Friend or Enemy part 2

I looked over at Gabriel, narrowing my eyes.

“He told me to stay here so you wouldn’t do anything stupid,” he informed me.

I scoffed.

Stupid?

I rolled my eyes and slipped back into bed, speechless. Had he done this because he genuinely cared? His expression didn’t say so.

“I heard you tried to kill yourself”.

There goes the chatty guard Gabriel.

I didn’t indulge, instead I grabbed the blanket and pulled it over my head.

That didn’t faze him, he just kept talking. “You shouldn’t do that again,” he instructed.

I scoffed. Did he expect me to just listen to him?

“Cohen’s mother died and it still haunts him,” he explained. “He blames himself for her death so when he saw you, he called the family doctor to examine your scars and to check if you ingested something”.

The realization hit me. No wonder he was so angry?

‘I belonged to him,” I mumbled his words as I recalled them.

“His mother was mentally ill, she became that way after her miscarriage. She had a series of miscarriages after Cohen’s birth and insinuated that Cohen had been the reason for her miscarriages so she hated him and treated him horribly. He still loved her despite that, after all she had loved him before she was driven to insanity. He carries the guilt of her death with him so seeing you in that state broke him,” he added.

I hadn’t realized — how could i? After all, I didn’t know him and I didn’t bother to. He had gone through so much and now, someone is after her. I had just made it worse.

I groaned.

“You didn’t know,” he tried to comfort me.

“As if that’s going to make everything better,” I retorted.

“You didn’t—“

A sudden scream cut him short.

It came from outside.

I threw the blanket off me and sat up almost immediately. I looked over at him and he didn’t the same.

He nodded, reaching for his side. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it up, exposing a gun.

A GUN! I nearly screamed myself. Did everyone secretly carry a gun?

“Shh!” he whispered and I nodded as I crept out of bed.

He walked towards the balcony. He pushed the curtains open, then the door and we walked out.

I peeped to see a random girl being held down by two guards and Miriam stood in front of her.

I got closer to the balcony. I watched as the girl struggled. I couldn’t intervene. I didn’t know who she was or why she was here.

I remembered how I was in the same situation a few days ago and a chuckle bubbled up before I could stop it, the sound caught their attention. Everyone’s heads turned, looking up at me.

My eyes grew wide and my hand went to my lips, stopping myself before I could embarrass myself any further. Fuck, I wonder how that made me look. What did they think of me? I was meant to act like Giulia and I just looked like I laughed at someone’s suffering. Would they pick up on it?

Oh no. What if I’m caught? Fuck!

I stepped back slowly, trying to evade this situation when the girl being held down began yelling, “GIULIA!”

My heart skipped a beat.

Did she know Giulia? Did she know her personally? Was she a friend of Giulia?

If she’s a friend of Giulia, why wasn’t she being allowed into the building?

“Giulia, I need to talk—” She was interrupted by a guard who jerked her back.

“Take her away,” Miriam ordered.

The guards began pulling the girl away.

Who was this girl that they treated so roughly? If she was Giulia’s friend then she should be treated with respect.

“Giulia, I need to talk to you,” The girl yelled, still trying to wiggle away.

“Take her away,” Miriam yelled.

“How dare you?” The words slipped out of my lips.

Miriam just had to try to undermine my power.

“Bring her up,” I said.

Everyone stopped. The guards looked at Miriam then at me. Miriam looked over at me, she had a frown on her face. I could feel her anger from here.

“I said bring her here,” I order.

They didn’t question it, instead they steered her back to the house.

Miriam looked pissed and of course, I was amused. A smirk was creeping up on my face.

Gabriel noticed and commented, “Don’t let it get to your head”.

What was that supposed to mean?

I turned to face him. “This isn’t about power or position, no one should be treated like trash, Giulia wasn’t treated fairly and i have to make sure they know she’s worthy of respect”.

I didn’t know if I was talking about Giulia or myself but either way I meant what I said.

Gabriel looked pleased with my answer. “Well, have fun”.

With that, he left.