That night of the incident Tony and Lorenzo had drank more than either of them needed and talking had never happened. Neither man was ready to talk about feelings no matter how close in friendship they were, it had always been a subject that stood off the table for them.

A week had passed since that fateful night and Lorenzo wasn't surprised he hadn't seen Elena once. He figured she was either coming out when he was out of the house or while he was in the office. Lorenzo didn't bother to force her to eat meals with them because he knew at that moment she wasn't exactly comfortable around any of them. The last few mornings when he left his own room Lorenzo would glance towards her door wishing he knew what to do or say to make things right. He had hoped every night when he went out on the balcony their rooms shared she would be sitting there but every night it was just him out there.

When Lorenzo stepped out of his room in the morning after getting ready for the day rather than just stare at her door he walked over to it with the intent of knocking but as usual he was interrupted before his hand even attempted to make contact. "Boss, Tony needs to talk with you." Rob said walking up behind him.

Lorenzo sucked in a deep breath as he turned to face Rob. "Where is he?" he asked as he walked away from the door and Rob got in step behind him.

"Downstairs office."

"I need you to take a few men and go make the rounds at the night clubs." Lorenzo said to Rob as they walked to his office. "I want all the money drops and books."

"Got it boss." Rob said walking out the house as Lorenzo went into the office.

"What do you got for me?" Lorenzo asked as he walked to his desk.

"We got a hold of..." Tony began to say but was interrupted when Lorenzo's phone rang.

He pulled it out and smirked at Tony when he saw Antonio's name flashing on his screen. "Hello Antonio, what can I do for you." Lorenzo said smoothly and Tony smirked because he knew what this call was about.

"I want an explanation on why your men harassed two of my guys last night?" Antonio snapped at him. "Moretti, we don't do business like this and I don't appreciate your bullshit."

"Give me what I want and the shit stops." Lorenzo said calmly as he glanced over at a smirking Tony. "One name is all it takes."

"I told your underboss I don't know a damn thing about my daughter dating any of my guys." Antonio snapped at him. "Whoever gave you this information has lied to you."

"So you're calling my wife... your daughter a liar?" Lorenzo snapped at him in a menacing voice.

"Elena told you this." Antonio said in a shock voice. "She would never do that."

"Now you're calling me a liar." Lorenzo snapped even louder this time. "This is not going to end well... I want a fucking name!"

"Why is this so important to you?" Antonio snapped back at him. "Elena is married to you and whoever this other man was doesn't matter to her any longer."

"In two months your ranks will be handed over to me and the day that happens I will get what I want." Lorenzo snapped at him. "I am the last person you want to fuck with." He growled as he ended the call and looked over at Tony. "What went down last night?"

"Gino and few of the guys were out last night and a couple of Russo's men showed up there." Tony said as he sat back in his chair with a smirk on his face. "Gino tried to get things to go the easy route but both men wanted to play the tough guy role and Gino showed them how that ended."

"No name?" Lorenzo asked as he sat back in his own chair and Tony shook his head no. "Fuck! There is a fucking reason they won't talk. He has to be high ranked, I don't see them risking shit for a low rank."

"I was thinking the same thing."

"Is Rocco still Russo's underboss?" Lorenzo asked trying to narrow down who he thought it could be.

"Yes he is." Tony answer as he rolled his neck to crack his stiff bones. "Dude is too old to be the guy and I think Russo would have lost his mind with that."

"Does he have any kids?" Lorenzo asked but before Tony could answer there was a knock at the door. "Yeah?" he called out to the knocker.

"Lorenzo I have your morning coffee." Sara said as she came into the office and walked towards the desk. "We need to talk about Mrs. Moretti."

"Alright." Lorenzo said as he raised his eyebrow at her.

"Mrs. Moretti hasn't eaten any food we have taken her all week." Sara said and both men could hear the concern in the elder lady's voice. "I have tried to check on her myself but the room's door had been locked every time I've gone up there."

"She hasn't come out the room all week?" Lorenzo asked in a shock voice and Sara nodded at him. "I'll take care of it." Sara nodded again at him then left the office. "Call Gino." Lorenzo said looking over at Tony.

Within a few minutes Gino joined the men in the office. "What's up boss?" he asked walking in.

"Has Elena left the house or the compound at all this week?" Lorenzo asked and Gino shook his head no. "Has Cora or Angel been around at all?"

"Angel came over two days ago but Elena wasn't feeling up to having visitors so she left not long after arriving."

"I'm going to go check on Elena." Lorenzo said as he stood up. "Tony tell the pilot we aren't going to leave for the Caribbean until tomorrow afternoon. I got shit to handle today."

"Alright." Tony said as he pulled his phone out.

