Chapter 43
Anna had spent the day in her room crying and had later fallen asleep at some point, her mind has been groggy with the thoughts and fears plaguing her mind.
The sound of the rain on the window pane woke her from her slumber, her eyes sprang open, she looked around the room, it was dark outside and the lights were turned off.
She didn't try to get out of bed, she simply lay on the bed, her mind alert once more.
It was beginning to seem like she was no longer safe with Lorenzo, he might have been merciful with her today but what if there was a next time? She might just die at the hands of her brother.
She needed to leave to save herself but the problem was where will she go? She had no one else, Lorenzo was the only family she had and she was feeling guilty at the thoght of leaving him.
But it could not be helped, she had to run away to save herself, he had lost his mind and it was simply suicide staying under the same roof as a mad man.
Her thoughts were suddenly disturbed by the sound of her bedroom opening and the lights were suddenly turned on.
She closed her eyes to shut out the sudden brightness, she sat up in the bed quickly ready to berate the helps for carelessly switching on the lights that way.
She recoiled in fear when her eyes fell on Lorenzo standing by the door with his hands in his pockets, his clothes were a simple shirt and sweatpants, his hair was wet as though he had just stepped out of the shower, he looked as normal as he did every other day but Anna was certain something had changed, something that had been there long before now and she had failed to notice.
It was the look in his eyes, they had long changed from the eyes of a normal young man to that of a crazed man, a man teetering dangerously close to the edge, he scared the hell out of her.
"Why are you looking at me like you have seen a ghost?" Lorenzo asked as he walked into the room, looking around casually.
Anna forced a smile on her face and said "No not really, I was sleeping that's all"
Lorenzo nodded and walked over to the mirror, he stared into the mirror for a while, his seemed lost, like his thoughts were far away.
"Did you need something?" She asked him hesitantly.
He turned to look at her, then he said "I need your passports, all of them"
Anna felt her heart drop to her stomach, why was he asking for her passports?
"Why do you need my passports?" She asked him.
A smile slowly spread across his face, there was nothing gentle or soft about the smile, it was like the smile of a clown, painted and phony and it chilled Anna's blood.
"Well I just think I should hold on to them for a while, never what thoughts you have going in your mind right" he said.
"What are you trying to say Lorenzo? Do you think I will betray you or something" Anna said while trying to keep the fear from her voice.
He smiled again and said "I am not saying anything Anna, I am just trying to take precautions, that's all"
Anna swallowed, her throat hurt a bit from Lorenzo's assault earlier, a painful reminder of what was going to happen her if she dared to defy him.
"They are in my purse, over there on the table" she said to him.
He smiled and said "You have always been a smart girl, you always knew what was the best thing to do given a particular situation"
He walked over to the table and picked up the purse, he opened and searched through it for a few seconds before taking out her passports.
He turned to look at her and held it up with a smile "Found it" he said.
Anna felt heartbroken, she was starting to realize that the situation was even more dire than she had earlier thought.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked him as a tear drop slipped from her eye.
The smile slowly bled from his face as he began to walk over to the bed.
Anna heard her heart beating loudly in her chest, what he going to do her? Was he going to kill her"
He got to the bed and sat by the side, he lifted his hand and Anna flinched away.
A small smile crept into his face as he stretched his hand further out, Anna closed her eyes, silently praying that this should not be her end.
She felt his fingers slowly brush away her tears, her eyes opened to look at him.
"Sweet Anna, you should not cry, especially not because of me, I am sorry I hurt you earlier, I did not want to but you kept making me mad, I am doing this to protect you, you are the only family I have and I must keep you safe no matter what" he said, his eyes had suddenly gone soft and he was looking very much like the brother she knew but she could not let her guard down, she already knew he was gone, this was just an act and she will be stupid to fall for it but she could certainly play along to save her life.
