Red's Redemption ✔

Chapter 17 - His Return

"Posso non venire a vedere la mia famiglia?" The man immediately replied as he took off his dirty combat boots and tossed them aside. 

[Can I not come and see my family?]

"You can." Francesca said, "I just did not think you still considered us as part of your family." She said and turned her attention back to the TV.

"You know Father has kept me busy."

"I am sure he has kept you very busy for the past few days." She rolled her eyes.

The man who I assumed to be their brother Sergio walked forward. He was intimidating like the rest of his brothers. He shared a similar facial structure to both Vinchenzo and Gianni but he did not have their emerald green eyes. Instead, he had golden brown eyes and a well-kept beard.

"It is hard to get out of the base."

"You were the leader. You could have left any second." Francesca retorted almost immediately whilst I saw him sigh as he took a seat on the couch.

"That is the reason I could not leave, Francesca. I was busy with affairs father left to me."

She nodded, "I see."

"Mi dispiace. Non avevo intenzione di stare lontano per così tanto tempo." 

[I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stay away for so long.]

"Accetto le tue scuse, Sergio." Francesca replied as she looked at her brother.

[I accept your apology.]

Francesca got off the couch and jumped into Sergio's arms. She seemed to be very close to him. Even closer than what she and Vinchenzo were. The whole time I remained silent as I watched the interaction happen right before me. I had not anticipated that Sergio would return considering all of Leonardo's children hated his guts but I do believe the only reason he came back was not to honor the death of his father, but rather to comfort his younger sister who was indeed grieving. 

Grief is a weird thing. You can deeply hate someone but when they're gone they leave that blaring hole in your chest. I was well acquainted with loss. I deeply hated that fact. I never had pictured myself being orphaned at such a young age. I always pictured my father walking me down the aisle at my wedding, I had pictured my mom helping me with my hair and smiling at me from the pew. I had always imagined my little sister performing her duty as the maid of honour at my wedding and I at hers. But all of that? That was simply a mere dream. 

It could no longer happen. For they were all gone. Forever.

I could understand what Vinchenzo was going through up until a point. I loved my family dearly, they meant the world to me, and losing them felt like losing an important feature of myself. Vinchenzo hated his father but nevertheless, he was still his father. The man who gave birth to him and raised him. No matter how much hatred he may have harbored towards the man, he would still be feeling the effects of loss. 

I was feeling incredibly exhausted and so I decided to head back to the room that I was given when we had first arrived. The room was plain and simple, nothing too crazy or over the top. It had a soft beige theme going on. I immediately got beneath the covers, closed my eyes, and fell asleep.

I woke up to the bright sun beams blaring into my eyes. I stretched and tossed the covers off me before I headed to the bathroom and did my usual routine: brushing my teeth and taking a quick warm shower before starting my day. I liked to always be as fresh as possible.

After I got dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans and a white tank top I headed downstairs where I met Vinchenzo who looked even more distressed as he sat at the head of the table. On either side of him, Sergio and Francesca sat.

"What's happened?" I asked immediately.

Sergio looked up, "We have run into a few issues." 

I sighed, "Stalias again?"

"Eliza has been silent these past few weeks. After she killed Claudia." Francesca said as she moved the food around her plate.

"More like six feet under." Sergio huffed.

"What?" Francesca, Vinchenzo and I all gasped as we looked up at Sergio at the same time.

"Yes. You heard me correctly." Sergio said calmly as he took a bit of his waffle.

"How?" Francesca choked out.

"An eye for an eye," Sergio responded.

"Explain everything!" I protested as I pulled out a chair next to Francesca.

"She took the life of Claudia so I took hers."

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with her? You abandoned her." Vinchenzo interrupted. 

"That was when I thought Hayden was not my child."

"And now you believe he is yours?" Francesca asked and Sergio nodded.

"Paternity test." 

"You're a jerk." Francesca said.

Sergio shrugged, "Rather be safe than sorry."

"You still haven't told us how you outsmarted Eliza Stalias? She goes around with a lot of bodyguards. No one can come near her." I butted in. 

As much as I would love to hear how much Sergio loved Claudia and how he believed she cheated on him or whatever, I felt a weird desperation to know how he killed the person that had tormented us for so long. I felt like I really needed to see her dead body to believe it, no matter how many people from the Stalias family we got rid of, another one always popped up out of the blue and univited.

"One of the perks of being an anonymous sibling is that people hear about you but never see you or know what you look like.  Yes, she had bodyguards but I managed to seduce her enough to get her alone." Sergio explained, his eyes darkening. 

"Who knew that would be her weakness? We would have sent Vinchenzo to her." Francesca laughed.

Sergio shook his head, "She knows Vinchenzo. She also knows that he is devoted to his red-haired lady. She would have kept her guard up. When I showed up, all she knew was that I was Stefan Sullivan, a good-hearted mechanical engineer who was very interested in her." 

"Okay ew. We don't want to hear that many details." Francesca said and I nodded.

"She is dead. I have covered my tracks. No one will find her." He said.

"You are awfully confident," Vinchenzo stated.

"I used the barrel of cement." He said and I shuddered as I immediately thought of Mason. 

I saw Vinchenzo looking at me but I immediately cleared my facial expression. I knew that he knew what I was remembering and he seemed bothered by it.

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Vinchenzo asked turning his attention to Sergio.

"Well, it happened a plane flight before I arrived here," Sergio smirked.

Just then one of the maids rushed in with a black box in hand.

"For you." She said handing it to Vinchenzo.

He slowly peeled off the golden ribbon and lifted the lid gently. He reached in and pulled out a note. As he read it his expression darkened.

"Traitor!" He shouted out in anguish.

Hey Reddies!

Drama is brewing over at the Vitali household! Who do we think the traitor is and what is he even talking about?

Let me know what you guys thought about it! If you enjoyed this chapter please consider leaving a vote!

XOXO

Perla