AN: I am so very sorry for the long delay... these last few chapters are proving to be the hardest to write. I know how I want this to end but getting there has not been easy. I have written this chapter like fifty different ways and now just got what I feel is the best one. With that being said please enjoy and comment when you can... xoxoxox

After talking for a bit, they sat there together in his chair and she fell asleep not long after. Elena stood there sleeping in Lorenzo's arms while he waited on the call from Enzo. The two hours that went by felt more like days to him. The only thing that kept Lorenzo calm through the wait was the even breathing of Elena's sleeping form in his arms. As he sat there waiting his mind began thinking back to what others have told him as he looked down at her beautiful face. He was hotheaded, impulsive and a cold-hearted monster. He knew all that and it wasn't anything new, he had always been that way. The thing that bother him was what Diaz and Dante had said.

Elena was loyal and too good for him... he didn't deserve her or her loyalty... was he being selfish and ruining her life by claiming her as his queen, didn't she deserve better. She may have not chose to marry him in the first place but she did choose to stay when he asked what she wanted. She began to stir in his arms snapping him from his thoughts. Lorenzo knew thoughts like that would lead him nowhere good. He leaned his head down and placed a soft kiss to her forehead as she opened her eyes. They may have been right about all of it but that wasn't going to change the fact that he wasn't ever letting her go.

"I should get you home." Lorenzo said softly.

Elena nodded her head and with his help she was back on her feet. Lorenzo leaned down and picked up the phone he discarded earlier just as it began to ring. To his relief, the call was from Enzo, Angelo had taken two bullets but was going to make it. With the way things had gone down Roberto didn't have an exact number of how many men they took out. The Marzano family loss three of their own men in the shootout and a few more were injured. The numbers could have been much higher and they all knew it, Enzo also knew he could have lost both his boys in the club.

After he ended his call, the two of them went back out to the casino floor where his men were waiting on him. Elena sat at the bar while Lorenzo and the guys talked about his call with Enzo. The mood in the room went somber with the news they were given. It didn't take them long after that to get out of there and back to the compound. The compound was like a small village that sat on private land, several small houses dotted the land that he let his most trusted men live in. When they reached the guard's gate the men that didn't live there left while the rest passed through.

The days that followed were stressful for everyone. Every move Lorenzo or his men made were being watched closely by the cops and the Vargas family. Elena was placed under extra protection, she basically had an entire entourage now. Gino was still head of her protection detail but now he had three other men that traveled with them if she chose to leave. Lorenzo wasn't taking any chances when it came to her safety especially after what happened on the island.

Once Angelo was in the clear Enzo sent both his boys and underboss back north to protect their own. Over the days that passed the bloodshed from the war was felt through the city. Lorenzo's organization had lost a few men along with Enzo but there numbers were nowhere near what Juan Vargas was losing. Just as he promised Lorenzo had watched as Juan's empire was torn apart piece by piece. The end was coming and he knew it in his gut. Lorenzo was just hoping that it ended the way he planned... the Vargas empire ceasing to exist and any threat to his or Elena's life was gone.

Elena had spent most of her days and nights alone because of all the problems they were having and he hated that. Lorenzo was gone a lot and came home long after Elena had gone to sleep. When he would climb in bed Lorenzo would always pull her back against him holding her through the night. He wished he could see her more than he was but this war was taking a lot out of him. He was on hand for a lot of the hits, Lorenzo wasn't taking any chances in case Juan ended up being around.

A couple of weeks had passed since the club shooting and Elena had only gotten small glimpses of Lorenzo over the days. Elena was beginning to think things didn't really change between them and maybe she was naïve to think they would. She had been held up on the compound and was beginning to get stir crazy. When she woke up in the morning Elena was determined to get out of there even if it was just for a little while. Just as she came down the stairs Gino walked into the foyer talking quietly with Sal and Vinny.

"Gino, can we talk?" she asked walking towards him.

Gino nodded at her as he turned towards the guys. "I'll handle the orders." Vinny said to Gino and nodded at Elena with a smile as him and Sal walked away.

"Alright." Gino said to them then turned towards Elena again. "What can I do for you?"

"I know everything around here is a bit hectic..." she began to say.

"That's an understatement." He said with a bit of a laugh. "But that's expected."

"I know." Elena said with a forced smile. "Is Lorenzo around?"

"He left about an hour ago." Gino said shaking his head. "I can call him if you need to talk to him."

"No, that's ok. I just need to get out of here for a while." She said shaking her head. "Cora called me and she wants to have lunch today, I told her I would meet her at noon at Vero Italiano."

"Going to lunch isn't that simple right now. I have to make arrangements first." He said hoping she understood there was more to her protection now. "Let me get the guys together and let Sal know we are leaving and where we will be then we can go."

