The Dark Ghosts

74. Help

Melanie's POV

My chest ached. It felt hard to breath and I could already feel myself about to cry again, but I held myself back. I needed to stay strong, not just for me but for my friends too.

I found myself smiling my fakest smile as we walked inside the penthouse, being received by Holden and Massimo's presence. Both men's eyes snapped towards our direction when they heard the elevator's dinging followed by our footsteps.

"Father," Alec spoke up.

"Welcome back," Massimo greeted us with a curt nod. "We have heard what happened during the mission and I am deeply sorry that it didn't go as planned. Hope you are all feeling alright nonetheless. I am sure you will be able to get through this and become a stronger version of what you were before."

"We'll be fine, don't worry," Bianca dismissed his concerns with a polite nod.

"Melanie," Holden caught my attention, my eyes momentarily widening at the fact that he called me by my name instead of by my surname as he usually does.

"Yeah?"

More surprise invaded me when he advanced towards me and engulfed me in a quick hug. I awkwardly wrapped my arms around his torso, feeling the intense, shocked gazes on us from the others.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he whispered, pulling away before clearing his throat. "Sorry if I invaded your personal space, Miss Parks. I just wanted to ensure you were doing fine," he spoke more clearly.

I gave him a small smile, this time a real one as I felt his genuine care for us. He may not show it with frequency, but deep down I knew he cared for us. And I admit we kinda do too, that's what three years of working with him do.

"Thank you," I replied quietly.

He nodded and patted my shoulder twice, backing to where he was previously standing.

"I'm sorry too, Melanie," Massimo spoke to me in his usual cold tone, earning another 'thank you' from me. He too nodded and then turned towards his son. "So, what did exactly happened?"

Alec walked up to his father, pulling him to the corner of the room as Holden started asking us questions about the trip in general. Their voices slowly faded to me though, being replaced by an annoying ringing in my ears. I felt the air suffocating me. My chest heaved up and down as I forced myself to take deep breaths, feeling incapable of doing it on my own. This was all too ovewhelming for me, I couldn't take it.

Mumbling a quick excuse, I rushed upstairs to my room, slamming the door behind me. I leaned my back on the door for support, my shaky hands going up to my face and wiping the tears that managed to slip through my eyes, but more came out. After a couple seconds, I pushed myself off the door and allowed my wobbly legs to carry me towards the bed, where I sat down.

I tried keeping my sobs at their lowest volume as well as taking deep breaths to calm myself down, inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my trembling lips. Eventually, I placed my elbows on my knees and buried my face in my hands.

I lightly jumped when I felt a hand being placed on my thigh in a comforting way. I snapped my head up to the source just to find Bianca crouched down in front of me, looking at me with sympathetic eyes. I internally cursed myself for being so out of it that I didn't even hear the door opening. We stared into each other's eyes for a good five minutes until I couldn't hold it any longer and looked away, feeling more tears coming.

"I know what you are thinking," I spoke up. "'Why are you crying for them? Why are you grieving them? They never loved you, they only hurt you and here you are, crying their death' I know it's stupid, but I can't help it." I sniffled.