Chapter 24: Danil

Taking a deep breath, I push the buzzer for Frank and G's apartment. I was told, not invited, but told to come over, and this will be the first time I see Dom since we broke up. Papa did say that he wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important.

The security door buzzes and I push it open. They would've known that it was me and so just let me in. I have no idea what this meeting is about, and I want it over with as quickly as we can. I am not sure how long I'm going to be able to stay in Dom's presence.

Knocking on the apartment door, I take another deep breath and steel myself, thankful that its Papa who opens the door.

"Danil," Papa states. "I know this is going to be difficult for you, but you need to be here too."

"It's okay," I say, when it feels anything but that.

Walking into the apartment, I am surprised to see Detective Whitehorn sitting on the couch with G.

"What's going on?" looking over to Papa.

"Dom met with Rory today," Papa explains, and a chill runs through me. What a stupid thing for him to do, but I can't run over and check that he is okay.

"What happened?"

"Let's take a seat, we've been waiting for you to go over everything," Papa says, and points to some chairs that have been placed opposite the couch. Dom is sitting in his wheelchair but hasn't made any movement.

I go to the chair that is furthest away from Dom, and Papa sits between us. But he doesn't block my view of Dom, and only when I am sitting down do I look over to him, and then wish I hadn't. His face is pale and there are dark rings underneath his eyes. I have to fight the urge to jump up, pull him out of the chair and hold him on my lap, tell him that everything is going to be okay.

"Can we start?" the detective asks.

"Yeah," Dom speaks up, but his voice sounds hoarse, even strained. "As Frank said, I had a visit with Rory today and he told me that he is in love with Danil. Warned me to stay away from Danil. Well, in fact, he threatened me."

"Did you know this, Danil?" the detective asks me.

"I'd started to have suspicions that something has been going on with him," I pause, wondering if I should say the next part, especially with the way Dom is. The next piece of information will feel like salt being rubbed into our very open wounded hearts. "I think that he was involved in Alessias death, but I have no idea how."

"We do," Dom says, looking over to me for the first time, locking eyes with me. His are haunted and sad. The last time I saw them like this was when he was told about Alessia. "Rory was driving the truck that drove us off the road."

"What the hell…?" I exclaim, and a rage fills me, one that I have never experienced before. I have never wanted to hurt someone as much as I want to hurt Rory, no not hurt. I want to kill Rory for what he has done to me, to Dom, to this family.

"Danil, please, I know that this is hard to believe, but we found a witness today," Dom replies, and of course he is going to think that my exclamation is because I don't believe what he said, even though I just said that I thought something strange was going on with Rory.

"Can you explain more, please Dom?" the detective asks.

"After the meeting, I decided to go to the accident scene. I hadn't been back since the accident, but I knew things with Rory had escalated, and I needed to try and trigger my memories."

Fuck. That is what Dom did to get the answers about Rory. No wonder he looks haunted. What the hell did he remember today? What pain is he experiencing? When I look over to him, he is just looking at the detective.

"I remembered that Alessia had parked a few blocks from the bar. We went back there today, and the attendant remembered me. She confirmed that she saw Rory get into a truck and drive off after we had passed it."

"And she is certain of this?" the detective asks.

"Yes," Dom confirms. "She gave us her number and will be willing to give a statement, too."

"We will need to contact her to confirm all this," Detective Whitehorn confirms.

"We figured, which is why we got her number," G pipes up.

"Now Danil, the reason I called you over is because I wanted you to discuss what you found. When me and Lorenzo came over," Papa states.

"Danil?" the detective voices.

"After you came to visit me, I did my own digging. I know that I said Rory was with me the entire time, but he wasn't. Your witnesses were right. He didn't come to me straight away. From what I discovered there was a twenty to thirty minute gap. Rory also actually told me where the truck had been found."

"He did? Where?" the detective questions, suddenly looking very interested.

"He said it was in an alley. Maybe twenty blocks from the accident. Rory explained that it took a while for the police to locate the truck because it couldn't be seen from the road," I say.

"We never told Mr. Connor where the truck was found," the detective explains.

"I worked out that it would have taken Rory maybe twenty minutes to get back to the scene," I say over to them.

"Detective, I also discovered that this is not the first time that Rory has done this. I have contacts who told me that Rory stalked and stabbed someone a few years ago. They have agreed for you to have their number, its just that they no longer live in New York," Frank says.

"Can I ask how you have this information?" the detective asks.

"It was someone I worked with a long time ago, who knew the couple involved. They put me in contact with the couple," Frank states.

"Detective, will this be enough to get Rory arrested?" I ask, hoping that it is.

"Yes, but we have no motive. Why did he go after Alessia?" the detective questions.

"Alessia wasn't the motive. I think I was," Dom replies.

"But, why?"

Dom looks up at me and I know that we need to tell the detective the truth, but that means that G is going to find out. We said that we weren't going to tell anyone, but Papa already knows. I know he wouldn't have told G, but we have no option now.

