The constant threats coming from Emperor X still wouldn't die down and everyone in the Montero household was on edge. Ellise was worried about her boyfriend who seemed to be even more stressed as the days went by.
"I understand that you're concerned about all this, but you should know that we're working on it. The bastard seems to know how to play his game right and that's what makes it even more annoying" Dre said to Ellise, leaning back on his chair. Ellise was in Dre's study alongside Dominic and Dmitri who was sitting on one of the couches. She sighed, flopping down on the couch.
"Dominic, you have been receiving threat letters, haven't you?" She asked, her gaze meeting his.
His eyes went wide.
"Yeah, Jade told me. Whoever emperor X is, he isn't giving up. What do we do? Everything is not alright. For starters, we know that Valentino is running away from something or someone. Could it be that emperor X is also after him?" Ellise said.
Dre gave her a blank look as he massaged his temple with the pad of his fingers.
He looked tired and there were dark circles under his eyes.
"Why isn't anyone saying anything?" Ellise asked.
Dmitri who was always much bubbly and humorous than the rest of them, also had a dead look in his eyes. Taken aback by this, Ellise turned to look at Dominic again, realizing that Dominic looked worse. His hair that was usually pulled back neatly in a bun or ponytail was now freely flowing down to his shoulders in a beautiful mess. He looked sick. "You've got to be kidding me. Is there something that is happening that I don't know about, yet?" Ellise asked
Dmitri sighed, shutting his eyes briefly.
"Trust me, you don't want to know" He rasped
"Okay, are you guys sick or something? I don't understand why you guys are looking like this" Ellise muttered. Dominic chuckled, leaning his head backwards.
"I'm a little under the weather. But, there's something we just discovered and that something is what we're trying to wrap our head around" Dominic rasped
"Okay, that's it. What are you talking about?"
Dre ran a hand through his hair and pulled out a file from his chest of drawers. With a grimace on his handsome face, he gave it to her.
"Emperor X sent this to us" he said, closing his eyes.
"We have seen our fair share of blood and gore. But, that is on a whole different level" Dmitri muttered.
Ellise frowned as she slowly opened the file and brought it's contents out. There were pictures. So many of them.
The first one made her sick to her stomach. The photos were mostly of mutilated bodies. Apparently, emperor X was showing them what he was capable of. The next one was horrible too. It was a photo of a female with most of her body parts torn apart. Others were photos of his victims being tortured. The ones that really got to her was the photo in which Valentino was the victim. With trembling hands, she rushed out of Dre's study. By the time she made it to the bathroom, she was a trembling mess.
She rinsed her mouth after throwing up. Then, she leaned against the wall, her stomach still churning. To think that emperor X would easily torture someone like Valentino, what would he do if he got his hands on her Dre? Taking a deep breath, she padded into the bedroom and sat down on the bed. The door opened and Dre walked in. "I didn't want you to see that, but you insisted" he said as he sat down beside her.
Tears welled up her eyes.
"How? Why would Valentino suffer that?" She breathed.
Dre shook his head, his hair covering most part of his face.
"I'm clueless, Ellie. Something isn't right"
Ellise wiped her tears, her stomach still churning.
"How is Dominic?" Ellise asked.
"He's a little shaken up, but he's in the guest room. Dmitri decided to return home" he responded.
"Does Alessio know about this yet?" She asked.
"No, he doesn't"
"What are we going to do?" She muttered. He wrapped his arms around her, bringing her close to himself as he rubbed her back gently. She closed her eyes, her head resting against his shoulder.
"We stick together"
...
"Why won't you return home? Your family needs you" Noelle said as she approached her home with Valentino. "I betrayed them, Noelle. Do you think they truly want me back?" He scoffed.
"You won't know until you get there" she pressed further.
"This conversation is over" he announced. They both got out of the house and started to head towards the front porch. "Come on, Val" she said and he sighed.
"Don't. Just don't"
She stayed behind him as he opened the door and was met with the evidence of a wreckage that had occured in her home. Heart sinking,
he swallowed hard and slowly stepped into the house.
Behind him, he heard Noelle let out a gasp of disbelief. He felt so guilty, knowing that it was all his fault. He knew he should've stayed away from Noelle when he had the chance to.
