SAME DAY - (Sun, 15 January 2023)
Aurora's POV
I woke up this morning with an excited smile on my face, knowing that I'll be spending the day with Dante. God I've missed him, crazy I know because we do live in the same house or more like SLEEP in the same house as this isn't our permanent home. I can only imagine how badly Steph wants all of us to leave his house because he likes to be home with his family, alone but Kiara wants us to stay, for how long I'm not sure but neither of the girls are complaining, myself included because here it's like living in a damn palace!
A big part of me is dreading the day Steph decides to kick us out because then I'll see even less of Dante. Even with our rooms only two doors apart, we hardly see each other as his almost never here and when we get kicked out, Lord only knows what will happen then between Dante and I, because let's face it, he hasn't even made us official yet even if we are acting like we are, we both know that we're not. But today is so not the day to worry myself about such unimportant matters, because right now I'm getting ready to surprise him with breakfast in bed, REAL breakfast this time.
I had asked Luigi if I could use his kitchen, instead of one of the other two that's here in the estate as his is the closest to the private wing. He was reluctant at first because he does not allow anyone in his kitchen but I pulled out my charm and I got it right after an hour of begging and charming him, which he finally agreed to only because he wanted me to shut up. I had came back to my bedroom and got dressed because Steph does not like it when we walk around in our nightgowns, outside of our bedrooms and I do not want to be kicked out for disobeying his rules. I was just about ready to head towards the hallway that will lead me to kitchen, when I heard my name being called from behind me.
"Aurora!" When I turned around, Elijah was making his way towards me and I furrowed my brows as he looked pretty serious.
"Morning" I said in greeting as soon as he stood in front of me.
"Morning, sorry man I just have a lot on my mind. Listen can we talk for a second?" He asked and I gave him a questioning look because what could he possibly want to talk to me about? "It's about the information I was looking into for you. But we need to talk in private" he says and then looks around, probably to see if we have been spotted. This seems serious, I guess he found something!
"Sure, we can go talk in my bedroom?" I offered, not sure that either of us would be comfortable with that but he nodded seriously any way, so I turned on my heal and headed back towards my bedroom door.
Just when I was about to turn the knob of my bedroom door, we both heard a door being slammed and when we turned into that direction, my heart felt like it was being pulled out of my chest and stabbed with the sharpest knife over and over again as I watched Maddie walk from Dante's room, a blanket covering her body. It's obvious that she's naked underneath the blanket, judging by the way she was clutching to it. She had sex hair, she looked thoroughly fucked!
It took everything in me not to march up to her and beat the shit out of her but I knew I couldn't do that, I had no right over him, his single and like she said before, he belongs to her. I guess I deserve the pain I'm feeling as I watch Maddie slowly making her way towards her bedroom, right opposite Dante's. Was I not good enough for him? Is this the reason why he wouldn't even talk about making us official because he wanted to fuck both her and I? Or is this payback for what I did to him back then? But then again she does look pissed for some reason, maybe it's just my imagination, I mean why would she be pissed if she finally got what she wanted? I was brought out of my thoughts by Elijah.
"Common Aurora, let's just go inside" he said grabbing my arm and when I looked to my side, I noticed him standing next to me with pity in his eyes, he obviously noticed the hurt on my face as I had completely forgotten that I was still standing here staring at her.
She probably heard Elijah as her head snapped our way before I could even answer Elijah, and she had this smug look on her face when she made eye contact with me and I knew this bitch is about to rub it in my face, but I swear to everything that's holy, if this bitch even dares to say something or think about coming closer to me, I will fuck her up! And I don't give a fuck how that's going to make me look because she is a fucking snake, that I know for sure, so the smart thing for her to do is to turn back to her door and head inside without looking back. But I guess this bitch is as stupid as they come because she turned her body fully our way and started walking towards us, still with that smug smile.
"Aurora, let go!" Elijah said and tried to pull on my arm, which I had completely forgotten was still being held by him and without saying a word, I pulled my arm out of his grasp, not wanting to be stopped by him because I'm about to rip a bitch apart!
"Top of the morning we have here, isn't it?" She asked as soon as she was a few feet away from us.
"Maddie just go to your room" Elijah says rudely, which was surprising to me because all the guys have been cheerleaders for this bitch.
