Luciana was lost in thought, processing Alessandro's explanation. Her eyes looked at the face of the man sitting across from her. For a moment, their gazes met. Nervously, Luciana shifted her sight as a feeling crept into the depths of her heart.
"Why is Alessandro's dream the same as mine?" Luciana muttered inwardly.
She let out a heavy sigh. Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock. She remembered clearly, when she woke up from that dream, a fleeting shadow of Alessandro had appeared in her mind.
"No! This cannot be," she whispered. She shook her head, trying to dismiss the suspicion raging in her mind.
On the other side, Alessandro, seeing the strange change in Luciana's attitude, furrowed his brow. His eyes were sharp, full of inquiry, as if he wanted to read everything inside the woman's head.
"What is it? Why are you acting so strangely?" he pressed.
Luciana did not answer immediately. She just remained silent, recalling all the explanations from her grandfather and parents about the strange dreams she often experienced.
"Were you born in my country?" she asked.
Alessandro scoffed coldly. "That's not an answer, that's a question," he said in a sharp tone.
"Just answer my question, Mr. Romano," Luciana retorted.
"Adrian's death and your lover's death have similarities. Apart from all that, there's something else I feel, just as you do. That's what brought you here to ask about my lover's death. Just so you know, last night I also dreamt exactly the same as you," Luciana continued.
She paused her sentence and took a breath before continuing. "And when I woke up, I saw you."
Alessandro was stunned, his eyes gazing at Luciana without blinking even slightly. He tried to process all the woman's explanations. The crease on his forehead deepened. He remembered his dream of being in a house similar to a palace.
"Don't tell me that little girl baby is..." He blinked his eyes as if unsure whether what was in his mind was true.
"Tiger claw," the phrase slipped out.
Unbeknownst to him, he raised his arm, which had a red tiger claw mark that he had only just gotten last night.
"That...!" Luciana exclaimed, her eyes widening as she looked at the mark on Alessandro's arm, which was similar to the birthmark on her back, the only difference being the color.
"How did you get it?"
"I don't know! When I woke up, this mark was suddenly on my arm," Alessandro replied. He let out a long sigh, recalling his dream last night.
"Answer me now! Were you born in my country, Mr. Romano?" Luciana asked in a firm tone.
Alessandro nodded his head as an answer.
Degh! Instantly, Luciana's heart beat fast. She remembered the words of her grandfather and parents.
"So the baby boy my grandfather meant is you, Alessandro," she said.
She returned Alessandro's gaze as if confirming the truth of her words.
"My father once said that I was born on the night of the full moon, coinciding with the wife of my mother's friend who happened to be visiting our house."
Alessandro rubbed his face roughly, then he looked up, his eyes gazing at the ceiling of the living room of the Bianci family residence.
"Now everything is clear! The baby girl in my dream is you, Luciana Bianci," he said. He looked back at Luciana's face, who was lost in thought.
"Tell me, do you have a tiger claw birthmark on your back?"
Luciana returned Alessandro's gaze. "Yes, you are right!"
The atmosphere in the living room suddenly fell silent. Both of them were quiet, absorbed in their respective thoughts. As if there was an attraction they couldn't fight, Alessandro's and Luciana's eyes met.
Their eyes locked on each other, tied in a silence that felt so close, yet full of tension. Both were stunned, their hearts beating softly as a gentle tremor crept into their chests. The feeling was beautiful, but at the same time it shook the tranquility of their hearts.
"No, I shouldn't feel this," Alessandro whispered inwardly, trying to dismiss the turmoil that was trapping him. "I cannot be a traitor. Giulia just died."
"This is impossible," Luciana thought to herself, shaking her head slowly. "I cannot betray Adrian. His death was only three months ago, and I am already feeling something like this for another man. Forgive me, Adrian."
"Ehm!"
Alessandro cleared his throat softly, breaking the suffocating silence while getting up from the sofa he was sitting on. His gaze returned to Luciana, who looked so nervous.
"It seems I must leave immediately," he said, taking a heavy breath. There was an obvious reluctance in him to move.
"We will meet again after I get information about 'Demon Head'," Alessandro continued. He turned around, forcing his feet to walk towards the door, leaving Luciana still staring at his departure until the man's figure disappeared behind the door.
After Alessandro left, Luciana returned to her thoughts. "Somehow I feel something is getting weirder."
Slowly she got up and started walking. "Birth, death, meeting, everything seems to have been dictated by fate."
Her steps stopped at the stairs leading to her room. "But why did Mrs. Bianca never explain this to Alessandro?"
She fell silent. Thoughts began weaving tangled threads from her questions. "Was there a major event in the past that made her desperately keep this a secret from her son?"
"Then what about Mr. Lorenzo?" She tried to remember. "According to my father and mother, their relationship was very good. But why did Alessandro's parents..." The sentence hung in the air.
Luciana scratched her head, which wasn't itching. "Ah, never mind. Instead of racking my brain over that family's strangeness, I should contact my father and mother. I'm sure they can explain it." Then she continued her walk toward her room.
On the other side, Alessandro, who had decided to visit his lover's grave, was now kneeling beside Giulia's tombstone. His eyes immediately focused on the bouquet of roses lying there.
"That bouquet of flowers is still fresh," he muttered. His gaze did not leave the petals of the roses, which looked very fresh.
"But who brought it?" He swept his gaze around his lover's family grave area.
"There is no one," he said with a furrowed brow.
Since Giulia's death, her deceased lover's parents decided to leave Italy.
"It's impossible that they have returned," he whispered again.
Just yesterday afternoon, Giulia's father contacted him, only to ask whether Alessandro had found his daughter's killer.
"If it wasn't them, then who?"
Krakk! Suddenly, the sound of a broken twig was heard from the back, as if stepped on by someone.
Instinctively, Alessandro turned quickly. "Did I hear wrong?" he muttered.
His gaze swept the grave area, looking for the source of the sound, but there was no one except his guards standing not far from him.
"Did you see someone?" he asked.
"No, Sir!" they answered in unison.
Alessandro frowned. "It's impossible that I misheard."
Krakk! The sound was heard again, this time clearer.
Alessandro and his four guards simultaneously turned to the right side of the grave, looking at the dense and slightly dark trees.
"I will check it, Sir," one of the guards said in a cautious tone before slowly walking towards the direction of the sound.