"Alright, thank you. I'll be waiting outside." She said walking away with a smile.

After making the arrangements that needed to be done Gino and the guys were escorting Elena to the restaurant. She was having lunch at one of the Moretti restaurants so he knew she would be safe. She had stayed quiet the whole ride as she sat in the back of the SUV with a guard on either side of her. When they arrived at Vero Italiano two of the guards stood outside the doors while Gino and Benny went in with her.

Without missing a beat the hostess was quick to show them to their table. This had been one of the businesses that Elena had gone to often so the workers knew her. Cora had already arrived by the time they got there and she was already waiting at the table. Cora stood up and hugged her sister then both women sat down. It had been a while since Elena had done anything with either of her sisters so she was happy to at least see one of them right now.

"I haven't seen or heard from you for a while now." Cora said softly to Elena as she sipped from her water. "Why?"

"Things have been a bit crazy around the mansion." Elen then knew she needed to change the subject. "How is school going?" she asked.

"I graduate this June then Papa is letting me go to Italy for the summer." Cora said with a giddy smile.

"That is good, I hope you enjoy yourself." Elena said with a smile. "I was supposed to do the same but it didn't work that way for me."

They stopped talking when the waiter came to take their order. Once he was gone Cora spoke more about school, her upcoming prom and graduation. She was waiting for the right moment to inform Elena about what had been going on behind her back. Cora didn't want them to think that was what had been planned this whole time. She was jealous of both her sisters and wanted them to be as miserable as she felt like she was.

After their food arrived Elena changed the subject again. "Have you seen Angel lately? She hasn't called or even come around in a while."

"Not since she moved out of the house." Cora said shaking her head as she glanced over at Gino to see his eyes go wide. "Why do you ask?"

"What the hell do you mean she moved out, where is she living now?" Elena snapped at her in a low voice not wanting to bring attention to them. "Why hasn't anyone said anything to me?"

"Papa and Angel got into a nasty fight a couple of weeks ago." Cora said shrugging her shoulders. "The next day Angel moved out."

"Where the hell is she staying?" Elena snapped.

"Ask him." Cora said pointing over at Gino. "He knows."

Elena looked over her shoulder at Gino to see him quickly tapping away at the screen of his phone. He didn't even notice her looking at him. When she looked back Cora she had a small pout on her face. Elena knew her sister enough to know that it was a pity pout and she hated those more than anything.

"You tell me!" Elena growled at her. "Don't play games with me, Cora."

"They all knew... Papa, mom, Gino, a few other guys and even Lorenzo." Cora said keeping the look of pity on her face. "Angel and Gino..."

She began to say but Gino quickly cut her off. "Elena, can we talk?" he asked quickly.

Elena looked over her shoulder at him and glared harshly at him. "No!" she then turned back to Cora. "You were saying."

"Elena." Gino said softly but she continued to ignore him.

Cora smirked at Gino then finished what she was saying. "Angel and Gino have been seeing each other for quite some time now. When Papa found out he told her to break it off and she refused."

"Elena please." Gino said.

"No!" Elena snapped not taking her eyes of Cora.

"I guess they spoke with Lorenzo not long ago and he told her she could move to the compound with Gino." Cora said as she gave Elena the look of pity again. "I think she has been living there for two weeks now, since she left."

"I don't want to hear anymore." Elena snapped at her in a low voice. "Change the subject."

Cora nodded at her and went back to talking about school and her upcoming trip to Italy. Elena sat there trying to calm her anger but was having a hard time. Cora's rambling had been tuned out as Elena thought about the deceit that had been happening around her from the people she thought she could trust. She couldn't believe they were all hiding this from her and Lorenzo was aiding them in it. she had hoped both of her sisters would have been spared from this life now that their father had stepped back.

As Cora continued with her conversation about graduation and Italy Gino stood there breathing heavily. He couldn't believe that Cora could be so vindictive towards her sisters, he wanted to know why she was doing this. What was she getting out of it by hurting them? With everything that had been going on they couldn't find the time to tell her about Angel and it didn't dawn on him when Elena said she was having lunch with Cora. The few times he glanced over at Elena she would glare at him and he knew this was bad for all that was involved. An hour later when Lorenzo and Tony finally walked in the restaurant Gino breathed a sigh of relief.

Lorenzo had already been given the heads up about Elena's mood. Even though he had no intentions of going to Vero Italiano for few hours he changed his plans. He knew Gino needed a buffer but he wasn't exactly sure how that would work out just yet. He was smart enough to know he was on her shit list along with the rest of them and there was huge chance he was going to get the brunt of her anger. When he walked in the hostess quickly walked over to him.

"Mr. Moretti, I am so sorry but your usual table is still occupied by your wife and her guest." She said with a nervous voice.

