A Second Chance (Under Construction)

Chapter 19

"Mar-Martina," Lorenzo managed to say. He was beyond shocked. He didn't know whether or not he should be angry at the fact that she's alive, or upset that she had been alive of all these years and didn't tell him. He didn't react at all, he stood there with his hand on the door speechless. As she stepped through the door and moved towards him, he took steps back. 

"Hello, Lorenzo," she said.

"You-you're dead. I saw you die," he said.

"I'm sorry for deceiving you, my love, but I really need your help," she said. He turned with his head trying to process what is happening at that moment. He left up to his office and she followed close behind him as she held onto her purse. Lorenzo closed his office door and took a seat in his chair while she placed her bag on the floor and sat in the chair in front of him.

"I'm so sorry, I kept this from you, but I couldn't risk being discovered," she said. 

"My father... he killed you," he said. 

"No, he-he helped me," she said.

"Explain to me, Martina.  What happened?" He asked. 

"I never told you, but I was never supposed to marry you," she said.  He was absolutely astonished by her words. 

"What?" He asked offended and hurt. 

"Don't misunderstand, Love. I do love you, but when I was younger my father owed a leader of another Mafia a lot of money. It got to a point where it was impossible to pay it back. So he did what any selfish man with a family would do, he sold me. He made a deal with the boss that once his son hit a certain age, I would be forced to marry him," she said.

"How long did you know?" He asked. 

"He told me on our wedding day," she said. 

"If you knew, why did you marry me?" He asked angered.

"Because I love you Lorenzo. I was going to figure it out when the time came, but..when it did, I didn't know what to do," she said.

"That doesn't explain how you're alive right now," he said. 

"One day, I got a letter in the mail one day from his son, Raphael Costa, the one I was supposed to marry. He threatened you. He said that if I didn't leave you that, he would kill you.  I couldn't come to you because I didn't want you to worry about it, but that changed when your office exploded that day," she said. 

"That was him!!" He yelled.

"Yes. I knew at that point that he was serious.  You spent months trying to find out who did it, but you never did. So, I looked for help," she said. 

"My father," he said. 

"Once I told him who it was, he told me I'd have to disappear. Your father knew how dangerous this man was and he didn't want you to get hurt," she said. 

"I could've handled him," he said. 

"Lorenzo, you couldn't even find him.  Even though, he almost killed you. Your father told me he comes from an infamous family in the Mafia. His family is at the top, Lorenzo. I couldn't risk your life, and your father understood that," she said. 

"I can't believe this," he said as he stood from his seat and began to pace back and forth. 

"Lorenzo.." she began, but he cut her off. 

"Do you know how hard it's been for me!!!  I have been hating my father for something he didn't do. I pushed my family away. I closed myself off for years. All because you didn't want to come to me," he said before he kicked his chair onto the ground. She flinched and watched him cause mayhem, filled with rage. He picked up his coffee mug and threw it at the wall.

"Lorenzo, please. Calm down," she said. She moved towards him to try and touch him, but he pushed her away.

"Don't touch me!!!" He yelled. Martina backed up next to the door and watched in confusion when Celeste ran in. He was so busy trying to process the information given to him while trying to control his emotions that he just lost it. Celeste was so focused on Lorenzo that she didn't notice Martina.

"Lorenzo!!!" She yelled as she ran up to him. He didn't stop and kept continuing to freak out. She grabbed the side of his face and made him focus on her.

"Lorenzo, Look at me. Look at me," she said. She slowly pulled him down to the ground and cradled him in her arms as he began to calm down. "It's okay, breath," she said as she comforted him. Martina watched the two filled with emotions. She was both confused, yet jealous. She understood that he would've had to have moved on at some point, but she was still a bit hurt. She wanted to know who she was and her place in his life, but she could already infer who she was to him. She walked out of the office and strolled around the house. She looked back up in the direction of his office. She ultimately felt bad for putting him in that predicament, but she needed his help. She felt she had no choice.

"Hello...Martina".  Martina turned around to a angry Irene. 

"Irene, it's been a while. I like your costume," Martina said as she tried to lighten the mood.  She was happy to see Irene, but based on her expression, she knew Irene was upset.

"This isn't a costume," she said restrained. She was happy to see Martina was alive, but equally hurt by the fact that she was lied to. She saw Martina as an older sister, so to learn that she's been alive the whole time was heartbreaking. 

"Oh, sorry. How are you?" Martina asked. 

"You're supposed to be dead," she said. 

"Yeah, I know it's just.." Martina began.

"How are you still alive?" She asked. 

"It's complicated," Martina said.

"I can see that," she said. She fixed her bag on her shoulder and proceeded to leave the house, but Martina stopped her.

"Where at you going?  It's too late for you to be out now," Martina said. Irene slowly turned to her with a scowl. 

"Now you care? After all these years? I've been taking care of myself my whole life, I'll be fine. Don't act like I really matter to you now," Irene said before storming out of the house and slamming the door behind her. Martina stared at the door where Irene left and she just felt her heart break. She realized the pain that she's caused this family. She hurt the terrible and knew that it would take a lot of work to regain that love, especially Lorenzo, but she still had a reason why she decided to reveal her existence in the first place. 

She needed their help to kill Raphael Costa.