Noelle looked both flabbergasted and puzzled.
"What the hell? Why does my house look like a world war III happened in it?" She said, her eyes narrowed. Valentino suspected that Baron had been there earlier and he knew he was giving him another headstart.
"I'm sorry" Valentino croaked, his gaze fixed on the floor. He felt Noelle's soft hands cup his face. "Look at me, Val" she said.
His tortured gaze slowly met hers. "Don't ever think that this is your fault. It's Baron's fault. He's a bad man. It's certainly not your fault that you were abused by him" she said. He closed his eyes, resisting the urge to punch the wall.
"Baron was here earlier. He's going to be back soon. We have to leave this place ASAP" he said. Her blue eyes went wide.
"Where will we go? Do you have any place in mind?" She asked and he nodded.
"C'mon, let's start parking" he stated. By the time they had finished grabbing everything they needed, they got into the car and Valentino drove off. He felt very anxious, to the point where his limbs were trembling and his head was spinning. Noelle squeezed his thigh reassuringly. But, the anxiety was getting the better of him.
"Stop the car" she said and he hit the brakes.
"You're having an anxiety attack, Val. I need you to calm down for me. Take deep breaths. I'm right here" she said, unbuttoning his shirt a little more. Sweat slid down the sides of his temples, his breathing laboured.
"We'll be fine. Baron won't get to us" she said, brushing his hair away from his face. He squeezed his eyes shut, his heart beating wildly. "Come on, Val. Focus on my voice. Take deep breaths, okay?"
Slowly, his heart rate went back to normal and he was finally able to breathe again.
"Thank you" he rasped and she nodded, giving him a smile. An hour later, they arrived at the house of one of Valentino's old friends.
Fortunately for them, he was home. He gave them a warm welcome which was quite expected.
"It's been quite a while since we saw each other. How have you been?" Corey, Valentino's friend said. He gave him a weak smile.
"Not really good, Corey. Baron is after me" Valentino stated.
"Damn, you're in deep shit and I'm guessing you need a place to crash for the main time?"
Valentino nodded in response.
"Who's this chica?" Corey asked. "Noelle. She's been very helpful" he responded.
Corey grinned.
"Man, I see your future in her eyes" he said and Valentino rolled his eyes.
"Nice to meet you, Noelle" he said, giving her a handshake.
"You two can stay in the guest room" he added
"Thanks, dude. I owe you big time" Valentino said.
"It's no big deal, man. You would've done the same for me"
....
Alexandre was supposed to attend a mafia meeting earlier in the morning, but he decided to postpone it till noon. Ellise was determined to go with him and Dominic wanted to accompany him as well. Dre refused because Dominic was still looking very sick and Dre didn't want him passing out during a meeting. Dominic refused to be swayed, he followed his boss to the car. He noticed the strange beeping noise coming from the car. It was just before Dre pressed the button, that Dominic knew what the beeping sound was. But, it was already to late to do anything about it.
As soon as Dre pressed the car control button, Dominic yelled.
"Get down!"
Dre found himself on the ground with Dominic. The car had exploded into ashes. He was stunned to silence. For the first time in his life, he was rendered speechless. They lay there, shielding each other as glass shattered and rained down on them. The security guards were able to stop the fire before it could spread. Dre was in shock. He couldn't fathom what had just happened. Ellise rushed outside and helped both Dominic and Dre to their feet after it was over.
"Are you hurt?" Dominic asked and Dre shook his head absentmindedly.
"Dre, you're bleeding! And so are you, Dominic" Ellise pointed out
"It's just a cut from a glass" Dominic said, rolling his sleeve up to expose a deep cut. It was at this point that Dre felt the stinging at his back.
"Dre...shit, you have glass particles in your back" Dominic said, alarmed.
They all went upstairs and Dre slowly took off his shirt. Ellise had tears in her eyes as she removed the glass particles that was embedded on his skin. He stared at empty space with a blank look on his face.
"This is getting out of hand, Dre. It was so close to killing you" Dominic said.
"How did it happen? You could've gotten badly hurt!" Ellise said, tears filling her eyes. Dre quietly brought her close to himself and embraced her, pressing a lingering kiss to her temple. He realized that he could've died few minutes ago and all the power in the world, would not have been able to save him.