I couldn’t help it, I shuddered . My eyes roved around. I needed to find a weapon. Or anything that could be used as one.
My brother was going to kill us. There was no way around that fact now, and I had to defend us. Only there wasn’t anything. This was a kitchen, but it was just a shell.
Nothing but…my eyes locked on a stack of wood in the corner.
“Don’t even think about it.” Following my gaze, Gio stepped between me and the only thing I could use to defend myself.
“Gio.” Sliding Lily onto the floor, I pushed her into the corner. I forced her to look at me. “Sweet girl?”
“Mommy, I'm scared.” Her tiny voice shook, but not as much as her body did. “Why is Uncle Gio doing this?”
“Because he is a bad man.” I smoothed her hair back from her face and pressed my lips against her forehead. “I’m going to need you to close your eyes now, okay? Be brave and keep them closed, no matter what you hear. Mommy won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Slowly, I stood and turned to face my brother.
He shook his head. His hand was already reaching for the gun Ipresumed was in the back of his waistband. “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, little sister.” His voice was a little uncertain, but when he levelled the gun at me, his hand was perfectly steady.
“She might not be able to keep them,” a voice boomed out, but not from the direction of the front door. It came from the back.
Gio had been so busy concentrating on the front of the house that he hadn’t thought to check the back.
There was a squeak of hinges as the door was pushed open, and a little broken glass fell from the already shattered window.
Gio hissed in shock as Matteo stepped through, crunching glass under his feet.
The gun swung away from me to aim shakily at him.
“How did?”
“How did I find you so quickly?” Matteo asked. His lips thinned, and I could tell by the way he held himself that he wanted to look at me, but he didn’t move his eyes away from Gio.
Best friend
Brother
Traitor.
“You were never very good at planning, Gio. I searched for records of property your family owned, and this is the only address. You wouldn’t have the guts to take them anywhere else.” Gio shook his head. “Let them go.”
“No.”
“Let them go. You have me here now. You don’t need them. Let Sophia and Lily leave. You never have to see them again. I never have to see them again. You win without any blood being spilled.”
“It’s too late for that.” My brother’s voice cracked, but the gun didn’t waiver.
“I guess it is, and I’m sorry about that.”
Gio’s eyes widened. “What do you mean by that?”
“Sophia might not be able to keep her promise to Lily, but I can.”
Finally, his eyes darted to me. A look passed between us that I didn’t really understand, but I think it meant he loved me.
There seemed to be a sorry in there somewhere as well.
“Be brave, Lily. Daddy isn’t going to let anything happen to you. He’s not going to let the bad man hurt you or your mommy. I promise.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Matteo
