Chapter 208: She Left Us
Chapter 208: She Left Us
Domenico
Gregorio was quiet in the way he showed his fear but Adriano looked like he was about to tear the world apart to get back. I had a feeling that is what would happen as I looked back down to the letter, continuing where I left off.
'The truth is that I have secrets of my own, namely the fact that I saw my father a month ago when he snuck up on me in my car. He spoke of a man, one who had been hunting him since before I was born and now I know it was Raphael. That wasn't all however, he also told me to stay with you three because he knew love when he saw it and trusted that you would be able to keep me safe when he couldn't.'
But this can't be true, Lucas has been trying to break us down from the inside for decades and yet he speaks of loyalty? He has had every opportunity to take Camilla and marry her off to Jacob Pope to fulfill her bargain but he left her instead.
I don't understand, why would the enemy leave his daughter with the men whose mother he killed? It was then I realized something I didn't know if Adriano had figured out through all of this frantic pacing but I did and it changed the entire game.
'He asked me not to say anything but how much does it matter now with everything so messed up?' I continue to read her letter but if she were here, I would tell her that it matters. That everything has to do with her does matter.
'Something came up tonight and I knew I had to go and not just temporarily. Maybe in another life what we had could have been forever but we live in a fucked up, unfair world. There are some things I need to work out on my own but I hope you know I will never forget you three. You were the only thing I had ever truly chosen for myself and I think a part of me, no matter how far I go, will always belong to you. Maybe one day we will meet again but for now, this has to be goodbye.'
"Sincerely, Camilla." I whispered the last words, urging myself not to tear the paper in two out of sheer and utter pain. I was angry and hurt and sad but above all else, I was fucking terrified.
Fear is an emotion we have beaten out of ourselves from day one in the mafia but I am pretty sure I was having a panic attack right now because I quite literally couldn't breathe. My instincts told me to fight it, to leave now and track Camilla down before it was too late but it had been hours since I saw her on the balcony. She should be anywhere right now, hurt or even…no. Her being dead would never be an option.
I didn't realize I was shaking until Gregorio clasped a hand on my shoulder to steady me but still, he refused to look in even my direction. Was I something that came up? Was our kiss the reason she is more dangerous than she could ever understand? The thought tore me apart and I was surprised I hadn't thrown up yet based on the nausea hitting me like a train.
"What could have come up?" Adriano asked, pulling at his hair again as tears welled in his eyes.
"She had promised us she would stay in her room as long as we gave her space. She…"
"Adriano?" Gregorio tries to carefully get his attention, sensing the spiral he was going down.
He has been different since Camilla but I think we all forgot for a while what this other side of him was alive. It started with the denial, the pain, the panic and then the rage and I could tell he was teetering on the edge of the first three. If he gets to the fourth, fuck he needs to not get there. I was caught between calming him and resisting the impending levels of dizziness taking over me but there was only one that mattered here and it had nothing to do with any of us.
It hasn't been since Camilla walked into our lives and we risked everything if we cave to the fear eating away at our hearts.
"Adriano stop," I said but I knew he wouldn't listen to me otherwise.
His dark eyes connected with mine almost instantly, pure anger swirling within his Irises now focused on me. It was hard because I could see the tears he refused to spill but we had too much to lose risking all of our energy on our emotions. I had this attention now and that was good enough.
"Gregorio, we could still find her if she is with her phone. Look at any texts, calls or transactions she might have made with it. I am going to talk to security to figure out why we weren't notified of her absence."
It was usually Adriano who called the shots but I wasn't letting that happen this time. Not when in this state his only idea would be killing people until we found what we haven needed. We all paused for a short second, two sets of eyes staring at me in understanding. We knew that this wasn't something we could risk fucking up, that was it and we only had one shot at making things right.
The second Gregorio moved, I did, putting her letter on the kitchen counter before gauging all of my options. Adriano didn't give me the chance to do that though before I was suddenly being pinned down but his hand at the back of my neck.
"What did you say to her, Domenico?" He asked the second we were alone, my face pressed against the cold marble countertops with his grip unwavering.
I could already tell he was feeling backed into a corner just by the way he shook but this wasn't the first time we have fought and it sure as hell won't be the last either.
"We have more important things to worry about right now." I said, trying to hook my leg behind his to catch him off guard but he was terrifyingly focused on his hold. Feeling his mouth come down to my ear, he gives me the opportunity I was looking for. Using my hand instead, I hooked my elbow around his head to off his balance, pushing away and getting out of his reach in mere seconds.
"You don't think the fact that you were the last one to see her holds any impact on where she might have gone?" He growled, coming back to his full height and rounding on me.
"Gregorio would have said something but I can practically see the guilt in your eyes."
I couldn't argue with that but every second we fought was a second we could be using to find her.
"You want a lead? Call Nancy, she can't make it far without any of her belongings." I said, trying to distract him even though I am sure Gregorio is already on it.
We were walking a very fine line here and it was only a matter of time before one of us teetered over the edge.
The other reason that I didn't want to talk about this is because an even greater part of me feared Adriano was right. That I was the push that drove her away from us for good
"If I find out this happened because of something said to her, Domenico. I swear to…"
"What, Adriano? What exactly are you going to do!" I yelled.
"In case you have forgotten, none of this would have happened if you weren't so insistent on all of us keeping secrets."
Only a second passes before I know my words got to him and it was in a way I already found myself regretting. I watched as he threw the ring he had just been clutching onto so tightly somewhere into the living room where neither of us could see the metal anymore. The motion caused a tear to fall from his eyes but I don't think he even noticed it happened when he shoved me with a force he has never used on me before.
I didn't see it coming until my body was thrown to the ground because I had finally pushed him too far with the blame all three of us bore with great remorse. My head slammed against the back of the couch before all I could see was Adriano storming out of the house, tense and in so much pain.
He was gone before I could even utter a word and I feared like her, this time he would not come back. She left us for good this time and it hurts like crazy.
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