[1] A War of Blood and Hearts | ✔️

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

IGNAZIO

"Can you believe that deranged woman? I do not even know why Lucas would seek her forgiveness and I cannot believe that I once liked her. She is such a fake person..." Leora babbles as she sits on Ignazio's' lap. He tried multiple times to push her off of him, but she kept her arms secured around his neck and her legs around his waist.
Ignazio never liked her attraction towards him, but he never hated her. Ever since Alonso and Nicholas returned, however, the Italian man has started despising her. He no longer can tolerate her presence because she always throws herself at him even though he had told her before that he does not love her.
"That deranged woman is my friend, so refrain from saying such things about her in my presence." He says through clenched teeth. Typically, Leora ignores both his words and his anger. She continues talking as she leans in more into his chest. But he does not pay her any attention because he has something else on his mind.
Ignazio cannot stop thinking about his older brother; he cannot stop wondering why Brent would choose to get involved in the quarrel between them and Ivan. He along with the entire American mafia have known for years that Ignazio joined the Italian mafia, so he cannot figure out why they chose this particular time to come after him.
He has always known that they were out there, and he has always known that there is a possibility that they might come after him, but facing Brent after all these years made something inside him click. Ignazio cannot detect what happened exactly, but he knows that ever since he faced Brent, he has been filled with negative emotions; anger, fear, despair, and other emotions he would rather pretend do not exist.
Memories from Ignazio's childhood penetrate his mind; they are anything but pleasant. He tries to block them out, but he cannot clear his mind from all the images that he unwillingly has been reliving over and over again in his mind.
Ignazio violently closes his eyes in an attempt to clear his mind from all the negative thoughts. However, what happens is he feels lips against his chin. Therefore, he immediately opens his eyes and finds that Leora's lips are against his skin. Abruptly, he feels a chill of disgust run through his body.
"Leora, stop." Ignazio tries to pull away from her.
"I love you Ignazio." She ignores him as her lips attempt to kiss his own. Hence, his instincts kick in and he violently pushes her away.
Even though she collides with the floor, she gets up as if nothing happened and tries to sit on his lap once again, but Ignazio pushes her away for the second time.
"Nazi, what is wrong?" She reaches out and almost touches his shoulder, but the Italian man gets off the couch to maintain some distance between them. The look she gives him makes him want to kill her, but he has to keep reminding himself that she is Alonso's sister. If she was not, he would have killed her months, if not years ago.
"Hey, talk to me." She takes a step towards him, and Ignazio feels both his patience and anger slowly become uncontrollable. He attempts to get out of the room, but Leora grabs his hand like a child would hold candy.
Ignazio harshly grabs her hand and forces her to face his furious eyes. She opens her mouth to say something, but he does not give her the chance to talk.
"When are you going to stop being so childish Leora?" He violently lets her hand go. He sees that he has left a mark, but he does not care.
"What do you mean?" She tries to smile, but the glare he gives her makes her keep her mouth shut.
"I do not love you Leora, I told you that from the very beginning, but you have been choosing to act like a fool and pretend that I love you. This is the last time I am going to tell you this: I DO NOT LOVE YOU AND I NEVER WILL. So spare me the headache and the anger and stop fooling yourself into believing that I am playing hard to get, and go find someone who will love you back. And if you ever even come within two meters from me, I am going to forget that your brother is my best friend and I will put you in your place the hard way. Do we have an understanding?" His voice is calm but loud; he is tempted to yell, but he wants her to absorb every word he tells her.
"I know you love me Ignazio, you are just too scared to admit it. But I promise you neither my father nor Alonso will be against us being together." The Italian man's breathing becomes uneven as he stares at the annoying and unnerving woman before him. He does not know what to do in order to make her understand that he does not want to be with her.
"Or is it Crystal? I know that that snake has been trying to get closer to you. I certainly have to ell her that you are mine, and that she has no chance with you." Leora gives him a sweet smile that he sees as a smile that belongs to a crazy person.
"YOU do not have a chance with me." Ignazio finally yells as he loses his patience. Consequently, Leora flinches. She takes a step towards him, but he only grunts at her before he leaves the room.

