Jacob stood there for a few long seconds, stunned, staring at the massive fire raging in front of him.
The flames kept growing every few moments, crawling out through the windows.
He whispered under his breath,
_Di…
Diana!
He blinked hard. His body suddenly went weak.
The driver and Eric inside the car were just as frozen, terrified and shocked.
Matthew's voice echoed from somewhere behind them, yelling. He had no idea what had happened.
The jolt Diana felt was like a hard slap back to reality. Her body moved weakly as she tried to get up.
Jacob snapped out of it. His phone slipped from his hand as he jumped out of the car and rushed toward Diana…
But Matthew was still stuck inside his car, in traffic that had just started moving again.
The sound of the explosion and Jacob screaming Diana's name was enough to drive him insane.
He could hear Jacob and the bodyguards shouting, but no one answered him.
Diana's name kept spilling from Jacob's mouth over and over again, and the desperation in his voice was impossible for Matthew not to hear.
Eric's broken, incoherent words…
even the sound of glass and bricks crashing down from the blast.
His face had gone dark with rage. He slammed his fist into the bulletproof glass.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
+ …Why isn't anyone answering?
What the hell happened…
His forehead was pounding.
He turned to Enzo in the front seat.
+ What the fuck just happened?!
Enzo was constantly dialing on his phone. Sweat was running down his temples from the stress of his boss's reaction and whatever the hell had just happened.
/I don't know, sir.
I'm sorry.
No one's picking up.
Then he turned to the driver.
/Take the side street…
Matthew dragged his fingers through his hair.
What had happened to them?
When was the last time he'd been this shocked, this close to losing his mind?
When had everything slipped completely out of his control?
Every single question led back to Diana.
He shouted,
+ Keep calling them, over and over until someone answers!
/Yes, sir.
.
....
Jacob wrapped his arms around Diana, who had just come to and was staring in shock at Luca's house, burning in flames.
Desperation and pain were written all over her face.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She screamed, trying to do something...anything.
- Let me go… let me gooo… damn it… let me go… I have to help him.
She clawed at Jacob's hands, screaming at the top of her lungs.
But against Jacob's strength, his arms like iron chains, her words meant nothing.
She struggled harder, screaming in pure desperation.
- I said let me go, Jacob… why don't you understand?
Hic… let me goooo… God…
Maybe he's still alive… let me go.
She screamed his name.
She couldn't accept that she'd lost him too.
A voice inside her head kept saying it was her fault.
It was her fault.
She had killed Luca herself.
Those same images replayed in her mind again. images that had clung to her life for years, like a leech.
Her helpless sobs echoed through the dead-end alley.
- Luc… please…
Jacob tightened his grip and pulled her back.
He yelled at her, his face flushed from the pressure.
His short hair had fallen messily over his face.
Without realizing it, he squeezed Diana's arms harder.
_ Enough. We have to go back.
This place could explode again.
It's not safe.
Diana kicked and fought, resisting with everything she had.
How could she not?
Jacob thought of Matthew. He shouldn't have come here.
People were watching from the windows. Everything was chaos.
He growled,
_ Fuck..
He turned Diana around and shook her.
His eyes locked onto hers as he shouted for the first time ever.
_ Enough, Diana. We're leaving.
Listen to me, damn it.