Married Into The Mafia *Undergoing Re-editing*

Dangerous Puppy Love

--Nicolette--

I stared wistfully through the crack of Eloise's room's door, fixated on her bandaged wrists before moving my eyes across to Cooper who was sitting on the bed next to her. "He's been there for a while..." His eyes were glued onto her resting figure, watching her chest rise and fall with each breath. "How long do you think he'll stay there?"

Jake let out a deep breath from beside me and crossed his arms, leaning against the door as he turned away. "Probably until she wakes up."

"Well, how long do you think that'll take? It's already been a day and a half since she got patched up,"  I muttered whilst lightly shutting the door again. The cut had been deep, serrated by the shard of her bathroom mirror. Although the hospital insisted on keeping her until she woke up for monitoring, insistence for her discharge was not difficult when you had the authority of the Devons family. 

"Yes, well, that usually tends to happen after you lose almost 20% of your blood volume. We should be lucky she didn't turn into a complete vegetable after that," he morbidly jested, earning him an unamused glare. An accompanying elbow to the side fixed his attitude into something a little better as he sighed and rolled his eyes away. "It was a joke, Nixon, lighten up. Things have been so bleak since then, this place could use a little more laughter," he muttered with a bit of humour to his tone. I know Jake is only saying that because of what's on the line if something actually happens to her, but me...I feel some extension of the same guilt I had felt towards her brother when I see her on that bed. 

Jordan admitted to having had a slip of the tongue whilst they had talked during the night of party. He told her about the death of her brother and how her father had commanded it. The very father whom she was to live with for the remainder of her life. The same father that was to be her salvation from all that has happened to her. 

And, though, he hadn't mentioned me, I was equally guilty. 

With a sigh, I gazed out the window as we began to walk down the hallway, relaying the image of her being loaded into the ambulance as we arrived back at the Devons' estate. Pale and shrivelled like a raisin. It made me wonder...did I cause that? Indirectly, had I contributed to the final push in this girl's list of tragedies? "

"This is funny, Nick. You act as if you hadn't committed worse crimes," Jake mentioned passively as I drew my eyes back to the front of me. I knew why I felt so strongly about this. About her brother. All of it reminded me of...of that scene. Of Nicholas...

Back then, I had felt the same as she had. I felt guilty for even being alive. 

I paused my steps to steady myself upon recalling the sight of his dead body. An image forever mortified into my memories. 

I forced it back with shuddered sigh. It was a practised effort to disregard. Those were not times I liked to revisit. 

"I haven't heard about Jessica in a while from you," I countered, eliciting a weighted sigh from Jack. I could tell he was a bit sensitive about it, which only forbode the probable outcomes of the situation. However, now that I had brought it up, I couldn't help but be curious. "What's happened since then?" I pressed on.

Jessica and Bianca. 

They were being held accountable for what Jessica had done. Because of who had been involved that night with Lilith, this couldn't go unpunished. But, what exactly would that punishment be?

"Well, best case scenario is that Bianca kicks it," he informed with a pleasant smile. It was like he'd been waiting for this day to come for too long. "Jess on the other hand..." His features darkened and scrunched. His stepmother he may indulge in seeing suffer, but his little sister, his own blood - be it half - was something he treasured no matter what she did. It's a shame that Jessica couldn't see that. She couldn't see how much people actually cared about her, despite what her circumstances may have been. He groaned out in frustration and furiously messed up his hair. "Man, I don't know. Maybe she'll get off easy, but that's all up to my old man."