Chapter 4 Vengeful

These last two days went like a blur for Bianca. Emergency flight to Italy, uncontrollable tears, her, continuously wishing this was all a dream, her friends trying their hardest to comfort her, her, missing Matt and most of all, her dad, her, getting home and not finding her dad after frantically searching for him both in the huge house and the family warehouse, her, seeing her mom in a desolate state as melancholy was the order of the day.

she remembered her last conversation with her dad. tears cascaded down her cheeks as she reminisced.

it was the beginning of a new semester in her faculty and she'd face timed her dad

she thought of their conversation.

"hey" her dad said when he saw her. he looked busy but he went away from his capos and the others, to talk to her

"hi Dad" she smiled "sup"

"how's my sweet figlia doing?" he asked her

"I'm doing well, dad although it would have been good if you saw for yourself"

"I'll make out time someday, sweet"

"right" her bright countenance dropped

"Bianca---" he started when he noticed her expression

"you've said that dad, for two years now" she grumbled

"and I'll keep saying it until I make it work" her dad assured her

"when would that be, when I graduate? when I'm married?"

her dad laughed

"I'll never miss my figlia's wedding. you know I'll never do that to you, sweet "

"well, I don't know" she said "I might as well graduate before you come see me"

"don't worry about it," he said "just wait a little longer, I'm coming "

where was her dad now? he promised to come and see her? why hadn't he kept his promise? why couldn't he....

Bianca screamed.

"you must be hiding somewhere. this house is too big, maybe I didn't search thoroughly" she made her way into the house, upstairs to search in the rooms again.

"Bianca...." her Mom cried

"I'll go check" she said and she started going but she was grabbed from behind by June, a female soldier who worked for her mom

"leave me!" she screamed as she struggled against June's strength.

"Calm down", said June to her

she screamed all the more as she tried to disentangle herself from June

it happened in a flash. June pulled out a syringe and injected it's contents into her.

her loud screams began to quiet down.

" You're.... you're a bitch" she whispered to June after she figured that a sedative had been injected into her blood.

"you need to rest, Bianca" said June, stroking her cheek and wearing a wistful look "this was the only way"

"bitch...." Bianca whispered again as she felt her consciousness slip from her.

***********

"Where is he?" Lorenzo barked at the soldiers who stood at the entrance, as he strode into the Sforza villa.

He abandoned his business, back where he stayed, to credible hands and took the first flight back to Italy. As he drove in through the gates, his heart remained outside his chest in worry, and he desperately wished he was being pranked by his madre.

"where is my father?"

the soldiers were all frightened. they didn't dare to utter a word. it made Lorenzo pissed, all the more.

"where is my father?" he yelled furiously

"your dad's body was delivered here yesterday afternoon", a soldier finally spoke. "Mrs Barbara's watching his body upstairs"

Lorenzo let out a humourless laughter. how dare the lowly soldier? he raised his fist and it connected with the soldiers cheek, the effect knocking the soldier down.

"what do you mean by 'his body'?" he grabbed the soldier's collar. "tell me what you mean by 'his body'. did you kill him?" a crazy Lorenzo accused, even as he knew how absurd his accusation sounded. "tell me!"

"Lorenzo!" someone shouted his name and he turned.

it was his mother.

"Madre" he called as he left the soldier's collar and ran to his mother.

"papà....?" he trailed off as his mother hugged him

she began to go upstairs and she beckoned him to follow her.

They arrived upstairs and got into the fourth room on the left row down the hallway.

he saw some of his dad's soldiers and capos standing by the sides of the bed. they all had their heads bowed down, some of them were weeping heavily.

On the bed lay someone covered from head to toe, with a cloth.

"who's that, mom?" he asked as he pointed towards the bed but the reply he got from his mother was a sob.

Seeing that she didn't want to answer him, he went towards the covered body. Each dreadful step he took, he prayed that the body wasn't his father's.

he finally reached the body and opened the clothe.

He saw his dad. Eyes closed, face pale and lip drained of blood. his dad had a deep wound on his forehead and he stared deeper, he figured it was a bullet wound.

No! he screamed mentally. This couldn't be Giovanni, his dad was a fighter, bullets couldn't hold him down.

he turned to the capos who stood around "this isn't Giovanni right? this is someone else. why would you guys bring someone else to our house?" he said to them, his voice raising in each syllable.

"Lorenzo...." his mother cried

"Dad?" he touched his dad's lifeless face. "your time has not come yet. I want you to wake up now. Prove to me that you're a fighter"

he waited a moment for his dad to make a slight movement but it didn't happen. Each passing second plunged him into hysteria. He shook his dad's body.

