The Monster's Nemesis | ✔️

Chapter 3

L I L L I A N A

DAY 1

As I sat by the bed, enjoying the ramen as my lunch for the day, I wished I had learned a little bit of cooking by now to survive all by myself. As it turned out that I had only mastered how to swing a knife at another human and not very successfully at chopping vegetables.

"This man is going to break my bed even before we do anything on it," I muttered under my breath, munching on the hot noodles.

Dominic Romano's six-feet-plus muscular body was twisting and turning on my bed. The pain-killer was beginning to wear off, making him writhe and thrash in pain while the bed creaked under the weight of his solid muscular frame.

Putting down the bowl of noodles on the floor, I stood up and retrieved the syringe from the cabinet and pushed into his arm. The guttural groaning died down within seconds and lured him back to unconsciousness.

DAY 4

Replacing his bandages every twenty-four hours was a task bearing me down tediously while he was passed out peacefully. All I wanted to do was gut him like a fish instead of tending his wounds.

"How is he doing?" Andrew asked in a hushed voice.

I wanted an update on how desperate Viktor had gone in search of his brother, so I asked him to come over knowing Dominic wouldn't wake up sooner. It turned out that every man on Romano's payroll was combing the street from him.

"He's alive, for now." I shrugged. "Did they find anything on the accident spot?"

My eyes never left Dominic's sleeping form as I stared at him mindlessly.

Andrew shook his head. "They are convinced that Vittelo is behind the attack. In fact, Viktor blew up one of their factories as an act of retaliation. He is behaving like a raging bull who is ready to kill anyone and everyone."

I huffed a laugh. "His brother is missing, and he is behaving like a Mad Hatter. What about all those times when his father killed the family of other people? And left them alive inside a burning house, just for the sake of revenge?"

"Lilliana," Andrew said in a kind voice. "Don't let him get under your skin. Ever. You have waited for this all your life. Don't let him win."

For a second I shivered, as the picture of the burnt dead body flashed before my eyes, and I was pulled out of the daze.

"I would rather die than let him or his family succeed this time," I whispered like a vow. And turned to him. "Thanks for the update. You can leave now. He might get up at any moment."

Without another word, Andrew got up as I heard him shuffle away.

"Sam...Sam...my..." Dominic mumbled in a throaty voice, along with some other incoherent words.

I stood by his side as my fingers closed around his nape and titled up his face. Pressing the mouth of the bottle of water to his lips, I made him sip the liquid carefully. His eyes kept fluttering open and close, but ultimately he passed out once again.

DAY 5

I woke up with the same nightmare I had for the past fifteen years. The burning house, the scream, the dead bodies and stench of the burnt flesh. Bathed in cold sweat coating every inch of my skin, I shrugged off the covers and got off from the couch.

I peeked inside the only bedroom of this apartment where Dominic Romano was still fast asleep or unconscious and left the door slightly ajar. Satisfied, I turned on some deafening loud music to silence the riotous train of thoughts. Later in the day, I was trying a hand in the kitchen, when all of a sudden, a loud thud from the bedroom startled me. Marching towards the source of the sound, I realized that the devil was finally awake.