"Daniel!"

The ear-piercing shriek ranged into Emily's ears as she found herself engulfed in Crist's embrace.

It was not her shout, rather it belonged to Crist.

Her brother had pulled her inside the restaurant at the time of the blast to save her from any kind of casualties.

However, at the current moment, she did not care about herself. All that she wanted was Daniel.

"Let me go."

Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper and when Crist did not let go of her even after a few moments, she knew that he had not heard her at all.

"LET ME GO!"

This time her voice came out loud and clear.

But even that did nothing to free her from the confinement of Crist's arms that were securely wrapped around her.

The area around them was filled with silence as everyone had fled from the scene as soon as the first gunshot was heard.

Only a few customers and staff of the restaurant were present at the time of the blast and currently, there was no one present there in the lobby except for Christ and her.

She could still hear the sound of the burning car and the foul smell that was taking over the air.

"Em!"

Crist's voice was filled with despair as he tried his very best to stop his little sister from going out of the restaurant.

Of course, he was worried about Daniel but he could not take any risks with Emily.

"Crist, let me go! Danny is still outside...!"

Emily cried out as her heart shattered into millions of pieces. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she struggled to push out of the tight muscular arms that were confining her.

"CRIST!"

Emily shouted in agony and frustration as her brother refused to listen to her.

"Em, listen! You need to control your emotions. A team is on its way here. I'll send you to the mansion with them and then I'll look for Daniel. Alright?" Crist tried to make his sister understand but his words only made her struggle more.

"No! I'm not leaving you and Danny here. He's still out there, Crist. Let's....let's not w-waste our time....we should l-look for him..." She tried to make her brother understand as she hurriedly wiped away her tears.

"I'm sorry, Em. But I can't take any risks with your safety. You are going back to the mansion." Crist immediately replied as he felt his eyes filling with unshed tears.

If not for his little sisters, he would not have wasted even a single second before looking for Daniel.

However, currently, his biggest responsibility was Emily and he needed to make sure that she was in safe hands before he would be able to look for Daniel.

"Have you gone mad? Can't you see that he needs our help? What if he is injured or something? We can't just leave him out there and waste our time waiting for your so-called team. Let's find him, Crist."

She was already pleading for him to understand the situation and let her go, but he still refused to budge.

"Crist! Don't do this, pleaseee!"

Emily begged as he wrapped her fingers around his collar to shake him a little.

"I'm sorry, Em! I'm so sorry."

Crist whispered the apology as he tightened his hold around the girl who was breaking down in his arms.

He felt his heart shattering into pieces as he watched her years rolling down. Her eyes begging him while one of her hands started hitting him on his shoulder.

"Let me go, Aahhhh!"

Emily's cries were not heard at all and she could do nothing but beg him to hear her plea.

It had been barely a few minutes since the blast but every passing second felt like an eternity.

The tightness that was gripping her heart only increased as the image of Daniel's face, just before the blast, appeared in front of her eyes.

It was all her fault. Everything happened because of her. She was the one who wanted to visit the Mall for shopping.

If not for her, Joy and the others would not have died. If not for her, Daniel would not be in danger.

Emily did not even realize but at some point, she had started blaming herself for everything.

Moreover, she did not do it in her heart or mind. Rather, she was shouting out the blames at herself as she tried to slap herself.

"Em!"

She heard someone calling her but she could no longer pay any attention to that person.

Her entire focus was on the realization that she had destroyed so many lives because of her stupidity.

She continued to pull her hair to cause herself the pain that she deserved. She needed to be in pain because she deserved the pain.

She felt fingers wrapping around her hands as someone tried to stop her from pulling her hair.

"LET ME GO!"

She again cried as she fruitlessly tried to pull herself away from the person who was holding her.

What she did not expect was to suddenly found herself without those tight holds that were stopping her from finding her brother.

As soon as her mind registered this, she was ready to run out of the restaurant but before she could pull herself out of the darkness that was pulling her in its depth, she once again found herself secured in a pair of muscular arms.

She struggled to pull away, to win back the freedom which would let her find her brother but the person only pulled her closer in their arms.

Her head landed against a well-built chest and a very familiar scent took over her senses.

However, her entire focus was on finding Daniel. She did not pay any attention to the person who was holding her and calling her name.

"Please.....!"

Emily hiccupped her request as she tried to pull away but barely succeeded.

"Sorellina, it's me. Sweetheart, open your eyes, please."

The familiar voice whispered into her ear, making her still for a few seconds.

She knew that voice and she was aware of the familiar scent that belonged to the person who was holding her.

But the darkness that was still surrounding her mind did not let her recognize the person who was speaking to her with so much love, warmth, and worry.

"Let me try...!"

She heard another voice speaking somewhere near them.

That one sounded familiar too but she could not recognize him either.

She felt movements around her and the arms holding her loosened a little as another person shifted to stand in front of her.

She could more or less feel the movements around her, but the darkness was not letting her think at all.

Her eyes were glued shut and she could not find the energy in herself to open them and take a look at the familiar people who were surrounding her.

She felt a cold hand cupping the left side of her face and she immediately felt shivers running down her spine.

A very unique scent of cinnamon and pine entered her nose, and she even succeeded in pinpointing the very faint fragrance of wine that was hidden beneath the strong scent of cinnamon and pine.

"Miss Alessandro, it's time for you to return to reality. Don't let the darkness win over your light."

The familiar and not-so-familiar voice whispered into her ear as she felt his unique scent raking over her senses.

Something electrical passed through his cold fingers into her body and she felt the darkness, that was surrounding her mind, quiver in response.

At a point, it even felt like it was bowing down in defeat.

Very quickly, the darkness started losing its grip on her mind, letting her return to reality just like the man told her to do.

Her eyes struggled for a few seconds but then she finally succeeded in opening them and the first thing that she saw was the mesmerizing amber eyes that held so much in their depths than it was possible.

"Sorellina!"

Her attention was pulled away from the man who immediately stepped back to give his place to Daniel.

"Danny..."

Her voice came out hoarse as her hands trembled on their way towards her brother's cheeks.

"Y-you...you are alright. Oh God, Danny! You scared the hell out of me!"

Emily cried as she wrapped her arms tightly around her brother.

Daniel did not waste any time before he closed his arms around his little sister who was once again crying her heart out.

"I'm alright, Sorellina. I'm completely fine." He assured her as he rubbed her shoulder with his hand in order to calm her down.

His eyes landed on Crist who finally was unable to hold his own tears. A single look in his brother's eyes and he came running towards them to wrap himself around them.

Emily immediately snaked one of her hands around Crist's waist to pull him into their hug.

And a few feet away, another man was watching the trio. A twitch appeared on his lips as he praised himself for his success.

He had very skillfully entered the life of his little prey.