[1] A War of Blood and Hearts | ✔️

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

LUCAS

"Damn it!" Alberto's voice echoes in the plane. He has been trying to get in contact with the men guarding the house in Armenia. His screams every few minutes indicate that he has not been successful.
"You screaming will not help." Alonso limps towards Alberto and throws his body next to his friend. The Italian mafia boss covers his face with his hands. Lucas can see his frustration, and he can sense the tension in the plane.
In addition to Alberto's frustration and anger, Lucas has been avoiding the inevitable conversation he is bound to have with Nicholas. Not only does he not know what he is going to say, but he also does not know how he will explain all that Crystal had been hiding. Most importantly, he does not know how he will look Nicholas in the eye and tell him about the way he treated his little sister for the past two months.
Lucas knows that he should not have treated her the way he did. Moreover, he tried more than once to go and apologize and make amends with her. However, he did not know what to say to her especially because he still has not forgiven her. The Brazilian man senses that the feeling is mutual.
"You know, at some point, you are going to have to face him." Ignazio stands next to him by the mini bar. Lucas looks over his shoulder at Nicholas who is sitting on one of the seats and glares at his injured hand.
"I know... it is just..."
"Whatever you plan on saying, do not. Whatever it is, it is nothing more than an excuse." Ignazio gives him a sharp look when Lucas opens his mouth to object.
"Look, I cannot promise you that everything is going to turn out the way we want it to. I cannot foresee the future. What I can tell you is this..."
"Bloody hell!" Alberto's voice echoes through the air interrupting Ignazio. The Italian man only chuckles at his friend before he turns his attention back to Lucas.
"The Morenos are not your friends, they are your family. Somehow you managed to wreck your relationship with both of them. If I were you, I would talk things out with Nick before the plane lands because I have a feeling Crystal will not forgive you. At least not for a while."
"I really hurt her, didn't I?"
"Yes you did. I know you are hurt by her lies Lucas. But you have to look at things from her perspective. She found out that the two people closest to her had been lying to her for years. She figured out a buried secret about her family. Think about how she felt when these things happened. I mean, she must have felt alone, that is for sure. You have always had Nick by your side; you had someone to share your secrets with..."
"Yeah, and she had Zaire and Milo." Lucas interrupted with anger. For some reason, the thought of the two males always angers him. He does not like that Crystal trusts them more than she trusts him. As selfish as it sounds, he wanted to be the only person she considered family aside from Nick.
"I can tell that you have already made up your mind. So I am going to go and check up on Alonso." Ignazio gives him a disappointed look before he walks off.
Lucas stays rooted to his spot. He knows that some of his actions were wrong. However, he is convinced that Crystal has done bigger mistakes and betrayals. He debates going to his best friend and talk to him, but his cowardly side wins and he gives his back to everyone on the plane.
Suddenly, Lorenzo's phone starts ringing. Everyone's attention is focused on it, and they follow the old man's actions as he gets it out of his pocket and answers it. Seconds later, his face turns grim and he puts the call on speaker. For a few moments silence consumes the air, and then they hear it.
"Hello Lorenzo." Ivan greets from the other side of the phone.
"What do you want?" Lorenzo asks him in a low angry voice.
"If I tell you, I will ruin my fun!" Lucas can imagine the sick grin on the Russian man's face.
"Cut the crap Ivan, what do you want?" Nicholas seems like he would jump off the plane if it means he gets to kill Ivan.
"Okay, fine. I just wanted to tell you how disappointed I am in you for keeping your sister a secret for all these years. I mean she is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." Lucas can hear soft whimpers, and he immediately realizes that it is Crystal.
"Is that..." he cannot bring himself to say it.
"If you touch her I am going to rip you apart." Nicholas face turns red from the ire.
"Well, I think we are a little passed that since I am touching her right now." Crystal's whimpers grow a little louder. The shuffling indicates that she is trying to pull away from Ivan. Although Lucas can tell that she is unsuccessful.
"I have to say I am a little disappointed in you Nickolas, you too Alonso. I thought you were smarter than this. I really believed you would know what my plan is. Now, I am forced to explain it to you." Ivan lets out a dramatic sigh.
