Chapter 238 - Punishment

"Eleanora, are you mad at mommy too?" Persephone asked her daughter. She was staring at her daughter who was playing in the crib. "Your dad is accusing me of cheating on him. It was a girl. She was about to kiss my cheek like mommy kisses her little lady's cheek but I moved and the kiss ended up on my lips. I didn't cheat on your dad. Tell him, baby. Tell him to talk to mommy." 

"Rockstar, tell your mommy that she didn't need to explain things to me," Santiago smiled at his daughter but ignored Persephone. 

"Norie, tell your dad to talk to your mommy if he had the guts too, "Persephone sulked, looking at her daughter. "Oh, baby, your daddy is a scaredy-cat." 

"What are you teaching her?" Santiago said, turning towards Persephone. 

Persephone gave him her best puppy eyes as she scooted over to sit on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. Kissing his jaw, she said, "Stop being angry. You know you are overreacting. Why are you mad at me?" 

Santiago tried to ignore her but she was clingy and refused to remove her arms around his neck. "Speak to me or I will not let you go." 

Of course, Santiago didn't listen to him and removed her gently from his lap, removing her arms around his body and standing up to leave the nursery. 

He was throwing a tantrum again. 

To be honest, even he didn't know why he was mad at her. 

Actually, he was mad at her for so many things. It was just that he didn't want to accept it before. 

They needed to have a real talk and she was dodging all the signals he was giving her. He didn't wish to be in an ambiguous relationship with her anymore. He wanted something real with her now. 

It was either yes or no. There was no middle way. 

Yes, he had said that he would let her go once she was safe enough. But now? He was going back on his words. There was no way he could live without his family. He needed Persephone and Eleanora in his life like he needed oxygen to survive. 

Persephone gave him a life. 

And Eleanora made him what to be a better person. 

When he saw his wife laughing with Gabriel yesterday, he almost went berserk. He knew how the latter was looking at his wife. The bloody captain had hearts in his eyes while talking to her. He was so mad at her. How could she not notice that the man was checking her out? 

And then, she had some favours to ask from him. Was her husband dead that he couldn't even help her? 

Then again, she didn't even see him as her husband. Why did it even matter to her if he was mad at her or not? 

He already had a hard time consoling his heart that Persephone was not considering Gabriel and then he saw a woman kissing her. Lord knew how he felt at that time. 

It was juvenile of him to ignore her like a child. Yes, he was aware that he was throwing a tantrum. But what could he do when his wife didn't want to make anything clear to him? 

He could ask her too but it was not what he wanted. He wanted her to come to him on her heart's desire not because they had a baby together. 

His head was so fucking aching when he left the car. Seeing his car parked, he got into it and drove to the location that he had been avoiding for many days now. Fifteen minutes later, he parked the car and got out to enter the secluded building. The guards appointed there nodded in greeting and he raised his hand, indicating that he would like to be alone. 

Opening the door, he came across the man who had made his life a living hell. The man who made him what he was today. 

Lorenzo was sprawling on the mattress placed on the ground. The room was dimly lit and it was hard to make out his facial features. Dragging a chair, Santiago sat on it crossed-legged only to stare at the waning man before him. 

Who would have thought that he was the same man who once used to be the master of people's destiny? 

Time changes… 

And so had his… 

"Why are the dead rising from ashes?" Lorenzo chuckled darkly, staring right into his eyes. 

"You still recognize me," Santiago's voice was heard next. 

Lorenzo broke out into a fit of laughter and then suddenly, he glared at him. "These blue eyes. Fucking blue eyes deceived me once. What a pity I couldn't kill you then!" 

"I was there for a long time," Santiago said. "Why didn't you? You have a lot of chances to kill me. Why did you not kill me the way you should have?"

Lorenzo looked at her as if he was the creature he hated the most. "Do you think I don't want to? I wanted to kill you! But that bastard father of yours played me and Alessandro! He stole our gold. He was supposed to be an ally but he screwed us over!"

Santiago shook his head. "Look at you! What have you not done for that man? But in the end, he didn't even come to save you. Rather, he pushed you towards death." 

Lorenzo bitterly laughed. "I don't fucking regret what I did. Your father died a horrible death. So what if I couldn't kill you? He looked for you every second of his life but wasn't able to find you. I wanted to see him tortured and I accomplished it. I don't regret anything at all." 

"Come on, kill me," Lorenzo said next, provoking Santiago. "I gave your mother and father a horrible death. The kind of death nobody would ever fathom about. Come on and avenge your parents and yourself. Isn't that what you want? Isn't that why you kidnapped that niece of mine?! And she must have been a horrible lay like her mother--"

Before he could complete his words, Santiago kicked him hard. "You wouldn't achieve anything by provoking me. Indeed, I wanted to give you the most horrible death. But not anymore. Even talking to you feels like a waste of my breath." 

Santiago chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. "You know what, Lorenzo? I wanted to kill you. For this day, I planned and plotted and did all the things that killed the soul within me. But at this moment? It felt wasted. I wasted seventeen years of my life hating someone like you." 

"You know what would be the worst punishment for you?" Santiago then asked him. "Living. You would leave the life I did once. For the rest of your life, you will live the life you gave me. I promised my daughter that I would be a better man for her. I would never make her feel ashamed of who I am. Killing you means staining my hands. And I would never do that again." 

"A villain finally found his redemption but what about a monster such as you?" Santiago questioned him. 

Lorenzo had the audacity to scoff at Santiago's words. "Aren't we the same, little Vitello? Your father screwed me over. He stole my fucking gold. I seek revenge on him by torturing his son. You captured and tormented me for revenge. Tell me who are we different from each other? Villains like you and I will never find redemption. We will live and die with the stains of the blood we spilled." 

"You ain't fucking manipulate me," Santiago shouted at him. His eyes blazed with fire. "There are no more of you in my head. You and I can't be alike. No way in hell. I didn't destroy my own family. I didn't kill my own sisters and nephew. I didn't betray my sister by snatching her husband." 

Lorenzo's eyes widened. Nobody knew. Nobody except for him and Alessandro knew about that frowned upon relationship. 

"Penelope knew everything," Santiago said. "She knew everything. And you know what else? She provided us with the fuel for your and Alessandro Marino's pyre. She was collecting proof against all the crimes she had committed. If Salvatore didn't kill his father in days to come, the FBI will hunt the bastard. His crimes couldn't be covered in one notebook. One would need hundreds of them. His death is fixed but you will live. You will live!"

With another bout of laughter, Santiago left the arena, leaving a certain mad man shouting and screaming behind. 

It finally ended. 

He was free. 

And it wasn't a pity that it ended this way. 

Perhaps, it was for the better. 

Instead of running after revenge, he should try to love himself and his family.. Maybe, this way he would seek heaven that a villain like him had no right to even dream of.