𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 ✔️

Chapter 31

His question felt like a bucket of ice cold water was being poured onto me. I guess I couldn't keep my sadness from showing because he dramatically put his hand on his heart, "Aurelia! Please don't get upset at my questions. Seeing you sad breaks my heart."

His fake sympathetic look only lasted a few seconds before he started laughing to himself. He spat, "Answer the question."

But I didn't. He stood up quickly, connecting the bottom of his foot to my face. I fell backward, fuzzy black dots covering my vision and white noise filling my ears.

I fought my body wanting to lose consciousness and pushed myself back up. I managed to stand up to my feet, nearly falling over as I did so. He smiled, "You're determined, I'll give you that."

I looked around the room. His gun was still on his desk, but he stood in the way of me getting to go get it. I swallowed before asking him, "Why don't you just kill me already?"

"Oh I will, don't you worry," He smirked, "But first, one last game."

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♣ Casper ♣

I drove down the road to my house, tapping my fingers against the steering wheel. Marino and I met and agreed on who to frame, but we still need to start planting the clues.

A smile formed on my face knowing the most perfect girl in the world was at home waiting for me. I can't wait to hug her again, to breathe in her scent. I miss her even after only not seeing her for a few hours. 

I got closer and closer to my house, my smile only growing wider. My phone started to ring with a call from Lex, so I picked up instantly, "I'm 5 minutes away darling. How did that baking go?"

"Casper Armani."

My face dropped and my veins turned to ice. It felt like my heart wasn't beating as I heard Diegos voice speak. My lips tightened together before I asked, "Where is Lex."

Sounds of movement happened before Lex replied in a weak voice, "Hey Casper. Sadly I never got to those cookies."

My heart felt absolutely broken. Hearing the pain and tiredness in her voice made me absolutely fucking murderous. 

My first question to ask her was, "Are you okay?"

Diego didn't give her a chance to respond before moving the phone back to him, making me grip the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned as white as paper. He laughed, "She is very pretty, Casper. Do you have any nice pictures of her for her funeral?"

I was seeing red, but I needed to try and keep myself calm. Diego has always thought he was a mastermind, yet he never learns from his mistakes. Because he always fucks up. His first fuck up was speaking Russian in Leonards house. His second was leaving the lighter at the warehouse. His third was not even realizing that Lex has her location turned on. And his fourth was hurting her.

I pressed my foot against the gas pedal, and the speed increased to 100. I set the phone in front of me and followed the location, which looked like it was some old abandoned house. I yelled at the phone, "I had to pin it on you Diego!"

"To protect your fucking girlfriend? That's pathetic, Casper. What happened to bros before hoes?"

"I graduated the fourth grade."

He laughed, "You still have that sense of humour that made me like you so much. You know, we're a lot alike Casper. Don't think I don't know about you planning to overthrow Leonard and killing Claudia."

"We are nothing alike Diego."

"No? What do you think, Aurelia?"

I heard him walk back over to her. The second I could hear the sound of her breathing I told her, "Don't be afraid, sweetheart. You're gonna be okay."

The phone abruptly moved, making my eyebrows lower. The sound of the phone hitting the ground was followed by fighting, making my heart drop. I yelled, "Don't fight, Lex! Just wait, I promise you're going to be okay!"

I guess she couldn't hear me because the fighting continued. I upped my speed, flying down the back road. I yelled again, "Lex? Can you hear me?"

I'm supposed to protect her. I'm supposed to keep her safe. And now she's in danger, because of me. 

The sound of a gun firing on the other end made my heart stop. I begged, "No, no, no. Lex! Are you there?"

"Your call has been disconnected," A robotic voice spoke.

I slammed the palm of my hand against the steering wheel and yelled, "God Fucking damn it!"

There was no way Lex could be dead. There's just no way. 

Yet even the thought of it had tears falling out of my eyes as I sped at 120. I shook my head to myself and repeated over and over again, "She's okay. She's okay."

It felt like I wasn't even in my body at this moment. The second I saw the house from the light of my headlights my chest tightened as if I was holding in a breath. I swerved into the driveway, not bothering to shut my door after getting out of my car.

I held my gun in my hands as I kicked the door to the house down, a loud boom filling the room once it collided with the ground. 

I called out, "Lex?"

I searched through each room on the main floor quickly, but they were all empty. I flew up the stairs, breaking the hinges on each door upstairs as I searched through them.

When I got to the second last door and threw my body into it, I finally breathed again seeing Lex standing there.

I rushed over to her and pulled her into my arms, the world feeling like it was spinning again. I ran my hand through the back of her hair repeatedly as I felt her tremble in my arms. I pulled away and looked her in her eyes as I asked, "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where the fuck is Diego, I'll kill him right now."

Her bottom lip trembled as she pointed behind me to the corner of the room. I turned around, seeing Diegos dead body with a gunshot to the chest. Her hands were covering her mouth once I turned back around and she whispered, "I killed somebody, Casper. I killed somebody."

"Hey. Look at me, Lex," I rested my hands on the back of her neck as she moved her eyes to meet mine, "You had to. He would've killed you if you didn't."

She nodded, "I know. I just...."

Her eyes started to droop as she spoke, her falling forwards into my chest. I caught her and wrapped my arms around her, "Shhh baby. We're going home, where you're safe."

"I'm okay Casper," She stood back up on her own, "I just felt tired for a second."

Looking at her I could tell Diego hit her several times. I scanned her myself, making sure she had no broken bones. Once I was satisfied I picked her up, not letting her walk in this state.

Through a yawn, she tried to argue, "Casper-"

"Close your eyes, darling. You need rest."

She waited a moment before nodding her head, leaning her head into my chest, and shutting her eyes. I carried her to the car, putting her in the passengers seat. I pulled my black jacket off and put it over top of her to keep her warm.

As I drove us back home, I couldn't keep myself from taking glances at her. She was asleep now, her body drained of energy. I was supposed to fucking protect her.

I beat myself up the entire ride home. Seeing her like this shattered my heart. Once we were home I picked her up, careful to not wake her. I carried her up to our bedroom, placing her onto the bed and putting the blanket over top of her.

I kicked my shoes off before getting in bed beside her, moving some of her hair out of her face.

I was supposed to protect her.