I wake up to a slight headache. I look around me and find myself in my room.
"Andrea, how are you feeling?" Aurora says, rushing to my side.
"Other than a little headache, I am fine. Please, can I have some water" I say, feeling my throat a little parched. She hands me a glass of water from the nightstand.
"Thank you," I say, collecting the glass of water from her hand. "Why do you look like you have been crying," I ask once I finish drinking the cup of water. Her face is red, and you can tell from her red nose too. She has been sniffing them a lot.
"You don't remember," Andrea says, tearing up.
"Remember what," I ask, confused with what she is talking about
"Stefano is……….." She pauses for a second before she continues speaking. "Dead," She says and bursts into tears. I freeze in my spot as I realize that what happened a few hours ago was not a dream. I wanted to believe it was a dream, and once I woke up, we would still be searching for Stefano.
I can't believe he is truly gone. I am never going to touch him, smell, kiss, and hug or even fight with him again. I want to tell myself it's all a bad dream, but I remember that video, and I know it's not. I lie back on the bed and cry my heart out. I feel like a part of me has gone with Stefano being no more. I don't even know how I am going to continue with life again.
It's been three weeks since Stefano passed away. Sometimes I tell myself that he is alive, but I just can't see him when I want to, even though I know he is not coming back. I am on my way to the airport to fly back to Miami. Stefano's funeral was a week ago. I cried so much that day I was worried something would happen to the baby, but luckily for me, nothing did. My baby is strong. I plan to make sure to take care of myself and the baby. I am sure that is what Stefano would want.
"Are you ready to go?" Aurora asks as I walk down the stairs behind the maid who has my last bag
"Yes, I am," I say, reaching the last step.
"That's good, but before we go, there is something I would like to talk to you about," Aurora says and gestures for me to walk with her into the living room.
"What would you like to talk about?" I say once I take my seat on the couch.
"It's been a few weeks since my brother died, and there is something I think you would like to know."
"I am listening."
"The real reason Stefano broke up with you after you faced a near-death experience has to do with a lady called Evelyn……………."
"Evelyn, A woman, did Stefano cheat on me," I say, cutting her off. I knew there was another reason he broke up with me, but I never guessed it could be because of another woman.
"God, no, he didn't. My brother would never do such a thing."
"Ok then, please explain how she is the reason."
"I am getting to that. Years ago, Stefano was in love with a woman called Evelyn. They were young and madly in love with each other. She is actually his first love, and they were happy together. Everything was going fine between them until one day, a rivalry of Stefano killed Evelyn. Stefano felt guilty about Evelyn's death and swore to never fall in love again to avoid what happened to Evelyn to ever happen again, but that didn't happen. He fell for you, and when you survived the beating from Vladimir. He promised himself to keep you safe. He would not be with you anymore. That's why he broke up with you so that Vladimir can spare your life even when he finds out you are alive."
"Wow, I can't imagine the guilt Stefano must have felt because of Evelyn's death. It also explains why the first time he kissed me, he avoided me. I am even surprised he was able to date me."
All of Stefano's behavior before we started dating makes sense now and the ones after we broke up too. Stefano never stopped having feelings for me. If anything, he must have liked me so much he could not bear to be the reason for my pain. I try to hold back my tears with all the new information I am getting. I wish he was alive so I could tell him what happened to me has nothing to do with him.
"He decided to date you after I told him this won't happen, but it did. I am so sorry, Andrea, that I put your life in danger," Aurora says, tearing up.
"Aurora, what happened to me is not your fault or Stefano's."
"How is it not my fault? If I didn't tell Stefano to allow himself to feel love again, you wouldn't have gotten beaten up by Vladimir," She says, with tears streaming down her face.
"No, don't say that. What happened to me is not you guy's fault. It's all that bastard's fault." I say, wiping her tears away.
"I know that, but I can't help myself and feel guilty for what happened to you."
"You have nothing to be guilty about, and so as Stefano because the reason I was beaten up was not because of him."
"How is that possible? Is Vladimir also a rivalry of your family's mafia" Aurora asks, confused
"No, but Vladimir beat me up because I refused to be with him, not because I was Stefano's girlfriend."