"Giovanni " he shouted. "Giovanni " he shook his dad harder

"Lorenzo!" his mother called him. "what are you guys waiting for" she said to the soldiers present.

the soldiers grabbed Lorenzo and took him away from the room.

"Let go!" he struggled against them. "I can wake him"

his shouts and struggles were futile because they kept on dragging him away from the body and into a room, where they locked him inside.

*******************

The door to the room where Lorenzo was staying in was unlocked four hours later but he continued to stay in the room until two days went by.

His madre, Barbara had to go into the room to see him and get him to eat and shower.

"Mio figlio" she called him

"do you want to leave me here too? you want to die?"

"Madre..." Lorenzo began

"you haven't gotten out of here since two days. you haven't eaten since two days. you haven't showered since two days...." she reiterated "what is it you want, Lorenzo?"

Lorenzo stared ahead, into thin air, oblivious to what his mother said. they both kept silent.

"he was shot in the head...." said Lorenzo "who did that to him?" he turned to his mom and watched her body quiver in fear before she answered

"Carlo Rizzo"

"who's that?" He hadn't heard of any Carlo Rizzo before and didn't know why the person invoked such reaction from his mother.

"Your dad's archenemy", she said simply

He knew that his dad made enemies and competitors in his mafia circles. that was the nature of this business. But did that give this Carlo Rizzo guy the right to kill his dad? he didn't care about the reason for Carlo's action, he had to make him pay.

"where's Carlo Rizzo? I'll kill him" said an enraged Lorenzo

"you can't!" his mum answered.

"of course I can! I'll kill him " Lorenzo yelled.

"he's dead!" his mother's voice matched his

the shouts died down.

"he's dead? who killed him?"

this whole situation was confusing him.

"your dad killed him" he could tell she was confused about the whole situation as he was.

"how....?"

"mum, I'm sure he went there with some soldiers" Lorenzo started. "gather them all here"

he said and his mum went to get them, straight away.

within ten minutes, they were in front of Lorenzo. his mum didn't come back with them.

"which of you were there with my dad the time he got killed"

one of the soldiers spoke.

"none of us, boss. he and Carlo went into a roofless room to talk privately, while they told us to wait outside, far from the room"

it felt like they planned to kill eachother from the onset. how could they agree to face eachother without protection.

he had to find out what they talked about.

"And you people didn't hear anything loud enough, from them, to attract your attention?" he asked them

"no, boss. we only heard a gunshot, but by the time we got into the room, it was too late "

which building in Italy would have a roofless room? why did they even choose a roofless room? that wasn't of any importance to him now. he had to know if the venue contained any footage of the incident.

"were cameras in the place?" he asked them

"yes boss" they replied

"now y'all should go there," he ordered "and fetch me the CCTV footage with an audio. I need to hear what they talked about. understood?"

"yes, boss" they chorused and left.

now he was going to find out exactly what happened. he had to know, in order to figure out what punishment he'd mete out on the rest of Carlo Rizzo's family.

After three hours, the soldiers returned with the video footage and he took it and played it with his mom seated next to him.

"will you be okay?" she asked him before they started watching

"yes" he said curtly and played the video.

the first thing he heard took his breath away

"are you going to speak up now?" he heard his dad say to Carlo. "tell me why you slept with my wife"

he gaze turned at his mom, shell shocked, he asked her

"did you....?"

tears welled up in his mom's eyes as she sat, scared and dumbstruck. he continued watching the footage

he heard the bastard Carlo Rizzo talk about his mother.

he heard his dad's growl and finally, he saw the way his dad tricked Carlo into coming closer and brutally stabbed his body. he witnessed how Carlo shot his dad on his head. it was a bloody sight. he stayed zoned out at a spot for a few minutes. that Carlo guy triggered his dad and wasn't remorseful about it. he knew his dad had mafia foes but he wasn't foolish enough to schedule a meeting with any of them because his dad knew his foes were also looking for a way to kill him. His dad, having a murderous intent, had agreed to meet with Carlo because of the gravity of Carlo's crime

he swiftly turned to his mom who was already in bitter tears.

"you fucked the enemy?" he still tried to wrap his head around the painful realisation.

"I---" his mom began but he cut her off

"my dad went there and got killed because of you?"

"he found out about it and I knew that. I apologized and I thought he'd come to terms with it.... I didn't know he'd go that far...."

"can you hear yourself?" he yelled "does that justify the fact that you lusted after and slept with our family's enemy?"

"it doesn't..."

"why Madre? why Carlo Rizzo?"

"I don't know. it just happened"

He didn't know what to say. his parents really loved eachother. his dad was so smitten, he wouldn't even dare to look at another lady. what then happened? did he miss anything? the last time he did a facetime with the both of them, he didn't notice any problems. he felt stupid for not making out time from his busy schedule to visit his parents and now, the matter had escalated quickly.