"What? I'm not doing anything wrong, I just came to say good morning" she says in that fake innocent voice of hers and before Elijah said something, I spoke up.
"Why don't you just move the fuck along because we do not care to be greeted by a snake like you" I gritted out and the bitch's smile only grew.
"Well I came over here for that and to let you in on a little a secret, you see Dante and I had a fantastic day yesterday, well if you haven't noticed me leaving Dante's room, I'll be happy to let you in on the details of the happenings of last night AND this morning" She was saying or more like gloating as I was busy moving forward and just as she finished, I threw my fist towards her face so fast and punched her, she didn't even have time to duck or bat her fucking eyelashes.
"The fact that you have no shame walking around SOMEONE ELSE'S home, in a damn blanket that's covering your obvious naked body, with an Estate FULL of men, just to what? Gloat that you fucked someone that feels NOTHING for you, rub it in the person's face whom he ACTUALLY loves?! Shows exactly what you really are! Have you no fucking shame?!" I practically yelled at her and then punched her again, this time so hard, that she landed on the floor.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" She screamed as she sat on the floor trying to cover her body as well as her bloody nose and mouth.
"Aurora ju-" Elijah was busy saying when I lifted my hand to stop him.
"Stay out of this!" I gritted out and he lifted his hands in surrender and I turned back to the bitch. "Get the fuck up and go get some damn clothes on you! Fucking disrespecting my best friend's home, you're fucking disgusting!" I said and then walked closer and leaned forward.
"Come near me ever again and you won't only be nursing a damn broken nose!" I gritted out and stood up and walked past her.
I walked towards Dante's room, the one guy whom I trusted with my heart and soul. I want to give him a piece of my mind as I could feel the anger doubling with every step I took, completely ignoring Elijah's calls from behind me. A part of me is looking for confirmation too because I don't trust that bitch AT ALL and judging by the way she slammed his door, maybe she came onto him and he turned her down, so I do not want to jump to any conclusions, I need proof. I need to see it for myself! And I did the second I opened the door, there he lay, naked with only the sheet covering his obvious naked dick and then he opened his eyes, somewhat as it's still half closed, staring at me.
PRETEND DANTE ISN'T THAT YOUNG LOOKING AND THAT HE ISN'T SHAVED😫
"So it's true?" I whispered out, brokenly and he tried lifting himself up but found it difficult to do so for some reason. Maybe they were partying and then brought the party back to his bedroom...
"Aurora..." He grunted out and then threw his head to the side and vomited.
I would have walked away, thinking this is what he deserves, after probably partying all night long and then fucking the one woman he knew I hated and whom he kept on telling me is just his friend. But when I look at him, I knew something wasn't right here, just by the way he looks and the fact that when I moved closer to his bed, I noticed more vomit on the floor, WITH BLOOD IN IT! Something is wrong!
"ELIJAH!!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, reaching for my phone I dialed Kiara's number.
"Kiara! Listen tell Steph to get to Dante's room, quick! Something's wrong with him, he must come quick!" I yelled in the phone while Elijah helped Dante lay in a different position, so he wouldn't choke on his own vomit as he could hardly keep his eyes open, they kept fluttering close.
"What do mean? What happened?!" Kiara yelled through the phone as I'm trying to listen to Elijah, who was talking to Dante or at least trying to keep him awake while typing furiously on his phone.
"Just get here!" I shouted and then hung up the phone and went to Dante who was now laying sideways with his head on his arm, facing to the side almost on the edge of the bed.
"What happened Dante? What's wrong?" I whispered out not knowing what exactly to do or how exactly to help him. I have a feeling that bitch has got something to do with this! And I swear if she did this, I WILL FUCKING KILL HER MYSELF!
"D..dr...drug" was all Dante whispered out and then vomited again.
"He keeps saying that, and I don't understand what he means by drug?" Elijah says now crouching before Dante and taking a picture of his vomit for some reason.
"I send the picture to Dr Jacobs, whose sending an Eurocopter, as it'll get here quicker and get him to the hospital as fast as possible, the doc will be there waiting" Elijah said just as Steph and Kiara came running into the room.
