Broken Soul ☆ Daniel Ricciardo

30 | More than anything

♪
Mac Miller - Dunno:
'Until, until there is no longer. Let's get lost inside the clouds. And you, you don't gotta work harder, I can calm you down'

W A R N I N G: mention of aggressive behaviour and physical abuse

"Mil, what's that?" A weird feeling came over her when she looked up and suddenly her heart stopped when she saw an envelope taped to the front door of her apartment building. Daniel walked over to the door and took the envelope off the door, looking at it curiously. "Who's Em?"

Emilia walked over to him but before she could reach him, she heard a loud yell and saw a figure covered in dark clothing launch themselves at Daniel and push him to the ground. The figure landed on top of him, but Daniel had the reaction speed of a racer so he threw a few punches before he could get hit himself. Emilia completely froze. She didn't even have to think about who this was, she knew it immediately. Everything became a blur, she heard Gia scream and suddenly she saw Michael run towards the two guys fighting on the ground and he tried to pull the person off. He kicked around a few times, but Michael was stronger and Daniel could stand up again while his best friend held his attacker down. Emilia collapsed onto the floor, covering her head with her arms and hands, just like she always did when he used to attack her.

Gia made her way over to her best friend and when she felt the touch of her hands, the first tears rolled down her cheeks. "Daniel, please call the police. We'll explain everything later, but please call the police now!" Gia yelled at him, holding her best friend close to her body and keeping an eye on Michael who was still holding the fighting person. Daniel looked confused but the urgency in Gia's voice and the scared state of his girlfriend gave him the chills, so he grabbed his phone and called the Italian police. He tried to explain the situation as best as he could but he didn't really understand why he was just attacked like that. "You're mine, I've fucking warned you!" He heard his attacker yell, while he was still on the phone to the police and suddenly it all clicked. It was Emilia's ex.

Daniel walked over to his best friend, who was still sat on top of Marcus after he hung up the phone and he hovered over him, finally getting a good look at the face of his attacker. He was pale and had dark circles under his eyes and quite frankly, he looked miserable. "He's drunk". Michael said and Daniel felt bad for his best friend, he had no clue who he was holding down right now. "She's mine!" Marcus yelled again and he started wiggling around, trying to get out of the strong grip of the personal trainer. "Well, she clearly doesn't want to be, does she?!" Daniel spat back and he quickly turned around to see his girlfriend on the floor in the arms of her best friend hyperventilating and hysterically crying. "I'll take her, Gia, thank you". Daniel said before he took Gia's place next to Emilia, trying to calm her down. "I'm here baby, he's not touching you with one finger, I promise you that". He whispered in her ear.

The police arrived not much later and arrested Marcus before one of the officers asked if they could go inside to write down their statements. Emilia slowly got up off the floor, gaining a confused look from Daniel when he saw her walk over to the envelope that was thrown on the ground in the tussle. She quickly put it in her purse before Daniel joined her again and they all walked inside. When they sat down on the sofa, the officers asked them if they had any idea who this man was and why he attacked them. Gia opened her mouth and took a deep breath before she looked at her best friend, who nodded slowly to let her know it was okay to tell them everything. "Uhh.. It's Marcus, he's Emilia's ex-boyfriend, who she ran away from almost two and a half years ago after he abused her for more than three years". Gia looked at Michael and saw the shock on his face when he realised who he had been holding down the entire time.

"There was an envelope taped to the front door of the building.." Gia paused to see Emilia grab the envelope from her purse. "It wasn't the first one she received. It started a while ago and we actually contacted the police before but they couldn't do anything about it". Daniel gasped when he heard that and he looked over at his girlfriend who looked exhausted and completely drained. 'Why didn't she tell me about this?' She looked down at the envelope in her trembling hands before she slowly opened it. Daniel's eyes went wide when he saw the picture she pulled out of it and his hands balled into a fist by his side. "What.. the.. fuck.." He whispered and he could feel the fear radiating from his girlfriend to his left. She lifted her face to look up at him and he had never seen her like this. She was pale as a ghost, her makeup was smudged and all he could see in her eyes was fear and sadness. He wanted to caress her cheek but pulled his hand away quickly when he saw her flinch at his touch.

