I could feel the blood pooling in my palms at my nails digging into my skin, but I didn't care.
The cocky, snide tone in Emiliano's annoying ass voice was enough to trigger me alone.
Not to mention Andreas, Mateo and Car's brothers presence behind me. Their eyes practically burned through the back of my head.
When I saw them come into the courtroom my chest tightened, anticipation building in preparation for seeing Car well and safe beside them.
But when I met Andreas's guilty eyes I knew- I knew she wasn't here, nor would she be. I think my heart shrunk a little at that.
I broke eye contact quickly with them all, keeping my head straight forward, eyes staring at the wall ahead of me.
Romeo was sitting nervously beside me, and I wanted to protect him despite my still existing resentment. But he was Car's brother, who she cared for so much. If I couldn't protect Car in this moment, I would Romeo.
He wasn't going to follow through on his plan.
"Yes. In fact, there is." Emiliano says, the first thing in a whole time here that gets me to raise my head and look him dead in the eyes.
He was already looking straight at me, his face showing a picture of perfect sadness and disgust towards me, but his eyes were laughing. They were laughing with such confidence in his plan that I started to panic.
My defendant kept his cool, despite his obvious shock that there was tangible evidence to his claims, "Your honour," He addresses, "Permission to present this evidence?" He asks and the judge looks between Emiliano and him.
"Permission granted." The judge voices and Emiliano gets off the podium, walking back towards his lawyer and the table they were seated at, only to retrieve a file.
I furrow my brows, what the fuck could that be?
Emiliano hands the file to our defendant, who accepts it and immediately starts looking through it.
He was usually good at maintaining a poker face, as most lawyers should be, but I could see the slight pale of his face as he read the contents of the file.
Romeo's knee began tapping again, and I put my hand over his knee, this time more gently than the last.
I turn to look at him, and he looks back at me, worry written all over his face.
I can't help but swipe my thumb over his knee in a comforting gesture, "Don't look so guilty, huh?" I whisper lowly, and he shakes his head as if to clear his expression and nods at me, his knee now staying still under my hand.
I turn my attention back to Emiliano when he begins to talk, "As aforementioned, hospital checks were done for Carlotta for obvious reasons after her abduction. These are the results of several scans and reports of her lower body, looking for signs of sexual abuse." He says, as our defendant keeps looking through all the papers.
It feels like someone crushing my lungs, air finding it hard to reach me. Shock freezes my body and I genuinely don't know what to do with myself.
Romeo stiffens beside me, but I can't bring myself to pay him any mind. The scans can't be real, they have to have been forged. I would never inflict any kind of damage on Car, let alone forcefully touch her.
I lift a hand to cover my mouth, trying to reign in my temper and emotions. The files have to be fake- unless-
"These files are official documents from the hospital." Emiliano continues, "They show damage to the vaginal canal as well as cervix. These are injuries she's currently recovering from, as well as her decline in mental health. Many are aware that for this reason it was deemed unsafe for her to attend today."
My mouth goes dry and I stand up suddenly, not in control of my actions as I shove my chair backwards and make my way over to my defendant, my handcuffed hands still awkwardly in front of me.
I can hear Romeo hissing at me to sit down but my focus is getting my hands on those files- and then promptly wringing Emiliano's neck, police be damned.
"Evangelos, sit down immediately." My defendant scolds as I get closer to him, Emiliano still keeping up his act of beloved boyfriend.
I ignored his claims and snatched the file out of his hands, rummaging through them. There were multiple scans and written reports, explaining and highlighting the abnormalities found in her body. It was marked as an official hospital document but... this could easily have been faked, and besides, Car would never let them look over her.
At least not willingly...
Bile started to churn in my gut and rise up my throat at the thought. I needed to know for sure, I needed to know if this was real-
My head whips up and searches the stands, hearing noise surrounding me but ignoring the people yelling at me.
There- my eyes find Andreas, a question in them as I stare, and his returning gaze only confirms the worst.
These papers were real.
These scans were of Car.
Multiple emotions rush through my body, but I can only seem to identify clearest with one- anger. My whole body feels tense, excess energy having built up from days being separated from my family and I needed to find a release.
I didn't realise my hands were crushing the files before a hand clasped my shoulder.
Two officers had grabbed me, prying the files out of my hand as I reluctantly let them go and am roughly escorted back to my seat.
"Get the fuck off me." I snarl, shoving them off my shoulders as I sit back down, my knee now tapping with built up nerves as I try process what the fuck I just figured out.
It's only now that I hear the uproar in the room: Emiliano exclaiming some bullshit, his lawyer talking with the judge, the jury muttering amongst themselves.
A hand lands on my knee, "Hey, are you good?" Romeo asks, though when I look down at him I find his eyes are watery.
