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A shriek fills the air, and I look up to see Vivian falling backward. “What the fuck?” Darius shouts.
Another burst of sparks, and he’s thrown backward. And then I see something I thought I would never see again. “Carlo!”
He looks at the bodies on the floor and then at the chains holding me to the bed. “Where is the key?”
“Vivian!” I shout and point to her prone body. I knew he would come for me, but I still can’t believe he’s here. The man himself, the boss, came for me. I always had hope that he would be the one to come through that door.
As soon as he retrieves the keys, he moves fast to get to me and unlocks the padlock. I can’t stop touching his face, wanting to make sure he’s real. “You’re here.”
His mouth crashes against mine, and I wrap my arms around him, not wanting to let go. But we have more important things to deal with than showing how much we’ve missed each other.
He pulls his mouth away from mine, and I can’t stop looking at him, can’t stop wondering if this is real. He holds me tightly for a moment and then turns to lead me out of my prison. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”
“I’m ready, babe!”
We move as fast as we can through the heavy smoke, but it fills my lungs, and I can’t stop coughing. Carlo stops, tears off a piece of his shirt, and hands it to me. I cover my mouth with it, and we keep moving.
We walk down a long hallway and run into two disheveled young women. They look at us with frightened eyes and ask, “Have you seen our mother?”
“Vivian?” I ask.
They nod, and then Carlo says, “Come with us.”
I look at him with confusion for a brief moment. I can’t help wondering what he plans to do with them. They’re young, and none of this is their fault.
Carlo leads all of us through the burning mansion. The heat is nearly overwhelming as we get to the bottom floor, and everything seems to be on fire.
A crashing sound comes from beside us, and I reach out to grab Vivian’s girls, pulling them to me, instinctively wanting to protect them. An entire flaming wall falls down to the side of us, and a plume of water follows it. The water forms a small stream when it lands on the floor.
Carlo leads us out of the inferno. People are everywhere, and they all cheer as we walk out of what seems like an impossible situation.
Carlo scoops me into his arms and carries me to the waiting car. Resting my head against my hero’s chest, I begin to cry. “It’s over. It’s finally over.”
He presses his lips against the top of my head. “You can’t do this to me again.”
“I’ll try not to.” When I hug him, I can feel the love coming from him.
Before I know it, we’re all in the car, speeding away from the fiery scene. Vivian’s girls sit across from us in the limo, looking like little scared rabbits. “Um, do you know where our mom is?” one of them asks.
I shake my head and look at them with sympathy. “I’m sorry.”
Carlo asks, “You girls have anything to do with kidnapping this woman?”
I grasp his hand and give it a squeeze. “Please, they’ve been through hell. My father was horrible to them.”
He looks past me at the girls. “Answer me.”
“No, sir,” says one of them. “We aren’t told much of anything. Our mother and father said we were to be seen but not heard. We stay in our bedrooms mostly.”
“If I ever find out anything different, I will deal with you both. You get me?” Carlo’s voice, strict and threatening, makes me worry that he would hurt the young teens.
“I’m sure they’re telling the truth,” I tell him, trying to calm him down a little. “I never saw them or heard anything about them being involved in any way. What I did hear from their mother is how badly my father treated them. They’re my half sisters.” I look into his eyes and ask, “Can we take care of them? They have no one now.”
“If everything comes back clean on them, we’ll take care of them like they’re family. If not...” He doesn’t have to say anything else.
The girls and I know well what his silence means. Although I want the poor girls’ horror story to end with the death of their parents, I know I can’t ask my husband to blindly take them in. I know he’s doing what’s best for the family.
“Thank you.”
