Jane's heart was pounding fast in her chest, and her breaths were short. This was wrong. And the fact Leonardo wouldn't even remember this when he wakes up tomorrow, made her feel nauseous. She looked around her; Marcus, Callum and Mick were running towards Leonardo. Luna was shouting Italian words to Leonardo, Cate panicked, and Justine wrapped her hand around Jane's wrist. Everything around her was still vague, she could hear people yell, but she couldn't make up words from it.
Everything was in slow-motion to Jane, it was like she ended up in a film. But she had to leave before it got worse. She stepped away from Leonardo, looking at Justine. Justine's eyes widened, and she dragged Jane with her.
A shock went through Jane's body when his fist hit her for the second time. This time he hit her cheekbone. Her head followed the movement, causing it to turn away. She blinked, but the glossy layer of tears wouldn't disappear.
Robert grabbed Jane's arm, and together with Justine, they dragged Jane away from Leonardo. "Move," he said and looked around the alley for a safe spot. "Fucking hell," he breathed. "You okay?"
Jane came back to reality and gasped for air. She looked behind her, seeing Leonardo making an attempt to follow her. Mick and Callum stopped him, but it still made Jane feel unsafe. Her eyes fell on Cate, who had a terrified look on her face while following Jane. Jane looked back in front of her and started to run, making Justine and Robert run as well.
They ran around the corner, facing the terrace of a restaurant. It was silent, the guests heard the shouts and were curious to know what happened. There were no empty tables, so Robert chose to walk over to a small wall across from the restaurant.
"Are you okay?" Robert asked one more time once Jane sat on the wall.
"I don't know," she whispered lost and fought against the tears. Her fingertips touched her face, it didn't hurt, but it felt sensitive. "It happened so quick..."
"You are safe now," he softly said and looked behind him. The alley was dark, but it was silent. A few seconds later, four people walked around the corner, they all looked worried, but Marcus looked furious as well. "He's gone."
"Let me check your face," Justine softly said, but warmly smiled. "I'm not a doctor, but I'm studying for it. Can someone put on a flashlight on her face?"
Jane didn't say anything, she stared at the ground. The happy Jane disappeared, she was gone. The scared Jane was present now.
"He is gone..." Mick mentioned to the group. "Hopefully," he softly added. He scanned Jane's face with round and worried eyes.
"Are you okay?" Callum asked.
Jane shrugged and let Justine examine her face; she flinched every now and then. Her eyes closed, the light of the flashlight was bright.
"You won't feel the pain now, your body is full of adrenaline, but it will come soon," Justine softly mentioned. "It doesn't look bad; there's nothing broken. But I advise you to visit the hospital for a real check."
Jane nodded and took a deep breath. How could this happen?
"Can I get something from the restaurant?" Luna swallowed hard, this escalated so badly.
"Water and ice," Justine answered. "And a towel."
Luna nodded and walked to the restaurant, asking for the three things. She looked at the group, everyone was upset. Cate was in a panic, Marcus zoned out to be calm again, Jane looked fragile, and everyone else looked worried. This needed to change. "Grazie," she said to the waiter and walked back to the group. She gave the things to Justine and heavily sighed while shaking her head. "This can't continue like this, Jane."
"Do you know him?" Mick asked.
"He's my ex-boyfriend," Jane mumbled and held the ice against her cheek. It was cold, it gave her goosebumps.
It was silence. "Jesus Christ, Jane," Luna said and put her hands on her hips.
"I would go to the police tomorrow, after the hospital visit," Justine suggested. "Not to sound like a dick, but tomorrow you will see the damage and the police can do more with that than now."
"I don't want to file charges..." Jane dried her eyes. "His family knows everyone in the police department, they are all on his side. They will ruin me."
Marcus stepped towards her. "No, they won't," he assured her. "You can't let him walk away with this," he whispered and tried to make eye contact, but she refused to look at him.
"Bullshit, Jane!" Luna blurted, and her voice raised, she was just so worried that this wouldn't be it, that this was just the beginning. "He knows you won't go to the police, so he keeps doing these things. That man is stalking you, now this... He will ruin you anyway, but if he ruins you, make sure you'll ruin him too."
Silence fell between the group. Jane removed the ice from her cheek and sighed. She was punched in the face by Leonardo twice, in front of everyone. The evening was ruined because of this, because of her ex, because of her. Thick tears started to well up, and her lip began to tremble. She sniffed and shook her head. The pain started to kick in; her cheek started to burn. Jane blinked, and the first thick, warm tears left her eyes. "I'm sorry," she apologised. The shock of the moment came out in sadness.
"Hey," Marcus softly said and wrapped his arms around her neck. "Don't say that." He pressed a kiss on her temple and stroked her back. "It isn't your fault, you did nothing wrong." Marcus was so close to punching Leonardo back, but Mick stopped him from doing that. There was so much heat between him and Leonardo, because who would hit a girl?
