He went back to the lobby worried, confused, distraught.
Her addiction to drugs was more serious than he thought.
He burnt an entire container full of them, only for him to discover now that she had been secretly taking another set barely three weeks after that ordeal. Just how many did she have on her right now?
"Her dad would have known about this addiction. How did he control it?" he asked himself.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he couldn't curb her addiction by himself, not when he didn't know anything about it. He would need the help of people who knew more than he did.
For now, he made a mental note to search her room for any kind of drug and dispose of it.
He peered into the ward again. She was still lying motionless in that serene state.
He turned away and was walking towards the hospital's entrance when his eyes caught a familiar face.
Zara was standing at the counter, talking to the receptionist with an anxious face.
She suddenly turned and caught his eyes.
"Don!" she called and ran to him.
"Where is Naya?" she asked, "How did you know we were here?"
"Oh," she adjusted her dark green scarf to cover her hair properly. "Anaya called me last night, but I was so busy that I didn't check my phone until this morning. I tried calling her back, but she didn't answer. So I decided to give her a surprise and visit instead.
But when I got there, the cleaner told me that you rushed her to the hospital. I was worried so I immediately came here"
He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.
"What?" "You've never been to our house so how do you know our address and how did you know we came to this particular hospital?"
She bit her lip and smiled nervously.
"Ah, that... that was all my husband. So where is she?" she swiftly changed the topic.
His suspicion grew.
Someone who could anonymously find someone or track them down without a lead must be dangerously powerful.
"Who is this woman married to?" he asked himself.
****************************************************
After instructing that Anaya be taken to a private ward, he left the hospital, leaving Anaya in Zara's care.
By the time he reached his house, Roberta was gone, and the house stood in grave silence.
He went back to Anaya's room and searched every nook and cranny for any kind of drug.
He picked up her phone that was lying on the bedside drawer and placed it in his pocket.
He threw the bed cover off... nothing.
Under the bed... nothing.
He then threw all the pillows on her bed off one by one.
He found a small bag with some tiny multicolored pills inside.
So it was true. She was still abusing drugs.
He clutched it in his fist and squeezed it tight in anger, disbelief, and disappointment.
He put that in his pocket as well and advanced to her drawer.
Finding nothing, he then moved to her wardrobe.
He found more in her handbag, and another in her purse.
Unbelievable.
If you knew Anaya Gambino you would know that she was the perfect 'that' girl, like those popular otherworldly gorgeous girls in high school.
One would think her life is perfect. After all, what didn't she have?
Was it beauty? Wealth? Luxury? Freedom? Fame? Or the ever-growing love and support from her dad?
She was popular whichever way you looked at it.
Either by being the daughter of the richest Italian businessman in New York or in the criminal world by being one of the deadliest killers, 'The Bloody Angel'.
But my dear reader, not all that glitters is gold.
********************************************
Nicholas sat in his office simply staring into space.
He stood up and walked to his window. He looked outside and studied the mansion and luxurious life he had built through years of work, work, and work.
He was supposed to be happy, he was now as rich as he had always dreamt of becoming.
"But at what cost?" a voice whispered to him.
He stuck a tobacco pipe in his mouth and began smoking it
He went to a cupboard at the side of the room and opened it, revealing a showglass.
He opened it and smiled.
They were his most precious possessions.
An aged gun, the first one he ever used, a mini model of the first car he bought, a picture of a woman.
He smiled and traced the woman's face affectionately.
"Se solo tu fossi qui per vedere quanto è cresciuta la nostra piccola Naya, amore mio. Ti assomiglia proprio ed è altrettanto bella [If only you were here to see how big our little Naya has grown, My love. She looks just like you and is just as beautiful]"
He kissed the photo and put it aside.
The next one was a portrait of the family he tried to create with the two women he loved... He was holding Anaya with one hand and pulled Alina to his chest by her waist with the other.
Alina's shiny black hair fell in loose waves over her shoulder, her blue eyes twinkled from the light around them, and she had that unique diamond smile on her face.
A sad smile crossed his face.
What kind of husband was he?
He claimed to have loved her but he couldn't even see the unhappiness in her eyes.
A tear dropped from his eyes and landed on the glass covering the photo.
"Perché te ne sei andata, Alina, perché [Why did you leave, Alina, why]?" he asked no one in particular.
"I loved you with all my heart and was willing to give you anything you wanted even if it was my head on a tray, eppure hai scelto quel ratto dei bassifondi al posto mio [yet you chose that backwater slum rat over me]" he lamented as more tears ambushed his eyes.
"I could understand why you left me, but what of Anaya? She was so young and so innocent, what on earth did she do that you decided to abandon her?
Non hai nemmeno pensato a tua figlia, alla tua carne e al tuo sangue prima di scappare con quello Scemo [You didn't even think of your daughter, your flesh and blood before running away with that fool]" he wailed as more tears fell on the portrait.
"You have no idea how your absence affected us most especially Naya. I tried my best and failed severely, and you weren't there to help her either. She had to experience the dark sides of life at an early age and that too with no one by her side"
Now he felt guilty for blaming all on his late wife. He was partially responsible as well.
First, he was a terrible husband, now a terrible father.
No wonder, Alina left him. Though he was richer, Matteo had always been a better spouse than him.
He would have probably been a better father to Anaya as well.
And now because of his terrible choices, and being too weak to have refused Anaya when she wanted to start working for him and even go on the mission to retrieve those documents from Don, she was married to a ruthless boy who didn't value her, and wouldn't think twice about hurting her if he got the chance to.
Because of him, Anaya's life was now ruined and only God knew what that boy had been doing to her.
Because of him, he was all alone in the world with everyone he had ever loved gone.