I barely feel the tips of the wood with my fingers and I grab them with a force that nearly snaps them in two. I slide up the wall, waiting as deep voices speak in Italian. The smoke and dust is beginning to settle. Over the sound of the blood rushing in my ears, I can’t make out a damn thing they’re saying. Not that I’d understand, anyway.
As the footsteps come closer, I prepare to strike. At least one person is going to die. I’m not leaving. I don’t want to leave.
The irony of the situation settles heavy on my shoulders. I couldn’t wait to leave, but now all I want to do is stay. A shadow slowly creeps into the room.
I hold my breath, raising the stakes and as soon as the first boot lands on the tile, I turn and put all my weight into the blow.
I scream out and nearly collapse when I see who it is.
He grabs my wrist and my elbow, keeping the first stake from hitting him, but the second lands on his shoulder, slicing through the thin shirt and stabbing into his flesh.
Uncle Toni.
I scream, covering my mouth and hunching on the ground in shock and fear.
His face scrunches with agony as his piercing curse reverberates off the wall and the other men come in.
Uncle Toni rips the stake out as someone I vaguely recognize sees me and yells to someone else.
I huddle on the ground. “I’m so sorry.” I heave in a breath.
The man throws me a blanket, and Uncle Toni kneels down. “Grace,” he says and looks at me with such sadness in his eyes that I fall into his embrace, covered in the blanket.
I’m shocked and shaking with fear. The adrenaline and anxiety aren't even close to being gone. I start to say something. I want to rattle off questions and ask about Gio.
Does he know?
I need to know what’s going on, but when I pull back to look my uncle in the eyes, the men have all gathered around me and there’s only one I recognize well. Alec. He’s always by my father’s side.
I can hardly breathe, and the fear must be written on my face. I can’t go back.
My body is cold and numb. I’m outnumbered.
“Shh, it’s alright, Grace,” my uncle says, pulling me in closer. My heart beats so hard, it hurts. I want to tell him everything. I need to know what’s happened. But with the cold dead eyes of that man on me, I say nothing. I let my uncle appear to comfort me.
“We’ve got you now.” He strokes my back. “That sick fuck is dead.” My knees collapse inward and crash on the cold hard tile.
“Gio?” I whisper his name.
“It’s okay, Grace. He’s gone. He’s never going to hurt you again.”
No, I shake my head, violently. My lungs refuse to fill, and I struggle to move. I'm paralyzed. No, not Gio. He can’t be gone.
I try to swallow and regain some sort of composure. I have to tell him.
“Move,” Alec’s cold voice says, and my uncle steps aside. “I’ve got her,” he says, leaning down to pick me up. I start to push him away, but I see flashes of my father. I can’t disobey.
I tremble in his arms and stare at my cage past him and in the other room.
He’s dead. I blink away the tears. How could he leave me?
I grip onto Alec’s shoulders as he carries me away, speaking to my uncle in Italian. The cage grows small, and eventually it’s gone from my sight. I can hear barking outside, and part of me wonders what that is. A man walks by with scratches on his face, clutching his arm.
As I walk through his house, my heart splits in my chest, shattering into irreparable pieces. He can’t be dead.
They can’t take him from me.
I need him.