"What the fuck is going on?!" Steph yelled as soon as he stepped into the room, still busy throwing his t-shirt on. Without waiting for anyone of us to say something, he came rushing towards Dante who was vomiting again.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! WHY IS HE BRINGING UP BLOOD?!" He yelled looking at Elijah, completely ignoring me, causing me to move away from Dante and standing at the foot of the bed as I had a feeling he was about to lose his shit because with him it's the storm first and then comes the calm, which is the part where you should run for cover.
"I don't know, when I came in here he was like that. I turned him so he wouldn't choke, Dr Jacobs is sending the EC and will be there waiting" Elijah answered fast and as soon as he finished, Steph turned his stone cold face towards me, with the deadliest look in his eyes I've ever seen.
"What did you do to him?" He asked calmly but deadly and I almost shit in my pants.
"Steph, you do-" Kiara was busy saying, obviously trying to defuse the situation, before I could even answer for myself.
"Kiara! Now is NOT the time!" He said to her deadly, looking at her sharply and she immediately shut up too, we all knew all too well now wouldn't be the time to piss him off any further, and then he turned back to me again.
"I haven't done anything to him, I only just got here and as soon as I found him, I called Kiara, I swear I didn't do anything to him. Ask Ma-" I was just about to say that he must ask Maddie when Elijah spoke before I could tell him whom I KNOW is responsible for this!
"She's telling the truth, I was with her and we found him like this and she immediately called Kiara while I texted Dr Jacobs on the emergency line" he said and then Steph turned away from me as we all turned to Dante who was vomiting again, more blood then vomit.
It's not loads of vomit or blood but it is worrisome as it ain't normal. Not caring if Steph will shoot me or get even more pissed than what he already is, I rushed towards Dante and rubbed his back. I mean that is what you do when someone is vomiting right? Fuck I don't even know how else to help him. I know maybe I should get him into some clothes before the paramedics gets here and see him naked.
"I'm just going to get him some clothes and dress him before the paramedics gets here" I said standing up when I was sure he was done vomiting, or at least done for now.
"It doesn't matter, they can take him just like that" Steph said, obviously he didn't notice that Dante is in fact naked.
"His naked Steph" I said and was about to move to Dante's closet when Steph spoke again.
"Why is he naked if you weren't with him?" He asked and I looked to Elijah who was trying to show me to shut up, I think? "Would one of you tell me what the fuck is going on here?!" Steph gritted out annoyed, just as Gio and Antonio came rushing in the door.
"What happened?!" Was the first thing Antonio yelled out as soon as he was in the door, how they even know about this is beyond me.
"We don't know, his just been vomiting blood, Aurora and Elijah found him like this, his weak, he can't speak or even lift himself, something isn't right here" Steph mumbled crouching back down to Dante and reached up and brushed Dante's tousled hair back, he really loves his brother, I can see the worry all over his face.
Taking this as my opportunity to move to the closet as they speak amongst each other, trying to figure out a way to help Dante. I don't even know if I should scream or cry as I feel like doing both right now but am trying my very best to keep calm and a straight face in front of them as I don't want them to see me in a panic or in my hysterical state but all I want to do is hold Dante and beg him to be okay, while crying hysterically and then have him laugh at me for being dramatic and telling me that he'll be fine, that it's just a bug but deep down I have a feeling that it's much worse than that.
As soon as I got a t-shirt and sweatpants, I made way out of the closet and straight to his chest of drawers, where I knew I would find a pair of underwear in, grabbing any random pair, I made my way towards Dante, only to get stopped by Steph.
"I'll dress him. You should go with the others" Steph says taking the clothes from me and I gave him a confused look as I had no idea what he was saying.
"What? Why? I'm staying with him, I'm not going anywhere!" I said fast and tried to take the clothes back only for him to shake his head and then sign.
"Listen Aurora, they will only allow one person in the chopper and I know you are as worried about him as I am but I'm sorry I am not leaving my brother's side, so you either drive with them now and meet us there or you stay here but either way don't cause any drama. I am not in the mood for arguing, please for him go with them, he will need you too" he says seriously and I nodded my head and went to Dante and kissed him on the side of his head as his asleep now, a few tears slipping out and sliding down my face.
"Common Aurora, we need to leave now as the chopper will be here any moment and the drive is longer" Gio says and I stood but just as I was about to turn, I heard a frantic voice behind me and I felt my rage returning full force and a hundred times worse than before, if ever.
