Chapter 2 Journey Into The Unknown

• Without warning, Daniel hit Aurora on her right cheek, then on her body, until she lost awareness of where his hands had hit. But the pains erupting from her body show she's been hit everywhere.
• By the time he stopped, she had a swollen cheek and a bleeding mouth. Sandra was pretentious enough to act as if she cared and stopped him, but what she said next brought Aurora back to a state of panic. She had nearly forgotten it was mentioned so early.
• “It’s enough, darling. We wouldn’t want her face to be damaged before we delivered her to Lorenzo. He might not care about her, but we can’t afford to bring curious eyes our way with the way she looks.”
• “She is an ungrateful child. Jenny was trying to be nice, but she just had to be wicked.”
• “I know, but no more hands on her.”
• “I still don’t know why you insist we lock her inside the house; left to me, I would rather disown her and throw her out of my house.” Daniel fumed.
• Aurora had tuned them out as she had a bigger problem than whatever was being discussed. What they were saying was no longer news to her, but the fact that she will be given to Lorenzo tomorrow is no small news.
• Catching Jenny and Jason in bed didn’t even break her to this extent or get her heart to beat with great trepidation. Not even Jason’s betrayal could equal what she is experiencing at the moment. Raw emotions of fear, and brokenness surge through her as she tries to decipher what she just heard from Sandra.
• “Deliver her to Lorenzo” kept ringing in her head.
• Why would her father deliver her to Lorenzo? Is it because of the lies Jenny spewed yesterday about hitting her?
• She tried to sit upright to think more about her situation.
• “Living in her father’s house is a much better state than being under Lorenzo”, she thought to herself.
• “What on earth am I coming with him to meet with Lorenzo for?”
• “Lorenzo, who has been rumoured to be a notorious, deadly Mafia lord. Inarguably, he is the most influential person in Italy. His influence is well known, and he’s feared not just in Italy but in Mexico, Russia, and America as well. Rumours have it that he eats the flesh of men and drinks their blood. It is also rumoured that he detests the presence of any females coming next to him. From what I had read and heard about him at the university, he was called gay because no one had ever seen a female with him. What business transaction does my father have with the devil himself?” She thought.
• "I guess you now see the benefits of having her around all this while" Sandra replied, casting a glance at Aurora with a smirk plastered on her lips.
• She couldn’t sleep a wink all through the night as she dreaded what the morning would bring. Come morning, her fate will be twisted. She is not looking forward to this meeting, but it is beyond her judgement.
• Early the next morning, Sandra had dragged her out to the car park to meet her impatient father. She wasn’t even allowed to have her breakfast or look decent enough. The bruises on her body and face are still evident. Sandra had tried her best to use concealer to hide the bruises on her face, and she had stolen a glance at the mirror to see how she looked. Thankfully, she hadn’t turned her into a clown with her make-up. If there’s one thing she loved the most, it was leaving her natural face void of make-up.
• Sandra did a good job hiding the cuts, but the swollen cheeks... not so much. As she sat in the car with her father, they were both silent. He didn’t even spare her a glance or respond to her greetings. He was just eager to get things done and be back in his office.
• As her father raced out of their gate, she looked back at the house that had been in her memory for years with a gloomy face. Will she be back or is it a complete farewell? She didn’t know.
• She withdrew her gaze from the building and stared ahead at the road, which stretched without an end, thinking about what fate had in store for her. She’d suddenly been thrown into a journey of the unknown, one she would rather not embark on.
• “Better keep those tears to yourself!” Daniel barked. Instantly, she wiped her face off; she didn’t even know when the tears had started falling. Leaning on the seat, she closed her eyes and welcomed the uncertainty; there was nothing she could do to change it. Why would she stress herself?
• ***
• “How dare you dirty my shoe?” Lorenzo roared.
• Aiming his gun at the lifeless body on the floor, he rains a bullet into the dead body. The body jerks as the bullet pierces different parts. He had shot the lifeless man in the head earlier, and the blood splattered and stained his shoe.
• Annoyed by the stain, he rained down bullets into the already lifeless body.
• In the corner of the room sat a man in his urine, dreading his fate. He and the lifeless body had been caught trying to steal funds from the casino, and Lorenzo's men had caught them and brought them to the oven to receive their judgement.
• “Bring that bloody fool who dares try to steal from me!” he ordered his men who were with him in the room. Instantly, the pleas of the man filled the room.
• Without waiting for the man to be dragged to his front, Lorenzo aimed the gun at him and clicked, but it was empty. He hated the noise the man was making and couldn’t wait to have a pin-drop silence. Staring at the man in his right hand, another loaded gun was placed in his palm.
• “You better be thankful that I have already emptied the bullets into the body of your accomplice here. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep quiet.” He ordered in a cold voice, which shut him up.
• He motioned for his men to place him on the empty iron seat in the centre room, and they quickly obliged.
• “Why did you steal from me?”
• "Boss," he stammered. “We didn’t mean to steal from you; we were only arranging the money when we were brought here.” He managed to finish his sentence.
• “You dare lie to me?” Lorenzo thundered, which made the man on the seat wet himself all over again, afraid of his fate because of the deadly look on Lorenzo's face.
• “No boss…” He didn’t get to finish his statement before he slumped from the chair, and his eyes rolled to the back of his skull. He gripped his neck where a bullet had just pierced. He gurgled before his body suddenly went lifeless.
• "Clean up this mess,” Lorenzo said to no one in particular, and with that, his long legs strolled out of the room. He hadn’t gone out of the room when his assistant, Lawrence, rushed to his side, walking quietly behind him. As Lorenzo's chilling command hung in the air, Lawrence couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation mixed with a healthy dose of apprehension. He adjusted his glasses, his mind swirling with questions and uncertainties.
• "Daniel Bennett is at the down-street office, sir," Lawrence reported, trying to keep up with Lorenzo's powerful strides. Lorenzo's eyes narrowed, his gaze piercing as he considered Lawrence's words. "Alone?"
• "No, he's got company." Lawrence shook his head.
• Lorenzo's lips curled into a slight smirk, a silent acknowledgment of the scheme surrounding their unexpected visitors. "And who might this 'company' be?"
• Lawrence shrugged, "He is with a lady. Her identity, I can’t confirm yet, boss. But something tells me it’s not going to be a simple meeting."
• “Daniel wouldn’t dare me! He owes me, and I’ll draw blood from him if he refuses to comply.”
• In the darkened and rough path of their world, every encounter held the potential to reshape their reality. One no one can predict.
• With a nod, Lawrence braced himself for the imminent encounter, knowing that in the battle for power, nothing was ever as it seemed and anything could as well happen, but he was confident that he would come out unscathed.
• As the door creaked open, casting a ray of light into the darkness, Lorenzo stepped into the room, ready to face whatever awaited them on the other side.