Love, Evangeline

50.

Song: Don't blame me by Taylor Swift-the song is for later on in the chapter when Domenico is talking to Giuliano, who is tied down to a chair. I know this song is kind of a based off of a girl's perspective, but ignore that😭😭

The car ride towards Rome was utterly silent. Dante drove with me as the others took a separate car. My eyes were glued ahead on the road as my hands firmly gripped the wheel. Rain battered down onto the roof of the car, thunder rumbled in the distance as lightening flashed above. Heavy rain clouds clogged the sky, emitting a dark hue about the city. Inhaling softly, Dante said, " I'm not going to ask you about your work, as if it's the only thing that's been on your mind."  Adjusting my grip on the wheel, I kept my focus on the road.

Staring out the window, Dante then looked at me before saying, " no body else is here, you can stop acting as if what happened didn't hurt you." A pulsing sensation flowed in my chest, forcing me to take a deep breathe in. What had happened, that night in Rome, it didn't just hurt me or break me. The second I watched the life, color, and energy vanish from Evangeline's eyes and face, my soul left my body. My heart shattered into more than a million pieces, and at that moment I wanted to die.

That night traumatized me in more ways than I could even come close to describing. I was broken, utterly empty, apart of me died along with Evangeline as she lay in my arms on the streets of Rome. " Look," Dante sighed, " if you want to talk about it, I'm here. It's been three months, and I know when someone's pushing themselves away from senile." " She was the only thing I had," I murmured. Dante looked at me as tears slowly began to blur my vision. " I believed love to be some fake emotion people forced themselves to endure just so that they wouldn't be alone," I admitted. Bitting my lip, I then said softly, " Evangeline had been the only person in this world that proved me wrong. She showed how love was painful and glorying in ways I never believed it to be."

Dante nodded, " she had a gift." Blinking past the tears, I said, " I promised her that nobody would take her from me, that she'd be safe with me and that I'd give her everything she'd ever wanted." A tear trickled down the left side of my face, hidden from Dante's gaze. Clearing my throat, I said, " I  promised and assured her a future, I couldn't even keep her alive to experience." " You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened that night," Domenico informed me. Scoffing softly, I said as self hatred flooded my mind, " that night, I knew something was off. The second I heard the gun shots, I should've taken Evangeline and gotten the hell out of the city."

Inhaling deeply, my grip on the wheel tightened as the screams, gun shots, and blood flashed into my mind. " I should've kept her by my side," I coolly said. " I was holding onto her hand, someone pushed against her, and she fell." Vexation and sheer regret of taking Evangeline out that night blew up inside me. Eyeing the wheel, Dante looked back at me, his eyes were calm, relaxed. My jaw immediately clenched as that night repeatedly played over and over in my mind. " You didn't shoot Evangeline nor did you kill her," Dante stated calmly. " And I'm not going to allow you to guilt yourself into something you didn't do." As I relaxed my shoulders, my jaw unclenched as I blinked back the tears resting in my eyes.

A tall, empty house suddenly appeared in the distance. Knowing that the man who murdered my wife and child was hiding out in some rundown house instantly altered the functions in my brain and the determination that coursed within me. Giuliano had no idea we were coming, yet part of me knew more than anything that he wasn't alone.

Out of know where, headlights suddenly filled my rear view mirror. Frowning, I looked at Dante, " who the hell is that?" Unbuckling, I jumped out of the car as I pulled out my gun, cocked it as my finger rested on the trigger. " Hey hey hey," Alessandro immediately said as he quickly got out of the car behind us. " What the fuck is that?" I asked coolly, pointing my gun sideways at the black SUV approaching us. " Backup," Alessandro assured me. " The fuck you mean backup?" I asked sternly. " More help, you're welcome," Alessandro said. As the rest of his brothers got out of the car, I glared at Dante, " did your call them?" " We're about to kill someone Domenico, how exactly are we going to take care of the body after?" " It would be fucking nice if you all had a little faith in me," I said sternly.