"was there any friction between you and dad, before you went to Carlo?"

"no" she inhaled "your dad was fine. it was all on me"

"you've ruined everything, Madre"

"I'm sorry. I truly am"

"that doesn't change anything "he yelled at her "how could you do that to a man who loved you?"

"it was my mistake ---"

"don't you get it? saying that doesn't change anything"

his mum wept harder

"my dad's death was caused by you. you--you killed him!"

"Enzo..."

"just bear it in mind that I'll never forgive you"

having said that, he walked away, leaving his weeping mess of a mum.

He could agree, his dad struck first, but could Carlo imagine the pain his dad felt after he realised that his wife had betrayed him? the jerk, Carlo didn't even hesitate to rub his victory in. his dad must have been pushed to a point where he couldn't take no more, that's why he reacted.

And Carlo couldn't just die in peace, he had to take his dad too. well, Lorenzo couldn't rest. all he could think about was revenge. considering the fact that Carlo wasn't around to bear the consequences of his actions, his family was around.

Summoning a capo, he ordered him to gather information about Carlo's family and how Carlo's relationship with his dad was like. he made a mental vow to punish Carlo's family in a way that they'll begin to beg for death.

*****************

Three weeks later

Bianca sat on her bed, in her room, reading a book. three weeks had passed since her dad's death and two had passed since his burial. her dad's burial vibe was next level dreariness. sympathisers from all around the world attended, his siblings, his business allies, his friends, Allegra and Kim came too, her bitchy younger sister, Capria who didn't come home when she heard about their dad's death, came for the burial with her boyfriend, a skinny, blonde, freckle faced guy, and they both left the next day immediately after the burial. she didn't want to think of Capria at that moment. her ex boyfriend, Matt never called for once to share his sympathies or comfort her and it made her realise how cruel he was, and it also made her get over him quick.

her mom's family and friends came too, her dad's business associates, capos, soldiers, his mafia consigliere. there were so many people who attended, but she took note of the important appearances. it took a lot of time and effort to get her to stop crying on that day.

And finally, she decided to stop crying and focus her energy on something else.

a week after her dad's death, her mom and June had showed her the video footage of her dad's death.

she wept uncontrollably when she watched the video. the way her dad was brutally stabbed because just because he slept with a mafia's slutty wife. her dad was only trying to get back at his enemy. he was trying to get even because he felt inferior. that violent dirtbag Giovanni Sforza should have known because mafia business was always dirty. he should have resolved it amicably with her dad because that was what civilised people do. but no, the raging freak just had to start the murder.

the only thing that gave her a tiny bit of satisfaction was the fact that her dad didn't die alone. he took down his enemy with him.

Even at that, she still missed her dad so much. she didn't want Giovanni to go scot free after brutally stabbing her dad, she wanted to make him pay but unfortunately, her dad did the job. her dad would loved it if his death was avenged. Since, Giovanni was dead, his family and descendants would have to pay for his sins. she had already gathered information about them. Giovanni had a wife named Barbara and a son. they were from Italy. the son answered Lorenzo and he owned a jewelry business and had just returned to take over his dad's mafiadom.

So many Lorenzos around in Italy. the Lorenzo she met online hadn't also texted her since the day his text broke she and her boyfriend up. somehow she was grateful to him for helping her reveal Matt's true colours.

she was about to send a text message to Lorenzo but didn't because her phone started to ring. Allegra had face timed her.

"hi" she said quietly as she stared at Allegra on the phone

"darling", her friend called. "how are you feeling?"

"it's getting better. the pain is easing away slowly" said Bianca. "how's Kimberly?"

"she's good. she's in a class. worry about yourself for now."

Bianca almost smiled, but then she didn't because she wasn't in the mood for happiness now.

they stared at eachother in silence for a moment, then Allegra asked

"what are you up to now?"

"I'm reading this book and trying hard to concentrate on it" Bianca said, showing her the book, from the phone.

"it looks interesting " said Allegra, after seeing the book. "why is it hard for you to concentrate "

"my dad " Bianca simply said "I miss him. I want to kill those people who took my poor dad's

life "

"you'll be fine", Allegra soothed

"will I?"

"just give me a little time, I'll come visit you " said Allegra

even if Bianca was grateful for her friend's offer because she really needed company, she didn't want Allegra to travel all because of her.

"no" she said to her "you don't have to. I can care for myself"

"I don't need your permission ", said he persistent Allegra

"I really don't want to burden you" Bianca said

"we are friends, Bianca. I know you'll do the same for me. by the way, I want to see your house"

"Okay" she smiled back. it was really nice to have a friend like Allegra

"I'll be waiting then"

"We all are missing you here"

"I miss you guys too" she didn't know when she was going to return back to college. she didn't know what the aftermath of her dad's death had in store for her.