"What's going on? Why is everyone here, what's wrong?!" She asked frantically or more like yelled and I turned around fast and in seconds Elijah is next to me but before anyone of them could answer the fake bitch I strided forward.
"Quit your fucking pretending! I know you did this to him, we saw you leave his room and a minute later we found him like this you fucking bitch!" I shouted and practically threw myself at her, wrapping my hands around her neck as she screamed, shock evident on her face but quickly quieted down as I immediately started squeezing but then all to quickly was I practically lifted off of Maddie and when I tuned around to give the person a piece of my mind, I immediately stopped as it was none other than Steph.
"Aurora, did I not just warn you about causing drama?" Steph asks calmly looking me right in the eyes, he sounded pissed but his eyes wasn't as pissed or maybe I'm just losing it and seeing things that aren't there, which is why I pushed away from him, surprising him and myself by the way.
"You don't get it do you?! NONE OF YOU DO! She isn't what she pretends to be, SHE FUCKING DID THIS AND I DON'T GIVE TWO FUCKS WHAT ANY OF YOU SAY, I WILL MAKE HER PAY FOR THIS!" I shouted and then kissed Dante one last time on the side of his head and then walked towards her and stopped in front of her fake innocent and confused look on her face that no one else seems to see.
"Count yourself lucky that these assholes are here because you would be leaving this fucking room in a bag! But your days are numbered, I will be coming for you, THAT'S FOR SURE!" I said and just as I was walking out of the room, I saw James and Paul rushing down the hallway with two paramedics and a stretcher.
Knowing I wasn't going to drive with them assholes, I ran to my room and grabbed my bag, not caring to check it and ran out the door and down the stairs. I'll drive myself there! They have plenty of cars, I doubt they'll miss one. I understand why they were blinded before by her fake ass but the fact that Steph isn't even questioning my "allegation" is what surprised me the most. Had it been anyone else, he would have been torturing the truth out them by now, look at the way he accused me the second he layed eyes on me!
Yet he didn't even bat an eyelash at the bitch in the room, instead he warns ME about causing drama, when I'm the ONLY one trying to make her pay for what she did to Dante, I'm the ONLY one DEFENDING their brother. I'm so over this fucking family but for now my only concern is Dante and as soon as I know his well and nothing serious is wrong with him, I'm leaving this fucking place where it's as clear as day that I'll never be excepted, as they clearly have chosen HER fake and dangerous ass over me! I'M DONE WITH ALL OF THEM, EXCEPT THE BITCH, THAT'S FOR SURE!
2 HOURS LATER
Stephano's POV
We had arrived at the hospital about an hour ago and I am standing here alone, pacing the floors as they rushed Dante into the emergency room, where I am not allowed in and again had to be stopped from bursting through the doors. Apart from the time when I lost my mother, when my wife was rushed to the hospital twice and my kids were abducted, this is the only other time I actually felt like crying. This is my brother, my blood! This isn't like his fighting for his life because his been shot or got hurt in a war or gun fight but this is something that was not brought on by the life we live and something that's expected to happen any day. This is something that cannot be explained by any of us but yet we all know it's got to do with his health... Something we couldn't have expected or prepared for.
In all the seventeen years that I have been the Don, never did I ever imagine rushing my brother to the hospital for health reasons. We all know exactly how we'll be taken out, and that definitely isn't due to our health because for the amount of training we do and the food that's cooked for us and we tend to watch what we consume as well. I know we all are in fact healthier than the average man as we all have to take care of our health, but yet here I stand in the waiting room at the hospital, waiting to hear what is wrong with my brother because he had to be rushed here due to health problems?! How can that be? Dante is maybe fitter than us all. Sure he consumes the most junk food of us all but his as obsessed as the rest of us, when it comes to taking care of our bodies.
I know that there is a strong possibility that Aurora could be right, judging by the way she and Elijah kept looking at each other, not to mention the fact that Elijah kept trying to stop Aurora from telling me certain things and trying to speak to her with his eyes, I knew that they were keeping something from me. The way she screamed at Maddie and attacked her, I knew she might really believe that Maddie has sometimes do with Dante's state, and when I think back to my conversation with my wife, I have a strong feeling that Aurora is in fact correct.
