Blood Means Nothing

THIRTY-NINE

I march out of the room and head towards Ivana's room. When I get there, I kick open the door and pull her up by her hair.

" Do you know where Igor has my daughter?" I demand, my voice full of anger.

" All I know is that he wants you in exchange for your daughter," Ivana admits.

" Why does he want me? Why me?" I ask, feeling my anger growing.

" He said he wants to relive the past and hurt Saint,"

" what does he mean by reliving the past?" I inquire, my voice now low and menacing.

" You don't remember," she chuckles.

I pull her hair harder, forcing Ivana to look up.
" Don't fuck with me. What past is Igor talking about?"

Ivana winces in pain. "Back when you lived with your stepfather, he had invited men over to take turns with you. Igor was one of those men."

What the hell? I should've known the day I met him at the business dinner.  I've tried so hard to forget my past but somehow it always catches up with me.

The anger bubbles up in me, and I grasp her neck, pushing her against the wall. " So that's what Igor wants? To make me relive that horrible experience?" I squeezed Ivana's neck till she choked on her words.

" He wants to hurt Saint by hurting you," she says through shallow breaths.

" He wants to break Saint by breaking you. Igor wants to take everything Saint cares about," she chokes.

My grip tightens, and I stare at her, hate burning in my eyes. Ivana claws at my hands, trying to escape my grip.

" I'm going to kill you. You will never have my mafia. You will never grow old. You will never fucking see daylight again," I grit, tightening my grip.

Ivana's fingernails dig deeper into my flesh and I feel her desperation build.

Seeing her like this doesn't make me feel remorse. Anyone who puts a child's life in danger doesn't deserve my remorse.

Her face slowly turns blue as she goes limp against the wall.

With one final squeeze, I let go of her neck and she slumps to the floor.

I turn away from Ivana's lifeless body and walk towards the door. As I leave, I slam the door behind me.

" Aurora," Leonardo says, walking in front of me.
" Leonardo I can't, I have to go find Astrea," I say, glaring at him.

Leonardo sighs, pulling me into a hug. " Axel and Matteo are looking for his whereabouts," He says, pulling me in closer. I take a deep breath and let my body sink into his embrace.

" I'm scared," I admit. " I'm so scared that I'm going to lose Astrea," I sob, into his arms. Leonardo holds me tightly as my tears dampen his shirt, yet he does not break the embrace.

I needed this hug more than anything.

" I promise you, we will get Astrea back no matter what we have to do," He says in a soothing voice.

Everyone keeps making promises, but how do I know if they're going to keep their promises?

I eventually pull away from him and wipe away my tears.

"Aurora!" I hear Adrian shout as he rushes up the stairs.

" Axel and Matteo think they might have found something!" He shouts, running in between me and Leonardo.