Lorenzo walked out of the office and went upstairs towards Elena's room. When he was outside her door he lifted his hand to knock but decided to try the knob instead, as expected the knob didn't budge. Shaking his head Lorenzo walked to his room and went through it to the balcony. Going over to the balcony door leading to her room Lorenzo tried the handle on the doors and they swung open. Not bothering to call out or announce his presence Lorenzo walked further in the darken room. Glancing around he saw that there were several empty wine bottles and quite a few empty liquor bottles sitting on top of the table in the room. There were no glasses so he knew she had to have been drinking straight from the bottles.

Sucking in a deep breath Lorenzo looked over towards the bed and saw a lump under the red duvet. For a moment he stood there watching the slow rise and fall of the sleeping form. It wasn't exactly late in the afternoon but from the sight of her room and finding out she hadn't come out in a week he guessed she had been drunk from the moment of waking until the moment she passed out. The closer he walked to the bed he was able to smell a mixture of alcohol and her coconut shampoo.

"Elena wake up." Lorenzo said as he pulled the duvet from her face. Elena mumbled a few inaudible words before rolling to her side away from him.

Lorenzo stepped back from the bed and walked to her bathroom then started a cold shower. Walking back out into the bedroom he walked over to her vanity where he began removing the things from his pockets and placed them on top of it. He removed his suit coat and tie then dropped them on the vanity bench and slid off his shoes then removed his socks. Lorenzo knew his next move was probably going to piss her off but at that moment he didn't care.

Giving Elena a chance to wake up on her own again Lorenzo removed the duvet from her body. She either was still drunk enough not to care or was just numbed to everything around her because she didn't even move an inch. Shaking his head Lorenzo moved closer and quickly lifted her from the bed and she still didn't wake up. Lorenzo went into the bathroom and opened the shower doors. After taking a few deep breaths to brace for the cold water he quickly stepping in making sure she was fully under the cold flowing water.

The shock of the cold water flowing over her body instantly woke Elena and she screamed while trying to escape the strong arms that held her under it. "Let me go... let me go!" she screamed as she buried her face into his neck and he felt her shivering.

Lorenzo released her legs but still held her body to his as he reached forward and turned the water off. They both stood there quiet for a few moments, he was still in most of his suit and she was in a tank top and shorts. Feeling her still shivering next to his body Lorenzo released her and stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel wrapping it around her body as she looked up at him with wide shocked eyes.

"Why did you do that to me?" she asked as her mouth chattered from the cold.

"When was the last time you stepped out of this room or had something to eat?" he asked as he stepped back from her and began removing the wet clothes from his body.

"I don't know." Elena said as she quickly spun around to face away from him when she realized he was removing his wet boxers also. "How did you get in the room?"

"The balcony." Lorenzo said grabbing a towel and wrapped it around his naked waist. "You can turn around I'm covered." He said to her and she slowly looked over her shoulder before turning completely around. Lorenzo leaned back against the counter as he crossed his arms over his bare chest. "What is going on with you?"

"I don't know how to look any of you in the face after what happened at that warehouse." Elena said honestly. "Every time I close my eyes I see that man die, the only time I can sleep is when I drink myself to sleep. I can't stop it."

"You should have said something to me." Lorenzo said pushing off the counter and moved closer to her but to his surprise she took two steps back. "You're scared of me." Lorenzo said in a low voice as he stopped moving. She didn't say anything but he saw the fear in her eyes. "I told you I wasn't going to hurt you."

"You killed him, Lorenzo... you shot a man that couldn't defend himself in cold blood." Elena said shaking her head.

Lorenzo could feel the anger building up and didn't want to snap at her so he took a couple steps back and left the bathroom. He was mad she saw him as a cold blooded killer but most he was mad she was scared of him. Knowing he had to make this right soon he changed his clothes then had Martin make food for Elena and had Sara clean up the room.

Elena stood there watching as he left, she didn't quite feel exactly sober yet but she was definitely wide awake. Elena wasn't sure if she should follow behind Lorenzo or not. She did fear him and had wished to god that she didn't. Elena wanted nothing more than to believe he wouldn't hurt her but after seeing what he was capable of doing in cold blood made it hard for her. She wasn't naïve to believe he was a saint or anything close to it, after all he was the head of a mafia crime family but not seeing the carnage of his lifestyle had made things easier for her to deal with it.

Elena walked to the bathroom door and closed it deciding to finish what Lorenzo had started. She opted to shower first before climbing back in her bed again. She removed the wet clothing that was on her body and took a warm shower. Once she was done Elena wrapped a towel around her body and went back into her room. When she stepped out of the bathroom she froze, Lorenzo was sitting at the table in her room looking through his phone with a tray of food next him. He was dressed in a simple pair of joggers and an extremely tight tank. Elena took a deep breath trying to remember how to breathe again, he was gorgeous and there was no denying that.

