Episode 8

The emergency room received them instantly, two nurses quickly arrived with a stretcher, Carlo placed Annalise on the rigid mattress and let those two young men take her inside. The nerves were about to end the three of them. She was beaten and abused, apparently, those bastards hadn't even given her water.

"Are you relatives of the patient?" a young nurse approached them with a response sheet.

"I'm her older brother, Carlo Mancini," he said.

"Well, Mr. Mancini, I need you to sign some documents and speak to the police.

"The police?, why?" Luka stood in front of Carlo, they definitely hadn't reported it to the authorities.

"The patient arrived with multiple injuries and possible trauma, her body is battered everywhere and has marks of being tied up on her feet and wrists, it is our duty and obligation to inform the corresponding authorities," she explained kindly.

"Okay, let's go. Luka, Elio, if anything, call, I'll be back as soon as possible."

Elio and Luka watched their brother go with that young lady, they couldn't go with him at the moment, even if they wanted to, the officers would surely prevent them from entering. Besides, they both knew that they were more useful waiting for news of Annalise, than hindering the investigations of justice.

While they were waiting, Carlo was sitting in a room at the end of the first hallway of the hospital, the nurse was standing next to him, still with the response sheets in her hands.

"Sorry for the inconvenience," she said, breaking the sepulchral silence, "it's hospital protocol."

"I understand, don't worry."

Although the tone was serious and without any feeling in between, she blushed instantly. Carlo was attractive to everyone's eyes, he had that characteristic hair color they inherited from the Mancini lineage, and those bright blue eyes they inherited from the Giulianis.

The nurse was about to say something, however, the door was thrown open abruptly and a boy (who looked to be in his twenties) entered arrogantly. With dark eyes and a cold stare, as if everyone was inferior to him. A suit that perfectly defined his body, wavy and slightly tousled hair, he was definitely someone important. Two tall men in suits also entered, apparently, they were his bodyguards, one slightly shorter and less intimidating than the guards.

The young man looked at her, seeming to give her a threat. The nurse stiffened in her place without understanding what the look was about. However, she smiled tightly.

"Excuse me, you can't be here," she stammered a little. He looked at her, just as if he were looking at some insignificant animal, she resisted the urge to yell some obscenity at him, however, she had to restrain herself. She looked at Carlo, his eyes had darkened, apparently, the two of them knew each other.

"I am where I want to be." He approached her and lifted the nurse's chin with his index finger, "Did you hear?"

"Leave her alone." Carlo stood up and stepped between them, grabbing his hand roughly. The boy's eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"Are you defending this bitch?" He pulled free of her grasp roughly and tried to push Carlo away, however, Carlo grabbed him tightly by the shoulders, "Let me give this bitch a warning, Carlo."

"I won't allow you to call me that!" she yelled, as much as she could stand the look of superiority from that arrogant subject, she would never allow them to insult her that way, "Sir, if you don't change your attitude towards me, I'll have you removed from the hospital." She faced him with a challenging look, the fear and helplessness could only be seen slightly.

"Ha, an employee giving me an ultimatum?, it must be opposite day." He, managing to remove Carlo's grip, grabbed her by the neck, squeezing tightly as he leaned close to her ear and whispered. "Listen, stupid, nobody tells me what to do, and if you don't want to be left without a job, I advise you to get on your knees and apologize."

"Adrien, that's enough, you're hurting her!"

Carlo, without even thinking, pushed him hard, causing the thin boy to stumble and almost fall to the ground, if his bodyguards hadn't been there to catch him in time, he wouldn't have been so lucky.

The obsidian eyes flared instantly, and a second later, a thud echoed through the room, Adrien stormed out, slamming the door into several corners of the hallway.

"Are you okay?" The nurse, concerned for Carlo, grabbed his cheeks. Carlo's right cheek was red and a thin crimson line began to appear, "It's bleeding," she exclaimed, "I'll get some alcohol and a bandage."

"It doesn't matter, I'm fine…"

"But I want to fix it, after all, it's my fault." The girl's face told him that if he didn't accept, she wasn't going to give up. Carlo sighed and agreed.

"Okay, I'll wait here."

"Okay, I won't be long."

He smiled, the cheerfulness of that nurse reminded him a lot of his little sister's.

...----------------...

"Adrien." Luka frowned, annoyed. He didn't like that spoiled boy and had made that clear to him the day he first met him.

Back then, Luka had gone to see his older brother, however, Carlo had left early. Luka looked for him at the mall his brother frequented, the next day was his mother's birthday, he thought he would look for a gift there, and indeed, Carlo was looking for a gift.

He approached from behind and jumped on him, they were that close, always joking in different ways, however, as soon as he fell on Carlo's back, a hand pulled hard on his backpack and he fell to the ground.

Looking up, Luka found himself with Adrien's cold eyes, if Carlo hadn't stopped him, the kid's foot would have kicked him in the face.

"Relax, I didn't come to bother you," Adrien said, adjusting his coat, "How's Anna?"

