Vengeance

Chapter 4

Lorenzo's POV

"We got them, Capo", Dante informed.

My back was facing him, as I stood at the window of my study, staring outside into the darkness. I remained silent as Dante, my brother and my right hand man, was patiently waiting for my orders.

Finally. The day has come. This will be the beginning of our vengeance.

"Gather the boys. Romeo, Marco, Matteo. Let the fun begin",  I chuckle at my dark thoughts.

I remembered the night it happened. The night my family suffered its greatest loss. The night when we had to pay the price of being a part of the underworld.

I was old enough to understand that our father was a respected man in our society. People either feared his name or bowed to it. But the true reason behind it was clear to me on that fateful night.

13 years ago

"Lorenzo, my boy, go check up on your Mama and Ava. It's been 30 mins. They should have come back by now", Papa said, slightly worried.

"Certo, papa. I will be right back."

I ran up to Ava's room and saw the corridor eerily quiet and dark. The door of her room was shut. I knocked, calling for them. No answer. Something didn't feel right.

Why aren't they answering?

I warned them that I'm entering, before I turned the doorknob slowly and opened the door. The room was dark, the window was open and the only illumination was the moonlight shining through the window. My eyes narrowed at this. All I could hear were the sound of the crickets and the silent breeze of the wind.

No one seems to be here. Maybe they went downstairs.

Just when I was about to turn around, I saw something on the floor along the other side of the bed. My heart started racing. I slowly approached the figure laying on the floor. A strong rusty scent of blood hit my nostrils as I moved closer. I turned on the lights to see clearly. When the room became properly lit, what I saw stopped my heart for a moment.
Mama. She was laying there in a pool of her own blood. Her throat was slashed. Her eyes were lifeless. Her cheeks were wet with tears. Her body looked pale and bruised.

"MAMAAAA!!!" I screamed running towards her. I quickly placed her head on my lap with trembling hands. I tried to stop the blood flowing from here throat. Tried to shake her, to wake her up. But nothing. She just laid there lifeless. I had blood all over me. My vision blurred with tears and my mind was running out of options to try and help her. Then it hit me.

Papa! Maybe he could help her.

I rushed downstairs in that bloody mess. Everyone turned to look at me and gasped. My eyes met with my father's. I saw his eyes run over my state and his face turned as white as a sheet.
"M-Mama", I pointed upstairs. He rushed towards Ava's room not wasting a single moment.

Mrs. Bianchi rushed towards me. Dante, Romeo, Marco, Matteo all ran upstairs. Mrs. Bianchi tried to stop them but could not. So we followed them too.

Papa was a crying mess till the time  we reached there. He clutched her lifeless body onto his chest and cried uncontrollably. I had never seen him so broken before. My father was the strongest man I knew until that very moment. Dante and Romeo stood still. As if they could not believe the sight they were seeing. Marco and Matteo screamed and rushed to hug me.

"NO! Please.. Come back, Rose. I can't lose you. Not this way. Please." Papa continued to cry in grief. "I swore to love and protect you till my last breath. You can't leave me! How did I fail? No. Mi dispiace tanto amore mio." (I'm so sorry my love.)

He quickly took out his phone from his pocket and barked orders into it.

"Search the mansion. Close the main gate and every other exit. Hold the guests in the main hall. No one should leave until I say otherwise. Anyone could be a traitor. Tell Lucy to keep the camera surveillance ready for me. Do it. RIGHT NOW!"

Mrs. Bianchi then asked in panic, "Where is Ava?"
All of us turned to her. Until that moment, everyone had forgotten about the little princess who was missing all the while.

"Ava?" Dante called out.

"Sorellina", I checked out the bathroom. It was empty.

"NO! Not my girl.. Not my princess." Papa said worriedly. "Boys, search the house. God knows what she has witnessed. She could be hiding somewhere."

We all split and checked the whole mansion but could not find her. The guests were thoroughly investigated. But we found nothing. The search for Ava went on for days. Then for months.

We assumed the people who killed our mother must have kidnapped Ava. They could use her for ransom. But we never received any such call. 

 We all were devastated. Especially Papa. He was just ruined. He lost his wife, the love of his life and his world, his smile, his daughter, Ava.

Ava was that person who held this family together. She was everyone's happiness. My happiness. All the brothers felt empty with their little sister lost. Father refused to eat for days after that incident. No one laughed anymore. The twins were traumatized. I couldn't sleep because when I tried to close my eyes, all I could see was my dead mother. Dante became quieter than usual. Romeo lashed out at little things. We would sometimes find ourselves sitting near Ava's favorite swing, reminiscing her laugh.

Sorellina!

My heart ached with her memories. How happy we were when she came into our lives with her tiny little fingers and cute little nose. She was our bundle of happiness.

When a year passed with no sign of her whereabouts, we lost hope. It was her birthday, but this time, we didn't have her nor Mama.

Mrs. Bianchi cleared her throat when we were all sitting at the dining table.
"It's been a year since they both left us. And we will mourn their loss forever in out hearts. But now is not the time to lose ourselves in grief."
We looked up at her. 

What is she saying? 

"The killer of your mother and sister are still out there. You boys need to be stronger now. You need to train, to prepare yourself. You need to avenge their deaths."
We all looked at each other with fury running through our veins and nodded.

"Lorenzo, your dad is getting sicker by the day. You have to take over his business soon. It is time that You become the Capo."
"The Capo?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, my son. The Capo." My father came up from behind me. And placed his hand firmly on my shoulder.
"It's time you all learn the truth about our family. Follow me boys."

Me and my brothers were seated in his study, the one place we had never been allowed to enter before. He went around the desk, opened one of the drawers and removed a gun. We all gasped at the sight of a gun in our father's hand. Matteo instantly curled up beside me. 

He looked at us and what he said next changed our lives forever.

"We, the DeLucas, are the Italian Mafia and I am the Godfather- the Capo dei capi."