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23
BRIELLE
The bulletproof vest is heavier than I thought it would be, but I’ll wear whatever Salvatore wants me to if it means I can finally get my answers. Even though he told me what my parents — my kidnappers — were doing when they took me, I want to hear it from them.
I need to hear it from them before I kill them for everything that they’ve done to me.
They were willing to kill me and hurt my baby. There is no mercy for anyone who tries to hurt my child. If it had just been me, then I would have let them go.
It’s not just me anymore. My parents are a threat to my baby and my family. They’re going to die so I can live without looking over my shoulder every second of every day.
I want my baby to enjoy life. There is no way to do that with my parents still alive.
“You and Matteo are going to check the perimeter,” Salvatore says as he peeks out at the abandoned house across the street.
I try not to shudder as a mouse runs across the floor in front of me with something in its mouth. I don’t want to think about all the other creatures that could be living in the walls of the condemned house we’re hiding in.
Sofia and Damien walk into the room, guns strapped to their hips. Gio and Matteo are close behind them, looking like they’re ready to go into war.
We might as well be fighting one.
Sofia’s spies have been watching my parents for a few hours. Other than them, they haven’t seen anyone else in the house across the street.
That doesn’t mean that there isn’t anyone else hiding in there and waiting for the chance to strike.
The stars are starting to litter the sky as we check our weapons one last time. Salvatore stands in front of me, his face an expressionless mask.
“We’re going to be okay,” I say as I loop my arms over his shoulders and pull him closer to me.
“You better be okay. I don’t like that we’re splitting up.”
“It’s going to be okay. You’ll go inside and capture all of them while you and Matteo let me pretend to be helping.”
He gives me a sheepish smile. “That obvious?”
“Of course.” I smile and shake my head before standing on my toes to kiss him. “I love you. Come back to me in one piece.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Salvatore looks at me for a moment longer before heading out the door with the others, leaving me and Matteo alone. He stands beside the window, peeking through the broken glass as his family hurries across the street.
“Are you ready?” I ask, heading for the door as I draw my gun.
Matteo exhales hard before following after me. “Let’s get this over with.”
We use the cover of night to run behind a car sitting on cinder blocks. Matteo leaves our hiding place first, heading around the side of the fence that separates my parents’ hiding place from the neighbor’s house.
As we circle around the building, I can hear people talking inside. We pass by one of the windows — the only one that isn’t boarded up — and I see Salvatore inside. He glances out the window and sees me, giving a slight nod.
Salvatore takes off deeper into the house while we circle the backside. The brick walls are crumbling and the lawn is overgrown. If I squint, I think I can see the silhouette of a rundown and rusty truck near the shed in the back corner.
I tap Matteo on the shoulder. He turns and raises an eyebrow, nodding when I point a finger at the shed in the back. Matteo takes a few steps through the long grass, heading toward the shed.
That’s when I hear the gunshots and something hard collides with my side. I fall to the ground, my gun flying from my hands. I scramble across the ground , my hand wrapping around the cool metal. I get to my knees and fire off a few shots at a dark figure running toward me through the grass.
Matteo appears at my side. “You need to get the hell out of here. Start running and I’ll cover you.”
“I’m not going to leave you alone.”