"They haven't told us anything yet," replied Elio, who, unlike Luka, had a very different concept of Adrien. To him, Adrien was just a rich kid who didn't know how to express his feelings beyond his narcissism, pride, and self-centeredness. He had dealt with him a few times, and if you ignored his bad temper, he was a good person, "But how do you know she's here?, Carlo hasn't told you anything."

"Bad news travels fast, my dear Elio." He smiled. Adrien pulled a payment receipt from his coat pocket and handed it to Elio, "The hospital bill is paid, but don't tell Carlo it was me."

"Why not?" Luka was still on the defensive when he was around him. Adrien paid no mind to the Mancini's aggressive stare, either way, he would have to accept him someday.

"I'm mad at him," he replied, "and I don't want him calling me to thank me, not until he apologizes."

"I hope he never does." Luka snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. Adrien just laughed as if he had been told the best joke of the day, which offended Luka's pride, he was nobody's clown.

"Anyway, Elio, take care of your sister, see you." He took a couple of steps and stopped, "By the way, I took care of the police, you don't have to worry about that anymore."

After saying goodbye, for the second time, he left without looking back. Luka couldn't hide the smile of happiness that had formed on his lips. "I wish my brother would leave that jerk for good," he thought.

"Luka, why don't you like him?, Adrien is a good person."

"Puff, good person?, yeah right, and I'm God," he said sarcastically and annoyed, "He's just a rich kid who's used to our brother not being able to tell him no, he's a jerk who wants everything he can and doesn't have. If it wasn't my fault… my irresponsibility led Carlo to have to put up with that brat, but his martyrdom will be over soon."

Elio shook his head. Who knew if Carlo really wanted to leave him. Elio had noticed it, the way Carlo cared about Adrien was not that of someone who was obligated.

Elio caught sight of his brother and hurried over to him.

"Brother," he expressed, surprised. Carlo had a bandage on his face, his cheek was red and his hair a little messy, "What happened to you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine, it's just a little scratch." He was clearly not going to tell them about the slap Adrien gave him, if he did, he was sure Luka would go looking for him and hit him, or at least try to.

"It was that Gautier bastard, wasn't it?" Luka's irritation grew as he saw his older brother's battered face.

"How do you know he was here?"

"He came to ask about Annalise, we told him she was fine, that they were taking care of her and then he left," Elio replied, obviously going to hide that it was Adrien who paid for the hospital. Luka didn't say anything, he just rolled his eyes and muttered a few bad words against that Frenchman.

"Relatives of Annalise Mancini." The doctor's voice made them quickly go to him.

"We are her brothers, how is she?"

"Luckily there were no serious injuries or sexual abuse, we only had to suture the wound on her head and attend to some more on her body. The marks on her wrists and feet, as well as the bruising, will take a while to heal, but don't worry, she'll be fine. However, she has a dehydration problem, she was probably locked up in a very hot place without water, we already put in a catheter to hydrate her, and if all goes well, you can take her home tomorrow. In half an hour you can go see her."

"Thank you very much, doctor," they said in unison. The haggard faces of the Mancini brothers brightened instantly. The doctor smiled.

"It's my job," he said, "I recommend you take her to a psychologist, the hospital will recommend one." They nodded. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to."

He said goodbye and the brothers hugged each other happily. They could finally breathe easy, the lies and tranquilizers were over for Isabella. Now, the important thing was to find a good psychologist for Anna.

"Well, I'm going to pay for the hospital…"

"No need," Elio stepped in front of him, "I've already paid it."

"With what money?"

"Oh, Luka and I chipped in." Elio nudged Luka, he didn't know if he was going to support him, but at least he had to try.

"Yeah, yeah, we chipped in," he replied vaguely. He didn't feel good lying to his brother, let alone to protect that jerk, but Elio and he had always had each other's backs, he couldn't put him on the spot right now.

"Okay. Luka, Elio, go home, Mom needs you too, I'll stay and if anything I'll keep in touch."

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

...----------------...

Elio was in his room, it was three in the morning and he had just gotten out of the shower. Things had turned out better than expected, his sister was fine, as far as it went, and his mother was calmer. Finally the sun was coming out from behind the storm.

However, the happiness was overshadowed by a bigger problem.

The contract was on his bed, or at least a copy of it. Elio was standing there, staring intently at that folder, which looked more like his direct contract to hell.

He hadn't read it, he didn't know what kind of document he had signed, but as long as it only involved him, it didn't matter.

He sat down on the soft mattress, grabbed the folder that felt like it weighed a thousand tons. He sighed to find the courage to open it and read its contents.

The first few pages talked about the five-year marriage next to Vicenzo Di Marco. However, he still didn't understand why the clauses said he had to win that man over. He didn't think that just because the man was thirty-five years old he would be looking for an arranged marriage.

He kept reading, what came next was more shocking than he could have imagined. His face darkened as he saw what was written. He never thought they would ask such a thing of him. At that moment everything made sense. It was no coincidence, they had chosen him for a reason.

"So… this is the price to pay."

***This work has been signed with NovelToon, and piracy such as reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited.***

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***