I stopped her from attacking Maddie, NOT because I didn't believe her or the fact that I'm still blinded by Maddie's Innocence, the way my wife keeps reminding me of, but because at this moment we do not know for sure what is wrong with Dante. I need to get answers from the Doc first and then from Elijah, who seems to know more than what his letting on. Next step would be, we have to figure out what Maddie's end game is, or why she is doing the things she is. It's a bit of a shock because she's completely in love with him, so why hurt him?
We need to get all the information first, then we need to analyze each and every move she makes, we need to watch her, reason for that is, if she had poisoned my brother, than this will be seen as an attack on the Capo Bastone, which we won't be taking lightly, we'll have to take action on. But before we do that, we need to know why! But I can't have Maddie figuring out that we even suspect her because then we might not get to the actual reason or we might not get to the bottom of what is really going down right under our noses, AGAIN! And I cannot let history repeat itself! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!!!
"Mr Romano!" Dr Jacobs yelled to get my attention, snapping me out of my thoughts. I didn't even realize he was here in front of me as I was so lost in thought, running plans through my damn head that I didn't even notice him exiting through the emergency room doors.
"Sorry doc, do you have news?" I asked and he cleared his throat and looked at me with concern.
"Yes I do Sir, he was slipped somethings. I had a brief few words with him as well and he confirmed what I had already suspected but I ran a blood test any way and it had confirmed that Dante was slipped or had taken which he had told me he DID NOT. So I'm assuming he was slipped two different types of drugs" the doc says and then looked down at his clipboard, nervously. Losing my patience, I decided to fire questions at him.
"Did you find out what kind of drugs he was slipped? What is wrong with him? Why was he vomiting blood? Is he going to be okay?! Is he gonna make it?!" I fired at the doc all in one breath.
"Mr Romano please let me explain" the doc says and I nodded my head at him to continue. "One of the drugs he was slipped is Rohypnol, commonly known as roofies or the date rape drug" the doc said and it all immediately started to make sense but I said nothing and allowed the doc to continue.
"That explains the loss of memory as Dante cannot remember what had happened, when I asked him this. It also explains the speech difficulties as the drug itself takes 12 to 72 hours to leave the body, it also explains the vomiting but not the blood, which is the actual problem" the doc said and by the serious look on his face, I knew the first drug and symptoms he just explained is NOT the part we should be worry about but the part that is still to come.
"He was also slipped Spanish Fly, commonly known as love drops, it's a substance used to increase sexual arousal or libido enhancer and the desire to have sex. On it's own, it's safe when used the original Spanish Fly and the correct dosage but judging by the amount of Cantharidin, which is a harsh poison, that showed in his bloodstream, I'd say he consumed double the warned dosage, maybe even more" The doc says and I gritted my teeth, I wanted to growl and punch someone because judging by Dante's nakedness, I'd say that he was infact taken advantage of, NO! HE WAS RAPED!!!
"Now because of the high dosage he consumed, as in Catharidin poisoning. The substance itself has many symptoms and aftereffects but Dante has a hemorrhage, which is seen in the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This is the cause of the bright red blood and blood clots in his vomit, it's also the cause for the dizziness he feels, faintness as well as slipping in and out of consciousness due to the tiredness his body is feeling, not to mention the cramps he had complained about, is all due to this drug" The doctor says and I stared at him, trying to take in everything he is explaining to me but I find it difficult to do so as all I'm seeing at this point is RED, gritting my teeth I nod once again for the doc to continue to give me the bad news which is obviously coming.
"Luckily Dante's hemorrhage is minor and not that dangerous as it can clot and heal on it's own but I will be treating it myself medically, to be sure that he makes a full recovery. I have given him a drug through his IV, that will constrict blood vessels to close off the bleeding so I can make sure it doesn't result in melena, which is a malignant tumor in his stomach or small intestine or even a hemorrhagic blood disease, which can all be fatal" the doc says and I swallowed or tried to swallow down the lump in my throat, FATAL? But before I could say anything, we heard fast foot steps approaching us and we both looked in that direction and all of the guys, my father, Kiara and Maddie, except for Aurora and Elijah, came rushing towards us.
"Doc, this stays between us, just play along" I whispered discreetly to the doc.
