Perfectly Ruined by:jdollar *a D'Amore story*

Chapter 43

€♡€♡€♡ persephone's confidence wavered. "Are you saying you wouldn't fight for me?"
Hades sighed, and brushed a finger along her cheek. "Darling, I'd burn this world for you." €♡€♡€♡
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Caroline
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Pauly grumbles. Pauly groans. He grunts. He curses....He curses a lot.
Needless to say, Pauly D'Amore isn't happy to be unable to move properly. He's downright pissed off.
He hates being a burden, which he isn't, but he feels like he is.
He hates it most when he's finally found a comfortable position and then the nurses come in and make him move about. He's lucky he can move at all. And he doesn't appreciate it in the the least when I remind him of that fact.
Point blank, he's bored.
And in pain, which makes him so very grumpy.
Mawmaw has insisted on bringing him all his meals. Not trusting that the hospital food will give him the nutrition that her food can. Mia has been ordered back to the safe house by Lex. Well, he asked her sweetly, since Mia D'Amore never took well to being ordered about. Besides, the children had been left with Jessy and Chris while she had come home to check on Pauly.
A man, I learned to have been Henry's boyfriend, came by. A sweet British man that had been so concerned for Pauly. I liked him a great deal. It broke my heart, the story Pauly had told me. It all broke my heart. He'd told me everything. About the true nature of Henry's death, how he'd met Tommy, and how he had protected Marco the night he'd been shot. Sending his little brother away had been hard for him but he'd tried to do what was best for his little brother.
Pauly had also explained how Samuel was not his real father. It still felt weird to think of Samuel not being his dad. It felt strange for Pauly still too. Though Genevieve hadn't been able to visit Pauly, because she was still in hiding, she sent Pauly his biological father's name. John was hard at work trying to track the man down for Pauly. And then....there had been the funeral.
The event more for Marco than anyone. Pauly, of course, had been unable to attend but insisted we all go for his kid brother. Marco seemed to be handling all this....fairly well. Though he was a bit....stand offish.... wanting time to himself more than he ever had before. Which was understandable.
Pauly still worried though.
As for myself and Pauly?
I don't really know.
I've spent every night by his side. And most of the day, or as much as possible. Max and his goons were back at work. Always following me about. And Jamie... that was the worst. He was unnaturally supportive. Understanding why I'd want to be there for my 'friend'. And his family. Jamie wasn't a complete fool. He'd read the papers, he knew Pauly and I have a history, but he'd simply been...sweet about the whole thing. Understanding and caring. Making it impossible for me to harshly turn him away. Jamie was just....too good.
Daddy had been supportive too but didn't like the idea of me spending so much of my time with Pauly again. Especially since, I had such a good thing going with Jamie Valter. That's how Daddy had put it. It had annoyed me. But... he didn't put up too much of fight right now. Daddy seemed distracted. Obviously, he'd been upset over Samuel's death. And we'd had quite the argument about what had happened that night. Daddy had said, "Samuel probably shot him thinking that he was a burglar. The same one who broke into his office." He hadn't wanted to hear the part where they had fought, that Samuel had shot Pauly knowing full well, who he was. I didn't even bother to try to explain that Samuel wasn't even Pauly's real father.
Because of how quickly everything had happened, Samuel hadn't had the time to change his paperwork. Everything would go to Pauly, the second oldest, the son he had never wanted. The investment firm, the houses since it was clear that Genevieve couldnt have them, the money. All of it.
Genevieve had made plans to move away. Somewhere warm was all I knew. Somehow, over the phone, Pauly had even gotten her to agree that Marco could stay with Pauly. John had the paperwork drawn up, spoken to a good friend of his, and boom! Pauly was now, Marco's legal guardian. It amazes me still, just how much power this family has. At the age of twenty two, Pauly had been set up for success. He'd keep his hotel. But the houses, he planned to sell, once Genevieve had gotten all of her belongings out. And he'd asked Marco if he wanted to keep the houses and Marco agreed that they should be sold. Saying, "they'd never been a home to me anyways."
Pauly was so worried about Marco. We all were. Lex and Oscar had taken the kid in under their wings. Keeping him busy and happy. But still....every now and then, when he thought no one was looking, I'd see a sad look settle on his face. The family he'd always known, even though it wasn't much of a family, had been ripped away from him. It would leave an empty hole in him if it weren't for Pauly and Lex's family. Even if I never saw any of them again, I knew the boy would be looked after and cared for. It's what Lex's family was all about.
It was why it was so easy to love them.
In one way or another, they had all been through crazy crap, but they all had each other to lean on. And they would do the same for Marco. Pauly would always be there too. He would see that Marco was able to make decisions for his own life. He was a great big brother. Marco could always depend on Pauly. And Lex. And....I'd like to say, even me.
If I were still in his life later on. Yes, then he could depend on me too. If twenty years from now, Marco D'Amore showed up on my doorsteps, I'd do whatever I could to help him. That went for all the D'Amore family too.