Silent Scars

CHAPTER 61

Both Leonardo and Marcus were in the car, speeding toward the private jet that would take them back home.

The usual protocol, the careful planning, none of it mattered. The only thought pounding in Marcus’s head was,

What the hell happened?

The flight from LA to home felt both unbearably long and painfully short. Neither of them spoke much, but the tension between them was thick, crackling like a live wire.

Leonardo sat rigid, his fingers pressed against his temple, his jaw clenched so tightly it ached. His mind raced through every possibility, every worst case scenario, but the only thing he could see was her.

Lying in a hospital bed.

Hurt.

Alone.

I should have been there.

Marcus, on the other hand, was burning with rage. His hands curled into fists on his lap, his leg bouncing with restless energy. Every minute wasted in the air felt like a lifetime.

The second the plane landed, they didn’t wait for their usual security detail. They didn’t bother with cars.

They drove themselves, pushing the speed limit, breaking every rule.

By the time they stormed into the hospital, their presence sending a ripple of shock through the sterile halls.

It wasn’t every day that Leonardo Hastings and Marcus Hastings walked into a hospital, let alone with fury etched so deeply into their faces that it felt like the air had been sucked out of the building.

Marcus’s expression was a mask of pure rage, his eyes dark and stormy, his clenched fists trembling with suppressed fury. He looked ready to destroy anyone who dared to stand in his way.

Leonardo, on the other hand, was colder, his face set in an unreadable mask, but the rage simmering beneath was undeniable.

Their presence alone was enough to make the air shift, enough to make people stop, their whispers dying in their throats.

Because it wasn’t just Leonardo Hastings and Marcus Hastings walking through those doors.

It was two men on the brink of destruction.

Their long strides echoed through the hallway as Marco immediately approached, leading them toward the ICU.

As they neared, Leonardo caught sight of Luca and Domain outside the unit.

Luca and Domain sat there, unmoving, their presence a silent testament to everything they had endured since yesterday.

Neither of them had left the hospital, not for a second. They hadn’t slept, hadn’t eaten, hadn’t even moved from their spots outside Ariana’s room. It was as if they had become fixtures in the hallway, rooted in place by something stronger than exhaustion.

Luca looked pale, his usual composed demeanor shattered. Dark circles clung beneath his eyes, making his already sharp features appear even more hollow. His clothes were wrinkled, his hands buried deep in his hoodie pockets, but it wasn’t out of casual indifference, it was restraint. He was holding himself together by a thread, his lips pressed into a thin line, his knuckles white from the way he gripped his wrist. But his eyes, his usually warm, thoughtful eyes were dark.

Empty.

And then there was Domain.

If Luca looked like he was barely holding on, Domain looked like he was waiting......waiting for something to break, waiting for someone to give him a reason to unleash the storm brewing beneath the surface. His hair was disheveled, his jaw clenched so tightly it looked painful. His hands were bruised, his knuckles raw, cracked, like he had been throwing punches against something that couldn’t fight back.