Lost Heir

ch.24

"Monica! Monica!"

"What?!" She spat, finally turning around to face him. Derrick could see the anger in her eyes. He knew he messed up with her and she still wasn't over it with all the attitude he was giving her.

"Please hear me out." He pleaded. "I don't want to hear any sorry excuse you want to give me. You left, I moved on. Simple as that." Was what she said before walk in away. He rushed after her and stopped her by gently grabbing her elbow and making her face him. "Mony wait."

"Don't call me that and don't touch me!" She spat. He raised his arms in surrender and nodded. "Fine, I won't." He sighed and brought his arms down. He was beyond tired of all the awkwardness between the two of them. And even now, conversations between and he and Santino were weird.

"Why are you so angry?" He asked. She studied his tired expression as though he asked the most obvious question in the world. "I'm not angry." She lied.

"Yes, you are. Look. I know the pain I caused you is inexcusable but I'll rather that than have you in jail and even worse they would have had all of us executed. Have thought of that?"

Monica got silent after that. It would have been a complete our for her if to have said she never appreciated his sacrifice but at that time she loved him more than life itself and for him to have just disappeared was unbearable.

She thought she had lost him forever and that longing and hurt she felt for off ten years could only be manifested through her anger towards him. "What were you expecting to happen once you appeared. You know, resurrected from the dead?" Her voice remained monotone.

A sad sigh slipped from Derrick. She had asked a question her had been struggling to get find an answer to since he disappeared. There was always the probability of her moving on, although deep down he hoped she wouldn't.

"You know what? Don't answer that." She said just as he was about to speak. "This is not about any of us. We have a mission to find Valentino and try to stop whatever it is Detective Stewart and Lucas are the planning so please..." She raised her palm to him. "Allow me some breathing space to think." With that she walked off and for the first time in the past thirty minutes he didn't follow her.

Monica wiped the tears from her cheeks as she made her way outside. It had been three days since the 'dinner' with Lucas and deep down she knew she should only be thinking of how to get back Valentino but she couldn't help but stray from time to time.

She was grateful Derrick was still alive but she also hated him. She didn't like the fact that after many years she managed to fall in love with another amazing man and he took only a day in his arrival to get her emotions conflicted.

"Aaah!" She screamed out when hands grabbed her shoulders. She clenched her chest as she faced the culprit. "Santino." She breathed. "You scared me." She forced a smile.

The Spanish/Italian man cocked his head to the side as he starred at his girlfriend. He knew what had been wrong with her the very moment it appeared. 

"What you thinking about?" He asked in a strong Italian accent.
Monica shook her head. "Nothing too serious." She replied.  "Still...tell me."

"It's not really about..."

"Derrick?" Santino finished for her. She wasn't really caught off guard. She knew everybody noticed it.

"Santino, not now please." She seemed ready to dismiss the conversation but he wasn't having it. "No. Now is perfect time to talk. You still love him?"

"Really, Tino?"

"Do you still love him?!"

"I don't know okay!" She exclaimed. She breathed loudly as she held his gaze.