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I didn’t notice a box of screws shooting across the room, a mere inch from my face, until it slammed into Tommy’s chest, and he laughed. I scowled at Carlo, but he didn’t particularly care. “I hope you’re not including me in that list,” Carlo said.
Tommy gave him an incredulous look. “Yeah, okay. I was talking about Frankie, Louis and Johny.”
“We all know that’s bullshit,” Louis scoffed. “Johny was the only level-headed one of us.”
Everyone went silent at the reminder of the fifth brother, so I stepped toward the gear that Carlo had brought into the house. “Okay, first things first,” I said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. “This wall behind the table has to go, and the sub-wall on either side of the stairwell, too.”
“How do we take out a wall?” Tommy asked, looking at it incredulously.
“You might be a computer genius, but you sure lack in the real-life department,” Carlo commented, grabbing the sledgehammer from one of the bags. He began tapping at the wall, finding the studs, and then lifted the tool.
Frankie came out of the office at the exact moment that Carlo lifted the hammer. “Wait, you need to check for—” I started. But it was too late. With all the force he could muster, he sent the hammer straight through the center of the wall, and I winced as a decoration on the other end of the wall fell and shattered against the floor. Then the dining room light went out, and a faint buzz overshadowed the room as Carlo cursed and dropped the sledgehammer tangled in wires. Broken wires.
I closed my eyes and forced myself to take a deep breath. This could be fixed. We would make it work, and I didn’t need to yell at him.Don’t yell, don’t yell, don’t yell,I chanted over and over again, finally opening my eyes. “I was going to say,” I started, trying to keep my tone level, “that you need to use the stud finder toalsofind electrical behind the wall so we don’t mess with the wiring.”
“You didn’t say that,” Louis antagonized.
“A bunch of fucking dumbasses,” Frankie commented from behind, shaking his head and making his way the rest of the way into the kitchen. He moved toward Bella, and the woman smiled up at him as he wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her back into his chest. She continued cutting veggies as he left gentle kisses down her throat. It felt oddly intimate to watch, especially when Frankie had shown nothing but cool indifference when around anyone else. Maybe Bella was his only soft spot.
“What do we do now?” Tommy asked, reaching for the dangling tool.
“Stop!” I shouted, and unlike his brother, he listened. “That’s wrapped around a live wire. Do you think touching it would be the wisest idea?”
“We can go to the basement and turn off the breaker,” Carlo said. “Come with me so I can show you where everything connects. That way we can get it fixed.”
The words went in and out of my ears, triggering something in my mind that had me freezing in my spot and stiffening. “You can go alone,” I said, forcing myself to keep my composure. I didn’t have to go into the basement. It was only a suggestion, not a demand. Carlo had no idea how I felt about basements, and if he knew, he never would’ve recommended it. I forced myself to breathe deeply and keep my eyes open. I didn’t blink, knowing that even a moment of darkness behind my lids would manifest the reminder of the last time I’d gone into a basement.
I couldn’t go back there again. It had been a much different situation and far different circumstances, I tried to tell myself, but the visceral response was the same. I couldn’t convince myself that going into a basement with Carlo was a far different situation than with the man who had taken me.
“If you’re going to help us rerun the wires, you have to—”
“I don’t have to do anything!” I shouted at him, grinding my teeth. Despite my best efforts, I blinked, and the feelings of being tied and trapped brought me back to that dark, cold and disgusting place. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth, and I remembered trying to swipe it away from my bleeding head—trying to convince myself that it was just a small cut, despite knowing the truth.
I realized I’d bit my tongue when the coppery taste didn’t fade as I opened my eyes. “Are you okay?” Carlo asked, taking a step toward me.
“I…” I felt like I was suffocating from the thought of entering the basement.
“I can figure it out on my own,” Carlo said, shaking his head and reaching out a hand. A lifeline. I should have taken it, but instead, I took a step back and shook my head.
“I need to go.” I didn’t think twice before turning and rushing out of the door. I didn’t allow Carlo’s calls to sway me as I realized I hadn’t driven here. I only had Carlo’s car, so I turned toward Hunter’s house and walked inside. Nothing could calm the roaring in my ears and the way I felt like I was hyperventilating from just standing.
I couldn’t go into that basement. I would never go into a basement again.
15
CARLO
Nothing else registered as I watched Sierra rush out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Her hands had been shaking so viciously, I wondered how she managed to turn the knob. I stood in place, frozen as she walked out of the house. She wasn’t angry I’d fucked up the electrical in the room. No, this was something much more significant. Sierra acted like something I’d said had sunk deep into her chest and caused panic, but I had no idea what it’d been. I turned over my words in my mind, considering the repercussions of each one. Nothing I’d said warranted a response like that.
“You need to take care of that,” Frankie said firmly, pointing at the door where Sierra had run from a moment before. I could only nod. What the fuck had happened?
I couldn’t have been more than a few seconds behind her, but by the time I’d walked through the house’s front door, she’d already run into Hunter’s home, slamming the door closed behind her. I rushed toward it, reaching for the knob just in time for Hunter to open it from inside. His eyes held a promise to end my life, but I didn’t particularly care as I heard another door in the house slam closed. Her old bedroom.
“What the fuck did you do?” Hunter shouted, shoving at my chest. I took a step back, surprised by his sudden attack. From the start, he’d made it clear where his priorities lie, but I’d never seen him lay his hands on another person. “What did you do, Carlo?” he shouted.
“I didn’t do anything, man,” I said back, stepping back into him and getting right in his face. “But you’d be smart not to try to fight me right now.”
“I told you if you ever touched my little sister, I’d kill you. Do you think I’m the kind of man who goes back on my word?” he asked. He didn’t back down, and I knew I needed to deescalate the situation. I never turned down a fight, but I wouldn’t pummel my friend into the ground for trying to protect Sierra.
