Exposed to the CEO Behind the Mafia Mask

Chapter 387: Chapter 171 Forgotten Hearts

Gemma’s POV

As we approached the mangled wreckage, my knees nearly buckled beneath me. The metallic stench of blood mixed with gasoline created a nauseating cocktail that made my stomach churn violently. I had to stop walking and take several deep breaths to keep from retching right there on the asphalt. Behind the wheel sat a nightmare - Beatrix, completely soaked in crimson, shards of windshield glass protruding from her skin like deadly confetti.

The crash told its own brutal story. Beatrix hadn’t bothered with a seatbelt, and the violent impact had launched her body halfway through the spider-webbed windshield. Her torso draped grotesquely over the crumpled hood while her legs remained trapped inside the twisted metal cage that used to be her luxury sedan. Blood painted every surface in sight, and her agonized whimpers cut through the night air like a blade. We all knew better than to attempt moving her - one wrong shift could sever her spine or worse - but watching her suffer felt like torture itself.

Jude’s urgent voice reached my ears as he barked orders into his phone, demanding immediate paramedic response to our location outside the Thorne family’s protected harbor district. Dominic moved toward the wreckage with careful steps, his voice dropping to that low, soothing tone I recognized from our most intimate moments together.

”Stay still, Beatrix, the ambulance is coming,” Dominic’s words were steady and controlled as he crouched beside the demolished vehicle, bringing himself to her eye level. Her dark hair was matted with sticky blood, obscuring half her once-beautiful face.

”Dominic,” she whispered through cracked lips, ”it hurts so much, my darling. Promise me you’ll stay close.” Her voice barely registered above the sound of her labored breathing.

”Don’t try to talk, Beatrix. Just focus on staying calm, alright?” Dominic’s response carried genuine tenderness, his throat tightening with emotion as he gently covered her bloodied hand with his own where it lay sprawled across the destroyed hood.

The intimate exchange between them felt like a dagger twisting in my chest. Witnessing their connection unfold before my eyes was like watching my deepest fears manifest into reality. Something fundamental was shifting in the space between Dominic and me, and I could feel the ground beneath our relationship beginning to crumble.

When the emergency medical team finally arrived from Port Serenity’s trauma center, they worked with surgical precision to extract Beatrix from the death trap her car had become. Throughout the entire delicate operation, Dominic never left her side, murmuring words of comfort and encouragement. Even seeing her broken form on that stretcher made my heart ache despite our complicated history - her face and arms were painted crimson, and her exposed legs showed devastating trauma that might never fully heal.

”Dominic, you should accompany her to the hospital,” I managed to suggest, though every word felt like swallowing ground glass. Part of me hoped he would refuse, that he would choose to stay with me instead of abandoning me in this moment when I felt most vulnerable. While leaving her to face this nightmare alone would be cruel beyond measure, I stood there feeling utterly forgotten, and not once during the entire ordeal had he even acknowledged my presence.

”I’ll handle it, Dominic,” Jude volunteered quickly, climbing into the back of the ambulance with practiced ease. ”Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll contact her father immediately and make sure she gets the best surgeons money can buy. You two need to deal with the police investigation and get back to the safe house so Taylor can examine Gemma properly - she looks like she’s about to collapse from shock.”

The ambulance doors slammed shut with finality before the vehicle sped toward Port Serenity, the only city within reasonable distance equipped with the advanced medical facilities Beatrix’s critical injuries demanded. Our small coastal town’s hospital wasn’t designed to handle this level of trauma. Dominic left me in the protective care of our female associates while he managed all the necessary formalities with the local police force - officers who were firmly in the Thorne family’s pocket. After the destroyed vehicle was finally loaded onto a flatbed truck and hauled away, Dominic drove me back to our fortified beach house while the other women remained behind to complete Zoe’s assigned security sweep of the area.

