Forelsket (n.) The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.
Nicolo's P.O.V.
I held her body in my arms as her pale complexion felt cold against my skin. I gently set her down against a wooden crate and stood up to find a safe exit for us to escape through. My anger became suppressed with a haze of guilt and regret as I was not able to keep her safe. I began to collect the guns from the dead men that I shot, but I suddenly heard commands being shouted as a group of people barged through the door.
The team walked through in an orderly manner and wore black protective gear as they held rifles in their hands. They were organized, skilled, tactical.
These aren't my fucking men, I thought as I stood in front of Arabella and aimed my gun towards them.
"Drop your weapon!" a man shouted at me but I continued to stare down the barrel of my gun.
These can't be Romano's men and they're not military, I began to think as I was not familiar with the organization that stood in front of me. Their moves are safe and calculated, as if they were performing under strict orders.
Being too safe can get you killed, I scoffed as I saw a dark figure move in the corner of my eye. They began to move quietly behind the team and I noticed it was Manny as he stepped into the light and held his gun against someone's head.
"Why don't you do the honors and put your weapon down first?" Manny said to the man as he became visibly nervous.
"You're surrounded!" I heard Leone's voice yell out from behind me.
I watched as my men suddenly walked through the side doors of the warehouse as they pointed their gun towards the team. Footsteps were heard against the metal roof as I looked up to find Ilaria pointing a sniper through an open clearing. Dante and Leone walked up and stood beside me as we began to outnumber and encircle the group.
"Put down your weapons and we won't shoot!" Leone negotiated.
The man in front of Manny suddenly turned around, but Manny was too quick for the man as he grabbed his rifle and shot him in the calf, causing him to fall to his knees.
"Who do you work for?" Gabe asked aloud.
I furrowed my brows as we watched the team turn towards each other as they hesitated to answer, as if they were all keeping a secret that only they knew about.
"We cannot disclose that information with you," a man spoke up nervously.
I looked at them closely as their body language became a clear sign that they were uncomfortable. They're not from here, I thought as I lowered my weapon.
I made my way towards Arabella and gently picked up her unconscious body as I brought her out for the men to see. Their eyes widened at her condition and I smirked as they became more attentive and aimed their rifles towards me. I pulled out an empty revolver from my jacket and held it against her head as I pulled down the safety.
"Is this who you're looking for?" I asked as I pushed the metal tip of the gun against her temple.
"Wait, stop!" a man yelled out.
I smiled smugly as I watched him slowly put down his rifle and raise both of his hands in surrender as he stood back up. The rest of his men followed along and placed their rifles on the ground.
"Fucking, Greeks," I mumbled to Leone and Dante as I lowered the gun from Arabella's head.
Suddenly, we all turned our attention towards the sound of footsteps slowly dragging along the gravel floor. A man appeared from behind the group and walked towards the center of the warehouse with his hands in his trench coat pockets.
"Tell your men to lower their guns, Nicolo," he said to me calmly with a solemn face as he stared at the woman in my arms.
"Atlas," Dante gasped out as he lowered his gun.
"Is that really you?" he asked in shock and Atlas nodded his head.
"She needs medical attention," Atlas spoke out as he took a step closer.
"We'll be taking her with us," he said.
"There's no way in hell she's going back with you people," Leone said as he stepped forward.
"That's my daughter, I-"
"She may be your daughter but you are not her father, you haven't been her father for years ever since you made the decision to leave her," I scoffed at him.
"She needs proper care," he scowled at me.
"And we have the best doctors in all of Italy, so do not step any closer Atlas, I will put a bullet through your goddamn skull," I said as I aimed my loaded gun towards him.
"You will follow us to the estate if you wish to see her, but just you, none of your men," I said as I glared at the people behind him.
"Galen, férte ta aftokínitá mas kai tous ántres mas píso stis enkatastáseis. Tha epistrépso to vrády," Atlas said to a man before turning towards me with a nod (Bring our cars and our men back to the facility. I will be back by night).
"I want him searched for weapons before we bring him with us," I yelled out to my men as I began to walk away.
"Manny, take those two with us," I said as I pointed to the guards that lay unconscious.
"But, they're Romano's men," he said confused.
"I was not the one who shot them," I replied as I watched his eyes widen with pity.
