Ruined

Chapter 12

Aria…

My entire body felt numb. My ears were ringing from the sound of the bullet shooting out of its gun and making contact with skin and bone. The only thing I could hear was my breathing, coming out in short high pitched waves. I could slowly feel someone tugging at my arm, but I couldn’t see his face. Then I must have been picked up because my line of vision wasn’t being controlled by myself anymore. The rest was a blurry mess as my continuous tears blocked my vision.

Damien...

I was at the bar in my house, gulping down whiskey by the litre, thinking back on the events of today. The image of Aria’s frightened face kept staring back at me. The way she begged me for his life wouldn’t have been comical had she known the kind of person that I was. Well, if she didn’t know me, she certainly did now. I opened another bottle of strong alcohol to try and wash the guilt out of my system. “Damien, that’s enough” Tony’s hand was straining to remove the bottle from my hand. “I messed up, Tony” I confessed and let him take the bottle from me. “Did you see the look on her face? She was so hopeful that I would give him another chance, and when I shot him, she deflated. She just fell to the ground”. Tony was nodding his head. “She isn’t use to this kind of lifestyle, Damien. And she’s experienced quite a bit today. Joaquin said she looked out of it as he carried her to her room”. “She’s in a state, what the hell were you thinking?” Joaquin yelled as he made his way to the bar. “Aria didn’t even notice that I was there, not even when I undressed her and cleaned her wounds”.

I blinked. Once, twice. “You undressed her?” I asked with anger suddenly bubbling in my veins. “Yes. I did. Why? Are you jealous? Do you wanna fight me over this? Huh? Because I touched what is yours? Well, come at me, you won’t even be able to punch me once, looking at the drunken state you’re in”. I tried to wring Joaquin’s neck, but as I stood from my seat, my vision was all over the place. Tony sat me back down on the barstool. “Joaquin, just leave”. “No, Tony. He doesn’t even care about her. Look at all the pain he’s caused her. Just let her go back home, Damien. She doesn’t belong here”.

After Tony and Joaquin left me to my thoughts, I sat for a few minutes watching the golden liquid swish back and forth in my glass, until I realised what I really needed. I fished out the phone from my pocket and struggled to find her name in my contact list, but eventually I did.

Aria…

When I woke up, I struggled to open my eyes and ended up walking carefully to the bathroom. After washing out the sleep from my eyes and patting dry with a towel, I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes were red and puffy from crying myself to sleep, the injury on my head was plastered, but still painful and I made a mental note to thank whoever had seen to my wounds. My clothes too have been changed into something comfortable enough to sleep in. When I exited the bathroom, Mary was patiently waiting for me.  “Ms Samuels, have you gotten a good night’s rest?” The elderly woman asked with a demure smile. “I’ve had better. But thank you for asking, Mary. Is this what I am to wear today?” I asked without any interest.



“Yes. Mr Joaquin picked it out for you. Said he wanted you to feel comfortable without having much exposed”. I smiled faintly. The elderly lady sat me down at the dresser to brush out the knots from my hair. “Thank you for changing me out of my bloody dress last night” I said. “Me? Oh, no, Ms Samuels, it was Joaquin that had changed you and seen to your wounds. I had the day off yesterday and only found out this morning that you were injured and that I needed to clean the wounds again”. I blushed at the thought of Joaquin having to see every part of me, but was thankful nonetheless.
As I made my way down the stairs I heard a soft whimper. The sound immediately made my mind reel through the events that occurred yesterday, but I took a deep breath and continued my journey to the kitchen for breakfast. Maddox, Tony and Dante were sitting and the table drinking coffee or eating fruit. Tony looked up when he noticed my presence and then his expression changed from surprised to worry. His eyes looked over to the head of the table which was Damien’s spot, ever so slightly. Like he didn’t want me to see Damien’s face, and when he looked over at Damien, my heart sank a little when I saw that there was a girl sitting on his lap, kissing him. His hands were tightly wrapped around her back and she giggled when he started at her neck. I tried to keep my face as composed as I could and I hoped no one in the room could see any emotion.