"How's Dante? What's wrong with him?" My father asked out of breath as soon as they came to a stop in front of us but before I could answer Elijah and Aurora came running towards us, Aurora stopping a few feet away when she saw me and Maddie but was still in hearing distance, which is why I spoke.
"Dante has alcohol poisoning, it would seem that the fucker drank too much!" I gritted out angrily, trying to make it as believable as I could but I didn't have time to see anyone's reaction as the doc seemed to catch on rather quickly and jumped in to help me out.
"He is right, I have warned Dante mouths ago to cut down on the hard liquor. I told him that it will eventually affect his intestines or his organs because he consumes a lot of alcohol. We have spoken about this numerous times and again at his yearly check up, where I warned him to cut down but clearly he had not taken heed to any of my warnings, and whatever amount he consumed yesterday, obviously was the final straw. But I am treating him as we speak. I've drained his stomach and put him on an IV. He will be just fine in a few days, a week tops but will need to take it easy for a few weeks" the doctor says so damn seriously and convincingly.
If I had not already been told what is really wrong with Dante, I would believe it myself! HIS DEFINITELY GETTING A RAISE... Judging by the way my father and the rest of the guys shook their heads, I knew they fell for it and when I looked at Aurora, she looked disappointed, angry and hurt all at the same time and without saying a word she walked away, Kiara running after her.
"Can we see him doc?" I asked when no one uttered a word, knowing that I needed to get to Dante before one of the girls do, so I can tell him to keep silent about knowing what had happened to him because of what the doc said, I knew Dante must be suspecting or know by now that he had been drugged and I cannot let Maddie know that we know what happened or what she had done!
"Yes but I'll suggest to keep it at a minimum, one to two persons at a time as we do not want to overwhelm him because he needs rest" the doc says and I nodded my head in understanding.
"My father and I will head in first" I said and the doc nodded and motioned for the two of us to follow him.
I know my father would hear everything if he accompanies me into Dante hospital room but that's okay as I was planning on telling him anyway. I will inform the rest of the guys of what I had just been told by the doc as well as a plan that's busy formulating in my head, later on. But I'm a bit sceptical on whether or not to inform Kiara and Aurora, not because I do not trust them but because I know they have been suspicious of Maddie since day one and both of them hate her. Lord only knows how they would react to the information that the doc has just informed me about and if they act on their rage towards Maddie, they would completely fuck up everything!
I know this might not be the best decision because I could see the hurt in Aurora's eyes but for now I know it's best to keep this between myself and the brothers, so we can do what we do best and then and only then can we inform the two of them as soon as we have come up with a concrete plan. Until then Aurora has to believe that Dante was only drunk and had slept with Maddie because of his drunken state and not because he was drugged.
I will have a talk with her myself and not only to inform her of the plan but also to apologise for jumping to the conclusion that she was infact the culprit that had harmed my brother. But for now that has to wait, she has to believe he cheated, if they're even together. For now Kiara and Aurora, and ESPECIALLY Maddie CANNOT know! Even if Maddie will still be around and even if Aurora hates me, Dante, Maddie and everyone else, it doesn't matter because the only thing that matters now, is the WHY, NOT THE WHO, as I know EXACTLY who's responsible and my only focus will be getting to the bottom of this and making them PAY FOR FUCKING WITH MY FAMILY!
Hey guys 😁 Sooooo whatcha think?😏 Any thoughts on what Steph is planning? Or what Aurora feels or think? What do you think will happen now? Let me know All your thoughts and theories, I would love to read them as I have been doing whole day yesterday AND this morning regarding the previous chapter and I am happy to say as well as surprised to say that there are only two people that had gotten at least one of two guesses correctly so far!
Many have sent me their theories in the comments section as well as in my private messages but only two was pretty close to the actual plot and have figured out one or two truths of the plot... They are Nootzers85 & neyney052 WELL DONE BOTH OF YOU 👏 You two have guessed one to two things correctly, of course I will not point it out to you or anyone for that matter but you'll figure it out as soon as we get to the chapters that will reveal it all, but for now... WELL DONE!!!👏👏👏 Keep them theories coming guys!!! Well that's it from me, hope you guys enjoyed it and please do not forget to comment and vote.💜
THANKS FOR READING
KIMMY 😘