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A terrified scream rips from my lips when someone knocks on the door behind me.
“Room service.”
Emmie, Jodie, and Stella all pause at the sound of the female voice, but none of them make a move to answer it. In fact, this time, Stella is firmly against it.
“We’ve changed our minds. You can eat it,” she bellows. “Thank you.”
“Bri, come help us,” Emmie says, ensuring I don’t register what the woman on the other side of the door says in response.
“Shit, yeah.”
The four of us work together to dump all three of the dudes into the epic bathtub before running the cold tap, leaving them shivering. Well, the two of them that are still alive.
“Shit, Calli,” I breathe when we shut the bathroom door behind us.
Rushing over, we all crowd around her as Rhea remains pinned to her side, holding her as she sobs.
“Calli, talk to us. Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Are you—”
“I’m okay,” she forces quietly.
“The baby—” Stella starts.
“N-nothing hurts. Nothing feels… different. I think… I think I’m okay.”
“Fuck. We need to get you checked out,” Emmie hisses.
“No, we can’t. We need to wait. We’ve already screwed up.”
Lifting her eyes from her lap, Calli scans the room, taking in the carnage around us.
“This is all my fault,” Stella admits, dropping her head in defeat.
“No, it’s not. We should have been safe here. The only person to blame is whoever is feeding back information to the Italians about what we’re doing.”
“What if they knew about the set-up? What if they—”
“No,” Jodie barks. “Don’t go there. Don’t even think it.”
“I’m scared,” Rhea confesses.
Sitting on her other side, Emmie pulls her in for a hug while I climb onto the sofa beside Calli.
Stella and Jodie drag the coffee table closer, moving it away from the glass I left on the floor, and sit so their knees are touching ours. Reaching out my hand, I grab Jodie’s. She does the same to Stella, who then reaches for Emmie.
“You were fucking fearless,” I say to no one in particular. Because while Stella and Emmie might have some seriously impressive skills, all of them deserve praise for what we just lived through.
“It’s not about being brave,” Stella reasons. “It’s about fighting for your family, for those you love.”
Her words make my chest ache as I’m reminded of what Jodie said to me in the car just a few hours ago.
Calli sobs once more and it breaks me. The tears that were already filling my eyes finally overspill, cascading down my cheeks and landing on my blood-soaked pyjamas.
“I really need to shower.”
“You really shouldn’t,” Emmie states.
“I’m covered in blood. Why the hell wouldn’t I?”
