Fiery Revenge⎪✓

29

☀︎

A man walks up to me with confident strides, his harsh stare cuts to me and a smirk swallows his expression. He is enjoying the sight of me screaming in pain above my dead little brother, he enjoys seeing the damage of what he did. The monster ruffles his dark hair and removes it from his eyes, showing me those familiar pure black eyes. 

Those eyes. 

I've seen a lot of expressions on them. Angry, sad, confused, furious. I know those eyes. What I don't recognise is the pure malice behind these ones, the pure sense of enjoyment for killing an entire family and taunting their daughter. 

"What are you doing here?" I ask him, the man who killed my loved ones. 

"Finishing the job," He says and pulls out a knife from his black jacket, blood is smeared across the silver weapon. My family was killed with that exact one. Carlos Romano takes another step in my direction and I stand up from my position, he wants to kill me. 

"You don't get to kill me," I tell him confidently. "Your advances will never work on a woman like me, I'm prepared."

"You think you are so innocent, dearest Eloisa. But people die under your hands, you have innocent blood dripping from your fingers."

"I will stop you before killing anyone innocent."

"You keep chasing after me, a monster, but when will you realise you became one yourself in the process?" He tuts his tongue at me and walks closer. "You're a monster. You kill and enjoy it, you hide behind the tragedy of your family, but deep down you know the harsh truth; You are the true monster, Eloisa Martinelli."

My body cramps up and I sit up instantly in the unfamiliar bed, trying to control my erratic breathing and the pounding heart in my chest. This is the guest bedroom one of the maids directed me to, how stupid of me to believe I could get a full night's sleep. My reality is worse than that, my plan of revenge has the upperhand and I'm trying not to drown in the mess of things. 

I've been wanting this for literal years, why am I only reacting to it now? 

What the fuck changed?

This nightmare keeps taunting me. I have never seen Carlos Romano and yet I see him in this trauma, the darkness of outside tries to ground me in this tragedy I call life. Flinging the blanket away from my body, I walk into the cold hallway and down the long flight of stairs, entering the dark kitchen and grabbing a glass of water. 

Downing the entire thing, I lean against the counter and close my eyes for a minute. My mind is trying to escape whatever the hell is going on, this isn't some ploy anymore, my consciousness won't allow it to be that simple. My mind is trying to tell me something, but I don't know what it is. The pain in my gut intensifies and I place a comforting hand against it. 

Footsteps sound and I look down at my shorts and t-shirt, deciding it's okay to be seen in. An unfamiliar man steps around the corner, the panic written on his features surprises me. He comes in my direction, "Eloisa, is it?"

"Yes."

"I'm Bastien, one of the members here," His hand twitches as does his eyebrow, it makes me wonder what his intentions are. "Listen, fuck I'm relieved to catch you at such a good time. Mr. Romano knows who is after you, he knows it's his father and I fear you might not. I'm not a snitch, but you don't have the best odds with Dracona and Carlos after you. See this as me trying to give you something to go with in this absolute fucking chaos."

"What has he said about it?" I'm kind of intrigued, this guy has no reason to lie to me like this. He's gambling with his own life after all. 

Bastien shakes his head, "He hasn't said too much, but Mr. Romano knows where his father is hiding. You aren't safe in this house, Eloisa. I don't know how much he talks to Carlos, but they do know of each other's whereabouts. If you should believe anything, it's that you aren't safe in this space."

My mind comes to a conclusion right then and there, "Fine. I appreciate the information."

"Do you need me to help you pack up your stuff?" He asks and points to the stairs. "I can even give you a ride home."

"No, that won't be necessary."

"You aren't going to stay, are you?"

"I will."

He frowns, "Don't you believe me?"

"I do."

"Then you're even crazier than I first thought, you do realise how dangerous these guys are, right?" Once again I can sense the panic on him. 

"Do you?" I throw the question right back. "Breaking Omertá, to a stranger, do you realise how dangerous they are?"

"Yes, but I'm willing to take my chances. It's not the first time either."

"Then you're even more mindless than I first thought."

"I'll die either way, Eloisa. There is no way out of the mafia, but on my way towards the gates of Hell I can at the very least show a little compassion towards others," He makes it known that he wants out. Xavier isn't the type to allow that behaviour, I get it, Bastien knows too much to release the grip on Omertá. "I try to help the innocent out and you deserve that help."

"Do you even know who I am?"

"I've heard my fair share."

"Clearly not enough if you call me innocent."

His eyes flash confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I know my worth, Bastien. This conversation isn't one I'm willing to entertain, now, I'll leave you to find the puzzled pieces and then decide if I truly am that innocent. Sono una tempesta con la pelle," (I'm a storm with skin) Saying this to him, I walk away from the kitchen and collect my thoughts. 

If Xavier knows where Carlos is then I'm being set up, he's plotting something behind my back and it won't be good for either of us. At some point in knowing him, he has been real with me and how we made each other feel. But at the end of the day, his entire life has been spent by Carlos building and molding him into this perfect and deadly weapon. 

Xavier is loyal to his mafia, he is the leader, he is ruthless. I need to realise this and stop the way I'm falling for his dirty tricks, he must be entertained at how easy I am. Although, I won't leave this house in the hopes of finding out what's going on. There is something in the bigger picture that I'm missing, something I have no clue how to figure out unless I can snoop my way through this mansion. 

I refuse to leave, because this is my way in.