16 - LUCA

Me and Fizz made our way back home, after going out to eat at a restaurant, making the most of our last days in Italy, before we would go back to England.

Fizz threw his jacket to the side, before kicking his legs up, throwing himself backwards onto the sofa, letting out all of his exhaustion.

"You go ahead," he grinned. "I'm going to call my wife and kids. Don't keep your lady waiting."

I grinned back, before throwing off my own jacket. I couldn't wait to have Zara in my arms again.

"Baby, I'm home!" I called out.

But I received no response.

I furrowed my eyebrows, a little confused.

"She's probably fallen asleep, or taking a shower," I murmured to myself.

I began trudging up the stairs, yawning, ready to take a bath, after having such a long day.

I made my way into my bedroom, ready to make my way into my en-suite.

But what I saw…

Caused me to screw my face with confusion, wondering what the hell was going on, and who the hell had been in here.

My laptop was lying on the middle of my bed, open.

But I was so sure that I had left it closed, on my desk, leaving it to charge.

I shrugged, knowing that I was forgetful, and I probably forgot to turn it off.

I darted towards my bed, reaching for the laptop…

And I could feel my heart stop in my throat, as I saw the page that was loaded up on the screen.

My tracking database was up, but not just on any name…

It was loaded up on the profile of the Muslim lady I'd met all those years ago…

The woman's family that Massimo had shot dead.

The situation that had left me beyond fucked-up for a long time.

I'd tried so hard to forget about it.

To push the bad memories to the back of my mind…

But now, I felt them resurfacing…

And they wouldn't stop.

They wouldn't stop replaying themselves, over and over to me…

Like a form of motherfucking torture.

I swallowed down a lump in my throat, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. I'd been staring intently at the lady's face, and hadn't even bothered looking at the name.

And it was then…

That I felt my heart stopped beating.

As I came to the realization that her name was Miriam Amelle.

I felt somebody push a barrel to the back of my head, and my pupils dilated in terror, my eyes fogging with tears.

My heart shattering into millions of tiny pieces.

I slowly moved my body anti-clockwise, knowing that I was going to come face-to-face with none other than…

Zara.