The door to her room opened and in came her mom, her uncle and June.

"uhhh...." she said to Allegra.

"I'll call you back soon, bye"

then she ended the call

"Madre" she called her mom

"good day, Zu" she greeted her uncle

"what brings you to my room?"

her mom sat at the end of the bed "we came to talk to you"

"go on"

"your dad has passed away, leaving his legacy behind for his heiress" she began

Bianca cringed mentally. was her mom talking about the mafia business? if that was what she meant, then Bianca was no heiress.

"you're his heiress, mia figlia" her mom said, as if she read her mind. "the mafiadom needs a new don"

"mum" she began " that can be solved. there's Capria---"

"you're the eldest daughter" her mom snapped "you're the son I and your dad never had. you can't shy away from your duties"

"no mom!" she refused "I can't be a mafioso, let alone boss, I'm not ready, I don't have what it takes...."

she couldn't do dirty business, being a mafioso required a lot of will power and kills. she wasn't ready to make foes and get herself killed like her dad. she'd heard all about it, she'd even seen it in movies. human and drug trafficking, bribery, lingering wars, killings, going to extreme lengths, she just couldn't do it. back at school, she hid the fact that her family did mafia stuff because she was embarrassed about it and she didn't want to be stereotyped. only Kim and Allegra knew about it.

"you have what it takes, mia figlia" her mom began. "it's your responsibility." she turned to her brother

"your uncle Luigi worked as your dad's underboss. he helped your dad with certain things. Now your dad's no longer with us, he's here to help you "

"mom, don't you understand? mafia isn't for me. I'm not capable of killing anyone "

her mom kept mute for a while, tension evident in the atmosphere. then she played a video and put it in front of Bianca.

it was the footage of her dad's murder. she felt tears rolling down her cheeks as she watched it. why had her mom chosen to poke open her closed wounds?

"would you let this bastard and his family enjoy the goodness of life after they've killed your dad?"

she certainly didn't want them to go unscathed. she wanted to make them pay, bleed and beg her for mercy. she wanted to avenge her dad's unfair and undue death.

"your silence proves that you want what we want which is to leave the Sforza's in ruin" her mom said

"but mom---" she began

"no buts" her mom interrupted sternly "our family and the Sforza's have been at war for generations. Giovanni had certain issues and altercations with your dad, but they never crossed the line. there was a time where they were at peace with eachother, but it couldn't last because Giovanni decided to make use of fists and daggers, instead of words to resolve a measly argument"

Bianca nodded her agreement. she still had her fears

"who started the kill, in the video footage you watched?" her mom asked her when she noticed her indecisive expression.

"Giovanni"

"wasn't it an issue they were meant to resolve with words?" her mom asked again.

Bianca kept quiet. she knew all too well.

"you've always made your dad happy. are you going to fail to avenge his death now, because I'm sure he'd want that, even in his grave" her mom tried another way to convince her

"no, madre" she answered

"so now, what do you say about taking over your dad's business" her mom finally asked

"it's my destiny" Bianca said with finality

she'd always known this. now, she saw no point in delaying the inevitable.

"no pressure, mia figlia" her mom added

"Luigi is here to teach you everything you need to know, from the soldiers to the capos and associates"

"June is here to teach you martial arts, which is essential for your daily life"

"and finally," her mom added "if you have any problems, do not hesitate to come to me. I'll always be there"

"thanks, madre" said Bianca, even if she fretted for her future, her mom's words reassured her

"la mia bellissima figlia" her mom said as she touched her cheeks, then left the room.

Bianca groaned as she rolled on her bed. this was all too overwhelming for her. she knew someday, she'd have to take charge of her family's mafia but she hadn't braced herself and when her dad died, she thought her mom had another person who would take over if she wasn't willing to.

she groaned again. she just needed to calm down. she needed something or someone to calm her down.

as if on cue, her phone beeped and she quickly checked it.

it was a message from Lorenzo. he knew exactly how to come through at the right time.

the message said

'its been a while, Bianca. I've been busy with so many things. what about you? are you taking exams?'

she replied

'no. I came back home. I'm at my hometown in Sicily. what about you? still at work?'

surprisingly, he replied quick

'I don't know if you believe in fate. I don't, but I think it's speaking in our case'

she didn't understand the message when she got it but before she could ask what he meant, he sent another message

and it said

'I'm at my hometown. I came back a month ago '

Bianca's heart skipped a beat when she saw his reply. was it finally time for them to meet? or was he still too busy to meet with her?

before she could think of anything else, she received another message from him and it said

'Let's meet'