by making coffee and I'm still deciding on what to eat when I hear the front door. Aurelio walks in, his eyes on Enzo who is still asleep on the couch. He looks at me and I gesture at the pan in my hand. "Breakfast?" He shakes his head. "Let me.""I could make it," I suggest, feeling useless already. I know I wanted him to cook, but now that he's here I feel terrible for being such a slob. "You should have a seat, rest."He smiles, but it's small and strained. "If there's one thing in life I learned, it's that if you want something
I found the black dress. I leave my hair as it is and apply absolutely no make-up to my face. I wear a trench coat over the dress and meet Enzo in the kitchen. He's drinking coffee, even though we had breakfast an hour ago, and is in conversation with Aurelio, but as I approach them, they quite down. I don't get offended. I've surpassed that phase. It's almost eleven, so if we don't leave now, we're going to be late. Aurelio seems to be dressed for the occasion, too. I didn't know he was coming, but I'm glad he is. There's less chaos when he's around, I've noticed that. "Time to go," he says, tapping on his empty wrist. Enzo puts the cup down and follows him out. I trail behind them. I realize it was a mistake wearing a dress in this frigid weather, but it's too late to change now. We're already on our way to the cemetery.They're silent the whole ride there, which is depressing and awkward all at once. They were talking back in the kitchen, so why don't they talk now? They could
We've been waiting for Aurelio to show up for an hour now.I'm biting my nails again. I'm so nervous I can barely breathe. If someone told me a month ago that I'd be in this state because of him, I wouldn't have believed. I hated him because he was there that day, because he made my mother choose the impossible, and also because I thought he killed them. He was holding the gun, after all. But he told me he didn't, and judging by the nature of his relationship with my mother, I don't believe he shot them, even though he witnessed it.Now, he's like a friend to me. If something happens to him, I'll be devastated. Enzo is pacing around and clutching his phone. We're waiting for news, any news at this point. An hour feels like an eternity when you're counting every second. So far, no one knows anything about him. They don't know where he is, what he's doing. He drove away to distract those guys, but he should've been back by now. I sincerely hope nothing happens to him.Enzo won't be ab
Two days have passed.I can tell that 'the day' is coming soon. Everyone around me is on edge, and by everyone I mean Enzo and Aurelio. They're always together now, plotting beneath their breaths. They quiet down when I near them, so whenever I see them huddled up, I try not to disturb. This is for the best. We'll all benefit from Giotto’s death.I'm both nervous and excited about it. I don't know what it will be like to live on my own, to be by myself after so long. The world out there feels like a foreign place now. It's like I'm an alien who doesn't quite fit anywhere. I might finish my degree, but that all depends. My driving force was helping my mother, getting out of that small town and taking care of her for once. Now, what's my motivation? I've been mostly by myself, although Enzo does stop by every once in a while to talk to me. What stuns me most is that we've never had a single fight since he promised me that he wouldn't try to kiss me against my wishes. He's changed so mu
We stare at each other for a solid minute.I'm trying to figure out what to say to him. There's a lot on my mind, so much that I don't know where to start. He closes the door and my heart starts beating faster. The way he's looking at me...I don't know how tonight is going to end. "Enzo—.”"I'm not ready to let you go," he begins. "There, I've said it. Whenever I think that in a few days we'll go our separate ways, I feel desperate. Desperate. I don't want us to go our separate ways, but at the same time I know that there's nothing keeping you here." He's right, absolutely right. "There's nothing either of us can do about that." He crosses the room in a handful of stride and stops in front of me. There's only a tiny sliver of space between us. His smoky cologne mixed with a scent that's undeniably him invades my nostrils. He smells like cigarettes, metal, and wood. "You're wrong about that, Chiara." I shake my head softly. "Please." He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me cl
I'm alone in the room.I've already taken a long and hot shower, but I can't seem to wash this feeling that I'm dirty off. I'm filled to the brim with disgust, not only at Enzo, but at myself. I allowed this to happen. If I hadn't deluded myself that he changed, that perhaps I had feelings for him, none of this would have happened. I should've expected this of him. He has never treated me right, and all this talk about not using me is utter bullshit. That's exactly what he did, that's exactly how I feel. I hate myself for crying. I hate that I'm disappointed and heartbroken. He made love to me with so much passion and need, only to degrade me in the morning. I deserve this for being an idiot. I should never have believed his pretty words. After he got what he wanted, he made an excuse to leave. And I'm still foolish for crying. Aurelio walks in the room. I'm angry at him too, so angry that I could gouge his eyes out. He kept filling my head with lies and I believed him, too, but I