I'm sorry the update wasn't sooner but this chapter was really hard for me to write. There are still a couple of chapters left and a lot more of Angela and Adriano's story to be told but I want to thank you for reading this far. I'm so grateful.

Autumn xo

******



"What happened? Is he going to be alright?" Angela's voice came out panicked. She shot up out of bed and quickly made her way over to Adriano to comfort him. She took his hand in hers and looked up at him, seeing the anger and devastation in his eyes. Adriano shook his eye and pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I don't know Angie. I really don't, he's been shot twice. I need to go now."

"Let me come with you, please." She tugged at his hand gently. He thought for a moment and then nodded slowly at her.

"Okay, go and get ready. We need to go soon."

Within just a minute, the two had frantically gotten changed and were making their way downstairs to Adriano's car. One of the guards drove this time while Adriano and Angela sat in the back. Angela tried her best to comfort Adriano but she knew that at a time like this, it didn't matter what anyone tried to do. They sat in a silence Angela knew he needed as he milled over his thoughts. His mind was racing and he couldn't begin to think about what he would do next because he knew exactly who had done this to his brother- The DeLuco gang- Adamo and his family.

He reached out and grabbed her hand, needing the contact. He couldn't deal with any of this again. He couldn't lose Mike, another brother, another family member, he wouldn't be able to survive. Angela looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes but she held them back. She had to be strong for Adriano. They looked at each other- no words needed. He held his arms out and took her into a tight, wanting hug. Angela completely understood how shattered Adriano might have been at that time. She hoped Mike was going to be alright.

"I'm so sorry Adriano." She said.

"He's really hurt Angie, my uncle sounded so worried on the phone. I know it's serious, I don't know what I'm going to do." She heard how upset he was in his voice and held him tighter for a moment.

"Shh, you're going to be alright." Angela soothed him, rubbing his back gently as she spoke.

Soon enough, they arrived at the hospital and both rushed inside with the guards to try and find Mike's room.

Giovanni was waiting outside in the hallway for them, a gut-wrenching and exhausted expression on his face. He had his arms crossed but unfolded them and stood up straight when Adriano and Angela stood in front of him.

"How is he?" Adriano asked, all emotion gone from his voice.

"He's not doing too good Adriano, he's asleep right now but you two can go in and see him if you want."

Adriano gave Giovanni a short nod before taking Angela's hand again and walking into the hospital room. They greeted Adriano mother and father but other than that, the room was filled with a gut-wrenching silence as they all looked at Mike lying there in a hospital bed. Angela held in her tears while Adriano stood there, looking down at his younger brother. He was asleep but he didn't look peaceful. There was a number of tubes and wires coming from his body and he was pale.

Just then, Carmela and Lucio got up. They said they were going outside for a minute and that Franco was on his way, Maria was at home with the kids. Angela heard the door closing shut and felt Adriano letting go of her hand to move closer to Mike's hospital bed. His expression was void of emotion but Angela could tell by the way he was holding himself, his angry stare, that he was furious and of course, upset.

"Do you know how done it?" Angela asked, her tone quiet to try and hide her dismay. She wasn't expecting an answer but after a moment, Adriano spoke.

"Adamo." The name burned on his lips and Angela could see him shaking with anger as he stared at the sheets on Mike's bed. He couldn't look at the state his younger brother was in. "When I get my hands on that fucker, he's going to regret everything he's done. He's going to wish he was never born. I promise you that."

"Adriano..." Angela tried to sooth him because of his raising voice but he took a deep breath and spoke again.

"There's going to be a war Angela, and I'm not sure whether I want you to be here for it or not."

They were the last few words shared between them for a while. They both took a seat in the hospital room. The room was silent until Franco arrived. After greeting Angela, he began talking to Adriano in Italian. Their voices were hushed and their expressions grim.

"Adriano." Angela said after a couple of minutes, she didn't want to interrupt but she needed to.

"Yes Angie?" he took her hand and looked into her eyes. His chocolate ones were glassy and full of emotion.

"I'm just heading out to the bathroom. I'll be back in a second."

He nodded gently and she left. Adriano began talking with his father and Giovanni who came into the room once Angela exited it. As she walked down the halls of the hospital, she felt a strange feeling- like she was being watched. She turned around a couple of times and kept an eye out for anyone around her as she walked but couldn't find anyone. She figured she was just being ridiculous and entered the bathroom.

As soon as she entered the stall, she heard the main door creak open and footsteps near her cubicle. Angela tried to ignore the feeling she had deep in her stomach that was telling her something was wrong but it was no use. Once she was done, she opened the cubicle door quietly. She was surprised that no one else seemed to be in the toilet and quickly went to wash her hands when she was grabbed from behind and dragged to the wall nearest to her.

She tried to take deep breaths to steady herself but was only falling into the depts of a panic attack as she scrambled to get free from the person who had her in a vice grip. They put their hand over her mouth and for a second, Angela thought it couldn't get any worse than being taken away again- until the person spoke.

"Hey Angel." He whispered in her ear menacingly, causing her to freeze. A moment ago she was gasping for breath but now she didn't want to breath anymore, she had stopped for as long as she could. Tears pricked her eyes and fear took over every part of her body. She wanted to scream and shout for help but she couldn't use her voice. She was terrified of what would happen if she did so. "Have you missed me?" he laughed causing her to shiver involuntarily.