“Damien” Tony said after clearing his throat didn’t help. “What?” He answered sternly, probably annoyed that Tony disturbed him. But he was silent the second he saw me standing before the table. “Aria…” He began but Joaquin’s entry and death stare forced him not to continue. “Hey, Ari. How are you feeling?” He asked after giving me a comforting hug. “I’m better. Mary told me that you cleaned me up, thank you”. “No problem. And don’t worry my eyes didn’t linger on your body any longer than needed” He said poked the dimple on my right cheek. I laughed along with him, knowing that that was his attempt to lighten up my mood. “Let’s eat” He said and gestured to a chair. “I’m not really hungry. Send Mary up with something later” I said and ran up the stairs before I started to cry.

As soon as I made it to my room, I locked myself in the bathroom. After letting the tub fill, I let out all the mixed emotions I was feeling. As I took off my clothes, I scolded myself for feeling jealous. I didn’t have the right to feel that way. I can’t fall for someone like him. Did I not just see the extent of his insanity yesterday? I wiped the tears from my cheeks. None of what was happening was good for me. I sighed and let the warm water calm my tensed body and I started to feel a bit more relaxed. But that feeling didn’t last as long as I would have wanted, because there was a banging on the bathroom door.

Damien…

I stared at Aria as she ran up the stairs. “You went too far, Damien” Tony said softly. I looked at him and then to Joaquin who stood with his hands on his hips, shaking his head. Aiko was oblivious to everything that was happening around her as she continued kissing my neck. I physically pushed her off me and stood up, suddenly disgusted with myself. “What the hell, Damien?” She asked as she stumbled to gain her balance. “Last night was a mistake. It shouldn’t have happened” I said angrily, mostly to myself. “Seriously, Damien, no need to be such a dickhead about it, God!” I ignored her whinnying and looked at Maddox. “Maddox, Dante, take her home. After that go pick up Emilio and Sergio, they don’t need to stay in hotel when there are enough rooms in this house”. “Don’t ever call me again to fuck, Damien” Aiko warned. It was clear that she was hurt, but my mind was only thinking about Aria. Joaquin and Tony were right, Aria wasn’t use to a life with so much violence. She probably hasn’t even hurt a fly yet. I should’ve been more understanding. What was the need for her to watch that bastard die? That was too callous of me.

When I entered her room, she wasn’t there, but the bathroom door was closed. I turned the door handle, but it was locked. So I banged on the door, anxious to just see her face. “Aria, open the door. I need to talk to you” I could hear water sloshing around, so she was probably in the tub. “Aria! Open up!” I banged again, louder this time. She was possibly really mad, so I figured that the only for her to come out was to annoy her. After a few more knocks and bangs on the door, she opened the door. “What do you want?” She asked me, clearly annoyed. “To talk”.  She folded her arms across the white bath robe that she wore. Her wet hair dripped onto the floor. I tried not to remind myself that she was naked underneath the robe. As if she sensed the dirty thoughts going through my mind her hold on her robe tightened. “You don’t need to explain anything to me” She said and grabbed some clothes from the cupboard.

“Then let me apologise. Look, I agree that it was wrong of me to let you be a witness to some guy’s death. But an example needed to be made. People need to know that you’re mine and only mine and if I have to kill hundreds more, I will fucking do it” I warned unable to keep my possessiveness tamed. “I can’t believe this….Damien, you still killed someone, who didn’t deserve to die. And I am sick of hearing that I am yours, or that I belong to you, because I don’t!” She yelled frustrated. She yelled, she actually yelled. I chuckled but then was quickly overcome with anger. “No one raises their voice with me” My hand was gripping tightly around her throat and her eyes went wide with fear. “Do you fucking understand? The next time you try to question or disobey me I will fuck your throat so hard, you won’t even be able to utter one word!” I loosened my grip on her throat and pushed her to the side, letting her land on the bed. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes, grabbed the clothes that were now lying on the floor and ran out of the room.