Ignazio goes to the attic because he concludes that it is one of the few places that Leora cannot find him in. She successfully managed to make his nervousness and fear a lot worse. He was already stressed about his brother's sudden and unexpected appearance, and then she came and imposed her presence on him just like she has been doing for months.
A part of him is certain that there is something wrong with her; no person would be told that their love does not love them and still believe that they still have a chance. However, he is too scared to tell that to anybody because he does not know how Alonso and his parents will take his suspicions.
"I apologize on her behalf." The Italian man almost yelps at the sudden disturb of silence. He turns around to find Camilla standing a few meters away from him.
Ignazio gives her a sigh before he leans on the wall and slowly falls to the ground. He pulls his legs up and places his head between them as he tries to even his breaths.
"I hate to say I was eavesdropping, but you screamed so loud that the entire house heard you." The older woman sits beside him on the ground. The Italian man does not know what to tell her. After all, Leora is her daughter.
"Listen Nazi, I know that my daughter can be difficult, but I ask you to be patient with her. She has been in love with you from the moment she understood what love is." A motherly hand lands on his shoulder and gives him a comforting squeeze. Ignazio takes a deep breath before he pulls his head up to face Camilla.
"I do not mean to sound like a jerk, but I have no more patience to spend. For years I have been telling her that I do not love her and she just acts like I keep telling her the opposite. I mean last night I woke to find her in my bed. Your daughter does not care about how I feel; she sees me like an object that she bought in the market. So from now on, I will treat her the same way. And if I have to yell at her then so be it. I have given her seventeen years to comprehend that I do not love her; it is not my problem that she cannot get that truth into her head."
"I am glad that you are being honest." Lorenzo appears and sits before Camilla and Ignazio. Ignazio does not dare to look at him because he just left a bruise on Leora's hand. He doubts that neither of them know that, but he still feels bad because after everything they have done for him, he hit their daughter. Despite hating himself for laying his hand a woman, he chooses to not tell them what he did knowing the Leora will not tell them either.
"Lorenzo, I do not mean to disrespect your dau..."
"Ignazio, I understand. Believe me I want to yell at you and tell you that you are in the wrong, but I know that you are not. I love my daughter and I would do anything for her, but I will not stand around and watch her throw herself on you like that. No father wishes to see his daughter do such a thing. I tried to talk to her. Sadly, none of my words took. I frankly do not know what to do about this whole situation especially with everything else that has been going on, and I see that other things are worrying you." Lorenzo gives him a look of pity.
"How do you feel?" Camilla tries to look him in the eye, but Ignazio does not allow her to do so; he does not want her to see how terrified he is.
"It is okay to be scared son. What is not okay is to allow the fear to control your mind."
"I cannot help it Lorenzo! I mean, why did he get involved, and why now? He is up to something and as much as I hate to admit it, it really frightens me; he is worse than my father."
"Your father is dead Nazi, so it is only your two older brothers that we have to worry about. But sitting here and thinking about how afraid you are will not accomplish anything." Lorenzo places his right hand on Ignazio's left knee.
"I cannot help it. Seeing him caused many things to be on my mind. Memories I would rather forget; memories I managed to drown in my mind's deepest corner and now have found their way back to the surface. I cannot concentrate, I cannot even breathe." Tears threaten to escape from his eyes, but Ignazio represses them as best as he can.
"It is okay to cry Nazi." Camilla gives him a soft smile.
"I believe you should go and calm your daughter down." Ignazio changes the subject when he hears Leora scream his name throughout the entire house.
"I will go to Leora and Camilla will stay with you." Lorenzo gives him a nod before he leaves the attic.
"So shall we begin our crying session?" Camilla asks teasingly as she wraps her arm around him. Ignazio only chuckles as he lays his head on her shoulder. Minutes later, tears cover his entire face.