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His words mean nothing to me. He cannot possibly hurt me more than he already has in my lifetime and his attempts at breaking me down are pointless. I let the rain cool my skin and wash the blood from me for a moment as I decide on what to do next.
I bring my leg up as quickly as I can and hook it behind his knee, kicking his leg out from under him. Gabriele falls to the ground with a thud and I waste no time gripping his hair and slamming his head into the ground.
I roll over and get up onto my feet and by the time I am standing, so is he. We swing at each other and some of them I land, others he lands. And this continues until I am dizzy from the beating. But I just keep thinking about Aria, and everything she did to get me out of jail, to save my life.
I twist my arms around him, and tuck my head before lifting him off the ground. I bring both our bodies to the ground hard. It hurts me, but it’s worth it as long as it hurts him too. And I make sure to get to my feet as fast as possible.
“Enough!” I yell as I reach for my gun.
In one swift move, I pull my gun out of its holster and point it at Gabriele. As soon as I do so, I notice that I am staring down the barrel of his gun too.
Chapter 23
Aria
Inaninstant,thisday has taken a complete turn. One moment ago I was worried about Edoardo and what might be happening to him. Now, I think I know the answer to that.
The sounds of chaos only become louder. There are no more guards surrounding the room where I’m held. I know those sounds. There is an attack on my father. And I’m pretty sure I know who is behind it. In the distance I can hear a few gunshots go off.
Immediately, I wonder what would happen if one of those bullets traveled through Edoardo. Were he to die, and my father likely going to prison for a long time, I’m not sure what I’d do. That is not the kind of freedom that I am hoping to achieve.
What is the point of going through all of this if I still don’t have my happily ever after? I can’t stand the thought of it. But the noise outside only grows louder and now I can hear men shouting out in pain as the battle continues.
I look through the window and see that every single one of my father’s men are running toward the front of the house. Edoardo must be there too. I am certain that my father will have instructed his men to target Edoardo specifically.
If he isn’t careful, he will soon be overwhelmed. Part of me worries that he might kill my father. He might be a terrible man, but he’s the only family I have, and if he does kill him, Edoardo will spend the rest of his life in prison.
I can’t just wait here to see what will happen. I need to go and look.
I turn to the doctor; she’s pale and her eyes are wide with worry. She looks at me as if she expects me to be afraid too. And I am afraid, but not the same way that she is.
“Stay hidden,” I say. “They have no reason to harm you, so they won’t. Still, don’t get hit by a stray bullet.”
I motion for the doctor to get under the bed and she nods silently in agreement. I walk toward the door and pull it open. But before I can step out, I feel a tug at my sleeve.
“You can’t go out there,” the doctor says. “Are you crazy? You’ll get killed. I can’t let you do that.”
“I can’t stay here,” I reply. “I know what this fight is about, and I am at the center of it. I need to put an end to this before it gets out of hand.”
“What if you get hurt?” she asks. “You could lose your baby, or your life.”
“If I don’t end this, then there is no good life for my baby to live,” I say. “And no good life for me to live either. This has gone too far already.”
I mean what I say. The sound of men fighting and screaming reminds me that this is not the way things are meant to go. This is not how my life should be run and I am tired of it. I want to love whoever I choose, and I want to be happy. I deserve it.
The two most important men in my life have gone too far. It has done nothing to change anything. They still hate each other, they still fight, and I still suffer. I’ve had enough. It cannot get much worse than this, and I refuse to see anybody die over it.
I ignore the doctor’s pleas and step out into the fresh air. I haven’t moved much lately and I am stiff, but my legs carry me quickly through the garden. My heart is racing. I don’t know which direction is the best one to go, so I just pick one and start to run.
I jump over the unconscious bodies of men as I try desperately to locate my father or Edoardo. The rain is making it difficult to see and I slip as I run. All around me men fight with each other; it should shock me, but I can’t lose my determination.
The ground is covered in puddles of rain water mixed with blood. But I do not slow my stride. Suddenly, I regret my hunger strike. I am weaker than I’d like to be, and my head is already spinning. I stop for a moment and let the rain cool me down.
“I don’t need to run,” I whisper to myself. “I just need to keep going.”
So, I slow down my pace and keep pushing forward. I dodge stray punches and falling bodies as I move through the fray. My heart hurts as I look at the attack that is happening around me. All of this is because of me, and I feel terrible for it.
Perhaps my father was right. I left the house and caused nothing but trouble. Maybe it was best to keep me inside. But that’s no life for me. That’s no life for anybody. I move barefoot through the chaos, making sure not to step on any stray knives on the ground.
