[1] A War of Blood and Hearts | ✔️

CHAPTER TWELVE

ALONSO

"I don't know what to do Alonso. As selfish as it sounds, I need you to wake up and tell me how to handle this." Alonso hears Nick's voice as if it was an echo in an abandoned tunnel. The Italian man tries to tell him to shut his mouth and stop being such a drama queen, but he is just too exhausted. Not as exhausted as he was before though; a sign that he was actually getting better.
For the past few days, he has been in and out of consciousness. While conscious, he could hear his friends while they are in his room, and he could feel the pain of his injuries. What he couldn't do, however, is move any part of his body; he couldn't even open his eyes; his body was still recovering. He could feel how weak he was.
He distracted himself by thinking about his bel fuocu. Alonso could not believe that he actually saw her again. He noticed that her hair was a little longer than the last time he saw her. Yet, her eyes, her lips, her body were still the same; beautiful. What consumed his thoughts, however, is his worry for her. They tortured him as they repeatedly listed his worst fears over and over again in their monstrous voice.

She couldn't outrun the Russians.

The Russians kidnapped her.

Ivan killed her.

She bled to death.

She didn't find out that you unlocked your phone for her to use.

Your friends didn't tend to her bullet wound.

Alonso manages to shut the voices off as he starts to feel his fingers and toes twitch from the anger. He was waking up; for good this time. The mafia boss resists the urge to force his body to speed up the process of waking up. But he knows it will do more damage than good. Thus, he waits patiently until he feels strong enough to open his eyes.
From experience, Alonso knows that opening your eyes fast is a bad idea. Therefore, he gathers the strength to lift up his right hand to cover his eyes. When he doesn't feel the sunlight kissing his face at all, he opens his eyes slowly.
It takes him a few minutes, but eventually, his eyes adjust enough that he retrieves his hand on the mattress that is covering his body. He doesn't try to sit up, the risk of feeling a brining pain is not worth it. Instead, he waits for his Brazilian friend to notice that he is no longer in a coma.

