Embers: The Light in Your Shadow

Seventeen

Lorenzo's POV:

"Cesare, put me down!" Savanah yelled! "No! Don't you dare!" There was laughter and then more cheerful yelling. "Ahhhh!!!" We watched as my brother carried her down the stairs on his shoulders.

"Buongiorno a tutti! (Good morning, everybody)!" Cesare boasted and then gently placed Savannah in a chair at the dining room table. We all stared in amusement as he fixed her a plate, and they bickered playfully.

"Someone was out late last night..." My Mother commented sending a glare their way. Their snickering ceased immediately until my Mother burst into laughter. "Come here, you two!" She hugged them to her bosom. "Congratulations and welcome to the family, Mrs. De Luca."

Savannah stood up and hugged her back. "Thank you for accepting me... it means everything..."

"We're still having a wedding, right?" My Father chimed in after he embraced them as well.

"Yes." Cesare smiled lovingly at Savannah, causing her to blush and gently hit his chest. He kissed her lips over and over until our Mother cleared her throat.

"There'll be none of that at the breakfast table." She lifted her eyebrow, and Cesare stole one more kiss before our Mother hit him with the dish towel. We all burst into laughter then.

Savannah's phone began to ring upstairs, and she had excused herself to answer it. Fear. I tasted it upon my tongue and glanced upstairs. Cesare left just as quickly to get to his wife. "What's the matter?" My Father asked me.

"It's Savannah... she's frightened..." As we waited, there was a crash upstairs and Cesare started cursing. My parents and I ran to see what the problem was. The first thing I noticed was Savannah crouched down in the corner balling her eyes out. The balcony door was wide open so, Cesare most likely went out that way.

"Oh Savannah... what's wrong?" My Mother bent down and pulled her into a hug.

She held on tightly, as my Father and I had gone to check on Cesare. "Son... what happened?"

He turned to us with bloodshot eyes. He was livid! "Cesare?"

"Isabella and Armando escaped." The words left his mouth and formed chains around our hearts.

"How?" My Father asked, equally enraged. "They were supposed to be in a maximum security prison!"

Cesare balled his fists as Savannah kept crying. "Fernandez thinks they had help on the inside... a cop perhaps. He's looking into it as we speak."

"You know what we're going to have to do, don't you?" I asked my brother. This was the only way to stop them, otherwise they'd break out of every prison they were placed into just to get to Savannah.

"Yes. It's what we should've done from the start."

**

We still proceeded with the dinner. We didn't want the Flores siblings to occupy our minds. Savannah locked herself in the room until Amina came over. When they met it was pure pandemonium. It turns out they were 1st cousins from her Mother's side. That eased the tension in the atmosphere tremendously.

According to them, it had been 13 years since they had last seen one another. Their family dynamic was broken, and when the Matriarch died, it all fell to shambles. Their Great Grandmother kept the family in tact. Her death loosened the bonds. Now they only came together for funerals. It was sad, but it was beautiful seeing them reunited. It even put a smile on Cesare's face.

When the dinner came to an end, Savannah, Amina, Ma, Giulia, Laura and the girls went off to talk last minute wedding details. Amina was officially in the wedding so, she had to get fitted for a dress. My neices absolutely adored Amina and Savannah. They were already planning sleepovers and spa days. It made my heart leap just thinking about Amina and I getting married and starting our own family one day.

But first, we had to deal with the Flores. It was clear by now that they were coming to Italy. I mean, Isabella did threaten Savannah at the trial. While the women busied themselves with last minute details, my Father and Cesare had gone into the office to talk in private.

"They need to be dealt with before the wedding." Pa said.

"I agree," I replied. "...but I don't think she'll wait that long. If she had her way, she wouldn't even let you two reach the altar."

"Then I guess it's a good thing we married when we did." Cesare chuckled sadly. "...I can't lose her..."

Our Father placed his hand on Cesare's shoulder. "And you won't... we'll figure this out."

☆Savannah's POV:

That night as Cesare and I lay awake, he stroked my back as I rested my head on his chest. We were silent for a while, trying to make sense of everything. I knew what he was planning; it was the very thing I was trying to protect him from in the beginning.

"Is there no other way to end this?" I spoke out into the silence. When I received that phone call from Fernandez, I knew it was only a matter of time before they escaped. I was frightened, yes, but not for me. I was scared of what Cesare would become once he took a life- innocent or not.

He sighed, and I could feel his hesitancy. "They will never stop coming after you. I don't see any other way out of it... I won't risk losing you again, Tesoro."

"I know... I just... I don't like the idea of you killing. What if... what if you end up like them?" I voiced my fears hoping he could silence them.

"I won't... I have too much to lose to allow myself to sink so low. Plus, I believe your love is powerful enough to bring me back, should I ever lose myself." He lifted my head so my eyes met his. "I love you, and I will protect you at all cost."

Once our lips connected, our bodies intertwined. We were being wrapped up in the light of the moon.

"I love you too..."

The moment we fell asleep, I was pulled into a dream. We missed it when they kidnapped me. Armando wasn't just waiting for me in the underground parking garage. He had another agenda in mind; he planted a bomb. That same urgency I had with Sophia before her death, attacked me for Cesare and Lorenzo again.

My hand felt for Cesare on the bed to find it empty. I looked around to find a note on the nightstand. He was called into work early to close a huge deal with the Governor. Jumping up onto my feet, I quickly threw on some clothes and raced down the stairs. My heart was pounding through my ears making me miss hearing Ma call my name.

The doorbell rang, and the butler answered it. Fernandez rushed in and hugged me. I was fighting back tears as I told him of my dream. "We have to go now!" Riding in the car didn't ease my worry. I called both Cesare and Lorenzo all to no avail. Surely they could feel my emotions, couldn't they?

After I explained the situation to Fernandez, he called the Italian police for backup. Apparently they were already at the office. The Governor was their first priority. Fortunately, someone called the police saying they spotted Isabella and Armando within the vicinity.

When we arrived, the entire street was blocked off. Thankfully, I was granted clearance with Fernandez. The police explained the situation, and I tried to keep it together. Armando and Isabella were in the building with hostages. They had demands, and if they weren't met they were going to kill a hostage every hour. What were their demands: me. They wanted me.