Vengeance

Chapter 40

Ava's POV

I stood up abruptly.
"What do you mean, 'he is gone'?"
Everyone else stood up from their seats as well. 

Enzo still wasn't meeting my gaze.
I gripped the collars of his suit tightly, "Enzo! Answer me!"
He gulped while placing his hand on the top of mine, which were clutching his suit.
He slowly lifted his eyes and met mine.
"He is no more." 

Breath left my lungs and tears threatened to leave my eyes.
I look towards the the rest of my siblings who all had guilt-ridden, mournful expression on their faces.
I was struggling to breathe as Enzo continued, "He left us long ago, Ava. When he found his beloved wife, our mama lifeless that night, he was completely shattered. But when even after a year of searching for you and still failing at every attempt to find you, he could not handle it. His world gone and his princess lost, he fell sicker every passing day until one night his heart gave out." 

My grip on him loosened and my knees felt weak.
Everything I had in me broke apart  making me fall on my knees on the floor into a weeping mess.
I felt all my brothers instantly gather around me on their knees as well.
"He made me promise him to never stop searching for you. Never lose hope." Enzo said in a vulnerable voice. 

"And look, we found Sorella." Romeo said putting his arm around my shoulders as I continued sobbing. 

"You know we can't watch you break apart like this." Dante said sounding extremely heartbroken. 

"We're sorry, Avy." I heard Marco and Matteo apologize. 

They all enveloped me into a hug trying to pacify my heart.
"I know I can't replace our parents in you life, Ava. But I promise I will never let you feel their loss." Enzo said promisingly.

"We are here for you, Sorellina. And we'll always be there."

The ride back to the estate was long and silent. I was once again in the same car with Ryan. But this time, I didn't even look towards him.
I leaned my head on the window, and looked outside absent-mindedly.
I felt him glance towards me in every couple of minutes. 

But he respected my space and let me stay in my sorrow for the time being. 

Was murdering my mother in front of my eyes not enough? That they caused my father to left us all too?
How is this fair?
I couldn't even say goodbye to him. 

I recalled the last moments I had with me. On my birthday, when he was twirling me around while dancing. One of the happiest moments I had with him. 

I miss you papa!

Tears rolled down my eyes slowly.

I had no idea when I fell asleep during the ride back home.
The only thing I remembered was, me in Ryan's arms, bridal style and then him laying me on a soft bed and covering me with a warm blanket.
I also remembered him pushing away a strand of my hair and caressing my face, before I faded into a deep uninterrupted slumber.

I woke up around 6 am in the morning and sat on up on the bed, rubbing me eyes. I was extremely surprised to see Dante on the floor, near the foot of the bed sleeping soundly with his head rested on the mattress. To my right, Enzo was also asleep sitting up, holding a pillow in his hands. Romeo was sprawled on the armchair by the window, with his mouth open and snoring. Matteo was deep asleep on the sofa with his specs on, while Marco was laying on the carpet. 

Were they here all night? For me?
They must be tired with the kind of day all of us had yesterday. 

It was going to be hard accepting the fact that I won't ever see my father again. But I couldn't let my sadness become a punishment for my brothers because they won't be able to be happy if I fall apart.
So I decided to freshen up and make breakfast for everyone.
Once I was ready, I headed downstairs, in the kitchen to prepare breakfast. But I stopped in tracks as soon as I saw Ryan in there.
He was dressed casually, with black joggers and black tank top. His back was towards so he didn't know I was ogling him like a crazy dead-ass fangirl. Since his biceps were out in the view for me to drool on.
I gulped once trying to regain my composure and be ready to face him. 

As I started to walk into the kitchen, he turned out with a mug of black coffee in his hand.
He stopped immediately on noticing me. We just stared at each for a minute.
"Hey." He said in acknowledgement. 

"Morning." I went towards the fridge.

"What are you doing here?" We asked each other at the same time. 

"You go first." 

"I have lived here for quite long, last time I checked." He chuckled at that. 

"Well, it was too late for us to go home last night. And I guess we have a very important business to attend to here." He explained. 

Right.. Hunt in the basement. 

I nodded at him and continued looking for the ingredients for the breakfast.
"When I asked you what are you doing her... I meant, here as in, the kitchen?" He said sipping his black coffee. 

"Oh, I'm making breakfast. For everyone." I continued doing my thing to keep myself from staring at his hot body again. 

"You cook?" He asked curiously. 

"Yes, and you'll get to judge my skills soon enough." I gave a smile. 

"That's great. But I would like to help. There's too many of us and I'm sure you won't mind an extra pair of hands to help you out, would you?" He said walking towards me slowly and stopped only few feet apart. 

I inhaled the scent of his cologne, which drove me to the edge of madness, making me forget everything for a minute.
"May I?" He asked taking another step towards me. 

I nodded, "Sure."
His fingers brushed mine as he took the tray of eggs from my hand. And our eyes met instantly.  

God, his eyes are so hypnotizing.
Why can't I look away?
Whenever I look into those silver-grey eyes, all the sense seems to fly right out of the window. 

"Let's get started, shall we?"

God help me!