"What did you do Ivan?" Alonso asks through gritted teeth.
"Oh, you know, I fooled your father and friends to come and recue you so I can enter the house they are staying at. I have to say I was happy to find that not only Crystal is here, but also Milo's son. With his state, it would be super easy to eliminate him and..."
"Touch my son and I will show you how real pain feels like!" Milo roars.
"Well, lucky for you he is not the one I have my eyes on at the moment. Isn't that right love?" Ivan asks.
"Do not touch me you prick!" Crystal yells. Lucas can hear her struggling against the Russian mafia boss, and his blood boils at the images his mind creates.
"Get your hands off of her."
"Do not touch her."
"I am going to skin you alive." Milo, Nicholas, and Alonso yell at the same time.
"Well, you have to get here in order to do all that. The question is will you arrive in time?"
"Crystal?" Alonso calls her name with depression in his voice. Lucas remembers that Alonso had claimed his friend. He also remembers that the Italian man has always dreamed of falling in love and settling in. He has always searched for love and affection. Unlike everyone else on the plane, he refused to allow that part of him to get tainted by their lifestyle.
He cannot imagine how Alonso feels knowing that his foe has the one person who can give him the life he wants, even though Crystal never declared that she particularly cares for Alonso in that same way.
Deep down, Lucas has always been jealous of Alonso for that. He has never regarded himself as cold or incapable of love, but he can never imagine himself be consumed by another the way Alonso is by Crystal.
"Alonso?" She replies back with a whisper. Lucas cannot decide if the emotion in her voice is due to her fear or her relief to hear the Italian man's voice.
"Oh, do not tell you two are going to turn all emotional." Ivan mutters to himself.
"Anyway, I cannot take any chances." Suddenly, the sound of a fist colliding with flesh echoes through the plane.
"Ivan!!!" Nicholas yells before the sound completely disappears.
"You better hurry up and come here before I do something way worse than punch her in the face. Keep in mind that I do not need her anymore. Thus, she is available for killing." He hangs up without waiting for a response.
Everyone stares at the phone in Lorenzo's hand until Nicholas lets out a deafening scream and knocks out the things that are on the table before him. Milo takes a step towards him but the Brazilian mafia boss holds his hand up and runs into the only other room in the plane other than the bathroom.
"I got it." Lucas tells no one in particular before he follows his friend. He stands before the door for a few minutes. Every time he attempts to knock or open the door, he cowers away. He knows that Nicholas needs him, but he does not what to say to make him feel better especially since they are not on good terms at the moment.
"I can hear you panting." Nicholas' voice comes from behind the door. That one sentence is the only motivation he needs to man up and open the door.
The sight the meets him almost breaks his heart. Nicholas sits on the floor while his back leans on the front of the king sized bed that is in the middle of the room. In addition, Lucas can see the wetness on his friend's cheeks; he must have tried to wipe his tears off before Lucas walked in.
"You look horrible." Lucas points out bluntly before he joins Nicholas on the floor.
"Not the right words to say right now." Nicholas grumbles.
"I know I am sorry. I cannot imagine how angry you are right now. I mean if I yearn to feel his blood against my skin, I do not know what you plan to do to him."
"I feel hopeless, and I hate it." Nicholas reveals after a few moments of silence.
"Crystal will be alright Nicholas; we will arrive there in time. Not to mention she is not helpless; if it comes to it, she can protect herself." Lucas can tell that his friend wants to say something but he holds his tongue.
"For the past two months, I would lay awake on the hard cold floor every night and I would think of you. I kept thinking about the fight we had right before I left, and I wondered if it was the last time I would ever get to see you. I prayed it was not. Still, I was scared that I will not have the chance to talk to you again and make things right."
"You and me both brother." Lucas confesses as he looks his friend in the eye.
"We have known each other for years, and not once had we fought. I hate the fact that I am the reason for our first fight. You are my brother, my family, and I should not have said the things I said. Although I cannot say that I did not mean every word." Lucas decides to be honest. After all, keeping secrets is not something they do, and the Brazilian man does not want to start now.
