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Marcel opens the door at the sound of his voice, and Nate kicks his way out of my arms the second he sees his mother. He bolts for Vera.
“You don’t come out of here until we clear the property,” Salvatore orders.
“Wait—” I cry, so urgently, he actually stops. I suddenly don’t know what to say.
“…Be careful,” is what I decide on. It doesn’t feel like enough.
Salvatore doesn’t seem to know what to say, either. I don’t make him spend time figuring it out. I retreat back down the steps, and the heavy door shuts between us. Kay is on me in a heartbeat, accosting me in the same breath that she clings to me, demanding to know what those gunshots were.
I have no energy to explain, no desire to vocalize what I just saw. One of my own cousins—beaten to death because of me. I sit down on the floor in her arms.
The best I can do is apologize for ever bringing her here.
My ears ring, my thoughts drowned out. The adrenaline is fading, crashing, leaving me sick and reeling. The room smells like fear. Even Nate went silent after a while—cried himself unconscious. I don’t know how long it takes for Salvatore to come back. Minutes. Hours. Days.
I watch the door with an empty expression, only waiting. The simplest and yet most difficult thing to do. I have not seen Ava’s face once. Even when Marcel goes to speak with her, she does not look up.
Ava has nothing to wait for.
The less I have to preoccupy my thoughts, the more I see it again and again. The way Vinny just dropped. The empty look on his face. He worked in a kitchen. Had he ever even held anything more dangerous than a chef knife? My stomach turns.
When the door opens again, Salvatore enters first. My legs are asleep, though I don’t notice until I try to get to him. He slings me up into his arms, holding me like a child with my arms around his neck.
Relief washes over me as I have him in my arms again, holding him like somehow I’m the one who can protect him.
The room fills with the sound of reunions and frantic questions.
Salvatore sets me down, the relief in his face vanishing into stone as he steps into the middle of the room. I catch Kay’s stare, looking me over as if she’s never seen me before. I avoid it and turn my attention to Salvatore.
“Everyone.” His strong voice brings the room to a simmering hush. “For those of you who weren’t outside at the onset of the attack—Gio Lovera sent 4 men at us. To our home. He’s not getting any of them back. But we took our own injuries, and we lost two—”
I hear Ava’s gathering cry before Salvatore even says it.
For only a heartbeat, I see his throat work without words.
“Lance and Vincent—”
Ava’s crying fills the room again. I saw what happened to him, just the same as her, but hearing it spoken as truth brings the pain a second time, as if he can be killed twice. Marcel clutches Ava to him, trying to soothe her. Her voice is too shot to scream, the pain soundless as she sobs against his shoulder.
Her pain eats at me like a hole in my chest.
“I need everyone to stay vigilant and stay armed. Patrols will be walking the property around the clock. In an hour, I want every soldier and above in a war room with me. We’re not playing defense anymore. Gio answers this with blood.”
Salvatore steps toward me, sliding his arm around my shoulder to lead me up the staircase.
“Wait—” Kay says, trying to follow.
“Frankie is taking you home,” Salvatore tells her, his tone leaving no room for argument.
“Wait, Tessa—”
Kaydence moves toward me suddenly, desperate to get to me. I break away from Salvatore as we get each other in a fierce hug.
“I can’t just leave you here,” she says.
“Yes, you can,” I say. “You have to. Just know I’m okay.”
She looks me over, again and again, as if she doesn’t know what to say. She finally whispers a strained,
