Valentina

We were played again. Santos had no intention of having a parley. He only wanted us at his place to insult us. When we reached back, Sofia hopped out through the doors, rushing towards us like a maniac.

"We have to tell her now." Antonio suggested. He had a concern on his place which I wasn't sure was a result of Santos or something else. "She needs to know," saying those words, he walked in.

There was a shift in Antonio's behavior since we returned. I didn't want to be the one to drudge up suppressed thoughts in front of others, so I let him leave. Sofia watched me carefully, her eyes following my every step till I returned to our room.

"How was it?" She was bubbling from the inside for any news about her brother. "How is he?"

I sighed, thinking of ways to break it to her. The news wasn't a jolly one but we had given her hope in the past. I would have to be the devil to crumple it up too.

"Your brother didn't want you back, Sofia," I lowered my tone, telling her. Her face flooded with an expression, part anger and part sadness. Her own blood betrayed her, there wasn't much hope left for the girl who was left at the kidnapper's mercy. "When we asked for a barter, he wasn't ready to deal with us."

Wiping away the tears which streamed down her face, Sofia drew a deep breath and walked around the place. She bit her cuticles as her mind wandered to the words of mine. Turning around, she reeked of determination, an expression which Sofia rarely portrayed.

"What did he tell you," she sat elegantly on the chair, back straightened, she exhaled deep as if she was preparing herself for the worst news. "I need to know all the things that my brother said to you."

"I don' think that's a good.."

She raised her hand and in a firm voice commanded me. A part of me was glad to see Sofia take control of the situation. Having seen her as the girl who always depended on men saving her, she made me smile with her gesture to know the truth.

"I want to know everything, Val. All of it. Atleast give me this." She leaned to her side, pulling her face away. Only after the revolt that spread inside her and leaked through her eyes calmed, she turned to face me.

Narrating the day that we faced was terrible. I skipped the part when Santos showed us the tape on me being poisoned. We knew there were moles in the house, Mateo was helping me with it. When I retold the part about Santos rejecting our offer, telling us to keep Sofia, the adopted child, her dams burst open again as she sobbed into her hand.

I held her up, she was unwilling to look me in the eye. With great force, I made her to.

"He isn't the brother you deserve." I said.

In a way, I knew what Sofia went through. I felt the same with Ramon's betrayal came to light. There was nothing I could do or say to him. I had to play the doting daughter for him to be convinced and for me to discover Elena's secret.

When she looked up, her tears had dried and all hopes she carried seemed to distance themselves from her. Sofia who stood next to me suddenly felt like a shell of the girl who used to be an epitome of happiness once.

"So what have you decided?" she asked, sniffling her nose. Sofia was made aware of our meet, she was convinced that her time to go home had arrived. We never fathomed Santos to change at the last minute. In all his correspondence, he had informed of his willingness to negotiate. It was all a lie.

"We don't know yet," I lied to her. Her fate was sealed the moment her brother abandoned her. Antonio was more than glad for her to be a part of the family. It was me, who wanted her to adjust to reality before thrown into the shards of another truth.

She would never escape. She would become a Moralez.

My mind ran with those thought which I wanted Sofia to be saved from. She walked away, believing my lie.

It took me time to reel back from the words that I told her, the truth about her own blood not needing her. Sofia wasn't much different than me. For me it was my father, hers, her brother.

"Can I come in?" I turned to the masculine voice that emerged from the door. It was Mateo who strode inside, carrying a paper in his hand. Upon my nod, he placed the paper on my dressing table.

Gabriel's photo was the document which he carried. I looked back at Mateo. "What's this?"

He pointed towards the parcel in Gabriel's hand, clearly visible in the photo. A gold covered box with a red bow. The box which Elena sent to me. Was Gabriel the mole? The loyal guard was part of the ruse to betray his boss?

I stared at it, my mouth turning sour with every passing second, knowing we were to be betrayed by the most faithful of our own.

"He was the one who kept it on your bedroom before they left for the meet." Mateo took the paper off my hand. "Do you want me to take care of him?"

I nodded sidewise. "Later," I said, standing up. My legs were ready to give up, holding onto the weight of betrayal that remained balanced over me. "I will tell you when it's time."

