𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 - 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐘𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄 - 𝟏𝟖+

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

A N D R E A

Drinking wine by myself wasn't one of my greater achievements, but it wasn't like I had much to do, sitting around this house. Alexandra usually stopped by, but she hadn't today so she must have been busy, and I didn't particularly mind being alone. Growing up without any friends had taught me that fairly well. The more people I'd let in, the more people had a chance to leave me stranded, and after Riccardo, I was quite done with any sorts of relationships that made me vulnerable. I'd found a book about Emotional Intelligence on Lorenzo's bedside table, and since I was bored out of my mind, the book now sat in my lap as I nursed my drink. I couldn't believe he read something so monotonous but then again I shouldn't have expected anything less. Lorenzo Santini was a creature of habit, and in all the time I'd been living with him, he'd done everything meticulously the exact same way. Sighing, I slid my gaze back to the book I'd picked up but hadn't even managed to get past the second page.

I preferred the quiet comfort of reading, but even the books Lorenzo read were meant to torture an ordinary sane person. Tired, I snapped the book shut, and slid it on the coffee table, away from me. Perhaps I needed to go and buy myself something that would actually interest me. Now that I wasn't distracted by anything, Riccardo's upcoming death anniversary took over my thoughts. I wanted to visit him, even if it was only in the deafening silence of a graveyard. I wanted to cry where no one would witness my grief. No one would ever know that I was still the same broken little girl because broken things didn't just get fixed. I hadn't cried when my father died, and maybe it was because he never looked at me more than necessary after Rick died. Maybe I still resented him for forgetting he still had one child alive. I'd talk to Lorenzo, there was no way I wasn't going to see Rick.

The door opened with a loud thud, and the glass almost slipped from my hand. I placed the glass back on the table, resting my hand against my chest as I tried calming myself down. Just as I'd controlled my breathing, Lorenzo stumbled into the living room, his hand covering his left shoulder as he dropped onto the couch. He leaned his head on the back of the couch, wincing as he moved his arm. My heart thrashed against my chest as my gaze landed on his grey coat, now drenched in red, creating a horrendous sight that I wanted out of my head. I couldn't stop myself from seeing Riccardo, lying against the ground as he bled out, and my attempts to remind myself that it wasn't Riccardo were futile.

This was Lorenzo, he couldn't just die by a bullet to the shoulder.

People die with less.

Lorenzo would have someone fix this for him soon. Unlike Rick, this wasn't my fault, he wasn't trying to save me. This wasn't my fault. These rational thoughts were inside my head, and while I was trying to focus on them, there was that little seed of doubt. And it didn't let me live properly. I knew how this went, I had to focus on something, but my eyes couldn't look past anything but the fresh blood on his shoulder.

"Andrea." I heard a muffled voice calling out my name, but it was too far away, almost like I was drowning and someone was screaming at me from the shore. "Andrea!" The voice seemed more frantic now, just not enough to unshackle me from my own mind.

"Fucking look at me, goddamnit!" The haze cleared in front of my eyes, Lorenzo's ocean-strung eyes held me prisoner, the leaden threads in his irises only making him more appealing. Sweat beads rolled down his eyebrow towards his eyes, but he didn't blink, and it was almost like he was undressing me with his eyes. Seeing my naked soul and everything that I'd been running from.

The tiny little reprieve I had was interrupted when another man, Alexandra had introduced me as Milan stepped inside the room. He was maybe a couple of inches shorter than Lorenzo. He offered me a small smile and approached Lorenzo. I remembered Alexandra saying Milan was a lot like Roberto, only unlike the goofy teenager he was quite eloquent with killing people.