2. Lia
Chapter 2
Lia
I’m not buying it, no way. “I don’t believe you,” I retort, hating that he’s trying to use my mom right now, and it stings. These men murdered her and now they’re laughing at me. Taunting her death in my face.
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“No. You’re trying to trick me.”
He takes his gun from the drawer and points it at my face. I close my eyes, ready to die, then open them. If he’s going to kill me, I want him to see my life disappear as he takes it.
“Do it.” Strangely, the voice in my head is telling me he can’t—I just don’t know why.
“Brave or stupid. I can’t decide which.” His words linger as he lowers the gun. “You need to trust me. If I wanted you dead, you would already be six feet under.”
“Trust is earned, and I am not yet ready to let down my guard, not even for the possibility of a connection to my mother.”
“Then hopefully this helps.” He slides his gun across the table.
I grab it without taking a breath, holding it up to his face and say, “What’s really in the safe?”
“It’s a video for you from your mother. From Aurora Moretti to her daughter, Aurelia Moretti.”
It really is.
Antonio’s words hang in the air. I exhale small breaths as the revelation sends a shock wave through my entire being, threatening to shatter the walls I've built to protect myself.
My eyes flick from left to right as I watch him as I try to process the weight of his words. “A video. I’ll see her?”
He nods. “And everything else. I’ll give you everything. Are you ready?”
I gnaw on my bottom lip to stop the quiver that’s suddenly started. “I don’t know.”
His face softens, like he wants to hug me, hold me until I feel brave again. “You need to trust me right now. I earned that by giving you my gun.”
Or plain stupid.
I don't say it out loud. The item in his safe is much more important right now.
“Does the video give me answers?” Will I find the truth or further heartache? “Or more questions?”
Answers win.
“Hard answers.”
I don’t know what he means by that, but I’ll take a chance. I have to. My mother wins.
“But you'll find out the answers she wanted you to have,” he adds.
I lower the gun as I try to comprehend what he has for me. “She specifically left me a video?” Tears spring to my eyes. I don’t want them to, but I can’t help it.
He nods.
“Okay.” I whisper, my voice trembling with fear.
“And I’ll give you all our letters. Everything we shared,” he continues, his voice shaky and filled with genuine emotion.
Our letters?
My eyes meet his as I take in his words.
“I loved her. Still love her.” He nods at the gun, which is no longer pointing at him. “And if you kill me once you’ve watched the video, it means I protected you for as long as I could.”
I stand and walk to the wall as my heart pounds in my chest. He’s giving me the chance to kill him afterwards. I can’t kill him with him looking at me and waiting for it. I’m not that kind of killer. Unless…
“Will I have reason to kill you afterward?”
“I’ll let you decide.” The truth of his words clashing with the confusion that is swirling within me.
I press my free hand on my thigh, rubbing the ache that is morphing into pain.
Antonio notices the grimace on my face, and asks, “Will you take a seat again?”
With a heavy sigh, I step forward before sitting. I wait.
Antonio’s gaze softens before he reveals, “She knew she was going to be killed.” His words cut through the silence. The world she lived in seems unimaginable, but it’s a world I’m now part of. “She needed to talk to you before that happened.”
Icy fingers slide down my spine.
“No,” I whisper as I turn to Dominic, who is sitting quietly in the corner.
“He’s telling you the truth,” he says with a nod.
A lump forms in my throat, blocking my airwaves. I gasp, my breath catching as I whisper, “Before you killed her?”
I twist from Dominic to Antonio, back to Dominic, waiting for an answer.
“Are you ready to watch the video?” Antonio asks, not answering my question.
My lip quivers, and I struggle to find my words amid the riot raging inside me. “No…” I whisper. “I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry, Aurelia.” Antonio’s voice trembles, but he continues. “You need to watch it. You’ll realize that her death was to save you.” His words are shards of glass piercing my already wounded heart.
Tears well up in my eyes, blurring my vision as I grapple with the enormity of the revelation.
She died for me.
My stomach aches and I feel like I’ve taken a punch in the gut.
She could’ve lived if it wasn’t for me.
My heart pounds in my chest as Antonio walks to the safe. His footsteps are heavy on the tiled floor and the only other sound is our shared breaths.
I brace myself for the truth, uncertain of anything beyond what I’m about to see.
But what if he’s lying?
Is this part of his game?
I lift the gun in my hand to his chest as I watch him closely. My eyes are searching for any hint of deception, ready to shoot if this is pure manipulation. But all I see is raw vulnerability etched on Antonio’s face.
