[1] A War of Blood and Hearts | ✔️

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

LUCAS

Lucas sits on the front porch as he drinks an entire bottle of vodka. He wants to make up with Crystal, he is ready to get on his knees and admit that he was not the friend she needed when she was weak. He yearns to blame his behavior on the fight he had with Nicholas before he left. However, he knows that blaming it on anything other than himself will not change or lessen the hurt he caused his best friend.
The Brazilian man misses the times when he and Crystal would mess around like children and get on Nicholas' nerves. He craves to go back to those simpler times, but he knows that that is impossible; everything has changed now and it will never be like it once was. Lucas knows that he has to accept that, but he cannot do that; he wants to hold on to the past with all his might. He does not want to accept that Zaire and Milo are more important to Crystal than him, he does not want her to go to them for comfort even though he has given her every reason to go to them and not him.
Lucas does not hate Zaire; however he cannot deny how much he wishes that he died along with his mother. He knows that it is disgusting and despicable to have these kinds of thoughts, but he is certain that things were much better when Nicholas did not know about his little brother's existence. And even though they both made up, Lucas feels the change in their friendship; they are a little distant and they no longer confide in each other.
Lucas is certain that Nicholas has confided in his father and it does not settle well with him. He despises how he feels, but he cannot help it no matter how much he tries to purge his mind from these emotions. Nevertheless, he still feels bitter towards Milo and Zaire; he does not like them, and he does not like what they mean to Nicholas and Crystal. He was meant to be there family, and these two men show up and ruin their lives.
As he is about to take a sip from his bottle, he sees Crystal getting out of the front door and walk past him. She seems to be looking for something or someone.
"Crystal." He calls her before he can control his mouth. She stops in her tracks and faces him.
"Can we talk?" The Brazilian man sees the hesitation and the hurt in her eyes. However, she nods as she sits before him. He waits for her to say something, but she remains silent. Thus, he takes it as a sign that she wants him to talk first.
"I just want to say that I am sorry. You are my sister, my best friend, and I cannot bear you looking at me like I am a stranger." Lucas knows that his words are lame, but he suddenly finds all his profound thoughts fading.
"Is that it?" Crystal answers him after a few moments of silence.
"What did you think? That you would show me a few crocodile tears while giving me a lame apology and I would just forgive you? Because if that is what you had in mind, then you are mistaken." She does not yell at him, and Lucas finds the calm in her voice scary.
"I do not know what to say Crystal. I know that I made a mistake. I just want you to give me a chance to make it right." Lucas is sure that no matter what, Crystal will not forgive him before she gives him a memory that will haunt him until the day he dies.
"Why would I ever give you 'a chance to make things right?' You did nothing to deserve any chances from me." The Brazilian man becomes nervous, his hands start to shake as he looks at his feet.
"Are you really willing to forsake a friendship that you have had since you were a child?" He tries once again.
"You are the one who relinquished our friendship because of your pity jealousy." Crystal's voice is not only quiet, but it is also devoid of emotions; and her face is blank. She is slowly proving to him that making amends with her is going to be extremely hard.
"What... What do you mean?" His voice is nothing more than a whisper.
"Did you really think I would never notice the way you always glare at my father? Or how you become angry when someone mentions Zaire's name? You are jealous that there are people out there that I trust more than I trust you. However, if there is someone to be blamed for that it is only you and Nicholas." Her words hurt his heart because they are accurate.
"Crystal..." She does not give him a chance to talk.
"No, you do not get to justify any of your actions because you are a hypocrite Lucas; you always have been. All these years you have kept basically your entire life a secret from me, and then you had the audacity to claim that I had no right to do the same?" Lucas opens and closes his mouth a couple of times before he huffs in defeat.
"Lucas, I trusted you, I loved you, I treated you like you were my own brother; and how did you repay any of it? Lies, betrayal, and the accusation of being a traitor for doing the same things you did. And now you dare to look me in the eye and apologize as if your apology is going to change anything?" This time she yells; she yells so loud that everyone in the house ends up on the front porch to witness the interaction Lucas has with Crystal.
"Crystal, honey I think you should calm down." Milo walks over to her and places his hands on her shoulders. He tries to make his daughter face him, but her glare is consistent and filled with hurt.
"I know that I hurt you, and I know that you will not forgive me, but I just wanted you to know that I am sorry." Lucas says the one thing he knows will calm her down even though he eagerly wants her to forgive him.
"That is where you are wrong Lucas; I forgive you, not because I want to or because you deserve it, but because to show you that I am better than you, I always have been. I do not hurt my friends when they are already in pain, I do not increase their hurt, and I definitely do not think of them as a property that only I am allowed to have." Lucas hangs his head down in shame; he deserves every word that is said to him.
