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I shove the shift around. Haven’t driven a car in so long. I’m twisting the wheel so as not to run over Piero. The front side of the car hits a tree trunk, and friggin Mother Nature wins the fight. The front fender edges beneath the wheels as I continue, no time to look back.
49
Santino
“The schmuck in her trunk isn’t dead, Santino,” Piero grits out. He’s already started for the passenger side of my truck when I rush past him. I’ve got the key in the ignition when my uncle plops onto the passenger seat.
As I’m speeding through the narrow road that Gina’s hectic driving has cleared out, he offers a labored exhale. “Why would you bring her here, Santi?! You have a lot to fucking tell me!”
“With all due respect, you can’t help me, Uncle Piero. I have lots to fucking tell her too.”
Turning at the main road, the tail end of the sedan swings wildly. I ease behind Gina. Still registering the fear that was in her eyes. She thought I’d murder her! The reckless driving will kill her before anyone else does.
“Who’s in the truck, Piero?”
“Fresh fishing bait.” Piero grips the door frame with one hand, and the dash with the other as my truck owns the windy road.
“This is getting out of hand. Listen, Santi. I’m all for a feisty one. Train her a little.”
“First time that came from your mouth to my ears.”
“First timeever. Cecco has the short fuse, but your lady friend is pushing it.”
I honk the horn, gain ground on Gina in an attempt to pull alongside her. The sedan swerves, commanding both sides of the one-lane road. The car is inches from hitting every tree down the fucking street. I slam my hand onto the horn as a warning of the sharp bend ahead.
The road curves, leading off to a jagged edge. At the last second, Gina jerks the wheel hard. The car hydroplanes on the icy asphalt, zipping around and around.
My heart jumps out of my chest as I notice the man Piero abducted has an arm around her neck from behind. My uncle toys with their victims before their death—and he’s the nice one.
In a split second, Gina stares at me as if seeing straight through my soul. The car continues with its 360-wipeout. This time Piero’s victim hits his head against the window. When the wheels meet the icy gravel near the bluff, rocks spatter in every direction. The sedan deadens, the front wheels trudging through the verge. The back wheels in the air, dangling over the cliff. It rocks and tips, not plummeting hundreds of feet below.
I’m out of the truck. My hands level out as if the attempts somehow help.
With tear-filled eyes, Gina calls out to me, “Santi—”
The back of the car slants again.
“Don’t move, baby.” My boots crunch over the rocks at the shoulder of the road. I inch toward the edge where the snowcap tips of the furious oak trees are all that can be seen hundreds of feet down. “Listen to everything I say, Bella.”
“I don’t want to die.”
My fingers are an inch away from her door handle when I murmur, “If you go down, Bella, I’ll follow you. But listen, the two of us aren’t dying today. I missed you, had to get you back.”
All the words I’m saying, though true, aren’t necessary right now. Gina needs them.
“Keep leaning forward for Daddy.” With a firm smile on my face, I inch the driver door open.
“Santino, Santi!” She squeals, forcing air through her lungs.
“Breathe for me. I need to reach past you and unbuckle your belt, Bella. No sudden movements.”
The sound of Gina panting tickles my jaw as I work my way over her body. Gravel treads beneath the tires. She silently sobs.
“Bella, Daddy’s right here with you,” I coax. “We could go down together, but not this way. Not today.”
At the sound of latchclicking,the front wheels fight for traction. My hand clutches Gina’s wrists.
“There you go, sweetheart, Daddy’s about to—”