"We will have them treated by the doctor. I will not have her live with death on her hands," I said as I watched Dante carry Arabella to the car.
"Technically she wouldn't have killed them if I just finish the job right now," he said as he loaded his gun.
"Just bring them back to the fucking estate, Manny," I said as I placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Alive," I emphasized before leaving him.
I walked towards Gabe and asked for his phone to inform my mother of the shit show we were about to bring back home. Mentally groaning, I scrolled through his contact list to find her number as I was not prepared to incur my mother's wrath.
"Gabe? Hello?" her peaceful voice answered.
"Mamma, it's me," I said.
"What? Nico? What's wrong?" she asked.
"Codice rosso. Assicurati che i medici siano lì in tempo. Ci saremo presto," I said (Code red. Make sure the doctors are there on time. We will be there soon).
"Oh, Santo Cielo. What have you gotten yourself into now, Nico? Is everyone okay?" (For God's sake)
"I will explain later. Is father home?" I asked.
"He is not, should we keep him away?"
"Yes, he cannot know about this," I said as I was beginning to worry about Arabella's safety.
"I will do my best, caro," she sighed (Dear).
I ended the call and made my way towards the car that my men were waiting in. I stared into the rearview mirror as my gaze met the eyes of a man who left his daughter to live in a dangerous world that she was unaware of for years.
"How did you find us?" I asked as I continued to glare at Atlas. He remained silent as he looked away but Dante spoke up to answer.
"You guys called us for help and mentioned Romano's warehouse."
"I never had the chance to call. They took our phones," I said confused.
"Arabella contacted us through a watch, that's how we were able to track her," Atlas muttered.
"You know, Nico, with the right training we could use a woman like her," Leone said as I saw Atlas shift uncomfortably in his seat.
"Non voglio sentire stupidaggini uscire dalla tua bocca, Leone. She'll get herself killed in our line of work," I said as I looked at the rearview mirror to see her unconscious body lean against Leone (I don't want to hear stupid shit leave your mouth).
Her face and hands were covered with blood, staining her once clean clothes and pure body, and possibly leaving another scar on her mind and memories. I had told her that everything would be okay, but still, she suffers from the world I dragged her into. My promise to keep her from getting harmed again was broken as I failed to keep her safe. I have only known her for a month, but I could not see myself living a life without her if she died from my inability to protect her.
I sighed in relief once I reached the estate and saw Manny helping the doctors carry Romano's guards to the stretchers. I would have preferred to let them bleed to death, but Arabella's misery would have killed me more than to let those men die. Watching her break down in tears caused me to feel pain that I have never experienced before, it was as if a part of me broke down with her.
"Nico, what ha-" my mother gasped once she saw Arabella's body.
"Help Dante bring Arabella up to her room, the doctors should be with her shortly," I said to Viviana.
"Atlas?" I heard my mother ask aloud with a shaky voice. I shook my head as I turned to her and looked at her widened eyes as blood drained from her face.
"Mamma, let's get inside," I said as I tried to guide her towards the house.
"You need to explain what's going on!" she yelled at me as we walked to the office with my men trailing close behind.
I sat behind the desk and lit a cigar to avoid the furious glare my mother was giving me. I watched through a cloud of smoke as Leone placed Atlas into the chair in front of me and untied the rope around his wrists.
"Is- is she still alive as well?" my mom asked with hopeful eyes as she looked at a wedding band around Atlas' finger.
"No..." he said quietly as he looked down.
"...she died in the crash," he whispered as he placed his hand over the ring. I looked at my mother as I knew she was a close friend of his wife and I watched as her face filled with sorrow.
"How did Arabella get your contact information?" I asked.
"Alexander gave her our number," he answered.
"And where is he now?" I asked as I brought the cigar to my lips.
"He is in Greece, working undercover in Cairo's organization to keep him distracted," he said.
"What do you want from Arabella? Why did you choose to bring Alexander into her life just recently?" Manny asked as he leaned against the wall and we watched as Atlas chuckled and shook his head.
"We've been watching over her for years. I was not there for her, but I watched her grow up, I made sure not to miss a moment," he explained as he looked around at us.
"The car crash was not an accident. It was planned; we were attacked that night and I believe it was done by my brother's men, I've watched over the traffic footage multiple times," he continued on when no one responded.
