A/N: THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER OF 'SINBOUND'. THE NEXT PART OF IT WILL BE PUBLISHED IN 'SINBOUND'

PS. I WILL BE PUBLISHING ALL THESE PARTS IN SINBOUND AS WELL FOR THOSE READERS WHO HADN'T READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS.

ENJOY!

THIRD PERSON'S POV:

Adrian watched as the walls around the seemingly tough man started to crumble as he stared at the name engraved on the headstone.

This was well thought of. Adrian thought to himself.

As if something snapped inside of Darius, he got on his knees and started to dig in the fresh and soft, soil with his bare hands.

Sylvia's hand went to cover her mouth as her mind registered what Darius was trying to do. She looked up at Adrian, who had a frown marred on his face, and whispered, "Ian, make him stop."

Adrian turned his head to look down at his distressed wife, "I can't. Not when I know the hell that's now unleashed inside of him." He quietly answered back.

"Dar, what are you doing?" Jason pinched the bridge of his nose and stepped forward towards his best friend.

Darius looked like a man who had lost his sanity given how he was digging the grave of the woman he so adored.

His brain did not signal him to do it rather his heart did. That's the funny thing about this particular organ in our body, no matter the situation, it always hangs by the last thread of hope.

Darius had never hoped for anything in his life. For him, it was a preference of the people who had a substandard way of living.

Eirene made him reevaluate his opinions, and he hoped that under this soil, she was still alive.

Jason could not bear to watch his friend suffer like this hence he sat on his opposite side and started to copy Darius' actions.

For his friend's sake, he was ready to go that length even though he had no hope left in him.

Adrian was given a rude awakening of his past as he saw the men in front of him working their fingers to the bone to save their family.

"Stay back." He instructed his wife and sat opposite the headstone before sinking his fingers in the sand.

Sylvia held back her tears as she saw all the men on their knees fighting to keep their promises to one and another.

A shovel would come in handy, she thought and started to look around for it.

Meanwhile, Adrian's gaze briefly went to Darius to see his forehead covered in sweat and his heart went out to him.

No matter however strong a man is, if he doesn't have the woman he loves by his side, he's zilch.

The particles of the sand flew in the air, creating a dust devil around them and besmirching their clothes and faces but they couldn't have cared less.

They had to dig six feet deep if they wanted to retrieve the body if there was anybody buried there, to begin with.

It will take the three of them hours and Darius knew that none of them had that kind of time on their hands.

"He said if I am fast enough, I might be able to save her." Darius spoke for the first time since they've entered the cemetery.

Adrian's eyes snapped to his, "What if she's not here, at all? It could be a trick to distract you."

The tone of Adrian's voice was uncertain as though he was trying to convince himself that it's a bloody joke and she is still alive.

Adrian's emotions, unknown to him, had traveled back in time when the love of his life was ripped away from him and when he finally saw her after days, she was covered in blood.

Jason focused on the task, not wanting to participate in the conversation because even if it was a dead-end, they had to reach there to make sure of it.

Sylvia had walked for a good five minutes when her eyes landed on what she was searching for.

A shovel.

The back of the tool was resting against a tree and she looked beside it to see a half dug grave. A wave of fear washed over her as she realized that they were in the land of the dead.

She hadn't met Eirene yet but she felt for the helpless woman because, at one point in her life, she had been just as much helpless as the woman who was buried in the ground.

She picked it up, surveying the area once to make sure that no one is present there, and quickly walked back to the three men who were breaking a sweat.

"Ian." She called her husband.

He, instantly, turned around and looked at her face once before his eyes went to the shovel in her hand.

"Fuckin' perfect." He mumbled and stood up.

He took the shovel from her and placed a hand on Darius' shoulder, "Here, take this."

Darius shot up from the ground and nearly snatched it from his hand before delving it into the soil. His movements, unprecedentedly, were noncalculative.

He was reckless, merciless even as if he held a personal grudge against the ground.

The sun that shone brighter than ever reflected on his face and a thick layer of sweat glistened on it. His eyes were dead set on the target and his mind had stopped working a long time ago, tuning out the voices of everyone around him.

But his heart, oh his heart, was not thinking of what would happen if his love was actually dead.

The reality of the situation was yet to sink in.

Jason and Adrian had gone off to look for more shovels or any other tool that could be of help to them.

Nobody had dared to look at their watches because none had the heart to probe the time that they have lost.

Dear God, if you're listening to me right now, I am begging you to not shatter this man's heart. Let her be alive. Sylvia sent a quick prayer as her head was tilted heavenwards.

Adrian, on the other hand, had only been able to find one more shovel and so he joined Darius while Jason checked the perimeters once more to make sure no one sees them.

Thirty and a couple of minutes above, the head of Darius' shovel hit something and he instantly threw his shovel away and went back on his knees.

Adrian's eyes widened as he made out a figure covered in sand and stopped his shovel, mid-air.

Darius began to move the sand to one side, using his hands, and Sylvia took a shaking step forward to get a better look.

Jason helped Darius remove the remaining sand and a feminine hand came into their view.

The ring on her finger gleamed in the daylight and Darius' breath got knocked out of his lungs but he knew that he did not have the luxury of time and all the three men pulled her out.

The sight made Sylvia gasp loudly before she placed a hand on her mouth and ran to a corner to throw up the water that she drank this morning.

Eirene was wrapped in a plastic film that came up to her neck. Her hands and feet were tied with ropes and her mouth sealed shut with a piece of black duct tape.

Her body was limp and her skin was pale, and there were a couple of bruises blemished on her face from the accident.

She was wearing a plain black dress that had full sleeves; the woman looked like she had dressed to attend her own funeral.

Jason, involuntarily, reached to touch her face only to find it cold as ice and snatched his hand back as if it electrocuted him.