She forced a smile to her face and said "I know you will never hurt me intentionally Lorenzo, you love me and you should not worry, I am not going anywhere, I will be right here with you no matter what"
Lorenzo smiled and said "Thank you Anna, for always being here, I really would not be able to get anything done without you, I will be lost without you"
Anna nodded with a smile on her face but deep down, she was freaked out, Lorenzo needed serious help and he needed it as soon as possible or else things were going to get bad for everyone.
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Antonio was furious, he could not seem to calm down no matter what he tried, he grabbed the bottle of whisky and raised it to his lips, the liquid burnt a part down his throat until it got to his stomach.
He wasn't sure why he was so furious, was it the whole debacle with Andrea and Emil or was it the fact that the one who had piqued his interest in a very long time had disappeared from his bed even before he woke up.
He let out a deep breath and sat on a chair, he wasn't sure why she had caught his attention, was it because of how bold she had looked, her dress had been nothing close to the chosen theme, she looked like she did not care what anyone thought about her and that was why he could not stop himself from speaking to her.
Most women would have feigned innocence of some sort but she had simply stated her intentions clearly.
He had intended to ask who she was but he had simply gotten carried away and the night had slipped away.
"Fanculo!" He said angrily.
"Someone is a great mood today" Marco said as he walked into the room.
Antonio gave him a look and said "I am not in the mood Marco, leave me alone"
Marco walked into the room and found a chair to sit, he crossed his legs and said "So what's going on? This can't be about Andrea, you already upset before speaking to her so what's the problem?"
"I am not in the mood Marco" Antonio said and raised the bottle to his lips once again.
Marco smiled and said "It can't possibly be about the beautiful woman I saw sneaking out of your room this morning or could it?" The glint in his eyes hinted at mischief.
Antonio short a glare at Marco but he remained quiet.
Marco laughed and said "So I am right? Are you perhaps livid that she snuck out?"
Antonio wanted to ignore his brother but he was a bit curious, perhaps he had some information that he could use.
"You saw her leave?" Antonio asked.
Marco could not wipe the smile from his face "Yes I did, I tried getting her name or something but she wasn't ready to give anything up so I just had to watche her leave" he said.
Antonio felt whatever hope he had crash to the floor "Just go away Marco" he said.
"If I leave, how am I supposed to tell you the license plate of her car" Marco said with a sly smile on his face while he played with a piece of paper in his hand.
Antonio turned to look at him quickly, he could find out who the car was registered to and find her from there, Marco was a life saver.
Antonio lunched forward to snatch the paper from between Marco's finger but he quickly moved it out of the way.
"Not so fast, I will give it to you on one condition" Marco said.
Antonio sat down again, he knew it was useless trying to take anything from Marco especially when he wanted to negotiate.
"What do you want?" Antonio asked.
"It's a pretty simple thing you see, you apologize to Andrea and Emil for your behaviour today and it has to be genuine or the paper goes into the shredder" Marco said.
Antonio frowned, it was just like Marco to ask for things like this.
"You know very well that I am going to apologize Emil, I was just upset when I spoke to him" Antonio said.
"You should never speak to him like that and you know it" Marco said, the humor had left his face now.
Antonio nodded and said "I know, I know I was just in a horrible mood when I spoke to him earlier, I will apologize to him before the day ends"
Marco nodded and said "Well that is settled and Andrea?"
Antonio frowned, this was the difficult part, apologizing to the Severino girl and Marco knew it.
"You promise to apologize to her and you get the information you need, it is a fair deal in my opinion" Marco said and shrugged his shoulders.
Antonio rolled his eyes and said "Fine I will apologize to her as well, can I have the damn paper now?"
Marco smiled as he stood up, he handed the paper to him "Always a pleasure doing business with you brother"
Antonio snatched it up and said "Whatever"
Marco laughed and waved before walking out of the room.
Antonio looked down at the paper in his hand, a combination of laters and numbers written in Marco smooth writing.
A smile curved his lips, he was definitely going to find her.