CHAPTER 109: WHAT IF HE’S GONE?

Evelyn stood frozen, staring at the water beneath. Everything had gone silent. She couldn’t hear anyone speaking anymore, Luca screaming at her. She couldn’t feel anything anymore and the world felt as if they’d slowed down in her vision.

"Zayne..."

This had to be a dream...right? Surely what had just happened right now wasn’t real. Zayne, he was still right here, around here. He came to save her! He did!

Turning, she looked around, eyes searching for him, refusing to believe she’d just watched him fall into that sea below.

"You thought you could escape me, huh?" Valerio barked. "I told you that nothing gets away from me. What’s mine is mine and no one takes it from me!"

But Evelyn couldn’t really hear a thing he was saying. She was losing her mind slowly, her thoughts jumbled.

"Grab them!" Valerio ordered.

His men rushed over, reaching to grab Evelyn who was sauntering around, looking for what.

"Zayne," she mumbled. "Zayne—"

They tried to reach for her, but Luca pounced in front of her, spreading her arms out, while glaring at them.

"Don’t touch her! Get away from her!" he shouted at them.

The men glanced at Valerio. He ordered in response, "Shoot him."

And they did, firing towards them. However, something had been so quick to cross their view, pushing both Evelyn and Luca out of the way to narrowly avoid the shots. They hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Evelyn, who was out of it, lay there on the floor, unmoving.

Luca lifted his head to find someone who looked a bit like Zayne Mancini staring over him.

"Thank—"

"Dario!" someone shouted.

The man above, Dario, turned his head toward his younger brother, Alessio.

"Are you okay? Is your wound okay?" Alessio asked.

Dario smiled at him, nodding. "I’m A-okay. Nothing to worry about."

Alessio nodded at him, arriving before the two gunmen in the blink of an eye. He kicked one of them in the guts and punched the other so hard in the throat, they both fell to the ground.

Dario stormed toward Valerio and before Valerio could even react, he swung at his face, grabbed his hair, and slammed his face into the car. "That’s for your men who shot me! And this is for kidnapping my sister- inlaw!"

At this point, Valerio was a bloody mess, bleeding profusely on the ground, unconscious.

"Evelyn!" The voice belonged to Brandon, who came with both men. He ran over to her where she was on the floor and lifted her into his arms. "Evelyn, Evelyn, are you okay? Look at me!"

But Evelyn couldn’t speak. She wouldn’t even move, eyes blank as if she’d lost herself.

"I think something’s wrong with her! I need to get her to a hospital!" Brandon shouted.

Both Alessio and Dario nodded at him as he raced over to the second come they’d come with, putting Evelyn into the back seat. "Dammit!" He turned up the car, took a reverse as quickly as he could, and sped off onto the road.

Luca who was a beat-up mess was still on the floor, now coughing really hard.

Dario turned towards him, head tilted to the side. "Uh...who are you?"

Luca tried to force himself to his feet. "I helped...her escape. And then Zayne Mancini came over here and—"

"Wait, Zayne! Where is he?" Alessio questioned.

Luca blinked at the two men.

The look on his face already told them that something was wrong. Their expressions fell.

"What happened to our brother?" Dario questioned. "Where is he?"

Luca swallowed. "Well..."

Alessio stormed over, snatching him by the collar of his shirt. "Where the fuck is my brother?"

Luca pointed over to the edge of the bridge. "There."

They glanced over. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"He...was saving her. And then the boss and his men came. Everything went wrong and he fell over..."

"Fell over where?" Dario questioned.

"Over the water." Luca’s voice shook. "He fell into the water."

Alessio and Dario slowly turned over to the water, gaze flickering in confusion. "W-what do you mean by that?" Alessio stuttered. "Zayne—"

"ZAYNE!!" Dario sped over to the edge where he screamed his name, over and over again.

The water was freezing, and while they weren’t humans, they weren’t immortals. It may take longer to kill their kind, but they could die by being in water that freezing cold.

Dario felt like he was losing his mind.

"What are you trying to do?" Alessio asked.

The man swallowed. "Go home, Alessio. Take this guy home. I’m going to find Zayne."

"No, I’m coming with you—"

"Go home!" Dario yelled at him. "Now. And I’m not going to ask you twice. You’re not coming with me. I want you to go home and wait for us. Do you understand me?"

Alessio stared at him. "I’m not some kind." He shook his head. "You can’t just ask me to do that. My brother is down there, possibly dying and you want me to go back and sit with my hands folded, waiting for you?"

Dario swallowed down the frustration he was feeling. He turned around to glare at him and Alessio had never seen him this way. "I’m not going to tell you twice, Alessio. Go home. I’m not going to have another brother of mine get hurt in this fucked up situation. And I’m not asking you in case you think I am. Go home, and I mean it."

Alessio wouldn’t move.

Dario walked up to him. "Alessio, go home. He’s injured, so take him to the hospital. Check on Zayne’s mate too. I promise you, I’m going to find Zayne, and I’ll bring him home."

"You promise?" Alessio asked.

He nodded at him, turning to leave, but Alessio grabbed his hand, holding him back. Dario looked at him. "Alessio—"

"I said a lot of bad things I never should have said to him, Dario. He’s my older brother, and my family and I never should have fought with him in the first place. Who else was supposed to help him if not us? Yet, I blamed him for something that wasn’t even his fault. I blamed your accident on him and I really didn’t mean to. I-I wanted to apologize, but I didn’t get the chance, and—"

Dario cupped his cheek, made him look at him, and smiled at him. "You need to calm down, Alessio. Like I told you, I will find Zayne and you two can properly sort things out."

"But what if...he’s...gone?"