The next day, we woke up early so we could pack. I had just finished packing everything when Dom walked in

"Are you okay Gabriella?" He asked and I creased my brows in confusion

What's with the sudden question

"Yes why?" I asked

"I just feel like you have alot going on in your head and no one's asked you how you feel about all this. What happened with Emilio and everything, so I ask again, how are you bambina?" He said and held my hands

Am I okay? I don't know if I am. I don't know if I will ever be, with everything going on it's like I'm risking my life everyday

I've barely spent time with my family and people are out to get me. I feel like it would have been better if they weren't in my life, then I'd fight without worries of losing someone

I would be able to fight Viktoria without them worrying about me. No one has ever worried this much about me, not even my mom

She was great yes but there were things she didn't notice. Like Luke for instance

"I'm fine Dom. I just want all this to be over so we can go back to being a family" I replied finally and a smile stretched on his lips

"That's great. Also what do you think about what Emilio said yesterday?" He asked me and I paused

"To be honest I don't know. I haven't forgiven him, the fact is that if Amira wasn't working for Viktoria and if he didn't find out she was using him, he would continue to behave the way he did

I feel like he apologized because he had to. Not that he meant it, all this would have continued if he didn't find out the truth" I said and he nodded his head after some time

"You're right. You don't have to feel pressured to forgive him, I just wanted to know how you feel. Don't change your mind for anyone, you choose when you forgive him okay?" He said with a slight smile and planted a kiss on my forehead

"Now let's go back home" he said and picked up my bag

We went to the living room and saw everyone except Antonio there.

"Where is he? He told us to wake up early and he isn't even here" Stephano complained

"Gabriella please go check" Alessandro said and I made my way to his room

The door was slightly creaked open so I walked inside. He wasn't in the room, I heard water running in the bathroom and I frowned

What's taking him so long?

"Antonio?" I called out but got no answer

"Antonio!" I called out again, this time panicking. Why isn't he answering?

"Antonio open the door!" I screamed as I banged my fists on the bathroom door

"Alessandro!" I called out for help

I was too busy pounding my fists on the door that I didn't realize when Alessandro and the rest rushed into the room

"What's wrong bambina? Where is Antonio?" Ales asked

"I came in here and I heard the water running, I called out to him several times but he didn't answer me. The door is locked" I rushed out while still banging on the door

"You're going to hurt yourself bambina calm down I'll break the door" Domenico said as he held my hands, forcing me to stop my assault on the door

He moved me aside and kicked the door open. We rushed inside to see Antonio asleep with his clothes on in the bathtub

"Antonio" Alessandro called his name as he shook him but no response

"Stephano take the twins, Matteo and Gabriella to the living room. We can handle it" Leonardo said thoughtfully

"I'm not going anywhere" I said

"Gabriella don't be stubborn. He's fine just go to the living room" Alessandro said sternly

Xander grabbed my arm and tried to push me out of the bathroom when I heard something

"Leave her Xander" I heard a weak voice say and I turned to see Antonio staring tiredly at me

He looked so drained. Tears began falling from my eyes, I thought I lost him too

I removed Xander's hand from me and ran towards Antonio. I wrapped my arms around his neck as gently as I could

"You scared the shit out of me. Don't ever do that again" I whispered

"I'm sorry bambina. I must have been really tired" he said and shakily wrapped his own hands around me

"Are you sure you're fine?" I asked as I pulled away from him to look at his face

"I'm okay" he said

I moved aside and helped him stand up from the tub. Alessandro supported him and I watched both of them exchange strange looks

"You're all wet bambina. Go change your shirt, we'll leave when I'm ready" Antonio said and I hesitantly left the room

I changed my shirt and put some makeup on to brighten up my tear stained face.

I went back to the living room and we waited for a while before Antonio came out of his room, he was looking better but there was a lost look in his eyes

"Let's go shall we?" Alessandro said and we made our way out of the house

"I'll give you guys your phones when we get back home" Antonio said when we got in the car

I don't know why I had the urge to ask him if he's okay again. He doesn't seem okay

"Bambina what's wrong with your hands?" Antonio asked me and I looked down at my hands to see them looking red and had some scratches on them

"She might've banged on the door too hard. I'll tend to it at home for you" Leonardo said

"I'm sorry sorella" Antonio said softly as he held my hands

"You don't need to apologize. It doesn't hurt" I assured him. I can tell he's blaming himself

After a rather long and boring journey, we arrived home at last. Finally back at the one place that makes me happy

True to his words, Antonio returned all our phones immediately we stepped into the house

"Bambina come here" Leonardo called out to me from the kitchen

I went to meet him and saw him standing with a first aid kit. I then remembered what he said about helping me to treat my hands

"There's no need for that. It doesn't hurt" I said and he looked up at me with a stern look

"Sit down" he said leaving no room for argument. I sat on the chair Infront of him and he gently placed some ice on my hands

After some time he took them off and the dark shade of red of before turned to a lighter shade. It's not the best but it looks better than before

"Ice it tonight and by tomorrow it should be fine. I do advice that you don't bang doors from now on you might fracture your hand" he said jokingly and I rolled my eyes

"Thank you" I said and placed a kiss on his cheek. He responded with a smile and I left

I went to my own room and turned on my phone. I saw several missed calls from Seb, Aria, Blake, Nathan, the twins, Ethan, and Alessio

I called Seb first and after a few rings, he picked up

"Are you okay? You nearly gave me a heart attack" he said worry evident in his tone

"Sorry" I responded sheepishly

"Why was your phone off for two whole days? You didn't come to school, nor did your brothers. You guys weren't at your house" he asked

"Well, we found some listening devices all around the house so Antonio suggested we moved to a safe house. We couldn't use our phones to prevent us from being tracked, sorry for worrying you" I explained without telling him anything too important

"Do you need help? We can help find the person who did it" he offered seriously

"No it's okay. We already know who gave the order" I said

"Who?" He asked

"Russians" I replied and there was a long pause on the other end

"Fuckin Russians. Don't they get tired? I'm telling this to papa, he will see what he can do" he said and hung up before I could refuse

This might be for the best. We need all the help we can get right now

I dialed Alessio's number but he didn't pick up. I dialed it again and he finally picked up

"Goodness Gabriella are you okay?. I was worried sick about you, I thought you were in danger" he rushed out

"I'm fine. I and my family just went on a short vacation" I said

"You went on a vacation when I told you someone's after your life?!" He yelled in the phone and I winced

"You need to explain what you meant by that. I don't understand you I need you to elaborate" I said and I heard him sigh

"Will you be at school tomorrow?" He asked

"I don't know yet. But if I will I'll let you know" I said and he hummed

"Okay. That's all right?" He asked

"Yeah"

"I'll get going now. And Gabriella please stay safe" he said softly

"I will. Thanks bye" I said awkwardly

"Bye" he said and hung up

I need to get as much information out of him as possible.

______________________________________ Hey guys

I hope you liked this chapter. Please tell me what you think about it in the comment section

I wanted to show a moment of vulnerability for Antonio so I hope you guys liked that too

Please don't forget to vote, comment and follow. Have a wonderful day/night love y'all ❤️