"I guess this is the first time we disagree on something." Nicholas hits the back of his head with the bed's edge.
"Yeah, and I hate the aftermath of that disagreement." Lucas mutters as he thinks about Crystal.
"What do you mean?" Nicholas gives him a confused look and a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I am not proud of it. In fact I hate myself for it. However, when we learned that you and Alonso got abducted, I needed someone to blame for everything; the fight, your failed plan, everything..." Lucas cannot find the right words to say without having Nicholas dislocate his bones.
"I kind of... well, I let all of it out on..."
"No! No, you did not!" Nicholas whisper yells as he pulls himself away from the bed to face his friend.
"I... I did... and you do not know the amount of regret I feel because of it."
"Why would you blame Crystal Lucas? With me being gone, I had hoped that you two would be there for each other!" Lucas can tell that Nicholas is surprised and a little hurt, but he is not angry. In Lucas' opinion, that is a good sign.
"I just... She was the reason we had that fight, and then I felt so helpless and angry and I did not think before I spoke... a couple of days later I tried to apologize but I could not bear the broken look she gave me. Therefore, I could not look her in the eyes let alone say anything. After that it was just a matter of jealousy." Lucas cringes when he thinks about his senseless emotions.
"Jealousy?" once again, Lucas receives a raised eyebrow.
"Please do not ask." Lucas huffs when he sees the look Nicholas gives him.
"Okay, fine. I got jealous of how close Crystal seemed to be to Milo and his son, Zaire. If she was not crying on Milo's shoulder, she was laying next to his son on his bed. God, she even spent some nights in his room even though he was unconscious. It unnerved me because we are her family; you and I. Yet, she seemed to care about them more than she cares about us, and I did not like it; I still do not. We are her family, she is ours." Lucas expects his friend to laugh in his face, but he does not. Moreover, he expects Nicholas to question Milo's son being alive. He does not. For the time being, he chooses to not comment on it. He has to fix the bridge that has been broken between them first.
"If only you knew what I know brother." Nicholas rubs his eyes with his good hand.
"What do you mean?" Lucas' curiously and interest peaks.
"Yeah, Alonso says that you have a story to tell us." Ignazio joins them. Moments later, all the men are sitting in a circle on the ground.
"First, are we good?" Lucas asks the Brazilian mafia boss.
"Of course we are; all is forgotten and forgiven." They give each other a quick hug before they turn to the others.
"So what is up?" Alberto asks as he glares at his tablet with impatience. Lucas can tell that the Italian man wants nothing more than to get up and return to his precious laptop. He is slightly surprised that he did not bring it along with him from the other room. Lucas watches Alberto for a few moments as he keeps fixing his glasses against his face.
"Well, for starts we learned you and Crystal's secret." Nicholas looks directly at Milo.
"Yeah, Nicholas as I told you his son..." Lucas starts, but once again his friend does not let him finish.
"I know all about him. I also know that he is my and Crystal's little brother." Lucas' eyes widen at that.
"Wait, what?' Ignazio puts his hands before him to show that he does not understand what Nicholas just said.
"So you do not know?" Alonso asks his father. Lorenzo only shakes his head.
"Wait so; Milo's son is your brother? I thought he is your cousin." Lucas says the older man's name with distaste.
"Yeah, Ivan and Dante paid us a little visit when we first got captured." Alonso explains.
"Dante... Of course..." Milo scoffs. Lucas can see the anger in his eyes.
"He also told me that you are my..." Nicholas' voice trails off. The Brazilian mafia boss brings his legs to his chest and hugs them as he stares at the floor.
"There is so much that I want to tell you."
"I know son." Milo gives Nicholas a sad smile.
Lucas finally puts the pieces together and he immediately feels stupid for not figuring it out earlier.
"Oh dear lord you are father and son." Ignazio gasps as he passes an accusing finger between Nicholas and Milo.
"Milo, is it true?" Lorenzo asks. Milo nods as he keeps his attention on his son.