Nicholas babbles for about fifteen minutes about a woman named Crystal before he finally notices that Alonso's eyes are open and they are glaring at him.
"Finally, it took you long enough to shut up." Alonso says in a raspy voice. He immediately regrets speaking at all when he feels the pain is his throat.
"You need water." Nicholas says ignoring his friend's statement.
"Ignazio, get a glass of water for Alonso. Hurry up." The Brazilian man yells causing Alonso to wince and cover his ears with his hands.
It doesn't take long before the thumping of footsteps are heard getting louder by the second. Alonso turns to the door, waiting for whoever is running towards his room to show up.
"Is he awake? Is he alright? Do I need to..." Ignazio's voice drifts off when he sees his friend saluting him.
"Where is the water?" Nicholas yells for the hundredth time since Alonso woke up causing him to wince once again.
"One, Leora is getting it." Alberto glares at Ignazio who gives him a smirk.
"Two, you do not shout when you are in the same room as someone who just woke up from a coma." It is Nicholas' turn to be glared at.
Alonso gives Alberto a tired grateful glance before his sister comes rushing into the room. She was running is fast that some of the water was spilling from the glass. Leora ignores everyone in the room as she makes her way to her older brother. She even pushes Nickolas into Ignazio.
"There you go." She practically shoves the water into his mouth not giving him a chance to take a breath. Once the glass is empty, she sets it on the bedside counter and sits beside him on the bed.
"How are you feeling?" She asks him as she pushes his hair to the back. Alonso attempts to sit up, but Leora harshly forces him to lay back down.
"Don't even think about it. You need to rest; your wound is still healing." Alonso rolls his eyes at his sister's tendency to be a control freak.
"You scared us man. We thought you were going to die on us." Ignazio gives his boss a playful smirk even though Alonso can see that his friend was truly worried about him.
"You knew I would be okay. It's not the first time I got shot." Alonso tries to make the matter smaller than it really is. He hates that his family was worried about him. His actions, however, backfire when Leora slaps him in the shoulder, hard. She does have a chance to scold him because Alberto beats her to it.
"Don't joke about this Alonso; your injuries were really serious."
"Trust me, I know. I can literally feel it. Do I have any pain killers in my system? Because it doesn't feel like I do." Alonso groans.
Alberto chuckles as Leora gets up, yells something about calling the doctor, and rushing out of the room.
"So what happened man?" Nicholas asks him with desperation in his voice. It was like he was begging him to tell the events that occurred that led him here.
Therefore, Alonso tells them right after Ignazio helps him to sit. It takes him almost half an hour due to his constant need to drink some water and take some deep breaths every three or four sentences. Despite what all his instincts tell him, he leaves the bel fuocu to the very end.
Alonso notices that all three men tense when he mentions her, and it literally takes Nicholas less than a second to ask him what Alonso believes he has been dying to ask.
"How do you know her? What was she doing here? Does she know who you are? Did she..." the questions would have kept coming if Alberto doesn't cover Nicholas' mouth with his hand.
Alonso looks at his Brazilian friend in confusion; he seems to be more worried about her than him, which makes him believe that Nicholas knows her.
The Italian mafia boss prays that she is not his friend's woman. He wouldn't be able to bear the shock. Even though, he doesn't even know her name, he really wanted to give a future with her a chance. That is of course, if she wants it as well.
"Did you tend to her bullet wound?" Alonso asks shakily ignoring Nicholas' questions.
"Bullet wound?" Nicholas is beyond furious.
"You didn't tell me that my sister got shot!" Alonso's eyes are wide open.
"Well, with everything that is going on, I guess we forgot." Is Ignazio's excuse making Alonso even more confused.
"Am I missing something?" Alonso forces his body to pull away from the head board and sits straight. He winces in pain.
"I don't think you are strong enough to hear what we discovered while you were... sleeping." Ignazio seems both amused and tense at the same time.
"Do not joke about this Ignazio..." Nicholas is about to continue but despite the intolerable pain he is feeling Alonso stops him.
"Okay, if the three of you are not going to explain what the fuck is going on here, then you can get out of my room." He tries to sound intimidating, but his groans prevents him from being so.
"Remember when Nicholas asked us to protect his sister, crystal?" Alberto asks Alonso.
"Yes."
"Well, she is the woman that you talked about, the one who saved your life and got shot in the process." Alonso's body becomes frozen.
"Crystal Moreno is bel fuocu?" he asks himself, the others hear him though.
"Bel fuocu? Que diables does that mean?" Alonso has never seen Nicholas this angry before. If it isn't for the situation he is in, he would have punched him a couple of times to remind him never to yell at him ever again. Alonso clenches his jaw in anger and annoyance as he stays quiet, refusing to answer. If Crys is really Nicholas' sister, then his dreams with her are unlikely to come true. Alonso's heart skips a beat at the thought.
"It means beautiful fire." Alonso has a feeling that Ignazio is enjoying the events that are unfolding.
"Why would you call my sister that?"
"I will tell you everything, but when you calm down." Alonso leans back in his bed and lays his head on the pillow. He sighs from contentment when the pain subsides once he lays down.
Nicholas is about to object, but Leora and the doctor rush into the room making Nicholas back off, and hit the door roughly as he leaves the room.
"How are you feeling boss?" the doctor asks Alonso. The mafia boss gives him a quick glance before he closes his eyes.
"I am okay." He forces his 'mafia boss' façade to emerge even though he barely has the energy to hold it together. Still, he tries.
"Miss Leora has pointed out that you are in pain, I can give you another dosage of pain killers if you wish." Alonso can sense the doctor's fear from him. He grunts before he opens his eyes and gives the doctor a small nod.
"So, are you going to explain what the hell just happened?" even though his words are a little rough, Ignazio smirks at his friend.
"I second that." Alberto agrees.
"What just happened?" Leora looks around the room in confusion.
"We'll tell you later." Ignazio grins. Leora mistakes the smirk to be for her. Therefore she blushes.
Alonso sighs at his sister actions. For as long as he can remember, Leora has been in love in Ignazio. She never really cared to hide it. Alonso had many talks with Ignazio about it, and each time his friend made crystal clear how he feels about Leora. He loves her like a sister, nothing more. Despite the amount of times Alonso has tried to convince his sister to move on from his friend, she just won't listen. She believes that Ignazio is in love with her, he is just too scared from Alonso to tell her that. At one point, he gave up; his sister will only move on when she sees Ignazio fall in love with someone else.
"later." Is the only word he says as he watches the doctor puts the needle in the IV. A few minutes later, the doctor is gone, and Ignazio is practically jumping on Alonso.
"You slept with her didn't you?" Ignazio gives him an evil smile.
"What? Slept with who? Alonso what are you not telling me?" Alonso looks at Alberto, silently asking him for help. Alberto nods in reassurance.
"Come on, we should let him rest." Ignazio gets pulled by the wrist, and Leora by the waist as Alberto pushes them out of the bedroom's door.
"But I want to know if he slept with her."
"I want to know what he is hiding." Both of them complain at the same time.
Alonso sighs in relief when he is surrounded by nothing but quietness. He is tired, and he wants to sleep, but he needs to make sure that Crystal is okay first. From the way the guys talked, he knows that she wasn't taken by the Russians and that her wound is not so serious f her own brother didn't notice it. Regardless, there is a fear that he feels that will only vanish when he sees that she is okay for himself.
"Do you need me to get you anything?" Alberto walks back into the room. He doesn't sit on the bed, or any of the couches in the room. He just stands next to the IV stand on Alonso's right.
"No, but I need to know that she is okay." Alonso doesn't need to clarify who he is talking about.
Alberto tells him how she used the mafia's boss's phone to call him, how he talked to her and guided her through the phone until the backup showed up, and how she had a fight with his car in which his car was literally destroyed to pieces. Alonso feels extremely guilty for putting her in that situation, and to ruin all his friend's efforts to hide the mafia from her. A part of him, however, is glad that it happened.
"She hasn't left her room in days. She hasn't eaten anything in days. According to Lucas, she has never been this angry before." At this, Alonso pushes himself up intending to go to her room and make her eat something.
"I wouldn't do that. Leora is guarding the door to make sure you don't leave or get off the bed." Alberto chuckles at Alonso's horrified expression. Deep down, Alonso isn't surprised, his sister cannot breathe properly if she doesn't have things go her way. At times, it is unnerving.
"I just want to know if she is alright." Alonso huffs.
"Lucas has been standing all day at her bedroom door trying to get her to at least talk to him. But I am learning that she is really stubborn." Alonso's concern for Crystal increases.
"Why don't you go to sleep, and tomorrow I will find a way to sneak you out of the room." Alberto gives his friend a smile before he leaves.

