Chapter Seven

Lorenzo's POV

I walked through the heavy mahogany doors of my ancestral home, a huge story mansion built many years ago, my father had been in the this house and so had my grandfather, my childhood had also been in this house and the memories I had of my childhood were still some of my best memories until mama and papa died.

"You are here"

The sound of Anna's voice jolted me out of my reverie.

I cleared my throat and said "What was so important that you had to call me even when I have told you not to many times"

Anna rolled her eyes and said "You should be well aware that it must be very important since I disobeyed your orders"

"Well get on with then, I do not take lightly to having my time wasted" I said.

I was frustrated that I had to abandon my visit to Andrea because of this and Anna was still wasting my time by not getting to it immediately.

"The Severino girl, she is going to be a problem to our plans" Anna said.

I turned to look at her quickly, she had my full attention now at the mention of Andrea's name.

"What exactly about Andrea is a problem?" I asked.

Anna brushed her golden hair to the side as she usually did when she was trying to make a point.

"She is married to Emil Ferrari and you have a history with the man" Anna said.

I shrugged my shoulders and sat on the armchair you which belonged to my father when he was alive.

"I still fail to see what this has to do with anything" I answered.

"It means that whatever run in you have with the Severino girl is a chance to have your cover blown, Emil Ferrari might recognise you and ruin our perfect plans because there will be no explanation as to why the son of the DeLuca family is posing to be a simple bodyguard in the house of his enemies"

Anna was right about this, Emil and I had attended college together and it was very likely that he would recognise me once we met, the smart thing to do was to stay away from him and that automatically meant staying away from Andrea which was proving to be a problem for me.

"Why are you hesitating" Anna said, her grey eyes watching me keenly.

"I am not hesitating" I answered quickly.

"You should have stayed away from that girl from the start, I told you I had a bad feeling about her from the start and now look, you have feelings for the girl" Anna said as she placed her hands on her hip in a manner that reminded me of our mother a lot.

Anna was like our mother in many ways, sometimes I just had to look at her to remember what mama looked like, she was an exact replica of her, they had the same hair and eyes, even some mannerisms and gestures were similar, sometimes I thought it a blessing and other times, I thought it a curse because it reminded me of everything I had lost.

"I will handle this Anna, you do not need to worry" I said as I gently massaged my temple.

A headache was beginning to form behind my eyes just thinking about the situation.

Anna was quiet for a while then she walked over and sat on the chair beside mine, she placed her hand over mine and squeezed gently.

"Lorenzo you cannot love her and you are well aware of this, she is your enemy she has to die along with her family, her family ruined our lives and we must pay back in kind, blood for blood and life for life" Anna said.

A memory of a dark night flashed before my eyes, smoke and the smell of burning flesh suddenly filled my nostrils and it was immediately hard to breathe, the dying screams of my parents filled my ear once more, the sound of my own heart beating loudly in my ears only made it worst.

"Lorenzo??.... Lorenzo??!!"

Anna's voice jolted me back to reality, the smell of burning flesh and smoke disappeared and the screams quietened down.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked, I could the worry in her eyes.

I massaged my temple once more and let out a breath to reduce the pounding of my heart.

"I am fine, you are right, I can not afford mistakes, the sooner the Severino family burns, the sooner I will find my peace" I said.

Anna looked like she wanted to say something but then changed her mind.

"I am sorry Lorenzo, I really am" she said.

I simply smiled and stood up "You have no reason to be sorry, I am the one who brought us here, I am the one who could not save mama and papa that night so I will bear every punishment with pride" I said.

The bitter memories were threatening to surface once more, I could hear the faint screams in my mind, threatening to surface at the slightest incline.

"It was not your fault, you were just a boy" Anna said.

A bitter laugh passed through my lips "A boy?? I was sixteen and I watched on like a little coward while my parents were murdered before my eyes, I should have done something that day, anything would have been better than hiding and covering my ears while Mama and Papa died" I said.

Anna chose to remain quiet right now.

"I will have my retribution when the Severinos are lined before me and I see them all burn, every last one of them" I said.

"Even the girl??" Anna asked.

An uncomfortable feeling settled at my core at the mention of Andrea but I pushed it down almost immediately, it was unfortunate that she had been born into the Severino family, she will die for the sins of her father as well.

"Not a single one of them shall be spared" I said.

I could Anna visibly relax when I said this.

"Then I have nothing to worry about anymore" Anna said with a smile on her face.

Meanwhile I could still feel the nagging feeling at the back of my mind as I wondered whether or not I really had it in me to kill Andrea if it ever came down to it.