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“Making him scream is becoming a new favorite hobby of mine,” a gruff voice answered. “I should be done soon though; Navy is expecting me for date night.”
“Good,” Romeo growled, his body snapping straighter. “Because I brought Bailey to face him head-on.”
The atmosphere in the room turned frosty, feet shuffling, no words spoken.
“Shit,” Dante said, clearly shocked by Romeo’s words. “I’ll…I’ll finish up.” He paused but I still didn’t look, instead I just buried my head into Romeo’s back. “I just needed to make sure I got my hits in after what he did to Navy and Dario.”
Romeo nodded, his other hand reaching behind him and stroking my arm. “I get it. But it’s time to go.”
I squeezed my eyes closed as footsteps stumbled closer, then whispered words spoke. I couldfeelsomeone standing near us, but I couldn’t face them. I couldn’t open my eyes and let them see the scars and bruises that had been left behind byhim.
“Call me when you’re done,” Dante said. He stepped away, paused, I could feel his eyes burning on me, but then the door creaked open and he was gone, leaving us alone. I moved to the side, sticking by Romeo but needing to not use him as a shield.
“She shouldn’t be here,” Antonio growled, making me jump. I hadn’t seen him in the shadows, but now he was pushing forward, coming directly to us. “This isn’t for her eyes.”
“No,” Romeo said, holding his arm in front of me as if his dad was about to do something. I appreciated how protective he was—especially now—but I didn’t need it, not when it came to his dad. I could see the anger shining in Antonio’s eyes, however it wasn’t directedatme, butforme. “This entire thing is for her.” Romeo turned his head at his words, and I followed his gaze.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected to see, but my eyes took in Mr. Pozzi tied to a chair, strips of clothes hanging off of him, blood staining his skin, chains wrapped around him to keep him in the chair.
Hewas the one who was trapped now, not me.
“No, Romeo,” Antonio said, louder this time. “She needs to go!”
I flinched from his roar, not having expected it, and for a second, I doubted what I’d thought about Antonio earlier, but as I looked at him—really looked at him—there was something else shining in his eyes: terror.
I’d been too concentrated on Antonio to realize that the door had creaked open, but Romeo had heard it as he moved us over a few inches, keeping me against him.
“Antonio,” a new voice called. I clasped Romeo’s hand tighter, pushing closer to him as a woman walked past us, flanked by Rafael. “She needs to stay.”
“Not now, Vivianna.” I tried to hold in my sharp intake of breath, but it was hard because this was Romeo’s mom. He’d spoken about her, not at length, but enough for me to know that he doted on her, that he respected her, that he loved her.
“Yes,now,” she told him. Her attention slipped around the room, stopping on me for the briefest of seconds. She nodded, her eyes filling with tears and I couldn’t help but take a step toward her. I didn’t know what possessed me to do it, but…I had. “She needs to see it, Antonio.”
“She doesn’t.” He stepped toward her, rage vibrating off of him. “No woman should ever—”
“What?” Vivianna interrupted. “Get hurt? Get raped?” She tilted her head. “Newsflash, Antonio, she was hurt…Iwas hurt.” She placed her palm against her stomach and Antonio’s gaze flipped down to it, a murderous look in his eyes. “She was raped…Iwas raped.”
“What?” Romeo whispered. “What did you say?”
They weren’t listening to him though, they were trapped in their own world, just like Romeo and I so often were. “I should have protected you,” Antonio told her, taking her hand in his and stepping closer to her.
“Youdidprotect me,” she said, a slight Italian lilt to her voice. “But you and Luca should have let me witness it. I needed to see him take his last breath with my own eyes.” She nodded, a sad smile echoing across her lips. “Let Bailey see him take his last breath, Antonio. Let her see that she doesn’t have anything to be scared of anymore.”
The silence hung in the air, everyone caught in their own minds and what I was guessing was a revelation from Romeo’s mom. Which meant she’d kept it a secret all of these years—and now it made sense why Antonio came to see me, why he told me what he did.
“You said you wouldn’t allow Romeo to make the same mistakes as you,” I blurted out, not able to stop myself.
Antonio turned to face us, his gaze flicking behind me to Rafael and Romeo, then landing on me. “I sheltered Vivianna. I tried to keep her safe.” He pulled her against him, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I did it too much, and now…now she’s afraid to leave the house…and it’s all my fault.” He sounded so sad, so broken, and I desperately wanted to say or do something, but I didn’t know what.
“Not your fault,” she murmured back. “But maybe…” She trailed off, her attention sliding to me again. “Maybe Bailey and I can help each other heal. Maybe we can do better. Maybe”—she turned to face Mr. Pozzi who groaned, his eyes trying to open—“maybe we can end this scumbag’s life and get on with our own?”
“Bailey?” Romeo said from behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach. “You want to do the honors and take his last breath from him.”
I shook my head, closing my eyes and breathing him in. “No. You do it.” I paused, turning in his arms. “But I want to watch. I want to watch the life drain from his eyes.”
Romeo’s eyes darkened, his jaw ticcing as he stared down at me. Then all of a sudden, he led me across the room, ten feet away from Mr. Pozzi, but directly in front of him. I stepped froward, refusing to be in the shadows, wanting him to see me clearly and know that this was because of what he’d done to me.
His eyes snapped open, trying to focus on mine. “Ahh, you brought her to see me.” Teeth were missing from his mouth, blood and drool splattering from between his lips.