"No." I respond a little more icily than intended and instantly regret my tone with him. My features soften, and for a rare time in my life I feel the need to cry. "I'm sorry Romeo, I'm so sorry I've fucked this for us both-"
"Order! Order please!" The judge bellows, his gavel coming down hard on the table as the room quietens. "I'm sorry Mr. Kosmos," he continues, frowning down at me, "But I can only see that as an act to directly tamper with evidence." He scowls, and I keep my face passive, though a storm of rage is building in me.
Fucking tampering with evidence? This whole fucking court is against us-
"Your honour, I apologise for my clients behaviour- but I ask if we can question the evidence?" Our defendant speaks and the judge looks at him unhappily.
"Absolutely not." He says, "Tampering with evidence is a crime in itself, I ask you to keep your clients silent and in line for the rest of the hearing."
Our defendant comes to sit back next to us, looking a little defeated as he glares at me sidelong.
I glare right back, wanting to kill everyone in this room. I wanted to string up their half dead bodies and watch them writhe.
I clenched my jaw to will away the unsavoury thoughts, reminding myself to get through this hearing without putting Romeo at risk- and then killing everyone.
Why couldn't i just control my fucking impulses? Why did my dumbass have to get diagnosed with IED when I was 14?
Not only am I fucking shit up for myself- but for Romeo as well.
"You have shown obsessive and dangerous behaviours towards the victim, even after being caught and separated." The judge voices towards Romeo and I, "We'll take a 30 minute break to discuss, I've seen all I need to." He sneers and brings his gavel down once onto the stand before getting up.
I clench my fists on the table and turn to our defendant, "This is bullshit, they haven't even heard our side of the story." I growl and he looks at me equally angry.
"And now we won't have the fucking chance to thanks to you and your temper." He says back, and I bare my teeth at him before Romeo steps in.
"We're fucked, ok? But can we go out in the hallway to talk? Are we allowed to leave the room during the break?" He cuts in, probably stopping me from starting a full on fight. To which I am grateful.
Our defendant nods once and signals for the officers. They come over and grab us both by the biceps and lead us out the back hallway.
They wait outside the door as we enter the hallway, my cuffed hands find my hair as I run my fingers through it, pretending they're Car's manicured hands in an attempt to calm me down.
My attention is stolen though by a sound at the end of the hall. I turn to see Emiliano standing there, talking with the judge in a hushed whisper.
He suddenly pulls an envelope from his pocket and hands it discreetly to the judge who tucks it in his cloak. The judge nods and walks out the hallway.
"The fuck is the matter with you Evangelos-" Our defendant starts, coming into the hall, which snatches Emiliano's attention towards us- to me.
He looks down the hall, right at me and smiles before turning and leaving the same way as the judge.
I take a step to follow him, intent on strangling him with my handcuffs, but an arm reaches out and holds me in place.
"Are you even listening to me?" Our defendant exclaims and I shove him off me, "Are those scans real, did you rape her?" He asks in disgust and I shove him into the wall, needing to hurt somebody.
His back hits it with a satisfying crack and he groans loudly. I go to punch him as best I can with my handcuffed hands but Romeo beats me to it.
He steps in front of our defendant who's spluttering on the floor and raises his leg, kicking him square in the gut and making him double over in pain yet again.
He spits on him, "You were a shit lawyer anyways, fucking asshole." Romeo turns to me, looking at me apprehensively, "I saw Emiliano and the judges exchange as well." He breathes, "He's paying him off, we're going to prison aren't we?" He asks, but by the look in his eyes, he already knows the answer.
"Yeah." I nod, "We are."
Romeo tilts his head back, eyes closed and takes in a deep breath.
I feel bad for the kid, so I nudge his shoulder with mine, "Hey, at least we're going together right?" I say, not wanting him to feel bad in this situation, "Brother-in-law bonding time." I smile half-heartedly.
He pretends to glare at me but smiles slightly at that, seeing my gesture as a sort of acceptance to him finally, "Yeah, I guess so." He says.
I'm about to suggest what we do about our defendant laying on the floor, when a voice shrieks from the end of the corridor.
"I fucking told you, I just want to see them! You have no right- No get the fuck off me you asshole-"
Romeo and i share a look as the voice gets progressively closer and eventually, Carlotta- looking like the fucking angel she is- turns the corner, three wary police officers following behind her.
"Do you know who my boyfriend is? Fuck that, do you know who I am?" She hisses at the three men, all thrice her size.
"Ma'am, you cannot be here!" One tries, reaching out for her but he flinches back when she glares at him.
Romeo and I freeze, and Car locks eyes onto us.
"Baby?" I murmur, my voice thick.
"Gigi! Rome!" She exclaims, leaping forwards when she sees us, her eyes filling with tears I want to wipe away and make sure never leave her gorgeous eyes again.
