Hold Me 'till the rain stops

chapter 9- knock on my door

Massimo:
I have been on the phone with Scott, my right hand for nearly an hour now, going back and forth between deciding what to do with the new piece of information we just uncovered. Well, I already sort of knew, but was quiet, because I needed  proof,  and here it was today, staring back at me, right in the eye.
"You need to tell her, you know. She might be in danger too!" He said
"No!" I exclaimed. This was certainly not the conversation I wanted to have with her. And certainly not this soon! And certainly not when we met days ago, I have waited for more than 18 years to come face to face with her, to introduce myself to her. Telling her about this will totally scare her away.
"Do not think emotionally, Massimo. she needs to know, she has the right to know. This was her family." He said, doing his best to convince me
"know! But that reason simply isn't good enough!" I barked back.
This would break her. There's a reason even her parents have been keeping this from her. Being born in a  filthy rich family has its own concequences. Having dangerous enemies is definitely one of them.
"Elliana Barton can never know what actually happened to her grandparents" I said, calmly, hoping I made it extremely clear to Scott.
"Alright. I'll have the men and women dig into it deeper, and let you know if I find anything new"
With that, I hung up the phone, and turned to walk back, only to run smack into Elliana, who was looking at me with her big green eyes, full of confusion and hurt.
Fuck. I know she heard me. She's a smart girl so I know lying to her isn't going to get me out if this. I have to tell her.
"Well? What were you speaking about my grandparents?" She asked and I instantly realised that this was going to be extremely difficult.
"This isn't the right place to--"
"Massimo" she said sternly, raising her voice "what happened to my grandparents?" She asked as tears started to pool in her eyes.
"Elliana. I think we should go somewhere private" I said as I placed my hands on her shoulders. She rudely shook them away "tell.me.now!" She demanded. "What actually happened to them? Are-are they alive? Did they make it? Was this all a bluff?" The tinge of hope in her voice immediately had my heart bleed even more.
"No. They're....gone" o said and immediately watched her face fall.
"So? What was it that actually happened to my grandparents?" She asked again. I heaved a deep sigh. There was no way out of this.
"How about we talk somewhere else?". I asked, she took a moment to understand why and then nodded. "Where?" She asked "your room?" I replied and with that, we started walking towards her room.
After reaching her room, she went straight towards the bed and sat down on the edge silently, just looking at me and expecting me to start talking.
I took a deep breath and walked towards the bed and sat down next to her and started talking. I knew I had this coming, I just said expect it so soon.
"Elliana, there's something that you don't know about.... something your parents have been hiding from eachother" I started and she only raised am eyebrow, as of saying yeah, I figured.
"As you know, Hermit and Rosalia were in New York last month, to visit us, and they barely made it out of the airport in their car when another truck  brutally slammed into them."
"Well, turns out, it was planned" I said, Hoping she doesn't ask me what it means.
Her eyes went as wide as saucers as she stared Back at me in utter horror "wait what? Planned? The accident was planned? You-you mean someone deliberately hit grandma and grandpa?"
"Yes"
Tears started streaming down her cheeks, she she sniffed and did her best to stay calm "but why would someone do that? Why would someone..... murder them? They were such nice people!" She sobbed, while the only thing I could do was hold her and rub circles on her lower back to calm her down until she could hear the full story.
"Shhh calm down" I cajoled her, but she just wouldn't stop crying. She leaned Towards me, until her head was resting on my chest and continued sobbing into my shirt.
If only this wasn't such a shitty timing, I would be blown away by how perfectly she fits into my body. It's like our bodies were specifically moulded to fit together.
She sobbed for a while, before finally getting it together and looking at me with tear filled eyes, which were now red. "S-so my parents k-knew too?" She asked, almost crying again. I sighed "how about you calm down first? Then we can Talk? I told her gently.
"No! I need to know!" She debated. "And I will tell you" I said, still running my hand up and down her back "just-please calm down first. You need to be calm when you deal with this." She nodded and I got up from the bed and walked to the mini fridge to get her a bottle of water. She took the bottle from my hand as a streached it out to her and sat down. She drank almost half of the water and started into the wall as she took in all of this.
"Who?" She asked. "We don't know that yet. But we're investigating" I said and she nodded. "So my parents knew?" She asked in disbelief "they knew and they didn't tell me?"
"They wanted to protect your feelings.  They knew it would break your heart and they also know that you've been through enough already" I calmly spoke. "But it wasn't their decision to make! They were my family too! Deserved to know!" She yelled as if justifying it to herself. "I should have been hearing this from them and not you!" She said as she stated at the wall again.
I only sat there, feeling ashamed, even though I didn't know why. I was ashamed to look at her in the eye, I felt like I broke her trust.
"And, I don't even understand how you know all this?" She questioned.
There it is.
"What I'm about to tell you is extremely sensitive and confidential. Don't repeat it to anyone else, please"  I said. And she looked at me.
"I, I'm an investigator. A secret investigator" I clarified as she stared at me with disbelief. I continued "which is why, I'm requesting you to not ask your parents any questions about what you just found out. It would blow my cover. You're the first person who knows about this, other than the people who work for me so please know that I'm trusting you with this."
"But if my parents already know, why can't I talk to them about this?"
"Just...trust me. Please. Don't talk to them about this. When the time is right, you'll know why. Please, don't rush into things you're not ready for" I said.
"Unbelievable" she gasped. I understand what she was going through. I've had my fair share of a dramatic childhood, but at least I had Grand-mère and and papa.
"Is there anything I can do for you? To help you feel better? Maybe order in some food?" I asked, desparately wanting to see her happy. It's crazy how her smile has so quickly became my favourite thing in the world and how her laughter has become my favourite music. Dare I say even more favourite that the sound my my mother playing her cello.
"Yeah that would be great" she said with a sniff, which is when I realised she was crying. I just placed my hand on hers and squeezed it, as I got up to get the hotel's Phone. I walked into the balcony, wanting to give her a few minutes alone and ordered food for at least a family of seven. I knew she tends to have a great appetite. She was so sweet, so perfect. She was perfect in every way. I smiled to myself and walked back into the room.
She still sat on the same spot, staring at the floor, as I sat down next to her and let her know that I ordered a lot of food, that would be here in a little bit. She nodded as she stood up and walked towards the window. She stood there, with her back towards me and I walked towards her too. I placed my hands on her shoulders and she turned around and I realised she was crying. "If not for that one person, I would have still had them with me" she sobbed as I put my arms around her and pulled her into my chest, hugging her tightly. I stroked the back of her head as she continued sniffling, with her arms around my waist.
"Elliana, entering a world of so much money and power has its Ill effects. Enemies is one of them. And even though I'm not sure who's behind this, I'm certain that it's not just one person, or a few. This goes deeper than that." We stood there for a few minutes, hugging eachother tightly, until I heard a knock on the door. I broke the hug and walked towards the door, on the other side of which was man with her food. I pulled the trolley in, after thanking the man and walked towards the bed to notify Elliana. I found her standing at the same place, drying her tears with the back of her hand.
I just walked towards her and held her face in my hands "now, I must go, I still have a lot of work on the case but I need you to take care of yourself. Whatever you need, please remember that I'm just a wall away. Literally. So if you need anything, absolutely anything at all, just..... knock in my door" I said, in a fake deeper voice, earning a chuckle from her. And just like that, seeing the smile reappear on her face brought an even bigger smile on mine. I gave her one last squeeze and walked out of the room, Hoping she'd be okay.