Lorenzo looked up from his phone when the bathroom door opened. "Get dressed then I would like for you to join me." he said gesturing to the tray of food.

Elena pulled the towel tight around her body and nodded at him as she quickly went to the closet. After changing into another pair of shorts with a t-shirt she came back out and sat down across from him. Lorenzo smiled softly at her as he lifted one of the coffee mugs then pushed the rest of the tray towards her.

"Are you going to eat?" she asked.

"I already have but you haven't eaten a thing." Lorenzo said as he nudged the tray closer. "I'm not going anywhere so you might as well just eat."

"Don't you have business to attend today?" she asked as she began to eat the waffles that was now in front of her. "Babysitting me can't really be at the top of your busy schedule."

The little things she had snacked on over the last week was basically nothing compare to what she was eating right then. Elena couldn't help but eat all the great smelling food once she got a taste. Lorenzo noticed how much she was eating and it made him happy so he decided to indulge her questions and answer as many as he could without having to lie to her.

"I changed my plans for the day." He said as he lifted the mug to his lips and took a small sip before continuing. "Once you have sobered up completely I would like to get you out of this room for a while."

"I rather stay in here." Elena said looking up from her plate.

"Let's compromise." Lorenzo said and Elena raised her eyebrow at him. "I can work from my laptop in the library and you can relax in there and read or something."

"Ok." Elena said softly.

When Elena had finished eating Lorenzo began to lead her down to the Library. One of his men had begun to say something to him when they came down but it only took one look from Lorenzo and he was gone without a word. Needing to make a quick detour in his office for his laptop, Lorenzo opened the door and went in with her following behind him.

Elena glanced around his spacious office, it had been the first time she had ever gone in there. "Wow, it's beautiful in here." Elena said walking to the French doors that led out to the grounds.

Lorenzo looked up from his desk with a shock look. "You have never been in here?" he asked and she shook her head no as she continued to look out the doors. The way the sun shone inside the room and glowed around Elena made her look like an angel in his eyes. "Elena." He said softly and she slowly turned to face him and his breath hitched at the sight in front of him. "You are welcomed in any room inside this mansion. This house is as much yours as it is mine."

Just as she was about to respond to him they were interrupted. "Hey boss I got that stuff..." Rob trailed off when he noticed Elena standing there. "I didn't notice Mrs. Moretti in here, I'm sorry I'll come back."

"Hello Rob." Elena said with a small forced smile and he nodded at her.

"It's alright what do you got for me?" Lorenzo said as Rob started to walk towards him carrying a duffle bag and box.

"I can go and let you finish this in private." Elena said looking over at Lorenzo.

"No reason for you to leave." Lorenzo said shaking his head. "This will only take a few moments."

Elena nodded her head and walked over to the sofa he had in there and sat back as the two men talked about Lorenzo's night club businesses. Not realizing how long the conversation with Rob took after he left Lorenzo glanced over at the sofa and smiled when he saw Elena had fallen asleep. With a small laugh Lorenzo walked over to her and slowly laid her down across the sofa. She had told him that sleep wasn't coming easy for her and he didn't want to wake her again if she subconsciously felt comfortable enough sleep with him around.

Lorenzo grabbed the box of business books and his laptop then sat in the chair next to where she was sleeping and got to work. A few of the guys had come in but every time Lorenzo kicked them out wanting the room to remain silent while she slept. He wasn't sure how much time had passed because he was buried in his work but a soft voice broke his focus on the task he was working on.

"I can't believe I actually fell asleep." Elena said sitting up and glanced towards Lorenzo to see him smiling at her.

"Do you feel better?" he asked.

"If by better you mean sober then yes." Elena said running her fingers through her hair. "Um... I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. I know you explained why he had to die and I should be grateful but..."

Lorenzo cut her off before she could finish. "First of all I don't want you apologizing to me, you have nothing to be sorry for." He said as he leaned forward and placed his laptop down on the table. "Second, I didn't tell you why I killed him so you could be grateful I did it, I told you so you would understand... I don't want you to ever feel like you should be grateful I killed anyone. The things I do, the life I live is all by my choice... you weren't given a choice so you don't owe anyone an apology."

"Christmas is next week." Elena said changing the subject. "Will you be here or are you leaving again?"

"I will be here." Lorenzo said as he pulled out his phone and scrolled through it until he found the number he was looking for. "I need to make a quick call, this will only take a minute." He said hitting send on the phone and waited for an answer. "Brian don't worry about readying the plane for tomorrow, we're not going anywhere... we'll leave on the first, I'm going to spend the holidays with my wife."