The police officer took the photo from Emilia and now Gia and Michael could see it as well. It was a picture of Emilia naked on the bathroom floor and she was completely beaten up, again. It was worse than the previous photo they received and the thing Gia noticed about the bruises, just like she had seen in the last photo, was that it was deliberately done in places where she could cover them up easily. That's why they never noticed anything. Gia felt Michael's hand on her leg and grabbed it firmly for some comfort. "You said this wasn't the first one?" The police officer asked and Gia nodded. She walked over to the drawer where they had kept the note and the photos and handed them over. Gia heard soft sobs come from her best friend and saw the look of shock in Daniel's eyes when he looked at the other two photos.

"Marcus threatened her in the note and a few emails before that, to break up with Daniel or else he would spread these pictures everywhere". Gia started again, trying to explain the situation as best as she could. "He saw a picture of us in Monaco, followed us there and spied on us while we were on the boat. That's when she started getting those emails". All Emilia could do was cry and fiddle with her hands. She couldn't speak. She had tried to say something a few times, but her throat felt blocked. Daniel's hand on her cheek had made her scared and she felt so guilty for not telling him. A loud sob left her throat when she heard her best friend explain the entire story to the officer.

"Okay, well we've got him now and he's not getting out anytime soon. This is something we take very seriously and seeing that there is proof of previous abuse, he won't be seeing the outside of a prison cell for many years. That's what you get when you take pictures of your own 'handy work'". The officer said and they agreed to finish the statements another day, seeing Emilia wasn't in the right state to talk right now. Gia walked the officer to the front door and when she reentered the room, she didn't really know what to say. She sat back down next to Michael and leaned her head against his chest when he lifted his arm for her to cuddle up to him. "I-I-I'm so s-sorry.." Gia heard Emilia whisper before she let out another big sob.

"Please, don't ever say you're sorry again, Mil. I'm just a little confused why you didn't tell me. I could have helped you.." Daniel said to her softly. He lifted his hand and moved it over to her leg, very slowly. It was like they had to start all over again and he had to regain her trust, but Daniel didn't care. "Y-You had a triple header coming up and at f-first I thought it was just a j-joke, so I didn't tell anyone but then when I g-got home and there was a letter with the first p-picture in there, I knew he was serious. I told the g-girls, but I didn't want you to lose f-focus". Emilia stuttered in between sobs and Daniel placed his hand on her leg more firmly now, still very cautious of her reaction to it. "As much as I appreciate you putting his career first, as his trainer, please don't do that again if it's something like this". Michael said and Emilia looked up at him.

She felt so guilty for dragging them into this but so thankful for all their support. "Thank you.." She whispered again before turning her head to Daniel to look at him again. "I'm sorry for not telling you.. I didn't want to bother you while you were so busy". Emilia said and she could see the compassionate look in his eyes. Daniel lifted his hand slowly, very slowly and placed it gently on her cheek. Emilia's eyes fluttered closed in fear but she reminded herself that this was Daniel, the man she loved and she forced herself to open her eyes again. "It's okay Mil, but please promise to tell me everything from now on. I want to be there for you, okay?" She slowly nodded and finally let herself lean into his touch more. Emilia hated the effect Marcus had on her and that because of him the progress she had made with Daniel had been completely erased for the moment.

"We're staying over, okay? I texted Isa, she's okay with us staying in her bed as long as we change the sheets when we leave". Gia giggled and it made a smile form on Emilia's face for the first time. "Thank you again guys, I really don't know what I would have done if you weren't here. I probably would look like one of those pictures again right now.." She said looking down when Gia and Michael stood up and Daniel lifted her face again to look at him. "That will never happen to you again". Emilia saw a determination in his eyes that she had only ever seen when he was racing and it gave her so much reassurance. She knew he would protect her with everything he had and that he would do anything to make sure she was safe. "I love you.." She whispered to him before he leaned in to kiss her. "I love you more than anything, Mil. I will protect you with my life if I have to".