"I know." Lorenzo said easing her mind. "I have business to tend to in my office right now so don't worry."

"Yes Mr. Moretti." She said as he walked away from her.

As he walked to the table Elena and Cora had just started to get up. His timing couldn't be any better, a few minutes longer and he would have missed her. That would have been bad because than Angel and Gino would have been on the receiving end of it all. There would not have been much Gino could do to calm her either. He quickly walked over and Elena froze when she turned and saw him coming towards them.

"Elena." He said softly as he leaned in to place a kiss to her lips that ended up landing on the corner of her mouth. Elena had turned away from him slightly. It wasn't enough for anyone to noticed other than himself. He sucked in a deep breath then glanced over at her sister. "Hello Cora." He said keeping the anger out of his voice.

"Hello Lorenzo." She said softly to him and he nodded at her.

He looked back to Elena and she looked pissed. "Elena, can we talk in my office?" he asked in a low voice.

"I've got to go anyways." Cora said quickly, she didn't want to be anywhere near them when the shit hit the fan. "Elena, I'll call you when I'm ready to shop for my prom dress."

"Alright." Elena said hugging Cora and watched as she left then looked back at Lorenzo. "I have things to do, I'm leaving."

"I want to talk." He said to her in a low stern voice.

"And I don't." Elena said shaking her head.

"Then you could listen." He snapped at her. "Let's go to my office."

Elena took a couple of deep breaths before following Lorenzo to his office. He held the door open for her to go in first then glanced over at the guys and nodded at them. Tony nodded back and motioned for them leave the area and he followed behind them. Whatever was going to be said in that room no one needed to hear other than the two going. Lorenzo sucked in a deep breath then went into the office and closed the door behind himself.

"Elena let me explain." Lorenzo said calmly as he moved a little closer to her.

"By all means do explain why all of you decided I didn't need to know that my sister has been fucking one of your men. And while you're at it explain what gave you the damn right to let her move on the damn compound and not tell me." she yelled at him. "How many of you fucking knew?"

"Elena, I have not known this whole time." Lorenzo said as he tried to stay calm with her, he knew she was upset and had the right to be. "I found out myself the day Antonio and Angel fought about it."

"That happened two weeks ago and you didn't tell me." she yelled at him again.

"I was letting them tell you." Lorenzo snapped at her. "I didn't know that Cora was going to be a vindictive little bitch."

"Don't. Call. My sister. A bitch!" Elena snapped at him. "Cora was not the one hiding shit from me, you were. You should have made them tell me and you didn't."

"Why is it a problem who Angel is with?" Lorenzo asked as he got control of his anger again. "What's the big deal about this?"

"Because I don't want this damn life for her, both of my sisters deserve better than I got." Elena snapped at him and quickly noticed he tensed up.

Her words were worse than a smack to the face... they were a bullet to the heart. Lorenzo felt his breathing pick up as both of his fist clenched tightly at his side. He knew he had treated Elena like shit in the beginning of their marriage but he thought things were turning around for them. He thought their time on the island had been their turning point and things were different. He thought when she chose to stay was because she wanted to be with him not because she had to do it.

"I gave you the chance to walk away, I told you to choose what you wanted not what I wanted." he snapped at her. "You said you wanted to stay."

"My words came out wrong. I didn't mean it like that, Lorenzo." Elena said moving towards him and he backed away from her causing her to stop moving.

"You want a different life... you want what you deserve?" Lorenzo yelled at her and she flinched from the tone in his voice. "There is the fucking door, leave! You think Dante can give you better a life then go fucking find him."

"I don't want Dante. Lorenzo, I choose what I wanted, I want to stay with you." Elena said softly as tears fell down her cheeks. "I love you and that scares me."

Lorenzo's breathing slowed slightly but now his heart was starting to beat faster. Elena said the three words he thought she would never say to him. What he didn't understand was why did that scare her? Somehow this whole argument veered away from the original subject and turned onto them. So many thoughts were running through his head at once and he didn't know which one to focus on or voice. It took him a few moments to clear his head and when he did the tears staining her cheeks caught his eyes.

He slowly moved closer to her, once they were about a foot a part he lifted his hands and cupped her cheeks using his thumbs to wipe her tears. "Why does that scare you?"

"I'm scared you will realized I'm not what you want and you won't change your ways then I'll end up hurt." She said in a low voice. "I'm scared something is going to happen to you and I'll be alone. I love you Lorenzo and I don't want to lose you."

"Elena don't be scared." Lorenzo said in a low voice. "I'm never going to hurt you again. It was going to take all my will power to let you walk out that door right now only because I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to force you to stay with me if that wasn't what you wanted. I love you Elena." He said leaning down and pressed his lips against hers.