34. The Aftermath

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Letizia was sitting in a classroom having her head on her desk with her arms shielding her face waiting for her exam that started in half an hour and of course thinking about everything that had happened and everything that could happen to her. For the first time in a very long time tears had come to her eyes because of her ordeal. She looked up and sighed. She wiped her tears as she looked at the boys at the door guarding her and Stefano even had brought her a water bottle to make her feel better. She smiled at Stefano who was leaning to the wall opposite her and she took a sip from her water bottle.

When Letizia had come down stairs, she had broken into tears and Vincenzo had seen her. He had started questioning her as she was coming down the stairs and she had refused to say anything. Then when Alton, Sebastiano, Nick and Joshua, had come past, they had gladly told Vincenzo what had happened. Vincenzo had become distraught and worried. Letizia had never seen Vincnezo like that before. He had insisted to take her to a nearby classroom until he sorted the issue out. He had called the other Rosarios, Alexander, Stefano and Viggo to guard him in that classroom. What had baffled her was that he hadn't called Cain. He didn't trust him even if he was living with his uncle while his parents were resolving whatever issues they had and one day were going to come and pick up their son from Costanzo Rosario who had been safe keeping their son. Surprisingly according to Vincenzo, Cain was on Tristan's side.

Vincenzo had been so urgent and distraught and she hadn't let her argue. He had literally had dragged her to that classroom. He had muttered as he had left "He will get you if he wants to. I need to find him now. If he comes before I get to him, the guys would hold him up."

To Letizia it didn't make sense why Vincenzo cared for her, but at that instant since he had acted so urgent and sincere she hadn't argued and had gone along with his orders to stay in that classroom.

Suddenly she heard his voice who ordered harshly "Leave now guys. He wont hurt her for what happened today. He wouldn't take it further. He gave his word."

Letizia hiccupped as she sobbed with her head on the desk and heard him close the door. His steps echoed through the room seemingly meaning he was walking towards her.. "Letizia... Are you alright." he whispered softly.

Letizia sobbed as she had her head on the desk. Throughout her life, she had never been so scared in her life. She had made an enemy out of Tristan and his murderous stare was haunting her. She knew she was dead in a heartbeat if Tristan demanded it. She knew he was going to push her to suicide if he wanted to. She had heard about Tristan enough from Alton who she knew from her old school in Italy. He had told her stories of Tristan. He was dangerous and she had crossed him. She was so shaken up at the experience of having him direct his hate and deadly intentions at her. She knew he was capable of killing her if he wanted to and the only one who could protect her was Vincenzo. She had never felt this way before. Finally she had gone too far. She had messed with the wrong boy. Ironically, it was Vincenzo who had come to her rescue. She never wanted to be around Vincenzo and found him annoying but now she was so grateful for his existence. She kept reliving what situation she was in ever since her encounter with Trsitan. He was going to torture her and would have made her scream. That was his specialty according to Alton. She sobbed again.

Vincenzo put a hand on her shoulder "Shh. It's ok. I went to speak to him. He wont hurt you for taunting him today... You are safe... for now... Stop crying.... It will be alright.... But come on Letizia you should know better than to taunt him. Are you crazy? I can't protect you against him like how I would like to. I can only protect you in school and that's if i am at the scene or reach there on time if you offend him. I can't protect you well off site of school since you are not a Rosario and I can't therefore involve my father. I really can't protect you properly. I can only avenge you if he hurts you again but I can not stop him from hurting you if he wishes it." He pulled up a chair opposite her and sat down as he rubbed his hand gently on her arm as she still had her head on the desk. Then he continued "He said he would forget about how you offended him today but he won't hold back next time... The next time you taunt him, he would do much worse than what he promised to do today and if I am not around he would carry out his threat instantly and successfully. No one can do anything if he wants you hurt Letizia. No one. But I will declare war on him if that happens. I told him if he ever hurts you, I would declare war to defend your honour ... but what's the point of that Letizia. I don't want you hurt. Please don't take him on again. I can't protect you. You are not a Rosario..."

Letizia froze. It was the first time she had noticed Vincenzo used the word "Please". For the first time she had noticed Vincenzo speaking to her in a soft pleading tone... She took a deep breath and looked up as she wiped her tears. She whispered "Thank you..." She then gasped as she saw the state of Vincenzo "His knuckles were bruised. He must have been fighting...."Did you fight him?"

Vincenzo laughed bitterly "Of course. What did you expect I do? You are my girl."

Letizia felt bad for what she had done "I am ... sorry." If Vincenzo could say please, then she could say sorry. "Look, I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I saw him in the corridor and then it happened...."

Vincenzo shook his head "It doesn't matter what happened. What matters is what happens next. I told you, that you don't need to be afraid of him coming to hunt you down today. He said he won't. He said he would forgive but wont forget. I didn't expect anything else from him.... He never forgets. He is not fond of you. Please Letizia, keep out of his way. I can protect you against everyone else in this school but I can't stop him from hurting you if you get in his way. You can go around and insult every single person in this whole school and there would be no consequences at all. No one is allowed to hurt you. Everyone else in this school is afraid of insulting you because you are mine but Tristan is not afraid. He knows I am his match. He is the only one in this school, that you shouldn't taunt. I can't prevent him from hurting you unless I am with you 24 hours a day. Even then he will strike until he succeeds.... He is an O'Neil. He would get you if he wishes it. There is no one who has ever escaped him. I am not just talking about school. If you are off premises, he can get you also. You can't risk him coming after you.... But I assure you, he is willing to let what happened today go unpunished. Please don't get in his way.... If he hurts you I told him, I would declare war on him...."