"Really,"
"Yes,"
"Oh, my God, you are sure Vladimir beat you almost to death because you don't want to be with him and not because you were the most important human being to Stefano."
A sad smile graces my face as I hear Aurora say I was the most important person to Stefano.
"I won't say I was the most important person to Stefano, but yes. The reason I got beaten almost to death has nothing to do with Stefano."
"Oh, my God, I can't believe my brother is not alive to hear this. He would have finally been able to lift some guilt off his chest," Aurora says, tearing up again.
"I know, and I wish he told me the real reason when he was alive."
"Me too, and I am sorry I didn't tell you."
"I understand why you didn't."
I know she didn't tell me because she felt being away from her brother was better for my safety. Only they didn't know that dating Stefano or not was not going to make Ivan stop loving me. The whole thing is a big misunderstanding and coincidence. Ivan happens to be the rival of Stefano, who killed his ex-lover and who also fell in love with me. I believed him when he said the reason he approached me to be friends with me had nothing to do with Stefano. It just happened that Ivan is a messed up human being and felt since he couldn't be with me, he should almost kill me.
"Thank you for understanding."
Once we are done talking, Aurora drives me to the airport. I take my time to breathe in the air of Sicily because I know with Stefano gone. It will take a while before I come back here. Aurora is moving to Chicago once she gets married, so she won't be a reason for me to visit Sicily either. I wipe a tear that escapes my eyes and shake my head to draw the tears back before entering the plane. I am going to miss Sicily and all the memories I made here with Stefano.
A week or two has passed since I came back to Miami. Work is fine, and the baby is doing well. I am on my way to visit Santiago at our gang house. I hardly came here because dad never wanted me to be a part of the mafia. He taught me how to defend myself, but other than that, I was hardly involved with the affairs of my family's mafia.
"How are you doing, sis," Santiago says once I enter his office
"I am doing well, and you?" I say, taking my seat in front of him.
"I am good. I have what you asked for," He says and places a file in front of me.
"You found all his establishments," I asked Santiago to help me find all businesses owned by Ivan.
"Not all but most."
"This is enough," I say after reading the file Santiago gave me.
"I already have men scouting the ones in the US, and the Costanzo family is handling the ones in Europe."
"That is not why I wanted to know the places he owns. I am not trying to find Ivan."
"What's your reason then?"
"I plan to burn all of them to the ground."
"I can't be more proud to be your brother," Santiago says, smiling.
"Thank you, and please arrange a few men to come with me tonight to burn the restaurant here in Miami."
"No problem, I will get it done."
Later at night, after a stressful day at the office, I drive home to rest a little before my mission tonight. While walking into the house, I meet dad on my way up the stairs.
"Do you mind if we talk for a minute, dear?"
"No, of course not. Is something wrong?"
"Santiago told me what you plan to do tonight……."
I cut him off because I know what he is going to say. "I know you are going to say I should leave the Costanzo family to handle Ivan, but you're wrong. Ivan took away the love of my life and the father of my baby. I have every right to make him pay."
"I know that, and that's why I wanted to tell you that I am proud of you. I did not plan to tell you to back off. I just wanted to remind you to be careful tonight."
"Really, you were not trying to stop me from going tonight."
"Not at all."
"Thank you, Dad, for allowing me to do this," I say and pull him into a hug.
"You don't need to thank me, honey. I will support you in everything you do," He says, hugging me back.
I wake up later at night to get ready for the mission. I take a quick shower, and once I am done, I put on my outfit. I put on a pair of black cargo pants with a black t-shirt. I wear a black baseball cap, and the mask I have on is also black. I step out of my room once I put my gun behind my pants. I walk out of the house and into the car that is already waiting for me.
The driver parks the van behind the restaurant once we arrive. I step out of the car and walk to the trunk of the van to get the kerosene. I walk to the front of the restaurant and pour the kerosene from there all the way to the back. Once I am satisfied, I have enough kerosene in the restaurant. I walk out of the building, and once I am at a reasonable distance, but not too far away. I switch on my lighter and throw it into the place. I walk further away from the building as the windows break and a big boom is heard. A huge smile graces my face the more I feel the heat of the fire as I walk to my car. This is only the beginning Ivan, by the time I am done with your entire establishment in the US, you would come crawling to me on your knees.