Mateo nodded, walking away. I knew who the mole in the family was but who else to trust was yet to be decided. I knew the one who might be of help- Antonio.

He wasn't in his room or the study. To my surprise, I found him in my room when I returned. I felt like having travel the whole world only to reach back to him.

Antonio's mood remained more or less the same since morning. I lent him my hand, awaiting his to talk. Although he held me, his words remained stuck inside.

"Is there something that you are not telling me?" I leaned onto him, pulling him up from the bed. When Antonio decided to remain silent, I grew wary. "Please, say something."

Upon my request, Antonio looked up. His eyes were wide, tears brimmed on the edge and the strong man that I once saw was hidden behind the veil of someone who wasn't scared to reveal his true self. Antonio made me sit beside him, holding me close.

"I have never told you but Elena was with.." his words revolted in his chest, unwilling to accept her fate.

"Child, I know." Antonio's head snapped at me. He wasn't aware of my knowledge of her survival, betrayal. "I saw the portrait. I knew she was... pregnant."

He looked away, breathing into his knuckles that remained pressed onto his lips.

"When you said to Santos about your," he looked at me and I knew what he was referring to. "I was elated. I felt like I was given a second chance at things. I was..." words broke away into tears that dripped down his face. People have lied and betrayed us but today, in front of a heartbroken Antonio, even I stood guilty. A culprit.

"We never talked about it, Antonio. I never wanted kids in a place." Moving my hand around, I stated my apprehension.

Kids in a family that's used to bloodshed and talk about murder and drug dealings on the dinner table wasn't what I imagined a place for raising a kid. But what I never realized up until now was that it was also a part of who I was.

Mafia.

I was born in one, I would die in one. The bonds of blood we made were forged with loyalty and kept until death parted us.

Was I willing to watch others around me raise a family?

Antonio held my hand, staring into my eyes. His eyes emitted kindness and warmth, those wide green eyes which scared me the time I saw him chock a man to death, not reflecting any emotion. But now, I wanted to sink into the bottom of it.

I wanted Antonio and everything that came with him and from him.

Confession was scary. It jittered my nerves when I wanted to speak my mind. With a lock on my lips, I looked away as my heart pounded onto the ribs, willing for bleed onto him, my love. My devotion.

"Cariño." Antonio turned me to him. He pulled our faces closest, watching our blurry features. "I know it was hard on you, being with a man who treated you the worst. The one, who made you doubt yourself because he was still getting over the death of his loved one. But I promise you," gently kissed my forehead he continued, "...that I am yours. From this day till my death."

My hand travelled to him lips, stopping him from saying things that made my worst fears dance in front of me.

"No death talk," I asked. He kissed my fingers.

"No death talk."

Leaning into his embrace, I knew the pain in my heart faded. I found a sense of belonging in a place I could call home. In his arms, I found solace. Mind and heart, which were torn apart since the first encounter of ours, was finally one. I was whole. In a sense, Antonio completed me.

"One step at a time," I looked up at him as he watched over me. My protector, provider. "We can discuss family when I am.."

"Ready, I know." Kissing my head, he patted my hair smooth.

Pulling us onto bed, Antonio held onto me like his life clung onto mine. I felt the same. "Can I say something?" he asked.

I nuzzled into the warmth of his chest which kept me safe in the darkest of my nights and through the worst of my dreams.

"Marry me, Val." he whispered. My head shot up at those words. "Marry me for real. Make me the happiest man."

Tears rolled from my eyes, yet again. Antonio had made me feel a lot of emotions but he also made me cry a lot. Happy tears though. I sniffled into my sleeve, watching his kind eyes and soft smile watching me sob.

"Would you?" he asked, pausing. "Be my wife, love?"

Nodding I pulled him close to me. I felt connected with him through my heart. Ours heartbeats, breath and pulse may differ but we became one in a sense of the puzzles. Two broken halves that fit together perfectly.

Welcome home, Valentina.

~

Trust me, this is the calm before the storm.

Please do comment and vote if you like this chapter.

Comments fill my heart with happiness.

:)