Letizia shook her head vigorously "No, you can't do that. I don't want to cause you trouble. I don't want to cause anyone trouble. You declaring war on him is not what I want and there is no point......"

Vincenzo sighed "Then for crying out loud refrain from disrespecting him in any way. He runs the school. Just don't disrespect him. Keep away from him and don't taunt him. Thats all I ask. I don't want a war with him either. But for you, I will do anything. I would defend your honour no matter what... but as you said, what's the point of a war. I just don't want to see you hurt. There is not much value on taking revenge after you get hurt...Is it?"

Letizia nodded "I am sorry for this... I wont try to taunt him again.... I don't want you to have a face off with him because of me.... I wont cause any trouble again. I promise..." She really was shaken up to the point that she didn't care about compromising. She felt bad. She knew her actions had consequences for others. She couldn't be the cause of tension between Rosarios and O'Neils. She thought of Vienna. What was going to happen to her if her brother fought against Tristan who had claimed her as his. She was smart enough to know that what was happening in this school was not ordinary and everything was for life. These were not ordinary kids who resolved anything over ice cream or a basket of fries. They hurt each other and when they did, they meant business. She didn't want anyone to get hurt because of her. She hated to admit it but she knew she couldn't take on Tristan. She knew full well. She didn't know what had possessed her to do it. She took a sip of her water bottle and took a deep breath..

Vincenzo looked at her worriedly " Look I am worried for you. Do you want to go home and rest. You look shaken up."

Letizia shook her head "No.... It's you who needs to rest... You had a go at Tristan..."

Vincenzo leaned back in his chair "Don't worry about me. I will be fine.... But please, don't taunt him. Don't offend him. You talk to him if you want but just don't disrespect him. The school is a public place. If you get on his nerves in front of everyone else, he would make that ice bath threat seem like a kiss on the cheek. Honestly. He would be ruthless to you. The last time you escaped him after you slapped him because it was your first time. He gave you a break. Once he can forgive you. Twice he can forgive you but be very afraid of him the next time you cross him because you have to get bodyguards 24/7 and have to leave this school to have a chance of being safe.... and I don't want that Letizia. I want you to stay. Look, I know you don't like me.... But I don't want you to get hurt. I will do anything for you. If you get hurt, I would feel hurt too believe it or not... so please don't push Tristan again. It's not too late to fix this issue you have with Tristan peacefully since he hasnt hurt you and doesn't intend to. He is willing to forgive and make peace so there is no need for war. Take this as a lifeline because if there is a war there is no going back....."

Letizia stood up "I wont. I promise. Thank you for your help. I can't believe you defended me like that." She knew she had been playing with fire when she had taunted Tristan and only now that the fire had nearly burnt her she had realised the dangers she had put herself in and the dangers she had put others in for that matter for disrespecting him.

Then Vincenzo froze as he saw her rub her hand where his knuckles were bruised and then leaned close. She then kissed him on the cheek and whispered "Thank you."

Vincenzo was too shocked to react. At last she had finally come round only after she had been in grave danger and he had to fight to get Tristan off her back. He wished he could stand up and exploit the situation but he didn't. He knew Letizia was just in too much of a shock and too vulnerable at that time so he didn't want to take advantage of her weaker state when her guards were down. He vowed to make her fall for him soon....

Letizia muttered "I need to go to the rest room to wash my face. I will see you at the exam hall." She then quickly walked out of the classroom

Vincenzo then took a deep breath. He then made his way outside the classroom and walked away. He joined his group of friends at the cafeteria and waited for the bell to ring.

As the bell rang, the students gathered outside the exam hall. Vincenzo was standing next to Alexander talking about one of the potential exam questions they had discussed in class. That was then Vincenzo noticed Letizia and his mouth fell open at the direction she was going. She had washed her face and it didn't look like she was crying any more... But she was walking towards Tristan who was leaning to a wall as his group were surrounding him.

Alexander noticed he wasn't listening "What's the matter, man?" He then looked at the direction he was looking. "Oh dear lord."

Vincenzo told himself "Damn you woman, I just told you to keep away from him." He balled his hands into fists and waited for her action ready to defend her... Letizia was now standing in front of Tristan who was looking at her with narrowed eyes. She cleared her throat

But then to Vincenzo surprise she heard her speak loud and clear the words he never thought he would hear from Letizia "I am so sorry Tristan for what I did today. I didn't mean it.... I wont do it again.... Forgive me."

Tristan was taken back too so his expression changed to a slightly more friendly one and Vincenzo looked on as Letizia visibly relaxed. Tristan stated "Apology is .... accepted."

Vincenzo took a breath of relief. That was one less thing to worry about. If Letizia offended him again, he was going to really hurt her and Letizia's crying episode was going to be nothing at all compared to what could happen to her. He definitely didn't want his girl to be traumatised by Tristan....So he hoped Letizia didn't forget this lesson any time soon.... Tristan was way out of her league....

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net