"Would anyone like a drink?" Papa suddenly asks, getting to his feet.

"Actually, water would be good," the detective states.

"Gio, could you help me?" Papa asks, and I see G hesitate for a moment before getting to his feet and following Papa into the kitchen. I know that Papa did that so we can tell the detective the truth but still keep our secret.

I wait until both G and Frank are in the kitchen and lean forward and in a hushed tone say, "Dom and I were dating. The family didn't know."

"Were dating?"

"Yes, we broke up," I confirm.

At this point, Papa and G come back into the room and I shift back into my chair. The detective picks up on the change in my demeanor and must figure out that Papa and G left the room so we could tell him.

"Dom, Danil, you have given us some great information here. We are, of course, going to need to collaborate on everything that you have told me, but what we have should be enough to arrest him. Forensic evidence would be better, but I think that Mr. Connor is too clever for that," the detective states.

"Detective, would you be able to confirm if you are going to arrest Rory and when?" Papa asks.

"Why?"

"I would like to be there, to witness him getting caught," Papa says, but I think that there is more behind that question than meets the eye.

"I can try. We may call on Danil to help with the arrest. We don't want to do anything that could spook him and make him vanish. If we're able to make an arrest, maybe we can do it at your apartment?"

"Yeah, that's no problem," I replied.

"Thank you. I will leave you gentlemen to it," Detective Whitehorn says, getting to his feet.

"Let me see you out," G says, getting up to follow the detective.

"Danil," Papa whispers over to me. "I will give you a few minutes alone."

Papa picks up the drinks from the coffee tables, all of which remain unopened, taking them back to the kitchen.

I move over a seat so that I am next to Dom.

"How are you doing?" I whisper over to him.

"I've been better," Dom says, turning to look at me, but also not really looking at me.

"We let Rory win. He manipulated the pair of us," I state.

"He did," Dom confirms.

"Do you think we can get past that? I have missed you."

Dom looks at me. His eyes lock with mine and I can see the helplessness in them and even before he says anything, I know what he is going to say.

"No, I don't think we can. We should have trusted each other enough to know what Rory was saying was a lie. But we didn't. We would never have had a future."

Just as I am about to open my mouth to say he is wrong, that we could be saved, Papa and G come back into the room. The last chance I had to save our relationship vanishes.

"G, I am pretty exhausted. Do you mind helping me to my room?" Dom asks, just as G sits down.

"Course," G replies.

Dom wishes us both goodnight and lets G push him into the bedroom.

"And?" Papa whispers, and I cannot say anything. When I figured out what Rory had done, I convinced myself that Dom and I would be able to get back together. That we would realize the idiots we had been and that we belonged together. But Doms reaction proves how wrong I was.

"I need to go home," I tell him as I get up and rush past him. "Say goodnight to G for me."

"Danil," Papa states, grabbing my arm.

"Sorry Papa," I start. I'm not sure if it's the way I said it or if my face is giving my pain away, but Papa drops my arm and lets me go. I manage to fight off the tears till I am in the elevator. I let them fall freely. It almost feels like I have lost him again, and the pain is just as earth shattering as it was the first time around.

_____________________

The phone call from the Detective came a few days after our meeting, which I admit was quicker than I thought it was going to be. The detective explained that he had spoken to all the witnesses, who confirmed our stories, and it had been enough to grant them an arrest warrant. The detective wanted to act quickly, so we had arranged for me to get Rory over to my place the following day.

Even before I called Rory, I called Papa. He had sounded pleased, and told me to tell Rory to come over an hour or so before the cops were due. I had no idea what Papa had planned, but I wasn't going to stop it, in fact, a part of me had been looking forward to it. But now that the time had arrived, I wasn't so sure.

Most of the family is here. Papa, G, Matteo, Trip and Lorenzo. When I had asked about Wyatt and Liam, I was told the less they knew the better, especially being cops, and Marco was out of town on a training course. Dom couldn't face seeing Rory, and so he decided to stay at home, and I couldn't blame him for that.

"Papa, what are you going to do?" I ask him.

"I am going to make sure that he never messes with this family again," Papa replies.

I don't ask him for more details, I don't think I want to know, but I know that I feel intimidated with these people around me, and I know them. They're family. I hope that Rory feels just as scared when he gets here.

Looking at my watch, I know Rory is due here any moment. I told him the semi truth. Said that I had to go and see my Papa, and Dom had been there, and it was harder than I thought. He had immediately offered to come around last night, but I said I was going to bed but would need a distraction tonight. He, of course, had jumped on it.

As if on cue, the security phone buzzes, and I go over and push the button to let Rory in.

"He's here," I say to the group.

A few minutes later there is a knock on the front door. Going over, I open it up and give Rory a hug. Something we do every time he comes over, but what I really want to do is punch him in the face. This smug twat destroyed one of the best things that ever happened to me, and I am not going to forgive him for that.

