Losing Love

29

Hope's POV:

"I'm so sorry Hope" Kyle says quietly as his voice begins to crack through the phone.

"For what?" I ask with a concerned tone.

"It's Dominic" he replies.

My heart stops beating, tears well up to my eyes and I feel a pit in my stomach.

"W-what happened?" I question him slowly as my voice shakes.

"Just get here as fast as you can."

I collect myself and grab my bag, not bothering to change out of my black sweats and blue crop top. I hop into my Mercedes and speed to Dominic's house, I must've broken every rule in the safety book but I don't care right now.

I force the door open and stumble into Dominic's hallway. Kyle, Carter, Cole, and Cheryl are standing while Nora and Rina sit on the floor, they all have dark bags under their eyes and hold a frown. Cole's arm is draped around Cheryl's shoulder as he pulls her close.

There's broken glass on the floor by the living room table, I'm guessing that was Kyle having a breakdown. I look back up at Kyle as he swiftly approaches me. "What happened?" I ask him. "Dominic got shot three times, once in the stomach, once on his arm, and once on his leg" my eyes begin to pool with tears once again, "how is he?" I question, needing to know the answer but dreading it at the same time. "He passed out, he's still out at the moment". I nod my head and let the tears fall out.

Kyle pulls me in and wraps his arms around me in a tight hug, "he'll be okay, he's a fighter" Kyle whispers in my ear. "Who did it?" I ask, "we aren't sure, but hopefully Dominic saw." I cry for a few more minutes before looking back up at him, "why?"

Kyle takes a deep breath in before escorting me to the living room table, I pull the first chair from the left out and sit, Kyle sits on the chair at the head of the table.

"I don't know if you remember this yet, but on the night you got shot Dad had told you something about our family. Dominic's father, Luca Moretti, was the leader of Cosa Nostra" I remember the name from the flashback. "What is it?" I ask. "It's the American-Italian Mafia" he replies. "Dad was Luca's right hand man but when him and his wife died in a car crash then Dad took over until Dominic was 18, therefore making Dominic the current leader of the American-Italian Mafia."

Wow.

"And I am Do-"

"Dominic's right hand man" I complete his sentence, cutting him off as the memories come back to me. Kyle nods his head as I stare at the wall behind him. "Dad is the reason Ryder left" I utter, Kyle nods his head again. My blood boils and my body fill with rage and hatred for my father, he lied to me. Made me believe that I was responsible for his death.

Kyle gently lays his hand on my arm, snapping me back to reality. "Matteo Santiago is the leader of the Spanish Mafia, Dom's mafia and Matteo's don't exactly have the best history so we believed that it was Matteo's men that attacked our warehouse and shot Dom. But when we identified some of the ... fallen men, they had nothing to do with Matteo or Spain in general, so it can't be them." I nod, not knowing what to say.

"Can I see him?" I ask Kyle. Sure, I'm mad at my dad but Dominic is my top priority right now. Kyle nods and leads me into his room.

Dominic lays on the bed completely flat, his left arm and right leg are wrapped in a white bandage along with what I believe his stomach is wrapped in, though I can't see over the white covers. I step over towards him and place my hand over his un-injured arm. I pull a seat over and place it next to the bed, I sit down before I lay my forehead on his hand. "Please wake up" I whisper as tears fall down my face and onto his hand. I kiss his hand gently and look up at him. He looks peaceful.

Who would do this?

I believe I have every right to be freaking out over the information I had just been re-told. My... boyfriend? Is the leader of the American-Italian Mafia that my dad led for eight years. My brother is his right hand man, and my middle school best friend is the leader of the Spanish Mafia.

I feel a tug on my hand, my head jolts up at Dominic. I smile down at him and hug him gently, trying not to hurt him. He lifts his un-injured arm and wraps it around my waist weakly. I feel my eyes pool up again and this time I don't force them back in front of Dominic, "hey, hey, hey, I'm okay" Dominic whispers softly in an attempt to comfort and reassure me as he pulls me next to him on his bed.

I try to speak but keep choking on my own words, "if this had happened to me a year ago, I wouldn't have fought to come back but I have you and I came but for you and I promise you that I will never, ever leave you" he continues, wiping my tears with the pad of his thumb.

"Who?" Is all I can choke out. He looks at me with apologetic eyes as he hesitates to answer, "who?" I ask again. He lowers his gaze from my eyes, "Nora."