3: The Late Goodbye
Florence - 1477
"Will you ever return?" Rachele asked Ezio, with tears in her eyes.
"Some day, yes. I cannot stay. If my enemies were to find you..." Ezio trailed off as Rachele pulled him close to her. He didn't resist. He welcomed the gesture. Ezio reached into his pocket and pulled a necklace out. The object was made of metal, coated with gold and encrusted with diamonds. It was in the shape of a heart. Ezio cracked it against a nearby wall, splitting the heart in two. Broken. He handed one shard to Rachele, and put the other one on his neck.
"Goodbye... my love." he whispered. And with that, Ezio Auditore turned and walked away.
"ANDREANO! STEFFANO! COME QUICKLY!" pleaded Aaroni. He banged the door repeatedly until his knuckles bled. "PLEASE, ANDREANO! HURRY!" he wailed. The door opened, and Aaroni was pulled inside by Steffano.
"SHUT. UP." Steffano slapped Aaroni, pushing him into a chair. "Why are you crying? What's going on? Did you shit yourself again? Is that what that smell is?" he questioned Aaroni. From the other room, Andreano hollered, "No, usted idiota, that's you! You haven't bathed in six months!" Aaroni stopped crying to laugh at Andreano's insult. It was a good one, after all.
"Now tell me, Aaroni. What happened? Where is Julio?" Steffano inquired. Aaroni's eyes watered again as he remembered Julio's fate.
"He's... dead." wept Aaroni.
Steffano sighed. "Meh. Never really liked him."
Andreano sat there, stunned at this news. There were only two people he knew that had a grudge against Julio. Jacopo Closi and Ezio Auditore.
A match made in hell.