He motioned to two of the bodyguards who hadn't been injured.
They grabbed Diana firmly but carefully and pulled her back. Even though she barely had any strength left in her body, her rage and desperation were so intense that she kept struggling nonstop.
Her mind wouldn't let her calm down.
The thought of Luca being there_inside that house_and her not being able to help him was killing her from the inside.
He was her friend. And Diana had taken his life.
Jacob moved faster toward the car, gripping his phone. At that exact moment, Matthew called.
He answered the call, breathing hard.
_ Don't come here…
He coughed.
His throat hurt now too.
_ Don't come here, Matthew. Turn back.
His voice was full of worry.
+ What the fuck happened there?
Why isn't anyone answering?
He was angry that something had gone completely against his expectations, he slammed his hand hard onto the roof of the car.
_ Exploded… his house exploded. The guy's gone. A few people got hurt.
Diana's okay. We're heading back.
+ Don't go to the mansion. Go to the tower in Manhattan.
I'll see you there.
And he hung up.
The guards practically forced Diana into the car.
Jacob took a small amount of sedative from the box in the dashboard and poured it onto a cloth.
The girl's delicate wrists were trapped in the bodyguards' hands.
She didn't say anything, just stared at the fire in pain.
At the place where she was supposed to see Luca.
He held the cloth in front of Diana's nose. She struggled a few times.
She looked at him through the pain.
_ I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, baby.
For a brief moment, she looked at Jacob with grief and tears filling her eyes.
It didn't take long before her head finally fell forward, lifeless.
_ Move. Head toward Manhattan.
He pulled Diana into his arms.
Everything was chaos. Guessing who was behind this wasn't hard at all.
But who was supposed to control Matthew?
He was going to unleash hell.
---
Matthew had arrived first.
Nelson_his trusted doctor_had made it there too and was staring at him from the penthouse living room.
He paced back and forth, clutching his hair, checking his watch over and over.
It was hard, but even from that distance, Nelson could see the veins in Matthew's forehead and neck.
He prayed silently that this time too, everything would somehow end well.
He felt like the man in front of him was about to have a heart attack or do something terrible.
He pressed his legs together anxiously.
/ Oh God… one day I'm definitely going to have a stroke because of this man.
He thought.
Five agonizing minutes passed before the private elevator opened directly into the living room.
It made a soft ding and the doors slid open.
Matthew stepped forward quickly, and Nelson stood up.
He saw Jacob carrying Diana in his arms and rushed toward them.
Gently but with clear worry, he took Diana from him and laid her down on the couch.
Seeing her like that made a huge part of his fear disappear.
He had thought he'd lost her.
He muttered angrily,
+ Check her.
Then he stepped back and stared at Jacob.
+ What happened?
Jacob let out a breath and swallowed hard.
His throat hurt from all the shouting. He grabbed his hair tightly a few times and closed his eyes.
His voice trembled either from the lump in his throat or from… something else.
_ I'm still confused.
Fuck… I was.. I was talking to you. Diana got out of the car, took a few steps, and then the house exploded. That's it.
_ I didn't even get a chance to see how many houses were there.
Or if any stranger showed up afterward.
His pale face had turned red from the pressure.
_ Nothing… I didn't see anything. I was just forcing Diana back.
She wanted to run inside and save the guy.
There was no strength left in him.
So he dropped down on the floor beside the couch where Diana was lying and buried his head in his hands.
His headache hadn't gone away, it was worse now.