I move forward and catch her as the bounds down the hall, letting her into my arms under the handcuffs and pressing my lips to hers.
She's harshly yanked backwards from me by the waist though, slipping back out under my arms and crashing backwards into an officer's chest who keeps her tightly in his hold.
"Stay away from her." The officer yells at me, and I rage at their fucking blindness and incompetence.
She ran to me, not fucking Emiliano!
I bellow my anger, making a move to attack the man who touched her when the doors to the hallway open behind us and the two officers who escorted us here stumble in, probably from the noise.
They instantly see the situation and rush to grab Romeo and I, who struggle in their grip but are disadvantaged by our bound hands.
"Gigi!! Romeo! Please, let go!" Car thrashes in the officer's hold, who starts dragging her back down the hall.
Anger flares inside me, seeing her be dragged away from me for the second tiem, "She's fucking mine! Give her back!" I rage, fighting to get to Car as I'm also simultaneously pulled away, Romeo yelling out to his little sister as well.
"Ti amo, mi dispiace tanto!" Romeo yells, tears flooding his eyes just like Car's.
(i love you, i'm so sorry)
Car lets out a cry at this, "Vi amo anch'io, tutti e due!" She yells back, and Romeo gasps quietly.
(i love you too, both of you)
We're dragged back into the room where people stand with a start at seeing us restrained. Four more officers rush over to help us back to our seats, where they cuff us to the table as we continuously fight our restraints.
We already knew the fucking system was hacked, might as well make a scene.
I manage to twist round and see the Vasiliev's and Andreas and Mateo staring at us both in shock and worry.
They obviously didn't know Car had come here.
The jury are muttering loudly amongst themselves as they see us, Emiliano sitting by his table, shaking his head at us idly in faux pity and disappointment.
I make another move to lunge at him, dragging the table a good metre with me as I do like a restrained dog, only causing the four officers to physically pin me down in my chair.
The judge pounds his gavel into his podium, "ORDER!" He yells, and I settle, only to hear him convict us so we can leave.
"Never in my courtroom have I had such an unruly perpetrator." He exclaims, and I openly roll my eyes, earning disapproving mutters from the jury.
Romeo and I simultaneously manage to flip them all off, looking at each other slightly impressed. This kid may not be that bad after all.
"After discussion with the jury and going over the evidence- as well as the behaviour of the perpetrators in court this afternoon, it is without a doubt to say that Evangelos Kosmos and Romeo Beneventi are hereby being arrested for the crimes against Carlotta Vasiliev." He announces, earning gasps from those sitting behind us.
I can hear Andreas and Mateo talk quietly to each other, horror etched into their words.
"They are both being sentenced 15 years in maximum security, a specialised prison will be accommodated based in the UK." He announces and for one final time he pounds his gavel into his podium, "Court adjourned."
Romeo and I are instantly un-cuffed from the table and hauled up by the officers as they lead us down the centre of the room.
I look at Emiliano as we pass his table, a promise of murder in my eyes.
He doesn't realise it, but he's just given me 15 years to plan the most excruciating and painful death I could ever give him. Unless my girl gets to him first, in which I only pray she tells me all about it as I drive my cock up into her at a conjugal visit.
15 years in prison won't satiate my sick mind.
We pass down the centre of the room and as we pass the Vasiliev's I send them all a subtle nod, a thanks for their graciousness to me- and to Car.
Andreas and Mateo look at me with shock, horror and sadness, their hands clenched together in an iron grip. I was glad they had each other.
"φρόντισε το αυτοκίνητο για μένα." I tell Andreas and he nods stiffly. I'm prodded in the back by one of the officers rather harshly.
(take care of her for me.)
"Keep your fucking mouth shut." They snarl and I do, continuing to walk out of the room and out of the building to where a police van is waiting to take Romeo and I out of the country.
We sit in the cold van, chains attached to our ankles and wrists, not saying a word to one another. My mind is reeling, Car being at the forefront of my thoughts as involuntarily yet silent tears slip down my stubbled cheeks.
Romeo is in the same state, his cheeks and eyes glistening as he stares at the van floor across from me.
Her last words are stuck on repeat in my head. Vi amo anch'io, tutti e due.
We'd taught each other enough Greek and Italian for me to know the first part meant 'I love you too' in response to Romeo's 'I love you', but I couldn't wrap my head around the other half.
"Hey Rome?" I ask, unconsciously adopting his nickname, "What does tutti e due mean?" I ask hesitantly, a small tinge of pink on my tear stained cheeks.
He looks up at me and his eyes widen slightly, either at the sight of me crying and blushing or me addressing him by his nickname- or both.
He swallows, a blush coating his own cheeks as well before he silently says, "Both of you."
___________________________________________________________
phew... there we go.
shit just got real.
i hope you enjoyed reading my lovelies
i love you all! and see you next time <3