“This is not a trick, Lia,” Dominic says, nodding at my weapon.
I can’t lower the gun. My heart thunders in my chest, unable to slow down enough to entertain that notion.
Anticipation and anxiety intertwine in my stomach as Antonio retrieves a box from the safe. His hands trembling ever so slightly, I know he’s feeling the same way as me.
As he turns from the safe, blood pulses in my veins when I see the small box in his hand. The moment he opens the box and takes out a USB, a sob escapes from my mouth. The sound echoes in the room. A room that now feels suffocating.
I exhale deeply, summoning the strength to hear the truth that awaits in the recording.
The air is heavy with tension, but nothing is as heavy as my heart feels, knowing I’m about to find out answers. Yet, I’m not sure if I’m ready.
“We did everything we could to save you, Aurelia.” Antonio's voice is heavy, like he is carrying the weight of a lifetime of regrets. He slides the USB into a box under his desk and takes a remote control.
“Do you want me to leave?” Dominic asks.
“No, stay,” Antonio says to Dominic, turning to me. “You’re about to see your mother’s last moments. Prior to today, only Dominic, your mom, and I knew what really happened to her. What you're going to see is going to be hard for you, Aurelia, but you need to see this.” He pauses for a moment. “Are you ready?”
When I nod, he presses the remote control. The video plays; the screen illuminating a dimly lit room.
Images flicker to life.
I place the gun on the table when I see my mother’s face. Just seeing her makes me feel tingly all over. My breath catches in my throat as I stare at her. With dark brown hair and brilliant blue eyes, she’s a woman who looks so much like me.
An unsettling ache fills my chest as my heart thumps relentlessly. I long for her presence. It seems stupid. How is it possible to feel a longing for someone I never truly had?
There’s a dull ache in the back of my eyes as I look at her—my mother. My heart breaks all over again when I see the young woman on the screen smile.
I’ve seen photos of her before today, but nothing is like this. Her uncanny resemblance to me leaves me speechless.
I know now why Jove insisted on altering my appearance. It makes perfect sense—a slight change in my hair and eye color was needed. Just enough to differentiate us and protect me from the dangers that lurk in the shadows.
Antonio takes a seat and stares at the screen.
There's a momentary pause.
My eyes widen as I stare at Antonio. “That night...” I begin, staring at his face. Sapphire eyes stare back at me. “It was you. You’re the scent I remember, the scent of bergamot and sandalwood. You’re the man who carried me away.” I pause, waiting for him to acknowledge the truth.
I swallow, trying to recall the night. The night someone killed a man for me.
Antonio pauses the recording and waits for me to continue.
“And later, it was your voice I recall who was talking to my father before I left for England.” My heart pounds in my chest as I struggle to recall the fragmented memories of that fateful night. “It was you...”
With a nod, Antonio silently acknowledges my words.
“Why did you do that?”
“I promised your mother I would always look after you,” he says. But the gentle swallow on his throat tells me there’s more to tell.
I have to know. “The other person there that day. What was he there for?”
Antonio glances at Dominic momentarily before flicking his eyes back at me. He raises the remote control. “You already know the answer to that question.”
I say nothing more, not knowing if Dominic knows the extent of that night.
I shake my head. “Please tell me who the hell you are, and why you took me home that night.”
“As you wish,” Antonio says, creaking his neck from side to side in an unusual sign of worry. “I did it to save you." He pauses before adding a moment later, "to save my daughter.”
My father?
Why am I not surprised?
I want to question him, but he presses the remote for the recording to play and I glance at the screen.
I watch with misty eyes as my mother looks directly into the lens, a small smile on her lips before she takes a deep breath and looks behind the camera, as if gathering the strength from who she sees.
“Tony…”
My breath catches in my throat when I hear her voice. Another sob leaves my lips when a stray tear rolls down her cheek. She swipes it away, determined to present a brave front for me.
Through my blurred vision, I see Antonio rise from his seat and around the desk towards me. I get it. His paternal instinct is to comfort me in my moment of anguish.
I raise a hand, a gesture pleading for him to stay where he is. “Stay,” I whisper through trembling lips, my voice barely audible over the blood whooshing in my ears.
I need space to process what I’m seeing. I don’t want his pitying hugs right now.
He claims he is my father, but he’s not my dad.
I choke out, “Did you love her?”
Tears coat Antonio’s eyes when he replies, “Very much so.”