As Lucas thinks about the situation they are in, he finds that everything makes more sense now that he knows that his friend is Milo' son. The room remains quiet for a while before Milo decides to talk.
"I just want you to know that I am extremely proud of the man you have become, and I wish I was there with you, but I..."
"I know." Nicholas gives his father an understanding nod. Lucas has a feeling that his friend has thought that matter through over the past couple of months. A part of him is relieved because there are no more secrets between them; at least that is Lucas' hope.
"Still, I want you to know that even though you could not see me I was always there. I always had your back, your sister's as well. I never abandoned you. More importantly, I am happy about how close you and Crystal are, and I am delighted that you protected her in any way you could." Milo openly says; he ignores the other men in the room. Lucas suspects that it is because the older man realizes that they might not get another chance to talk.
"Yeah." Is all speechless Nicholas says.
"Wait, that is not the whole story, is it?" Alberto asks. He is the only one who would notice an uncompleted picture.
Since Nicholas is too busy staring at his father with emotions that confuse Lucas, Alonso explains all that has happened to them while they were hostages. By the time he finishes, Nicholas comes out of his trance.
"Well, I definitely did not see that coming." Ignazio mutters.
"Now, you know everything." Milo says.
Everyone takes a few minutes to think about everything. They just want to enjoy the quiet before the storm comes.
Suddenly, Lucas feels a slap on the back on his neck. Immediately he rubs his neck in pain as he turns to his friend.
"What was that for?" He yells at Nicholas in exaggeration.
"Two things: One, for hurting my sister. Two, for thinking that you will receive any kind of forgiveness from her."
"I agree. I mean if I know her well, then I would guess that the closest thing you would receive to forgiveness is a punch in the gut." Alonso chuckles, but he is met with nervous stares.
"What?" he asks.
"Well, let's just say that Crystal has lost her fire over the past couple of months." Alberto answers with hesitance. Everyone knows that Crystal's fire is the main reason Alonso fell in love with her.
"What?" The color drains from his face.
"While you were... gone, things were rough." Milo says with pain in his face.
Lucas notices Nicholas' quietness. Thus, he turns to him to find him deep in thought with a tight jaw. He is angry because as much as Crystal's playful personality was annoying it was what defined her, it was what made her special. Now, it was gone, and Lucas knows that he is one of the reasons behind it.
"Nicholas..." Lucas starts but the Brazilian mafia boss does not give him a chance to continue.
"It is not your fault."
"But..."
"It is not your fault." Nicholas insists.
"Well, it seems we have two missions now." Ignazio declares as he gets up and leaves the room.
Everyone looks at each other with perplexed expressions on their faces.
"To defeat Ivan, and make sure that Crystal has not lost herself." Ignazio continues as he returns to the room with six shots in his hands. He hands them out to the others before he makes a toast.
"To family and friends." He says while pulling his shot up.
"Family and friends." Everyone repeats before they all drink their shots.
"Off to war we go." Lucas mutters. He hopes that they will outsmart Ivan and win because he wants to have a chance to apologize to Crystal even if it means she will literally tear him apart.

Anhour later, Lorenzo sits in a corner as he stares into thin air. Alberto typesfiercely on his laptop while cursing every once in a while and taking largesips from his flask. And Ignazio tries to tend to Alonso's leg as best as hecan.
Lucaswalks to the bedroom, but he stands still when he hears someone crying. TheBrazilian man takes cautious steps until he stands by the open door.
Heis not taken aback when he sees Nicholas hugging Milo really tight. He is takenaback, however, by the fact that Nicholas is the one who is crying as Milo comfortshim.
Lucasfeels like he is invading their privacy as he watches the intimate moment they share.However, he cannot look away because seeing Nicholas' tears he realizes how muchthe truth has affected him. Perhaps not in a negative way, but it definitely hasa huge impact on him.
TheBrazilian man feels glad his friend has finally found someone who he can understandhim in a way neither he nor Crystal can. Thus, for the first time ever, Lucas doesnot feel any kind of distaste towards the older man when he thinks about him. Ifanything, he feels grateful.