"Do not be mistaken, however, things will not be the same, they never will. I will never forget what you said or did while Nicholas and Alonso were gone. You were my brother, now you are Nichols' best friend; you were my family, now you are not; you were my best friend, now you are nothing more than a person who hurt me when I needed him the most." Tears run down her cheeks. Everyone told him that Crystal will not forgive him, but he had hoped that they were wrong. However, Crystal was smarter than that, she forgave him but punished him with one of his greatest fears.
"Crystal, you are my family." Lucas' voice is broken.
"Well, you are not mine, not anymore. But like I said, I forgive you. I know that my secrets hurt you, but you did not even think that perhaps that is how I felt and still feel about your secrets." Crystal pushes Milo's hands off of her as she takes three steps towards Lucas.
"So what now? I am a stranger?"
"No, you are my friend, and I love you and I always will. But what you did, it created a wall between us; we will never be as close as we once were. I will always have the fear that you will hurt me the way you already did."
"I love you too Crystal." Lucas makes a brave yet a stupid decision to take one step closer and to embrace her. He waits patiently for her to hug him back, and when she does he feels every muscle he has relax. Even though he knows that they have an audience, Lucas does not repress his tears.
A few minutes later, they pull apart. Lucas' smile is huge until he sees the look in Crystal's eyes; a look that told him that she will still claim revenge for what he did to her.
"Crystal, why are you looking at him like that?" Lucas can hear Ignazio's worry for him in his voice.
The Brazilian man finds himself shaking; he knows that what is to come is going to be bad, but he does not know what it is. Lucas watches Crystal nervously as she searches the area around them until her eyes land on the stables.
Without glancing at anyone, Crystal runs to her destination. Everyone stays rooted in their places; too afraid to move and face the Brazilian woman's wrath.
"You said, Crystal's craziness is gone, I say you are wrong." Alonso has a huge smirk on his face. The Italian mafia boss turns to Nicholas as if to share his happiness with him. Despite his boss' smile, Lucas can see the pity and the sadness in Nicholas' eyes. He does not have a chance to try and figure out the reason behind it because something that smells like sewers gets thrown on his head.
"That lunatic just threw horses' poo on him." Leora screams, but Lucas is frozen in his place as another ball of poo collides with his head.
"Crystal, are you out of your mind?" Milo runs towards Lucas, and Crystal emerges from behind him to face her father. She holds a bucket full of poo and wears two farmers' cloves to protect her hands from the smell. The Brazilian woman makes a ball of the poo and holds it high in her hand as she faces Milo.
"Father or not, if you come any closer I will throw it at you." Milo only chuckles.
"Will you?" The older man gives her a knowing look.
"No." She mutters as she looks down on the ground with the poo still in her hand.
"But I will throw it at your older son." The ball now is held against Nicholas.
"Crystal, do not be an idiot." It is clear that the Brazilian mafia boss regrets the words as soon as they leave his mouth. Lucas wants to grab Nicholas and run, but he knows that doing so will only drive her to do something even more drastic. Also, he is already covered in poo.
"Fuck!" Nicholas yells once the poo collides with the side of his face. Both Mila and Leora scream; Mila hides behind her husband while Leora clutches to Ignazio whose face twitches in disgust.
Nicholas makes the mistake of running. Thus, Crystal follows him. Lucas does a little mental dance believing that his punishment passed.
"I would not be happy if I were you. If I know my daughter, she will come back for you." Milo gives Lucas a sympathetic look. And for the first time, the Brazilian man notices the love Milo has for Lucas. He wonders if that certain emotion has always been there but he was so focused on his jealousy to notice it.
"Oh, I know that; that is why I am not running for my life right now." Lucas has to clear his throat in order to hide his shame.
Milo is proven right when a few minutes later Crystal reappears with Nicholas right behind her; he looks like he took a poo bath.
"Damn it." Lucas curses as he watches Crystal walk towards him with a wicked smirk on her face. He expects her to throw another ball of poo on him but she surprises him by throwing the entire bucket's contents on his head.
Everyone gasps, and Lucas is almost sure that he hears Camilla vomit at the sight of poo getting in his eyes and mouth. Lucas cannot feel anything; the potent smell assures him that he will pass out within a few minutes.
"Now we are even." Crystal gives Lucas a satisfied grin as she takes off her gloves and throws them at him.
"I am going to check up on Zaire." Crystal turns to Milo before she walks away from everyone and enters the house.
"I cannot believe I am going to say this, but I actually missed this." Alberto says before he bursts out laughing. Within two moments everyone is laughing except for Lucas and Nicholas who look at each other with disbelief.
"I think we should shower." Nicholas walks over to his best friend with difficulty due to the poo's heaviness.
"Yeah and how do you suggest we do that?" Lucas wants to hate Crystal for the situation he is in, but he knows that he deserves it, and part of him feels relieved that at least he is not bleeding from any part of his body.
"Try cleaning yourselves with the hose in the stables." Lorenzo tries to maintain his laughter, but he fails miserably.
"Yeah." Lucas whispers.
"That is another mental scar your sister has generously given us." Lucas and Nicholas walk to the stables.