CHAPTER 66: FLASHES OF A DEADLY PAST

Sonia stumbled behind and almost fell to the ground on seeing Luciano.

Her body rattled like a leaf, as she held on to the tray in her hand for fear that if she made any reckless move, it would slip out and shatter to the ground.

Luciano fully turned to her, backing up Valentina.

"Why is the girl out of lanotte?!" he began questioning in a chill and fair tone.

Sonia’s heart raced, and summersaulted at the same time.

She could answer truthfully, but it would just end up putting the other superiors in trouble, thereby pushing her in the middle of it all.

And so her lips trembled, as she held it together.

"I believe I asked you a question, Sonia. It is in your best interest to respond now I am being calm. I gave clear and concise instructions. The gates of lanotte are not supposed to be open if the reason is a prisoner getting out without my notice. Why is she out?"

In the midst of the drama, Valentina moved to the bed and sat down.

She battled with the emergence of a pain she tried to gaslight herself wasn’t real.

Yet, she couldn’t explain why her head swayed on its own accord, and why her chest throbbed.

Sonia opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was air.

She lowered her head, and prayed internally that if this was her last day on earth, then let her soul be welcome in heaven.

The calm in Luciano slowly began to drift away, as irritation at her silence tore at his heart.

He took another step away from Valentina, towards her.

"You do realize you are now an accomplice to whoever you are trying to protect right? I do not care who it is. Whoever they are that blatantly defied my orders, and brought the girl out will feel my wrath. You included!" His voice deepened with every word he said, and his tone got heavier.

"Car-po

," she stuttered as he took another step towards her.

Her fingers were vibrating uncontrollably at this point. It was only a matter of time before the tray slipped out of her hand.

Yet even when she lifted her head, she couldn’t bring herself to make any sounds, as fear paralyzed her soul.

"What is it?!" He lost all composure. "Do you or do you not have something to say for yourself?!" His voice thundered furiously.

Sonia physically jerked, and the tray moved a little.

Her eyes widened as she controlled the movement of the tray, just before it could fall out of her hand.

The urgency of the situation hit her hard, and now she was fully aware she had to damn the consequences and act.

She dropped the tray on the table a little closer to the door, and then fully faced Luciano.

However she couldn’t look into his eyes. She completely avoided his gaze.

"Carpo–" her lips quivered into silence.

"Sonia, I am giving you one last opportunity to redeem yourself. If you don’t tell me the truth this instant, I will raise hell and you will be consumed by the fire."

"Carpo–" she called for the third time.

Two emotions flared up in him. The biggest was fury, and the other curiosity.

She had called him three times. It was either a distraction technique, or there was something she needed to say.

He played a quick game of chess in his mind to dull the raging anger arising inside of him.

When he felt his breath relaxing, he knew he had temporarily defeated the first emotion.

"Sonia?" He called once more in a calmer tone.

The moment she heard that tone, she brought her gaze to him, knowing within herself he was calmer now.

"Carpo!" she called again, this time fiercer, and with a more intense look. Not at him, but through him.

Instincts kicked, and Luciano turned around swiftly.

His heart dropped for a moment there when he saw Valentina.

She was sitting on the bed with her hand over her head, her breath rushed and uneven, as her body twisted in agony.

"Cristo!" He swore under his breath as he rushed towards her.

On getting to the bed, he dropped just beside her, and tried to grab her shoulders.

Valentina shoved him away, as a flash tore through her mind.

They were images. Violent images. Music-voices-gunshot.

"Miabambina!"

The desperation in that word burned into somewhere in her head she never remembered on a normal day.

Only when these violent attacks occurred.

"Valentina," Luciano tapped her again.

"Don’t fucking touch me!" She barked at him, and then screamed again as the pain intensified.

She fell to the bed with her back, and began to whimper as her body twisted and contorted.

Luciano grew confused. The last time she had an attack like this around him, it wasn’t this intense.

He stopped it by kissing her. But that was that day.

That was before he discovered her identity, and she discovered his.

If he tried to kiss her again, she could very well slice off his head with her hand.

He looked up at Sonia for help, but she was vibrating, and in tears.

"Do something carpo," she repeated over and over again through tears.

He looked back at Valentina. She was twitching and convulsing now.

Her teeth clattered uncontrollably. He saw her fingers digging into the bedsheets as her toes curled into odd shapes..

She was like a woman possessed.

"Valentina," he moved closer to her on the bed. "Breathe. Breathe Valentina. You have to," he said.

"No! Shut up! Don’t talk," she said angrily as the memories clawed at her skull through flashes that blinded her eyes. "Mia caro

!" She repeated twice.

Luciano’s forehead creased in concentration. Her voice every time she spoke in Italian, didn’t sound like hers. It was as if she was mimicking someone else.

His chest tightened at his complete uselessness at the moment.

Luciano had watched over a thousand men die, some of these deaths he was even responsible for. But nothing compared to watching Valentina break apart in front of him.

It was pain like he had never seen before. And if he felt that pain just by watching, he wouldn’t even begin to fathom what the person feeling the pain felt like.

He jumped to his feet quickly. Sitting idly was not going to stop anything.

"Miabambina! MiaCaro! Miaprincesa!" Valentina said through the pain.

She couldn’t even speak Italian. But in that state, her Italian was fluent and clear.

Another flash tore at her skull, shattering it and going straight into her brain.

Valentina held her head, and screamed so loud, she scratched her throat.

Luciano froze, but only for a second on hearing that guttural scream from her.

He moved his feet again, and walked straight to the vinyl player

A distraction.

His mind continued to yell those words at him. Since he couldn’t physically do anything to calm her, he turned up the music.

It was a different jazzy sound he had never heard before, but he hoped it would calm her down.

Valentina’s body jerked violently the moment the sound reached her ears.

The fight swiftly turned into tears. And as she felt the first sting of tears in her eyes, sorrow engulfed her.

She began to hum along with the familiar sound that was reminiscent of the day all things fell apart.

"I can’t cry. I don’t cry. I’m usually able to hold my tears," she thought, and it was the first thought that wasn’t born out of her pain.

But the tears were no respecter of her pride. It gushed down in torrents.

Luciano watched her with realization in his eyes.

Blinded by anger, he hadn’t seen it before. But now he did.

Aurora and him weren’t the only ones that had suffered.

Valentina still carried her scars.