It was him. It was Derek.

"I bet you have haven't you?" he took his hand away from her mouth, knowing she would be too afraid to speak up, and turned her towards him. He was smiling at her as she shook with fright. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be happening, she thought to herself but she knew no matter how hard she wished it was a dream it wasn't.

"D-d... D- erek-"

"Shhh." He placed his finger on her lips and brushed her hair away from her face, looking into her eyes. He was calm and that made her unbelievably nervous for how he would react next.

"No, Derek-"

"Didn't you hear me? Listen to me when I speak Angela." His voice was firm and raised a little. His anger was fraying and she knew it would only take something so small to tip him over the edge now and that made her be quiet. He was gripping her hair tightly now, scrunching it between his fist. He could see her wincing in pain and pulled tighter as he grinned at her. "Well?Did you?" he brought his face right up to hers.

Tears poured silently out of her eyes and she nodded weakly at him, avoiding eye contact.

"Look at me!" he snapped at her, dragging her hair back to make she face look up to him. She let out a cry of pain but he ignored it. "You thought you could get away from me didn't you? You thought I wouldn't find you but I did."

"No." she whispered and shook her head. She looked away from him now but her response only triggered intense anger within him. He let her go quickly and hit her across the face, the noise the slap made echoed in the empty room and she tried to stop crying but she couldn't. She was weak, she was too terrified to be able to do anything about what was happening and she hated it. He hit her again and she fell to the ground and curled up, unable to move. Derek kneeled down beside her and tilted her head to look at him again.

"We're going to walk out of here and pretend like none of this happened and then when we get home we will talk about it." His voice was threatening. It made Angela do nothing more than nod at him.

He dragged her up by the hair until she stood up properly and then told her to keep her head down as they walked out of the bathrooms and into the elevator to take them down to the ground floor. He was holding her arm subtly and the pair were able to slip out without anyone noticing what was actually going on between them. Angela wished she had the strength to shout out and cause a scene to get away but she didn't. The fear within her was crippling- that was, until she heard her name being called by someone familiar.

They were quickly making their way up the street away from the hospital. The voice was a good bit away from them but she could still hear it. She turned her head slightly to see who it was but Derek jut sped up walking and gripped her arm tighter. It was still dark out and the streets were almost empty so when she turned she thought the only person the voice could be coming from was Franco who was walking briskly towards her but still so far away.

"Angela!" he called again, not quite sure whether he was seeing things or not.

"Angela, I swear to god, you open your mouth? You're going to regret it." Angela thought about it for a moment but then turned again to try and see Franco.

"Franco! Get help! Get Adriano!" she yelled, fear evident in her voice. Derek jolted to a stop and turned to face her now.

"Didn't you hear me?" he spit out the question, gripping her shirt and shaking her with every word that came out of her mouth. He grabbed her again and began running, wanting to get away from the man she must know.

Once they were well enough away and Derek couldn't see the man anymore he stopped and dragged her down a dark and desolate street. He lashes out at her again and pulled her hair so she was just a couple of centimetres from his face. The look in his eyes made Angela wonder what was going to happen next and whether Franco had gone to get help on time or whether he would be too late.

"Who's Adriano Angel? Was it that man I saw you with earlier huh?" he pushed her and she fell to the hard ground. He kicked her in stomach, causing her to curl up in pain and cough. Everywhere was hurting her now and she was crying silent tears. She didn't want to speak, she didn't want to move but he dragged her back up again. "You were always a little slut. Stand up and look at me!" he yelled, causing her to flinch and wipe away her tears.

"Now tell me who he is. Have you replaced me already?" he was gripped her wrist now and twisted her arm. She clenched her teeth together and cried out in pain. She wasn't quite sure whether to feel relieved or terrified- because she didn't know what he was going to do next, she never did.

Angela felt drained, her vision was blurry and she was dizzy. She was drifting in and out of consciousness but still tried to answer Derek. All he could hear was muttered words and couldn't make out anything she was saying. He pushed her up against a wall and pinned her there with his body.

He slammed her head to the wall, making her squeeze her eyes shut tight with the pain. She used what little energy she had left to attempt to push him off her but she struggled under his grip.

"Let me go!" she cried out loud. She had found her voice now but it was too late.

Derek grabbed her by the neck and held it tight enough so that she could just breathe but could barely speak.

"I'm never leaving you again, you're never going to get away. D'you hear me?"

"P-please Derek..." she pleaded, trying so hard with all of her power to get the words out but she still struggled.

It was in that moment, while Angela was gasping for her last breath, that she heard a loud bang and felt Derek's hand slowly easing from her neck. Her vision blurred then and she failed to keep herself up. Like Derek, she slumped down on the ground. She didn't see Adriano running towards her or feel him shaking her frantically. She never heard his prayers she would answer him.

Adriano had immediately dropped the gun as soon as he had fired it and made his way over to her. He didn't know what to expect but the sight of her broke his heart as he looked down at her already bruised and battered body.

He shook her gently but she only felt limp in his arms.