"Is that so?" He quirks a brow, amused.
"You are," I add with more confidence, and he cracks a smile.
"Only for you, little tigress. You have no idea what I'm like with everyone else."
"How?" I ask before I can think it through. I don't want him to tell me how he is with other women. Holding myself still, I await his answer.
"You're the only one who gets to see this side of me," he answers before amending, "the only deserving one." I frown at his choice of words.
Deserving.
I'm about to ask what he means by it, but then he continues.
"The others get the monster they created. The only difference is that they never see it coming."
His cryptic words give me pause, and I want to question him further, but once the movie starts, I become captivated by the action on screen.
A while later, the door to the cinema room bursts open, and the lights are turned on. We both scramble to get up, squinting to get accustomed to the sudden light.
A tear-streaked Lucia runs toward Enzo, hugging him and bawling her eyes out. Enzo freezes, his hands still by his sides.
I don't know what's happening, and Lucia doesn't seem tosay much besides wailing and lamenting whatever she's lamenting.
A look of pure horror crosses Enzo's face as she keeps moving her hands all over his body, and I decide it's enough.
Grabbing her arm, I pull her off him, taking my place by his side. He breathes a sigh of relief, and his muscles immediately relax—not that I can't relate since Lucia isn't the most pleasant person.
"What is it, Mother?" His voice is grave and cutting as he addresses his mother, and she quickly collapses on the floor, continuing to cry her eyes out.
"Your sister..." she starts, hiccupping. "Romina's dead."
Enzo freezes.
"What do you mean she's dead?"
"They found her," more sobs, "naked and beaten up. Her husband is in custody."
Enzo's face morphs before my eyes, and he pushes my hand away, taking a step to put some distance between us.
"You're telling me,"—his voice causes a shiver to go down my spine and I instinctively take a step back—"that my brother-in-law killed my sister?"
"What am I to do? My child!" Lucia's sobs are getting louder, but all I care about is Enzo—being there for him.
As I go toward him to offer him some comfort, he evades my touch, leaving the room.
I'm rooted to the spot, looking at his retreating figure and not knowing how to proceed.
"Bitch," Lucia's transformation is sudden as she wipes away her tears, her diabolical smile returning full force.
God, is this a woman who just lost her child?
She barrels into me on her way out, kicking me to the ground. I barely have time to break my fall, and my elbow catches on one of the seats, my skin peeling on a metal bar. Myface contorts in pain as my hand goes to my newly bleeding wound, trying to apply pressure to alleviate the pain.
"You think you've won, don't you? But you don't know Enzo like I do. Soon you'll be out of this house and on the streets." She laughs at my pained expression, and I barely avoid the kick intended for my stomach.
"We'll see, Lucia," I grunt as she leaves the room.
I'm not about to go down easily. And while Enzo's grieving his dead sister, I'll be there to comfort him.
