By Honor I Crumble

Chapter 15

*HI FYI I DON'T OWN BIBMC the Camorra chronicles and SOTF, Our queen Cora does 😮‍💨*

Song Rec: Here She Comes Again by Röyksopp

Nevio

There was a dramatic trail of rose petals leading from the living room of the manor to my room. I was carrying Eelena in my arms because the chants of "Bed her!" meant it was time for me to get a little respite. A break from the hoax of my wedding. I hadn't seen Aurora since the wedding ceremony, and quite frankly the constant thoughts of her were annoying me.

I dumped Elena onto my bed, and she let out a soft gasp. She was fragile, a bit too delicate for my liking. Since the wedding, she hadn't met my gaze once. I could sense her fear, as if she expected me to hurt her. Fine by me. Her fear gave me control, something I never had with Aurora. Her posture was rigid with her eyes fixed on the ground. She was a sad, obedient little thing, shattered beyond repair. It repulsed me. The thought of those who were supposed to protect her causing such harm made me pity her. Yet, I couldn't bear to look at her. I couldn't stop blaming her for pulling me away from Aurora. I had to escape. Stepping into my closet, I yanked off my tie and shirt. Maybe this was my last rebellion. My familiar leather jacket and boots had my blood pumping and I shot Alessio and Massimo a text, "Meet me at our place." They both read my message and left me hanging. Perfect.

"Where are you going?" she squeaked as I walked out.

"Out" I said. I didn't owe her an explanation.

"But... but, it's our wedding night!"

"Well lucky you." I replied and walked out.

Elena

He had left me here. Alone. In the silence of his room, the fear slowly left my body. It was quiet here. I knew my father wouldn't be here to hurt me, just other monsters. That thought didn't scare me. Nothing did, but then I clenched my jaw, and I was shaking. Not with fear this time, but with anger. He had left me for her. I had never felt anger like this before. Not even when my father had pushed mamma down the stairs for entering his study without permission. Aurora Scuderi was going to ruin my life. She was going to take my husband from me. She had, from the moment we'd met. And yet, I couldn't bring myself to hate her. I hadn't met a person more kind than her, more open, more welcoming. Even as I might have taken Nevio from her, she had been kind to me. She had worn the dress I gave. It was a hideous dress, but she had worn it with a smile. Even if I tried, I couldn't hate that girl, and that thought made me angrier. Why couldn't I be hateful? Anger was coursing through me and the lamp next to his bed was flying out of my hand and onto the wall before I knew it. Next went the glass on the nightstand, and the laptop was next when I realized it was his laptop. I gently set it down on the bed. I couldn't break my husband's electronics, and yet, curiosity drew me in. It was going to be the death of me. Surprisingly, his computer was unlocked. It was organized, and yet very empty. There were barely any folders. The desktop was nothing too interesting. Just some files about some club called the Sugar Trap. The documents folder contained our usual documents: fake ids, alternate identities, etc. Things we all kept in case we had to run, and then there was the folder that simply said Stuff. So of course, I clicked on it. There were photos, photos of a blonde girl with ocean blue eyes. They were so random: her smiling, her laying by the pool, her eating a burger, her looking at a laptop, her at Greta's wedding, her driving a wicked looking car, her smoking a cigarette by a window and so many pictures of her sleeping. There was a single video and when I saw it, all the rage I wanted to feel against Aurora flooded me. The sight of her kissing him, of him kissing her, of him pulling her shirt up had me slamming the laptop shut. There was real love in his eyes. For her. It was the kind of love people whispered about. The kind that our Capo felt for Valentina Cavallaro, the one that Serafina Falcone had defected to the Camorra for. Nevio would never feel that for me. He would hate me forever, because I had taken him from her. That thought didn't sit well with me. The fact that he would never love me made me angrier. I never had a lot of choices in my life, but now I could choose to be happy. I refused to let Aurora Scuderi take my husband from me. He will love me, I'll make sure he does.

Aurora

There was darkness. Except for the cactus that was visible from the bright headlights of my ancient Jeep. The black emptiness of the desert was a welcome distraction from the perfect wedding. I hadn't made it to the race circuit, because on the way to it was our spot. Where he and I had hooked up countless times over the years. In the back of my Jeep, in the back of his car, behind a rock. Tears blurred my vision as I stared at the stupid cactus. I was a horrible friend and my spiteful ass deserved everything that came my way. In, Out, in, out. I puffed away at the joint in my mouth. I'd stolen it from Alessio's room before I left. Weed had been the instigator of Nevio and I and it was fit that I had some in the end. Of course, by now the joint was the only thing keeping me sane. The sanity was unreal though. Tangling me deeper and deeper into the web of my mind. Could I ever escape? The familiar haziness of the high slowly enveloped me and I was a ghost. A content ghost who had found silence from the chaos of heartbreak. I was calm and my thoughts had slowed to the point where the cactus was the most interesting thing ever. How many thorns did it have? Who had hurt it enough to become so calloused? Was I becoming a cactus because of Nevio? My thoughts were interrupted when the screech of a car and hushed Italian whispers reached my senses. They grabbed my numb body and shoved a gag in my mouth. This was real. I was actually being kidnapped without even being roofied because I was actually high. The irony of it was hilarious and I actually giggled. Who could it be? Definitely not the Famiglia because they didn't care for dramatics like this. So it had to be the Outfit. It made sense with the posh BMW and blonde men in suits. With my mouth gagged and body tied helplessly, I decided to say fuck it. Fuck this. It was tiring. The facade, the perfection, life. Everyday was a war and I just wanted to sit here in silence because it was comforting. Knowing, this isn't my fault was comforting. The near silent humming of the car was the nicest thing I'd ever heard and slowly, it lulled me to sleep.