Blood and Sorrow

Chapter 3: The Audacity

Sofia

The following days are a refined Calvary. Lorenzo has doubled my close protection. Marco, a giant with a face of stone, follows me everywhere, even in the gardens. My phone has "accidentally" stopped working. I am cut off from the world, more than ever.

Yet, an obsession germinates within me. Luca Conti. His name spins in my head, a forbidden melody. I catch myself watching for his car when I go out, hoping for a sign, a reason to believe that connection wasn't a mirage.

My chance comes a week later, in the form of a mandatory visit to my dermatologist. Marco accompanies me, sitting in the waiting room, his imposing silhouette discouraging any conversation. The appointment is quick. On my way out, as Marco briefly speaks to the receptionist, I linger near the front door, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm.

And I see him.

He's sitting in a discreet car, parked across the street. He's reading a newspaper, but his gaze lifts and meets mine. It's not a coincidence. He was waiting for me.

Time freezes. The city noises fade. I only have a few seconds. Marco will turn around. I make the only gesture I can risk. With a quick movement, I slide off the heavy sapphire ring Lorenzo gave me for our anniversary. I drop it into the flower pot next to the entrance.

I don't look at him again. I turn on my heel and rejoin Marco, who turns around just at that moment.

"Is everything all right, Signora Rossi?"

"Perfectly, Marco. I'm a little tired."

I get into the car, my legs like cotton. I have just crossed a line. I left a message. A cry for help? An invitation? I don't know myself. But I acted.

---

Night falls. Lorenzo is in a strangely light mood. He "fixed a problem" today, which always means the same thing. He orders my favorite dish prepared, opens a rare bottle of wine. He talks to me about his expansion plans, his power, as if trying to hypnotize me with the grandeur of his empire of ashes.

"You'll see, Sofia. Soon, this whole city will be at our feet. No one will be able to touch us anymore."

I smile, I take a sip of wine, I nod. But my mind is elsewhere. On the street, near a flower pot. Did he find the ring? Did he understand?

Suddenly, Lorenzo puts down his fork. The clink of metal on porcelain makes me jump.

"You seem distant, amore mio."

His eyes scan my face, searching for the flaw.

"I'm just tired, like I told Marco."

"Marco?" he repeats, suddenly interested. "He accompanied you to the doctor's today, right?"

The question is a trap. I feel a deadly shiver run down my spine.

"Of course. As usual."

"Nothing unusual, then? No... encounters?"

He knows. My God, he knows. The blood drains from my face. He has eyes everywhere. Maybe the dermatologist is his. Maybe someone on the street saw Luca. I'm trapped.

"No, Lorenzo. Nothing."

He gets up, slowly, and comes to stand behind my chair. His hands land on my shoulders, in a sinister echo of the other evening.

"That's good. Because if you were ever hiding something from me... if you ever thought of betraying me..."

He leans in, and his lips brush my ear.

"I wouldn't hurt you, Sofia. Never. You are my life."

His voice is a silk shroud.

"But I would grind into dust anything that dared to come between us. Anything. Do you understand me?"

I close my eyes, unable to answer. Fear is a taste of copper in my mouth. I understand. I understand all too well.

Later, in the darkness of the room, as he sleeps a deep sleep, I get up and stand at the window. I look at the gates of the property, insurmountable. I am the queen of this cursed castle, loved to death, suffocated by a passion that looks more and more like hate.