Pursing my lips, I took a deep breath. “Is that the best idea?”
Arabella glared at me, fire raging in her eyes. “Rae, don’t ask me to spend another night in that house.”
I lifted my hands. “I’m not. Just…take it from a runaway, you need a place to crash.”
“She can stay with our dad,” Emanuele offered from the back seat. Luigi hissed, but his brother talked over him. “He won’t bite, and he knew your parents.”
Arabella seemed to consider it. “Let me pack.”
“I’ll help you,” I offered, not trusting to let the wild child out of my sight. She was feeling too much.
Plus…if she was capable of poisoning someone, I had severely underestimated her.
Pushing through the front door, we were greeted by yet another unpleasant manifestation. The housekeeper looked fit to be tied.
“Look, it’s been a long night,” I started, but she cut me off with a brutal Italian curse.
Arabella locked arms with me. “Do not test us, cagna. We don’t have to listen to you anymore!”
“You’ll be sorry,” the housekeeper promised. “You’re fired, Magnolia. And when the signora gets back, we’ll have you placed in custody!”
I opened my mouth to tell her how wrong she was, but Arabella moved quickly.
The princess grabbed Luigi’s belt—and held on tight as he scrambled back.
“What are you—”
Luigi never finished the sentence.
Arabella whipped around with his gun. I cried out, but she pulled the trigger without properly aiming.
Blood and ichor exploded from the housekeeper’s belly.
Time slowed. Sanderson gripped her abdomen with both fingers as if it would keep her life from leaking out. It poured from her insides, staining her uniform. Her ancient, ghastly uniform.
The first drop fell to the floor.
The gun banged again, and this time, the horrid woman toppled over.
Air wouldn’t go past my lips. Probably because both my hands were pressed against my mouth. Shock, icy and strong, made me stand rooted in place.
Luigi ripped the gun from Arabella’s fingers before she could unload the rest of the clip into the housekeeper.
“What?” the young woman breathed. “I’m sick of captivity.”
Grabbing her roughly by the elbow, Luigi hauled her up the stairs. “Grab your shit. You’ve done enough damage for one night, I think.”
Arabella’s cackle of delight floated from above.
“I’ll get a bucket,” I offered.
Joey held up a hand. “Take a seat.”
Emanuele lit a cigarette with a rough laugh. “Seriously, Rae. You look like you’re going to pass out.”
I collapsed on the bottom step. By the time Joey came back, I would feel better. I would help him clean up this mess and dispose of the body. I just…needed a minute to process the fact that the wicked witch who’d made my life here a living hell was dead.
And that Arabella might be the biggest psychopath in this house of horrors.