Upon our arrival at the compound, I remained trapped in a state of emotional shock. Beatrix’s blood-soaked image had burned itself permanently into my memory, along with the expression of raw anguish that had consumed Dominic’s features throughout the entire crisis. I hadn’t spoken a single word since witnessing the accident, and I had absolutely no desire to communicate with anyone around me. Something volatile was building pressure inside my chest, threatening to explode.

”Zoe contacted me about the situation. Come here, Gemma, let me assess your condition properly.” Taylor approached with gentle hands, guiding me toward the leather couch in our living area.

Our extended family and household staff crowded into the spacious room, their anxious faces hovering around me like concerned guards, but I could only focus on Dominic and the torment burning in his green eyes. I desperately tried to decode the emotions playing across his handsome features, but all I could perceive was his profound suffering for Beatrix and the emotional wall he seemed to be constructing between us. This realization unleashed a hurricane of conflicting feelings within my already fragile state.

Taylor conducted his examination with professional thoroughness, pressing his stethoscope against my racing heart before repositioning the instrument on my rounded belly to monitor our unborn child. When he completed his assessment, someone pressed a warm teacup into my trembling hand while Taylor placed a small white pill in my other palm.

As I swallowed the medication with a careful sip of herbal tea, I observed Dominic pacing restlessly across the room like a caged predator. I returned the empty cup to whoever was sitting beside me without bothering to look - I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Dominic’s obvious distress. Rising slowly from the couch, I approached Ryder, who had been watching the entire scene unfold from his position near the fireplace.

”Can you take me home to my mother’s house?” I asked quietly, finally allowing the tears I’d been holding back to spill down my cheeks in hot streams. His strong arms immediately enveloped me in a protective embrace.

”Easy there, sweetheart. Everything is going to work out just fine,” Ryder murmured against my hair, his large hand stroking the length of my dark waves. Within the safety of his fatherly embrace, I felt momentarily secure from the chaos surrounding us.

”Please, I need to leave this place,” I begged softly, pressing my face against the solid warmth of his chest.

”Listen to me carefully, you’re extremely upset right now, which isn’t healthy for my future grandchild,” Ryder spoke with the gentle patience of someone addressing a wounded child. ”Taylor just gave you something to help your body relax, so you should rest properly first. When you’re feeling more stable, I’ll take you wherever you need to go.”

I nodded my agreement through my tears. Ryder helped me climb the stairs to the master bedroom, tucking me beneath the soft covers with the tender care of a devoted father before settling into the large armchair positioned at the foot of our bed. He maintained a comforting silence, simply keeping watch over me.

My thoughts spiraled into increasingly dark territory - Dominic was devastated over Beatrix’s condition; perhaps this terrible accident had forced him to confront his true feelings for her, making him realize he’d been wasting precious time with me instead. He couldn’t bring himself to look at me, speak to me, or offer any physical comfort, and this painful realization felt like invisible hands slowly strangling my heart.

I awakened several hours later in the middle of the night, feeling overheated, desperately hungry, and completely disoriented. Gradually, the memories of the evening’s events came flooding back, bringing with them that same bitter taste in my mouth and the crushing weight of anxiety pressing against my ribcage. Though the bedroom was shrouded in darkness, I navigated toward the bathroom without bothering to turn on any lights, desperate for the cleansing ritual of a hot shower.

Inside the marble-tiled sanctuary, I peeled away my clothes and stepped beneath the rainfall showerhead, allowing the scalding water to cascade down my body, cooling my fever and washing away the salt tracks of my tears. I remained perfectly motionless for what felt like hours, my eyes closed, simply allowing myself to feel everything I’d been suppressing.

Eventually, the steady stream of water suddenly stopped flowing, but I kept my eyes tightly shut, thinking my exhausted mind might be playing tricks on me. Then I felt the soft texture of a luxurious towel being wrapped carefully around my naked body before I was lifted into someone’s powerful arms. I finally opened my eyes, and there he was - Dominic, his green eyes filled with an emotion I couldn’t quite identify in the dim lighting.