Adrian took a small pen knife out of his suit pocket and cut the plastic open from where her hands were tied.

He quickly tore the wrap off and checked for her pulse.

Adrian suddenly became solidified on his spot.

He couldn't feel the pulse.

"Cazzo!" He cursed under his breath.

Darius recovered from the temporary shock that had overcome his body and looked at Adrian to see his face void of any emotions.

He snatched her wrist from his hand and felt for the pulse.

Again, there was no pulse.

He swallowed and quickly tore the plastic off of her body, refusing to believe that her heart had stopped working.

She's not dead. She's not dead. She's not dead.

He kept chanting inside his head as he brought her now ice-cold body closer to his chest. He caressed her pale cheek and looked at her lips that had turned a nasty shade of blue.

"No, no, no." He whispered in desperation as he brought her head to his chest to seek some form of comfort.

Jason sat like a statue with his head in his hands.

The air was thick around them and every single person felt out of place except the couple that sat inside the grave.

Darius' back was leaned against one side of the rectangle formed with sand as he held onto her like the remainder of his life depended on it.

The woman was dead but she had brought the man inside the grave with her.

Sylvia wiped her mouth from a napkin and rinsed it with some water from the bottle that she had kept in her bag.

She turned around to look at the three of them strewn across the ground. The looks on their faces made them look older than they actually were.

Her heart tore into pieces as she looked at Darius who bore resemblance to a man who was broken beyond repair.

Darius buried his face in her chest as he did not want the men around him to see how vulnerable he was feeling inside.

And that's when he felt it.

Heartbeat.

A very faint heartbeat.

Almost as faint as a one of an embryo.

His head shot up, eyes wide open, as he stared down at her face.

She was alive.

His Eirene was alive.

"She's alive." He announced to no one in particular.

All three pairs of eyes went to him and he spoke up once again, "Her heartbeat is faint, we have to take her to the hospital." He rushed to stand up with her still in his arms.

He placed her on the ground above and jumped out of the hellhole before picking her up once again and running out towards his car.

George's eyes widened as he took in the state of his boss and the woman in his arms. He, like anyone who was to glance at them, thought that the woman was dead.

"To Britney's hospital. Quick." He barked at the driver who hastily got in the driver's seat.

Jason opened the door for Darius and they all piled inside the car before they hit the road.

A deep sense of nostalgia hit Adrian during the car ride and he couldn't help but compare the situations between him and Darius.

Darius was right when he said that women make them do the impossible.

Adrian's hold on Sylvia, unknowingly, tightened, and Sylvia knew what he was feeling without him having to speak.

It took them less than twenty minutes to reach the hospital. Britney was Darius' cousin and she was the only one who he could trust with his fiancé's life.

He ran inside and told his name at the reception, the receptionist instantly recognized him and directly called Britney's cabin and told her that it was an emergency.

Jason had already called his parents and Angelo when they were on their way to inform them about Eirene.

They would be here any minute.

Eirene was taken to the operation theater a few minutes later as Darius briefed his cousin about her case.

Britney was no stranger to the family business so she didn't need his cousin telling him what must have gone down, piece by piece.

Sylvia placed a hand on Darius' shoulder, "She is a fighter. A miracle, in fact. She'll be back with you in no time, have faith."

Darius offered her a small grateful nod in response and walked away to a secluded area where he was out of everyone's sight.

He sat down on a chair, letting the events finally hit him like a bulldozer.

He was not going to lie to himself at that moment and think that he was strong when in fact his whole composure had crumpled down the moment he saw his love resembling a corpse.

His heart had been hammered down by a force so strong he thought he would pass out next to her inside the grave that he had dug.

He covered his face with his hands and let the realization dawn on him.

The realization that he had about lost his fiancé, the only woman who he let in, and the only woman who ruled his heart like it always belonged to her.

Jason had received a call from Julius who informed him that Vincent was not alone in all of it. He had an ally, someone named Andrei Marinato.

A Russian man whose father was defeated by the Italian mafia decades ago.

Jason ran back to Adrian after the call and questioned, "Do you know someone whose last name is Marinato?"

Adrian frowned and wracked his brain for a while before a light bulb went off in his head, "Yeah. His father, Levi Marinato, was killed by my father years ago. Why do you ask?"

All the blood from Jason's face drained as he heard Adrian's answer, "His son, Andrei Marinato, is back and wants revenge."

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Adrian's temper rose to the sky as he rand a hand through his hair.

"I think you should call zio Xander. We need him." Sylvia commented while rubbing his back to calm him and it worked, like always.

Just then, Darius' family rushed to the hospital along with a livid Angelo.

Jason, in an attempt to avoid drama, took Angelo out of the building to explain everything but not before letting him know that his sister was safe.

Angelo wouldn't move an inch until and unless he was sure she was safe and it took Jason quite some time to calm him down.

Meanwhile, inside the hospital, Elizabeth looked for her son and finally found him sitting on a bench with his head in his hands.

At the sound of footsteps, he looked up at his mother as she went to take a seat beside him.

Elizabeth looked at her son and it broke her to see him this distraught. She was his mother, she was aware of everything, even the things his son hid from the world.

Wordlessly, Darius sat on the floor in front of her mother and rested his head on her lap. The emotions that he was trying so hard to control rose to the surface and he finally let the tears fall.

Oh, what he wouldn't trade to be in her place, to save her from the pain and torture she underwent.

He did not know that he had it in himself to shed tears for someone because he had never once done that.

His mother was shocked but it did not take a genius to understand the feelings he had for his fiancé. She caressed his son's hair and let him cry.

Amidst the crying, his heart sent a small prayer to the god he did not believe in and he prayed for his Eirene to be okay.

To be continued...