"How are you doing?" Rory asks the moment he is in the apartment.

"Been better," I tell him, knowing this is the answer he wants to hear.

"So, what's the plan for…." But Rory doesn't finish his sentence when he turns around and sees the living room full of people. "What the..."

"Good evening, Rory," Papa says. "Would you like to come and take a seat?"

"I'm fine standing," Rory replies, standing up a little taller.

Papa takes off his jacket, laying it on the couch, showing Rory his holster, the gun nestled neatly, but in plain sight.

"It wasn't really a question," Papa says, but this time there is an edge to his voice that I have never heard before, and it is scary as hell, and I see Rory move a fraction back before finally going over to the chair. The scene before me is very similar to Papa's the other night. Chairs opposite the couch and one at the head, which is now occupied with Rory.

"Hi Rory, do you remember me?" Lorenzo asks, coming to stand next to Papa, and I have to say, I have never seen him look so scary either.

"Yeah, you were here the other night. G's cousin I believe," Rory replies.

"Thats right, but we met before then. You came into my shop several weeks ago. It was one of the days that you were following Danil," Lorenzo says.

The color drains from his face at Lorenzo's words, because the tone in which Lorenzo said them left no arguments.

"Can you answer me a question?" Papa says. "Why were you following my son?"

"Because…" And I can see Rory looking around and I think he's looking for me. So, I move forward and go sit on the couch, In the spot that Lorenzo just left. "I wanted to make sure my boyfriend wasn't cheating on me," he exclaims, indicating to me.

"Rory, I never have been, nor will I ever be your boyfriend, so you can cut this bullshit," I say over to him.

"Danil, please, we love each other," Rory almost screams at me.

"Rory," Papa calls his name and waits for Rory to turn to look at him. "Shut the fuck up. We know Danil never went out with you."

"Fine," Rory says, his whole attitude changing. "So, I am guessing you know I followed him. Is this your way of trying to scare me off? because it's not going to work."

"Oh, we know that you did more than follow Danil. We know that you killed Alessia. We know that you are one sick twisted bastard and that this isn't the first time you have done something like this."

"Well, thanks to Danil for giving the cops the perfect alibi," Rory says, beginning to look very smug.

"You have no idea who you are dealing with, do you?" Matteo states.

"I think I am dealing with an old man trying to play the tough guy," Rory spits back. "Its rather pathetic, really."

Oh shit. The whole atmosphere in the room shifts. No one can believe that Rory just said that.

"Oh, you really are fucking stupid," Trip states, getting to his feet. "Take some words of advice from me. Do not mess with this family. They take protecting its members to the extreme."

"Trip, can you wait by the security phone for me?" I ask. My plan was for me to answer when the cops requested entry, but I need a front row seat for this.

"No problem," Trip states, but as he walks past Rory, he places a hand on his shoulder. "I would wish you good luck, but scum like you don't deserve it."

"I'm playing the tough guy?" Papa asks, taking a step toward Rory, pulling out his gun and pointing it straight at him. "If this was just an act, you would think I would shake, but look at that, my nerves are solid."

Rory still doesn't seem fazed. Wow, he is stronger than I thought.

"Well, you are a tough cookie," Lorenzo says. "I've seen lesser men cower at Frank. Maybe I need to give you a little history lesson."

"Okay," Rory says, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"This man you think is acting the tough guy was trained by one of the worst men in history. My father. Frank here excels at making people disappear, permanently, without anyone coming to look for them. You might think you could stand up to him. You are very, very mistaken."

Finally, Rory seems to be paying attention to Lorenzo, as his posture stiffens.

"For years, I dealt with men so much worse than you. You are nothing, and will always be nothing. Last time you got away with it, not sure how, considering the man who helped the couple, but this time, you messed with the wrong man," Papa says.

Someone clears their throat at Papas words, making him smile. "Sorry, you messed with the wrong family."

"Now, I need you to listen to me, and you need to listen good," Papa says, coming over to Rory and placing his arms on either side of him. "You ever mess with anyone in this family again, I will make you disappear."

At this moment the security phone buzzes, and Trip presses the buzzer to let the cops in.

"Rory," I say over to him. "I invited some other people over, hope that's okay."

"One more thing before the other guests arrive. I apologize for spoiling the surprise, but you are heading for jail. Personally, I think that's too good for you, but I want you to know that I have contacts in every jail in the country. I will find out where you get sent and make sure that your time there is hell."

Rory finally flinches at this, and I love seeing the self-confidence drain out of him, but I really wish I could hit him. At that moment, Trip lets the cops in, who pause when they see the people in the room.

"My family, detective. They didn't want me to be on my own with Rory," I explain to him, and he nods his head in understanding.

"Rory Connor," the detective states, and Rory gets out of the chair and turns to face the cops. "I'm arresting you for the murder of Alessia Romano and the attempted murder of Domenico Romano."