My head feels too heavy for my neck even though it's resting on something soft—a pillow? With effort, I force open my eyes and blink away the blurriness. The warm sunlight of the setting sun flooding inside the light pink walls of the room comes into my focus.

"Cerise," Elio's relieved voice jolts me awake, and I shoot upright. My head spins from the abrupt movement, but as my eyes land on him, everything halts. A cut runs from the corner of his eyebrow to his temple, but other than that, he seems pretty much fine.

Like a bomb going off in my head, the images of the fight burst into my mind. Ruby's face sticks out and latches to the forefront of my brain.

Nauseous, I expel a sharp blow of air as agony rips me into pieces.

"How are feeling now?" Elio reaches for my hand, but I jerk away from him.

"Don't fucking touch me," I growl, breathing heavily as I stare him down with wide eyes. Pure anger thrums in my veins.

"Cerise-" he starts, but I don't let him finish.

"Get lost!" I scream. The rage pumping in me pushes me to my feet.

He retreats a step, holding up his palms like he's facing some feral animal. "You need to rest, and calm down-"

"Shut up!" I shriek. "I don't wanna hear your voice. I don't wanna see your stupid face. Just get out of my fucking life!"

"Let me explain-"

"Explain what! That why you're still alive and she's not!" I shove him back; a sharp pain shoots up through my arm but I barely register it. Elio stumbles a step backward.

"That she's dead because of you and your stupid mafia!" I push him again and he sways another step back.

"You're hurting yourself; the bullet wound was deep, your arm's all stitched up and it can-"

"Shut up! Shove your fake concern up your fucking ass and get the fuck out of my life!" I bawl, tears stinging my eyes. "Get out!" I hurl the glass of water on the nightstand at him.

He easily dodges it, as he watches me with pained eyes. Like he's the one who lost his friend and not me. The urge to keep on screaming until every vocal cord in my throat bursts heightens in me.

The door opens and Marco peeks inside, but I don't spare him a second glance. Elio waves him off and he shuts the door without a word.

"I fucking hate you!" I screech at Elio, my throat beginning to ache. Feeling lightheaded again I stagger.

Elio crosses the space between us, his arms shooting up to steady me but I swat them and step away from him.

"Don't you fucking dare!" As my palms land on his chest to push him away, another searing ache races up and down my arm, but I ignore it.

"I hate you." I shove him again, but he stays rooted to the spot. "Get out!" I push him again and still nothing.

Tears brim my eyes, blurring my vision. "She's gone because of you!" I shout, my palms hitting his chest in my vain attempt at getting him to move away. "I hate you!" I try harder and still nothing. "It's all your fault!" I bellow.

My voice cracks, my arm burns from the pain starting in my upper arm and spreading like wildfire across the length of my hand. "Ruby is gone because of you. She's dead," I cry out and tears spill down my face. A sob tears through my throat, convulsing my body.

Elio pulls me to himself, paying no heed to my struggles, and constant shoves and pushes as he holds me against his chest.

"I hate you!" I wail, thrashing against his arms. "She died," I weep. Saying the words out loud shatters me. The anger flickers out, leaving me broken and hurting.

My knees weaken as I give up fighting Elio, and cling to his shirt. His embrace tightens around me, keeping me upright.

"She's gone," I sob.

Elio's body molds over mine as he presses his cheek to the top of my head. I cry harder. The damn moment when the bullets hit her doesn't leave my mind.

"You promised me nothing will happen to her. You lied. I hate you. You promised me she's safe," I squall.

"I'm sorry," he quietly says.

"I never should've trusted you," I snivel. "It's all my fault," I whimper, crying uncontrollably.

"It's not, Cerise." His arms tighten around me.

I shake my head, press my head to his chest and squeeze my eyes shut. "Two lives aren't worth so many lives... she's dead because of me."

"Tesoro," he weakly calls out, sounding pained.

"My only friend died because of me. I lost the only person who gave a damn about me. I-I won't ever see her again... we won't ever get to talk a-and-" I break down blubbering.

My chest aches, the heaviness getting unbearable as I feel every fiber of my body shredding to pieces.

Elio hugs me tightly as I cry in his arms for what seems like hours.

After I calm down and manage to pull myself together, I straighten myself and shift away from him.

But he cups my face and forces me to meet his worried brown eyes. "It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself." The pads of his calloused thumbs tenderly brush away the remnants of the tears.

Fresh tears burn my eyes and I shake my head, my chin quivering.

"It was a trap. I'm sorry none of us figured it out until it was too late."

Breathing heavily, I watch him warily.

"The same people who killed that judge you worked with orchestrated this. Whoever they are, it's confirmed they're Russians, you heard them and told Pietro. Fabris partnered up with them, they probably were tracking you and the people you interacted with for a long time-"

"So it is my fault. If she had simply ignored me, she would've been alive right now," I mumble weakly.

"No! You had no way of knowing all of this. All I'm saying is, in fact, it's not your fault, and I'll find out who they are, and I-"

"It doesn't matter, Elio. So what? None of this will bring her back... and the next on the list is probably my dad." I shake my head, looking away from him. "Nothing will bring her back," I breathe out.

"Don't blame yourself for something that was out of your control," he says, leaning closer to me, his voice firm, as though trying to make me believe him.

"I'm alive and she's not." I meet his intense gaze.

He shakes his head and opens his mouth to protest but I'm quicker as I add, "It should've been me. Both times should've been me... but you're fixed on keeping me alive because of your mafia. I don't have anyone anymore, please-"

"No!" he rasps. "You're staying alive and... nothing will happen to... him," he mutters the last part, saying the word 'him' like it's acid that he needs to spit out before it burns off his tongue. He inhales sharply and tucks aside my hair from my face. "Just give me time, okay? I'll fix-"

"There's no way of fixing this. Even if you find the guy behind this and kill him, or I charge him with murder and send him behind bars, it won't change anything. Ruby will stay-" My voice breaks and a tear streams down my face as I look away from his piercing gaze. "D-dead." I bite my bottom lip to hide its quiver.

"Then tell me what to do? Tell me how I can make it better for you?"

I lift my shoulder. I don't think I'll ever be okay with this... there's no way of making it better.

"Cerise," he starts, drawing my focus to himself.

He leans down to me, locking our eyes. "I can't become your hero, but I can be the villain who will set the world on fire for you." His palm stays on my neck, with his thumb on my cheek, keeping my head up as he looks deep into my eyes.

"And I will. I promise you I will find the men behind this and make them pay for every tear you've shed with blood, before returning you to your life and wiping off any traces of my world from yours. You won't ever have to put up with any one of us again, we'll vanish from your life, and I'll ensure no man from my world will ever dare to taint yours. I promise you, Cerise, I will do this, be it the last thing I do."

The determination in his voice, the resolution in his eyes send a shiver down my spine as he lets go of me and backs away. My heart drums in my chest as I gape at him.

"Your hand's bleeding; I'll tell Marco to ring up the doctor again and check on your arm. Try to rest... I'll be in my office if you need anything," he says. His gaze lingers on my face before he spins and leaves me alone, shutting the door behind himself on his way out.

For long moments, I stay rooted to the spot, staring at the door. His voice plays in my head and my breath hitches.

❈ ☯︎ ❈

Ooff, this was a tough chapter to write, I hope you enjoyed it, hit that star button if you did =)

Comment your thoughts, I'd love to hear what you think about Cerise's reaction/thoughts and Elio's promise.

Thank you for reading this chapter <3

Stay safe, lots of love, happy reading ♡