[1] A War of Blood and Hearts | ✔️

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

NICHOLAS

     "Good morning Mr. and Mrs. DiFronzo." Nicholas greets the former leaders of the Italian mafia who sit in the house's dining room having breakfast.
         "Good morning dear."  Camilla greets him with a warm smile.
         "Come on, sit down and eat some breakfast, everyone else is still sleeping."
         "It is still six in the morning amour, it is understandable." Lorenzo gives his wife a warm smile as he takes a sip of his coffee. Nicholas doesn't feel hungry. In fact, he is almost certain that if he eats something then, it will fight to leave his body. Nonetheless, he chooses to not be rude towards the people who welcomed him and his family into their home with open arms and wide smiles. He sits down opposite to Camilla and to Lorenzo's left side, who sits at the head of the table.
         "Well, it seems that the Brazilian mafia boss is an early bird." Camilla gives Nicholas a warm look as she fills his plate for him. He finds himself feeling a burn in his chest at her actions; his mother has never done something like that; she never cooked for him, she never filled his plate, she never even smiled at him.   
       Nevertheless, he forces himself to give her a smile as she sits back in her chair.
"I was wondering if we can talk privately?" Nicholas asks as he starts eating his beacon.
         "Listen to me boy, when you meet the woman who will spend her entire life with you, you learn that the most important thing in a relationship is being liberated of secrets. Whatever you wish to discuss with me, i want you to feel free to do so in my wife's presence." His words are quiet sincere, and Nicholas can't stop the smile on his face as he watches Camilla reaches for Lorenzo's hand. The older man accepts it without a second thought.
         "Um okay. I wanted to talk to you about my uncle Milo." Immediately, the atmosphere in the room shifts. Camilla drops her knife and fork while Lorenzo takes a deep breath.
         "I told you everything I know." The older man tries to close the subject.
         "I know, but I learned something, I learned what really happened."
         "I don't understand what you mean." Camilla

"What do you mean by 'what really happened'? I told you what happened!" Lorenzo leans both his elbows on the table as he faces Nicholas.
         "As you know, going through the archives was a dead-end. Last night, i remembered something ; a place I am certain my parents even forgot ..."
         "Leave it to Nicholas Moreno to see something the others can't see." Alonso enters the room.
         "Good morning, father, mother." The Italian mafia boss kisses both of his parents' heads before he takes a seat next to Camilla.
         "Good morning son."
         "Good morning honey." His parents answer in unison.
         "So, Nick you were saying?" Alonso sits next to Camilla.
         Nichols has always resented the Italian mafia boss's personality, but the thing he has always almost hated Alonso for is his calmness and inability to hold grudges. If Nicholas was in his place right now, he would be furious that his friend went to his parents before talking to him.
         "Your friend was about to tell us something about Milo's death." Lorenzo informs his son.
         "Actually that is the thing... he ... he is..." Nicholas cannot find the appropriate way to say this. Especially if it turns out that his interpretation of the memories he collected turn out to be wrong.
         "Nick?" Alonso looks at him with worry clouding his face.
         "I think he is still alive." The Brazilian mafia boss forces himself to say the words. He almost closes his eyes to avoid seeing the Italians' reaction. Nicholas is surprised however when all he receives is utter silence.
         "He died in front of my eyes." Is all Lorenzo says as both his son and wife look at him as if he told them he plans on marrying Leora. Deep down inside, Nicholas thinks it is something he would do if she wasn't in love with Ignazio.
         "I know you think that, so I thought it would be the right move to discuss with you what I have found."
         "What did you find that would make you believe that Milo is still alive?" Camilla's voice is cold as if she is forbidding herself from hoping that what Nicholas claims is true.
         "As I said before, I remembered something from my childhood that I am almost certain my parents completely forgot. So when I was a kid, my parents didn't really look after Crystal and I. In fact, all they wanted was to keep us out of their way. When I was about eight, Dante had the brilliant idea to ship his children to Greece. He had bought a house in an isolated area. We spend almost three years there with babysitters and tutors. I remember that after the first month, a man would sneak into my room at night..." Nicholas takes a second to allow his mind to go back to when he was a child, to remember exactly what would happen.
         "Does Crystal know this?" Alonso breaks his friend from his thoughts.
         "Well, she was five at the time. And the man used to sneak into my room, not hers." As soon as Nicholas says the words, it occurs to him that perhaps his sister received the same night visits that he had. He chooses to not voice out his thoughts.
         "Anyway, he introduced himself as M.M. I remember I always used to ask him what it means. He would always give me the same answer: M.M. is his initials." Camilla's breathing hitches.
         "Milo Moreno." Lorenzo whispers to himself.
         "And you are just telling us this now?" even when he is angry, Alonso's voice is smooth and calm.
         "Well, I only put the pieces together when Lorenzo told us about the mafia war yesterday. Also, I needed to make sure I am right before I throw a bomb like that in your faces." Nicholas justifies.
         "He would come three to four times a week. Each time he would bring me candy and read me stories. The part I didn't understand until yesterday is the letters he used to give me."
         "Letters?" Lorenzo gives the Brazilian man a perplexed look.
         "Yeah. They were always in a language that I could not understand, I still don't know what language they were written in. Every time I would point it out to him, he would say and I quote: 'you will be able to read them when you get older, so until then, you better keep every single one of them.'  Now that I look back on it, it was a pleading more than a request. After a few months, the letters became almost countless. Thus, he brought me a box to store all the letters in. My parents never went to the house in Greece ever since we left it when I was ten, and I am pretty sure they think I had forgot that it exists. So if we go there, we can retrieve the letters. Who knows, maybe we will discover something valuable."
         "That is a good idea, but there is a risk that your parents are hiding there. After all, we don't know what kind of relationship they have with Ivan." Lorenzo says as he contemplates the possible outcomes.
         "You are right. But we are talking about my sister's life, and the possibility of having an older family that doesn't resent me. So, I am willing to take the risk."
         "So am I" everyone looks at Alonso with raised eyebrows.
         "What? I claimed her, which means I love her, which also means I won't let anything bad happen to her." Another thing Nicholas has envied his friend for is his courage to be open about his pursue for love. He wants to find someone to love; someone who will love him back and he is not ashamed to show it.
         Nicholas cannot help the smile on his face when he sees Alonso's determination to protect Crystal. He really wants his sister to give the Italian boss a chance. Regardless, he refuses to interfere; it is her choice and her choice alone.
         "There is something else you should know." Nicholas' smile drops when he remembers another thing from his childhood. 
         "Milo would tell me stories about his life. He told me stories about his childhood and teenage years, he would tell me stories about his wife and how he met her, but most importantly he would tell me stories about Zaire." Everyone looks at Nicholas expecting him to clarify but the plump in his throat prevents him from doing so.
         "Well? Who is Zaire?" Alonso leans in his elbows in expectation.
         "His son."