Pretty Poison

Forty - Seven

◈ Luca ◈

I open every door, search every room. Everywhere I look I'm met with nothing but vacancy. My heart pounds in place as my stomach churns. I ignore the few servants who whisper a meek "goodmorning" to me, my mind preoccupied with other thoughts.

Thoughts of last night repeat in my head, fear coursing through me as every second passes by without finding her. My walk turns to a run, my adrenaline levels off the charts. I rush up the stairs to the last wing of the house, rapidly slamming open every door and leaving them open. Room after room, my blood pressure rises, my brain seemingly adopting its own heart beat.

"Where is she?" I whisper to myself, over and over again under my breath.

I promised her I would find her last night, but I never did. I was too wrapped up in Enzo's terrifying words that struck me cold to the core.

"Where is she?"

I run a hand through my hair, shoving my shoulder into door after door. I make my way down the corridor till finally, I'm at the last one. I push it open, my last sliver of hope completely destroyed.

"Beatrice? Are you in here?" I called, but no answer. I let out a frustrated heave of air, pinching the bridge of my nose.

I reach into my pocket to grab my phone, opening up my messages to begin typing. My fingers surf rapidly across the screen, hitting every key with intense speed.

I reread the text, reading: Andrea, where are you? Then, I press the blue arrow, a tiny "delivered" popping up underneath the blue bubble. I stare down at the screen, impatiently waiting for three dots to show up at the bottom like they usually do, but nothing comes.

I start typing again: Andrea, where are you? Answer me, I can't find Beatrice, I need your help. I hit send, and again...nothing.

I kick my foot out, my hands falling to my side, feeling completely helpless. I pivot on my foot and rush out of the room, my steps filling the quiet hall as I make my way to the steps. The foyer lights up with beams of light radiating off of the rising sun. The skies appear gloomy, the clouds thick and abrasive.

My shoes slap against the tile as I jog into the living area, but I instantly stop in my place as I see Enzo. A wide, mischievous smile is spread across his face, a cocktail with an olive poked through with a stick twirling around the rim of the glass.

"Looking for someone?" He questions with a certain amount of sarcasm in his voice. He takes a drink from his glass.

"What the hell did you do?!" I question with rage, stepping into the room further to where he sits on the sofa.

"It's not what I did, it's what she did, Luca. Come on, were you stupid enough to beleive that she would stay?" He wraps his teeth around the olive, sliding the stick out of his mouth.

"What are you talking about?"

"She left, Luca, she left and she took everything she could. She robbed you," he scoffs in disbelief and falls back against the sofa, "I just can't believe you were stupid enough to think she really loved you."

My jaw clenches, my teeth grinding against one another in utter annoyance and rage, "You're lying," I manage to say through my gritted teeth.

He only shrugs, downing the rest of his drink, "Wish I was for your sake, but I'm not. Don't you remember what papà always told us? Women are vile creatures who want nothing else but money. They couldn't give a damn about us," he stands and gestures towards himself with his hands. "They're selfish and cruel, they use us till they get what they want, haven't you realized that yet?"

"Shut the fuck up, Enzo! You have no idea what a woman is like! You are too wrapped up in your own self to even give a damn about another person!" I shout, pointing a finger his way. I step closer to him, almost in his face.

"I don't need to care about anyone else, Luca, you don't either. Don't you get that? Everyone out there is a monster praying on you, waiting to tear you to shreds! Papà tried to teach you that lesson, but you're too damn naive to believe him!"

My hands clenched into fists at my sides, my knuckles white. Vincenzo takes this opportunity to stride away from me and over to the bar where he refills his glass with hard vodka.

"She left you, Luca, and I can't say I blame her, who would want to live their life constantly hiding? I'm quite shocked she came back at all, being that she's the one who tried to kill papà," he takes a drink, then shares eye contact with me, his eyes black and void of all emotion.

"She had nothing to do with this," I say, angrily.

He laughs from across the room, a chilling laugh. "You see, you are naive. You don't want to believe things that you don't want to hear. Well, let this be a wake up call to you Luca, she's gone. She destroyed this family and our name, and now, she's gone."

"She had nothing to do with this! You are the one that destroyed this family, you are the one who has caused our accounts to be depleted, you!"

"Oh! That reminds me, look at your own account...and tell me you still don't believe me."

My face twists in confusion as I open my phone to look at my account. I enter my passcode, and there, I see large, bold letters reading something I never wanted to see.

Balance: € 0.00

"Believe it now, Luca? She robbed you, took everything you had and ran. Not to worry though, I already sent the militia after her...she won't last long."

I don't respond, instead my eyes remain glued to the screen, my mind unable to comprehend anything I'm seeing. Millions of euro...gone.

How could this happen?

"I'm sorry, Luca," Vincenzo says, now right beside me. He places his hand on my shoulder, "This is for the best, now you can pull your head out of your ass and forget about her and do what you were born to do."

He walks away, leaving me to my thoughts. I feel lost, I can't even fathom what I want to say.

How could this happen?

I stumble back and fall into a chair, my body stiff and rigid as I stare at the ground. I spent so much time thinking about her, chasing after her...only for her to leave.

How could she do this?

After everything, the luxurious nights, the dresses, food, everything. She's gone. And I feel nothing but a festering fury within me. But most of all...I feel empty.