CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
"Ma'am, are hurt anywhere?"
I flinched when Julien took one step towards me. "Don't come near me!" My voice shrieked.
He raises his hand in surrender, "don't worry, ma'am. I will not touch you. I don't want to be killed by Boss." I snorted. If they were so scared of Arcadio, they wouldn't even think of doing what that horrid man did!
Julien gazed at me with a frown but continued. "Ma'am, if you don't mind, could you please raise your head. I need to see if you are injured anywhere."
While sitting down, I raised my head to let him overlook. Although the feeling of agitation and irritation was lingering, after everything that happened, somehow, the need to be near Arcadio was creeping inside me, and the whole statement confused me.
In all my childhood, I imagined having a Prince charming after growing up to save me from problems and being there to protect me. However, when I grew up, everything turned into what it was, my imagination. The concept of Prince charming became a stupid childhood dream. From then onwards, I stopped imagining such scenarios in my head. I also transformed my personality altogether. I promised myself that I would never rely on anyone, rather than waiting for someone to help me as a damsel in distress, I would do everything on my own. So, all of a sudden, why was my perspective changing?
"Julien," I get up from the floor. My legs have become numb from how long I have been sitting. The dead body doesn't startle me anymore.
Julien was busy looking at the mess but looked at me when I called. "Yes, ma'am."
"Will the mess be cleaned by tonight? I can't have this hanging around till tomorrow because my parents will be returning." Just imagine, what explanation would I give them? Look, mom and dad, your daughter, has finally earned a title of a murderer. Dad would probably be shocked. However, Mom, well, she would blame everything on my phone.
Julien looks slightly taken aback. Probably because of the change in my expression from when he had found me. He tensed up but answered. "Don't worry, ma'am. I have called the cleaners. They are on the way, and they will take care of this mess."
Before walking out, I question him, "is the police going to come here?"
"No, ma'am. Boss has handled everything. You don't have to worry."
"Oh," What did Arcadio do? I nod ignoring the thought. "Also, could you please stop calling me ma'am? Name's Ellie. It sounds way too formal." He nods.
After entering the bathroom, I lock the door behind me. As if all the energy just drained from me, my legs flop down on the floor. My eyes start to water again. Lowering my head between my knees, wrapping my arms around myself, I wail my eyes out.
The questions that I had tucked behind the back of my head came all of a sudden. Why were these things even happening to me? She came to India to get away from all these. Yet, here she was crying again, that too in her house. When her voice got a little higher, she covered her mouth tightly. She can't cry loudly. She has to be stronger, just like she has been doing since childhood. She cannot be weak now.
When she closed her eyes, the flashes of that man being close to her, touching her, kept appearing, making her cry harder. She rubbed her skin vigorously, thinking that would get away all the memories. Still, the flashes kept appearing again and again.
To remove every filthy thought away from her mind, she gets inside the bathtub with all the clothes on, submerging herself underwater. She closes her eyes.
"Ma- Ellie, is everything alright?" The knock wakes her up. She rushes out of the water and starts breathing heavily.
A series of banging comes on the door, "Ellie, open the door."
She panics. "Don- don't, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Ye- yes. Please go out of my room."
She got out of the bathroom. Thankfully Julien listened to her and was nowhere to be seen when she came out. She changed into a red oversized T-shirt and sweatpants. Then lay down on the bed. As soon as she laid down, the exhaustion took over her. Closing her eyes, she falls asleep.
Arcadio violently knocks on the door. Immediately Julien opens the door, greeting them.
As soon as they landed in India, Arcadio has been barking orders on his men. He was rushing to Ellie as fast as he could. Even though Roger had already given him a pep talk on the flight, his heart and temper were still uncontrollable.
He was about to blow a gasket at his men at the airport. How could they have let something like this happen to her? However, right now, the most important thing for him was to be by Ellie's side.
He had imagined the worst nightmares in his mind about what her house would look like after the incident. Especially after talking to Julien and hearing Ellie's scared voice. The sight that welcomed him clenched his insides. He did expect the worst, and that is what he got.
Arcadio felt horrified because this was the same sight that had been there in front of Ellie. The blood pooled on the floor with Bobby's body lying in the middle of it. His head looks like someone kept smashing it a lot of times. His fist automatically clenched when the image of Ellie being in Bobby's place entered his mind.
"Where is she?!" His eyes automatically started searching for the one who haunted his dreams for the past two weeks. Whom he almost lost because he decided to keep her safe.
"She is in her room, sleeping," Julien answered.
Before he hurried inside, Roger stopped him. "Let me go," Arcadio grunted.
"Will you stop acting like a hulk for once and listen. She must be terrified after something like this. Are you sure you want to barge in like that and terrify her further?"
"How would I do that?" He glared at Roger and pulled his hand out of his reach.
"Arcadio, think rational, and act a little calm in front of her."
He rolled his eyes, "how am I supposed to stay calm after this? You tell me."
"Listen, Brother. I realized that this whole incident frustrates you. Keep in mind that we are going to find whoever did this. But right now, being an angry man won't solve anything. You would only worry Ellie more. Do you want to do that?"
Letting out a sigh, he replied, "no, I don't. But right now, the only way I can calm down is by being near her." After stating, Arcadio left to meet Ellie.
Just as he opened the door, he found her lying so peacefully on the bed. Her body was under the blankets, tightly tucked in around her. He walked closer to the bed. The strings of heart got pulled after seeing her innocent, cute face.
He quietly sat beside her. Abruptly Ellie started mumbling something. Her face that appeared to be tranquil had frown lines now. She slowly started moaning in fear, and she thrashed her body from left to right as running away from someone.
Arcadio panicked, seeing such a reaction from her. He tensed up because of not knowing how to act. Should he touch her or not? He asked himself. When a loud cry left her lips, he threw away every doubt out of his mind and raised her from the bed. He hugged her lightly while slowly patting his hand on her back.
"Tesoro, I'm right here." He mumbled near her ears in hopes of calming her down.
"Leave me!" She was weeping while trying to get away from his grasp. Yet he held on a little tighter, "Tesoro, it's me, Arcadio. Please wake up from this nightmare."
"I beg you, please. Leave me!!" He felt his shirt getting wet on the shoulder. Her eyes were closed and her voice hoarse still the tears kept brimming down.
Arcadio felt pain in his heart after listening to her cries. The same sobbing sounds he had heard through the phone almost knifed his heart.
Chi ha fatto questo pagherà molto (those who did this will pay a lot). Arcadio made a promise to himself. Gritting his teeth, he tried to control his emotions. Rogers's words kept echoing in his mind. He was right. It wasn't the time to act tough. He has to tone down so that he can take care of Ellie.
"Amore Mio, it's Arcadio. Please wake up. I am right here, next to you. I promise I won't let anything happen to you. I'm sorry. It is all my fault. I'm truly sorry, Tesoro."
Ellie fluttered her eyes open slowly. Seeing her brown eyes, Arcadio breathed a sigh of relief. "Ar- Arcadio," she spoke in his arms.
"Yes, Tesoro. It's me." He keeps on lightly rubbing his hand up and down on her back, trying to calm her down. Yet the warmth of his body made her cry again.
Arcadio's temper rises massively. He didn't expect her to cry so much. Seeing her condition worsen, he knew the situation was far worse than he thought. The way she was yelling so loudly on his chest pierced his heart. If someone even thought of standing close to her, he would rip their bodies apart, let alone someone thinking of touching her.