Alonso tried to fight it, but he eventually fell asleep. Despite the fact that he dreams about Crystal, he is still a little restless. He never felt anything g like that before. He just wants to see her and make sure that she is okay. He also wants to apologize for what happened the last time they saw each other. Even though she is the one who walked up to him, he still feels responsible for the events that took place.
Alonso's worrying thoughts vanish when he feels a gentle hand on his forehead. It stays there for a few seconds before it moves to his hair. Alonso moans at the feeling; he doesn't want it to stop.
Alonso hand shots up when he feels the gentle hand abandon his skin. His hand collides with a smaller softer one, the mafia boss holds it tight. When he feels the hand try to break free from his hold, he abruptly opens his eyes to be met with the last person he expects to see, the person he wants to see the most.
"What are you doing here?" he asks her even though he feels like a fan girl at the sight of her beautiful face.
"I wanted to make sure you are alright. I heard Nicholas and Lucas talk about you and how you woke up." Crystal does look to be ashamed that she got caught in his room in the middle of the night.
"How did you get past my sister?"
"It wasn't hard really." She shrugs without giving the Italian man any details. Then, the room falls into deep silence until Alonso decides to break it.
"So, were you worried about me?" he cannot stop the smile that appears on his face. Despite the darkness in the room, Alonso knows that Crystal sees it.
"Yeah well, I have my reasons." Alonso frowns at her dullness. She is not the brave beautiful fire that he had dreams about for the past four months.
"Are you alright?" He reaches out for her hand. To his surprise, she takes it.
"Yeah, just a little pissed." He chuckles at the angry face she makes. She takes a seat next to him on the bed which makes him smile once again.
"Really? I assumed that by showing my car how angry you were, then you would've felt better by now."
"If you're waiting for an apology, you are not going to get one." She answers him as she look shim in the eye. He lets out a small laugh and immediately regrets it; he holds his wound while trying to repress the wince that is in his throat.
"Don't worry, I have never mistaken you for someone who would take the blame for her actions." Crystal gives Alonso a proud smile.
"You want to talk about what is bothering you?" Alonso tries to connect with her by starting a profound conversation.
"No, not really." She declines leaving the mafia man a little disappointed.
The Brazilian woman surprises him when she gets up, walk to the left side of the bed, takes her shoes off, and lays under the covers beside him.
"You know, my brother thinks that we are sleeping together." She speaks after a few minutes.
"Yeah I know. You should have seen the show he put on earlier." Alonso turns his head to the left so he can see her face.
"Yeah, my brother can be a drama queen." She mumbles. Alonso feels a little shot of electricity when she takes his hand in hers. There was some kind of intimacy in them being in the same bed.
"Did you know who I was when we met?" He asks her.
"My brother is the Brazilian mafia leader; of course I knew who you were." Crystal turns on her side so she can completely face him.
"But you didn't know that your brother is... ow." Alonso's mouth takes an O shape when he makes the realization.
"How long have you known?" He asks her in a quiet voice. He wants to turn on his side like Crystal but his wound doesn't allow him to do so.
"It doesn't matter how long I have known, what matters is how long my brother lied to me." Alonso can hear the betrayal in her voice, and he doesn't know what to tell her. After all, he would never lie to Leora the way Nicholas did to Crystal.
"He did it to protect you." He cannot stop the lame words from coming out of his mouth.
"I don't care why he did it, I care that he had the audacity to do it and then get angry that I had my own secrets." Alonso tightens his hold her hand not knowing what to tell her.
"Weren't you afraid that I would have recognized you that night?" He changes the subject.
"If you had recognized me you would have said something." She simply answers.
"Although I have to say, I was a little surprised that you didn't know who I am. After all, my brother asked you personally to watch over me."
"Yeah, with everything that is going on, I gave Nazi the mission to do it and report back to me." He simply answers.
Alonso strokes the back of Crystal hand with his thumb as he closed his eyes trying to print the feeling if this moment in his brain. A few minutes later, he opens his eyes. He looks at Crystal to find her asleep. The mafia man smiles as he leans himself closer to her and drifts off into the darkness with his hand holding hers tight.