War of A Rose

War of A Rose • Chapter 12

Rosaelia

Lorenzo and Gabriele had risen to their feet before anyone else. Gabriele's hand went for the gun tucked into his waistband while Lorenzo already had his aimed for my cousin's head. Instinctively, I reached for my own, but I was only met with my hip. I did not have my gun. I had nothing besides the butter knife that I still gripped in my hand. "Was it you!?" Alessio bellowed in my father's face.

"Alessio," Lorenzo kept his gun pointed at Gabriele while he looked at his son, "What is the meaning of this?" I could tell that Imelda wanted to say something to her son as well, even though she kept quiet in her seat. My mother doing the same. Liliana had risen from her seat. Like me, she did not have any weapons.

"Liliana. Sit." Imelda's voice came out cold and quiet. Her daughter defied her by keeping her stance. Imelda did not turn to look at her daughter, but her eyes were burning with fury. Perhaps also embarrassment.

"Listen to your mother, Liliana." Lorenzo's voice was even colder than his wife's as he warned his daughter. Liliana was back in her seat without protest. I, on the other hand, kept standing. My mother made no effort to reprimand me. She may have loved my father once, but after she learned what he did to me, I wasn't sure what she felt anymore. I think a part of her secretly prayed that Alessio would do what she could not and end her husband's life.

"Alessio." Lorenzo tried once more.

Alessio only tightened the grip of my father's collar. Choking him. Being the twisted man he was, my father only smiled in response. Which only made Alessio more unhinged. In one swift movement, my father was now pinned against the table with the barrel of Alessio's gun pressed into the back of his head.

From the table, my father's eyes looked up into mine, "Tell him what he wants to hear, Rosaelia. Tell him the truth." He taunted.

"Don't fucking speak to her!"

"Alessio!" Whatever composure Lorenzo had previously contained was now gone.

"Tell him, Rosaelia, how after his departure, you went out and behaved like a whore. Tell him how you let another man fuck you." I didn't realize I had been crying until I felt the saltiness of my tears against my lips. I looked at Alessio to see if he believed him, but he wouldn't look at me. His eyes remained on my father. For a split second, I saw the flicker of emotion that flashed across his face. Did he believe my father?

My father kept his soulless eyes on me as he continued, "I was only doing what any man would have done. What you would've done if you caught her parading around town, bringing shame to our names!" He took a moment to compose himself, "She is my daughter, Alessio. What I do with her is none of your business."

"That is where you are wrong, Domenico. She was your daughter," Alessio jerked him up, this time by his throat, "She is my wife, and if you ever fucking touch her again, I will put this entire clip into your worthless fucking head." My father stared back at the gun between his eyes.

"Do you understand?" No one spoke.

"Do you fucking understand!" Spit flew from Alessio's mouth as his finger rested on the trigger of his gun.

"Answer him." Both Alessio and my father turned their attention toward me. As Gabriele and I looked back at all three men, I noticed that my cousin no longer had his gun pointed at Alessio but at my father. From the look in his eyes, I knew he had put the pieces of that night together. He knew what my father did to me, and he was ready to kill him for it.

I screamed with anger, "Answer him!" My mother flinched from her seat. I wanted my father dead for what he did to me, but I did not wish either Alessio or Gabriele to do it. I wanted to have the satisfaction of taking his last breath. I wanted to watch him as he stared back at me. As he stared into my eyes. The eyes of his daughter and wonder how she could be so cruel to her father.