Dry Your Tears

Twenty

She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep, all Olivia could think about was the fact that several feet beneath her was Alexia, tortured and abused, this whole time she had been there while Olivia thought she was dead, that they were all dead. It haunted, plagued her every thought knowing that while Olivia had been crying and wallowing and self-pity, Alexia was down there,  it was all she could think about and she knew she had go see her, she needed to see her. 

Olivia stared blankly at her food, lifting up the spoon to watch its contents slide of the silverware and fall back into the bowl. 

"Olivia, eat." Luca demanded, watching her from across the table with narrowed eyes, his hand gripping his spoon tightly while the other held a piece of garlic bread. Olivia huffed, before bringing the metal to her lips, grimacing as she swallowed, fighting the urge to throw up. Luca nodded with satisfaction, watching her while eating his own food until both their plates were empty. 

"I'm going, behave bella." Luca said, standing up and wiping his mouth with a napkin before approaching her. "I love you." He said, kissing her forehead while placing a hand on her stomach before leaving, Matteo and a large quantity of Luca's men following behind him.

Olivia remained in her seat until she was certain she heard the sound of an engine before rushing to the nearest bathroom, barely any time before she was suddenly heaving and retching, getting rid of everything she had taken in. Her throat burned as she crawled away and used the sink to push herself up, hands shaking as she washed and rinsed her mouth.

Alexia.

The name echoed through her head, she had to go see her. Without even thinking, Olivia had left the bathroom, quietly but quickly making her way to the basement door. This was a stupid idea, one that would probably get her in a lot of trouble but Luca wasn't here, neither were a lot of the men that usually roamed the hallways, this was perhaps her only chance to ever see Alexia without Luca's looming presence. 

Her hand reached for the handle, this was her only chance to see her, hear her, know that she was ok. Her heart was pounding in chest, hand trembling in fear when suddenly her view of the door was blocked, Lorenzo standing in front of it with crossed arms and a mixture of a bored and amused expression on his face.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked and Olivia drew back her hand, heart racing as she racked her brain for a plausible lie. 

"I, I uhm-"

"You wanted to go see her?" He interrupted and Olivia knew there was no point trying to deny it, she had been caught red-handed. Lorenzo watched her for a time before suddenly turning around and opening the door, "Well then, let's go." Olivia watched skeptically as he disappeared through the door, descending the staircase to enter the basement. 

"Are you coming?" He shouted and Olivia felt herself moving through the door, after having weighed her options, she realized she was fucked either way so she might as well risk this if it meant she could see Alexia again. Lorenzo was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairwell with a bored expression, muttering an annoyed finally when she reached the last step. He grabbed her wrist, pulling her along as he made the familiar trajectory towards the door at the end of the hall way, the large, brass metal door taunting her as they approached it. There was only one guard on duty, one that had soon left after Lorenzo shouted several words at him in Italian. 

He swung the door open, and Olivia felt her breath hitch. There she was, in the same position as last time, arms strung up by ropes, pulling at her body weight, head slumped forward, breath shallow, barely alive. 

"Alexia?" Olivia choked out, approaching her carefully but the woman didn't respond, hardly even conscious. Lorenzo walked towards a lever, pulling it down, the tension on the ropes was reduced as the ropes fell causing Alexia's body to weakly fall forwards, having been strung up for so long and now unable to support itself. Olivia used her little strength to catch her, the both of them falling to the floor. Olivia cradled Alexia in her arms, rocking her back and forth as tears streamed down her face. Her bump was in the way but she couldn't bring herself to care, not when Alexia was in her arms like this, bruised, tortured, weak, hanging on desperately to the little life left in her. Guilt overwhelmed her, she believed it to be her fault.