Jane buried her face in Marcus' neck cavity and closed her eyes, but the tears still managed to escape her eyes. A guilty feeling flushed over her body, it was her fault. Her body was shaking.
"It's okay; you're safe now," he whispered.
After a few minutes, Jane pulled herself back together. She pulled back and sniffed. Her cheek had a certain pressure right now, it felt like her skin was pulled tight. There would probably be an egg on her cheekbone and jaw, there was no way it wouldn't swell.
Marcus carefully dried her cheeks, he was scared to hurt her. He swallowed hard and rubbed away the mascara under her eyes. "You probably should put the ice back on," he softly said. "Or it will get worse." He pressed a kiss on her forehead.
"Yeah..." She put the ice back on her face and sniffed. "Bloody hell," she breathed and shook her head. Jane was somewhat embarrassed all these people had to witness this. "I'm so sorry you had to see all of this."
"Jane..."
She shook her head again and dried her eyes one more time. Justine handed over the bottle of water, and Jane took a big sip.
"This is your neighbourhood, right?" Marcus asked.
"Yes."
"Let's go home then," he suggested. "Via the streets, not the alleys."
Everyone agreed to that. Jane jumped off the wall and made a bun in her hair. She was glad Leonardo didn't hit her nose; otherwise, she would be bleeding now. The entire way to Jane and Luna's house was completely silent. However, every time they saw a person walking towards them, panic flew through their bodies, scared to face Leonardo again.
Marcus looked at Jane, poor girl... She turned into a fragile girl. Jane was a chatty and enthusiastic girl, but that wasn't noticeable anymore. Jane was sniffing, still keeping the ice to her cheek and squeezing her eyebrows together. Marcus wanted to be there for her, but he noticed she kinda pushed him away - what he could understand. He was feeling powerless.
"Alright," Luna broke the silence when they arrived at their building. She put her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and looked around.
"Uhm," Jane began and looked past the group. "Besides the happening, the evening was amazing, and I had so much fun. Thank you for tonight, at the festival and...err...the situation."
Justine nodded and softly smiled. "Thank you for taking us to the festival," she spoke for the group and also looked at Luna.
"You're welcome," Luna said and pressed a smile on her face. "It was a real pleasure to get to know you."
"You too," Callum mentioned.
While the group was talking to each other, Marcus noticed Jane was zoning out again. He grabbed her hand, it made her look up. "I can stay with you if you want and go to the police together tomorrow," he offered. "Only if you want..."
"No, thank you. I should handle this on my own," she replied and looked at his nose instead of his eyes.
He nodded, it hurt him, but he understood it. "It's okay. Let me know when you are done, yeh?" Marcus opened his arms.
"I will," Jane promised, removed the ice from her cheek and stepped into his arms. "Thank you for tonight, I really enjoyed the most of it," she mumbled and wrapped her arms around him as well.
"I enjoyed it too. Thank you for inviting us." He gave her a kiss. "Remember, this isn't your fault. You did nothing wrong here."
"I'm really sorry you had to see this, Marcus."
"I'm glad we were there. Who knows what could've happened if you were alone." He pulled back and weakly smiled. "Take care of yourself, darling."
Jane nodded and looked down. Everybody was saying goodbye to each other, but Jane wasn't waiting for this. She just wanted to take a shower and lay in bed. Justine advised Jane to take a painkiller before going to bed and asked Luna to watch her.
The group wanted to walk away, but Cate stopped Jane from entering the building. "Go to the police, ask for Alessandro Russo and tell him you know me. He is a good cop, he doesn't work for the Esposito's," she assured Jane and scared her fragile face. "You can trust him."
"Thank you," Jane whispered.
"No problem, babe. Just take care of yourself, yes?" Cate showed a warm smile, but she didn't feel good at all. Jane nodded and stepped inside the building. The door closed what made Cate walk back to the group. "Let's go," she quietly said.
"What did you say to her?" Callum asked, he was curious, but Jane was already part of this group.
"That she just needs to watch out for the Esposito's," Cate said and chewed on the inside of her lip. "How did this innocent girl get in touch with that psychopath?"
Everybody looked at her. "You know him?"
"Everybody knows him. His family is toxic when you fuck it up."
Marcus deeply inhaled. "It's just so hard to see her like this," he admitted, and the tears he was holding back, flowed in his eyes. "She doesn't deserve this. And what gives him the reason to do this?" His voice cracked.
"You know what happened between them?" Cate asked.
"He didn't treat Jane right."
"Fuck..."
Mick didn't know what to say. "Did you notice how she avoided eye contact? It was like she thinks it's her fault."
"I swear, I wished I punched him right in the face," Marcus furiously mentioned. "If he ever bothers her ever again, I will make sure he will never even wants to be in her space ever again."