"When I lost my wife that night, I knew I couldn't lose my daughter, so I made up my death to protect her."
"You could've gone to us for help," my mother sighed out.
"I know it was years ago, Emersyn, but don't be so thoughtless to forget, you Italians never wanted to be in accord with us. Going to you would be foolish, my wife didn't want to take any risks with our daughter," he said and I pulled out my gun as I aimed it at his head for talking to my mother that way.
"Watch your fucking mouth if you want to leave here alive," I said through gritted teeth.
"Va tutto bene, caro," my mother said as she placed her hand on my shoulder (It's alright, dear).
"My wife wanted to escape from the mafia, but in the end it caught up to her. So you can imagine my shock when I found out that, in all of Italy, Arabella just had to work for the one museum that's used to launder money and handle drug shipments," he said as he frowned at me.
"I sent in Alexander to watch over her and to keep her from making contact with you and your men, but now she called for help because she got caught up in your mess with Romano."
"Do not blame me for your mistake of thinking it was a smart decision to fake your death. Hiding this life from her is not protecting her, it's simply keeping secrets until she inevitably finds out," I replied as I scoffed at his pathetic excuse.
Before he could speak, a blood-curdling scream sliced through the silence and I turned to my men as we exchanged alarmed looks.
"No! Stop!" we heard Arabella yell from down the hall.
I immediately stood up from my chair and left the office as I pulled out my gun. I waited by her bedroom as I watched my men run down the hallway with guns in their hands. Leone gave me a nod, signaling he was ready as we barged through the door.
"What are you doing?" I yelled out to the doctor as she stood by Arabella's bed.
"Sir, I was just trying to-"
"Step aside," I ordered as I pointed my gun at her.
"Please, get it off, get it off!" Arabella said between sobs as she clawed at the blood that stained her skin.
I placed my gun into my jacket, but before I could make my way towards Arabella, Atlas pushed his way forward through my men.
"Hey, it's okay," Atlas said as he slowly reached out to her. Arabella began to panic as she watched the stranger begin to approach her. Her hands met his arms and shoulder as she tried to push and hit him away.
I clenched my jaw while I watched him try to comfort her, but instead made her feel scared even more. I began to walk towards him, but I felt my mother's hand grab my wrist as she tried to keep me away. I turned towards her and saw that tears brimmed her eyes as she watched Atlas and Arabella with sympathy.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly to her. Arabella looked up at Atlas and her eyes began to widen with guilt as she realized what she had done to him.
"I'm sorry," she whispered as she clenched her hands into fists and placed them onto her lap.
"We'll get this blood off of you, but you should stop scratching at your skin, you'll hurt yourself," he said as he grabbed her forearm to examine it.
She studied him closely as he held her arm while everyone else watched in silence as Atlas held his daughter for the first time in years without her knowing who he truly was. I stared at her as she furrowed her brows and slightly tilted her head to the side, as if she was beginning to recognize who he was.
"You need to leave," I said lowly as I placed my hand on his shoulder to pull him back.
"If you could just give me a few minutes with-"
"Now," I demanded as I nodded towards my men to take him away.
"Nico, a few minutes won't hurt," my mother said as we walked out of the bedroom.
"You saw the state she was in, mamma. She cannot handle this, not now."
"I just need to speak with her," Atlas pleaded
"Have you forgotten? You're dead to her," I said as I stood between him and the doorway.
"You will be leaving this estate. My men will take you to where you need to be."
"I need to keep in contact with her," he said as he refused to leave.
"Then send in Alexander, she's been waiting for him," I scowled as I ordered my men to take him away.
I turned towards my mother who looked at me with disappointed eyes before she began to leave me alone in the hallway. I did not feel an ounce of regret as I knew Arabella had gone through more than she could cope with today.
By taking her out, I had planned on showing her that I cared for her, I needed her to know that she was safe with me, but I am at fault for letting my issues with Romano escape into her life. I wanted to make things right, to apologize for what I put her through, and to take care of her.
I needed her.
Author's Note:
Hello Friends,
I cannot believe I made it all the way to chapter 40 and if you're reading this, I cannot believe you made it this far as well!
Thank you so much to those that continue to read my book!
-Love, A