Chapter 13 An Unexpected Twist
SANCIA
“No.”
“Yes.”
We answered at the same time. My brows creased with his answer as I glared at him.
Was accidentally meeting someone only once in your life the same as knowing them? Especially when you have convinced yourself that they were just a figment of your dark thoughts, a nightmare.
That's what you've witnessed and experienced was all in your head. But he's here now, and Diavolo has a name. And it's Lorenz…?
“Oh my God,” I yelled, forgetting where I was. Despite my fear, I was too surprised to realize that this evil man was the ruthless Capo everyone in the mafia world had been talking about, and that he was now the same man my poor Isabella was supposed to marry.
“He's Lorenzo? Papa, he's supposed to marry Isabella?” I turned to him.
“You're going to marry my sister?” I spat,
“No.”
“Yes.” He and Papa said at the same time. He was still staring at me in that unsettling way when Papa turned to him.
“What do you mean, no?” Papa asked, dark eyes glaring at him. He glances at Papa.
“Just what I said. I agreed to marry your daughter, Carmelo, but I never specified which one; it's her I want, Sancia,” he drawled, pointing to me like he had no care for his life.
“What? No!” I said, hoping I had heard him wrong, and he didn't just say what I thought he said. I glare at him despite my fears.
“I'm afraid you can't marry her, Lorenzo. Sancia is already engaged. Isabella is not,” Papa gritted coldly.
“It's a shame because she's the only reason I'm agreeing to this alliance. She's the only one I want. And we know each other, isn't that so, Sia?” he replied, his eyes glinting wickedly, standing right in front of me; I blinked, my jaw dropped.
Someone gasped, and several voices started whispering, which made me feel like I was in the middle of a circus and I was the main attraction. I glance at Papa and instantly wish I hadn't; the dark looks on his face make my insides cramp.
“Papa, I do not know this man,” I hurriedly said. But the damage was already done. Lorenzo Marchetti, that bastard, arched his brow.
Lorenzo's words might seem simple and harmless, but in our world, it means more, and the bastard knew it.
I was dumbstruck and didn't know what to say, especially because Papa didn't seem to believe me, and when I glanced at my family.
All of them stared at me with various questions on their faces. How did you know the Capo? Where did you meet? What's between you two?
“Careful, Lorenzo, you can't come into my home and make bold insinuations about my daughter,” Papa said.
“He's lying, Papa. I don't know him,” I said again, looking to my Uncle and Sergio for help.
“Let me interrogate him, and we'll know the truth,” Sergio said, pulling out his gun.
Suddenly, guns were being drawn, all three of them, my brother and my two cousins, pointing their guns at Lorenzo while Lorenzo's men pointed their guns at them. Lorenzo chuckled with amusement, glancing at my brother.
My heart hammered in fear for Sergio and my cousins. My brother didn't know this monster as I do. The crazy man wasn't in any way fazed; he was grinning like a Cheshire cat instead of cowering as any sane person would.
“Don't be stupid, Sergio. Put your guns down, now,” Papa ordered harshly. My brother and cousins tucked back their guns. Lorenzo and Papa stare at each other.
“We need to calm down and talk, Carmelo. Perhaps somewhere private,” a blonde handsome man, one of Lorenzo's men, said. Probably his Consigliere.
“I agree, come, brother,” Uncle Romero said suggestively to Papa, who was busy glaring at Lorenzo while the other man stared right back, his lips curled at the corner. His eyes still glinted with amusement.
“To my office,” Papa finally gritted, leading the way but not before sending me a glare that said he would deal with me later. I swallow and watch as the four of them stride toward Papa's office.
Lorenzo was the last; he glanced back and sent me a wink before the door closed behind him. The other young man who came with him strode to the couches and sat, crossing one leg over the other with all the confidence of a king in his palace, despite the obvious aggression directed against him from three sets of eyes.
They all followed him to the living room; Sergio sat opposite him while the other two stood behind the couch. The dark-haired man, not much older than me, grinned but didn't say a word as he watched them like a hawk.
“Jesu Cristo Sancia, where in God's name did you know Lorenzo Marchetti? Why did you not tell me this? How long have you known him?” my mother cried, turning me around; all of a sudden, she surrounded me, my Aunties, Christina, and even Isabella as they fired question after question.
“I don't, Mama; I swear to you I don't know him,” I said, as she shook my shoulders.
“Don't lie to me. He just said that you know each other. Admit it, there's no way he would joke about something like that,” she countered, looking at me suspiciously.
“I'm not lying, Mama. I only ever saw him once a long time ago, and I didn't even know his name or that he was Lorenzo Marchetti, the Capo of the Marchetti famiglia,” I replied honestly, hoping she would believe me.
Her questions as my parents were justified, but she wasn't ready to listen or believe anything I said. I wish they would trust me and believe this was what the conniving man had wanted.
My eyes met Isabella's, and I was surprised by the blank look she gave me.
I thought she would be relieved now that Lorenzo had publicly said he didn't intend to marry her,, but she wasn't. But then she might still be in shock at the turn of events.
“If you didn't know each other, why would he come here asking to marry you?”
“I don't know, Mama,” I almost yelled; my frustration for not knowing what lies he was currently telling Papa was making me anxious.
It was almost an hour later when they finally came out—only three of them. Papa was still inside his office when I mistakenly glanced at Lorenzo. I shivered, goosebumps racing down my flesh from the dark look in his eyes.
I glared at him with hate before quickly glancing away. When I glanced back again, they were gone, leaving my family and me in a tense silence that added to my anxiety.
“Sancia, come with me; your father wants to see you,” Uncle Romero said, guiding me with a hand on my back towards Papa's office without giving me a chance to prepare myself for what was waiting for me. Running is obviously not an option.
I am royally screwed.