Chapter 4
VERNERO POV
I was seated in my office with Marcelo going all over the things that have transpired since I went
missing. I was at ck Woods; my home, my castle, my fortress, where no one dared to set a foot at.
But I couldn’t shake off the unsettling feeling that was gnawing from deep within. I kept on nipping the
tip of my thumb with my teeth while my knee continued to bounce like crazy underneath the table; an
old habit I couldn’t just get rid of!
I had found her, finally. It still felt so fuckin’ unreal.
“It was the Sicilian gang. They have a base in Cyprus and that’s where they kept you.” Marcello
informed handing me a tablet; I furrowed my brows and scrolled down through the details of the rival
gang that just kept poking their noses in my business.
“We have an imposter who gave out your location the time they captured you. And… he has been
smuggling gold from one of the mines in Piedmont to them.” that somehow managed to irk me even
further. The bouncing became harder and my breathing quickened, my chest rising and falling with
every intake of breath!
“Find whoever he is and bring him here.” I said dismissingly, trying with all my might to keep my temper
down and he got up, then left my office. Upon opening the door, he ran smack-dab into Enzo and
exchanged a few words. After that, Enzo entered, locked the door and took soft steps towards me. I
watched him carefully as our eyes stayed glued to each other. My brother always managed to calm me
instantly without having to do anything. Him being in vicinity was like a whole painkiller. And I happened
to need one very badly!
“Hey Brother.” I said softly and stood up, then rounded the table and met him halfway. He pulled me in
a tight hug and we stayed like that for a few minutes, with me trembling and quaking in his arms. Of all
ces I knew in the world, his arms was the safest.
When my tremors came down, he ushered me to the couch and walked to my whiskypartment,
filled two sses and joined me on the couch. He hadn’t said anything so I knew I had to break the ice.
“I found her. She lives in Cyprus and works there. She’s a surgeon.”
“A surgeon? As in a doctor?” his eyes widened and he took a small swig from his whisky.
“Yahp. A surgeon. And look…” I ced my ss on the coffee table and unbuttoned my dress shirt,
revealing the gazillion bandages she had bundled me with.
“This is her doing. She is so beautiful Lorr. She is still her, like nothing has changed. She is still
reckless, fearless… she is… gosh I don’t know if I make sense.” I informed shaking my head slightly.
“I get you. I do. So how did you meet her?”
“I identally ran into her while I was escaping. She was out to dump trash and I used her as a shield
from the men that were chasing me. I kissed her. And then she punched me in the gut.” That had him
throwing his head back withughter.
“And then?” he asked after a few second of letting out a full bellyughter.
“And then she realized I was bleeding. She wanted to call the ambnce and when I told her no, she
took me into her house and worked on me. In the morning when I woke up, I was wearing nothing but
bandages. She even cleaned me up, and slept next to me. She watched me for a whole night. She is
still her.” I was suddenly overwhelmed by so many emotions when I thought of how beautiful she
looked when she sucked her bottom lip in her sleep; just how she used to years back!
“About dang time! So when do we visit her again?” Enzo asked taking a small sip from his ss,
“She doesn’t remember me! She didn’t seem to remember me, or know me! While she was attending to
me, she wasining about my tattoos and everything; but she didn’t seem to know me. It’s like,
she forgot about us!” by this time, my tremors were back again, and I so wanted to curse for feeling this
way! Whenever my paranoia hit me, I always felt vulnerable, so weak; and violence was my only
defence mechanism. That’s why I roasted people alive, just to assure myself that I was me, that the
world was not ending and that I wasn’t going to break at any moment!
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. But she didn’t seem to know me.”
“Then we’ll have to find out what happened to her.” he said walking to the back of my seat and slowly
massaged my shoulders from behind.
“I already sent people to look into it. Where’s Valerie?” I asked tilting my head to the side to give him
room,
“Don’t know! Probably in her room or by the pools with the others!”
Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.
“Have you fucked her today?” That should have sounded very offensive to someone, but this was my
brother; and he knew how we do things!
“Nope! Was nning to actually, especially after that boring meeting I had. But then I saw your text and
everything was forgotten!” He replied softly causing me to chuckle.
“Alright. I’ll have her sent to my room then!”
“Hmmmmm… And Verzi?”
“Yes?”
“Are you alright? I mean don’t you need to see the doctor?” Lorenzo was the best half I could ever ask
for; he knew all of me than any other soul on this earth and beyond! And he knew which buttons to
press, when to press them and how hard or soft to press!
“Yeah I’m good. Really. You don’t need to worry about me!” I defended and got up from my seat.
“Great! Don’t overdo it. You don’t want to open your wounds.” He said dismissingly already walking out
the office. I justughed in return!
~~~
LEIGH-ARI
The evening rolled over quickly and my body was screaming for a long nice soak in a tub of hot zing
water! Like my girl had insisted, I went to the police andid everything that had transpired to them; I
also made sure to leave the note with them (after hunting it from the trashcan) and they told me if I see
anything unusual around my apartment, I should let them know. I was grateful as to how they handled
the whole case, especially when I invited trouble to myself!
But then, they sure let me know of how stupid I was for just letting a suspicious person into my house;
however, they didn’t leave it hanging above my head because ahhhmmmm… my life was in danger!
Right?
I walked into my apartment building and actually ran smack-dab into Mr. Roberts who was carrying a
big packed box.
“Miss Montreal, I didn’t see you there!” the elderly man called out cing the huge box on the small
table in the lobby,
“Mr. Roberts, it’s okay. It’s my entire fault, I wasn’t really paying attention.” I said formally.
“Oh no silly. Rough day at work?”
“You can say that. I am itching for a good sleep right now.” I said yawning like crazy. We shared a good
laugh and that’s when his eldest son, a polite 21 year old with dirty blonde hair and one hell of a body
came out with yet another box,
“Okay, where are you all going?”
“Oh! We didn’t inform you earlier. But the house is nowplete so we are moving in! We actually
nned to get all settled before house-warming so yeah!” the glee could be heard in his voice as he
exined.
“Oh my God! That’s good news Mr. Roberts! I am so happy for you and I cant wait to see how lovely
and big it is. Oh my goodness, that’s like! Don’t mind me… I am just too excited for you!” I covered my
mouth with my mouth as I started babbling.
“Thank you so much. You will surely get an invitation.” he said excitedly and just then, the car horn
sounded from outside. Upon hearing that, we bit each other farewell and hugged goodbye.
I walked to my room and a little bit of sadness settled in when I spotted the empty entrance of their
former apartment just right opposite my door. they were such good neighbors and honestly, I was going
to miss having them around! Especially the signature apple pie Mrs. Roberts made on Sundays!
With a very tired and sore body, I turned to my own door and wished to the heavens to bless me with a
good neighbor.