The doctors looked us over, and asked questions, but neither of us told the truth of what actually happened. My suspicions were correct about Lily; she was severely dehydrated and had several broken ribs, along with the two black eyes. Thankfully, the staff didn’t call social services because of Kade's connections with the hospital. Perks of having the Mafia on your side, I guess.
Lily would need to stay in the hospital for at least a night to make sure she was fully hydrated. I lay in bed with her curled around me, not saying a word. What could I possibly say Sorry it took so long to find you? Sorry you were taken and not me? There were so many things I wanted to say to her, but I couldn’t find the words.
“I’m so sorry, Peanut,” was all I could muster.
“It’s not your fault, it was the bad man’s fault,” she said, which did nothing to ease my guilt.
“I promise I am never letting you go,” I said into her hair.
Lily squeezed me tighter before finally falling asleep. She was safe now. She was in my arms. My Lily was back. But why was I so worried about what Machine was doing? Why was there an ache in my chest that he wasn’t here too, holding us?
Lily seemed to have a real connection with Machine already, and it made my heart swell a little more. Machine had helped save my girl, had saved the piece of me that had been missing. He healed something inside of me that I thought would be permanently broken.
I just hoped he was okay.
FORTY-EIGHT
MACHINE
I took my time torturing Stefanos. I started with peeling his fingernails and toenails off before removing his ears and tongue. I was covered in blood as I removed his pinky finger. Kade stood in the corner and let me work my magic. We had not gotten a lot out of him, just that he was getting back at us for fucking up his skin-trade deal with Ricci. I didn’t care what his reasons were. No one fucked with my girl.
I took my knife and wiped it on my blood-covered pants. Stefanos wasn’t conscious at this point and was barely alive from all of the blood loss.
“Finish him,” Kade demanded from the corner of the room.
I took my knife and started sawing through Stefanos’ neck, putting all of my effort and anger into severing the muscles and bone until his head. Quickly Stefanos’ screams were cut short when I made it to his spine. After several seconds of sawing through the bone, his head fell to the floor with a satisfyingthunk. I spat on it. Never again would he hurt those I loved. I watched as blood began to pool around his severed head and body. The copper material oozed along the seam of the floor. I followed the expansion of the fluid until my eyes blurred.
Kade walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “It’s done,compagno.”
I nodded and walked over to the sink to start cleaning up. My mind whirled from the events of the night. Finding Lily, having Badger in my arms again, the explosion, killing Stefanos. So much had happened that I couldn’t keep my thoughts straight.
I got to work cleaning up the torture room and disposing of Stefanos’ body. By the time I had gotten changed and to the hospital, both girls were asleep, clinging to each other on the narrow hospital bed. Buddha gave me a knowing smirk before looking back at his phone.
Seeing the sisters safe and together, and knowing Jessica finally had what she’d been fighting for all these years took my breath away, and oddly, filled me with an unexpected peace. She may not want me, but I swore to always protect Badger and Lily, no matter what. I would keep my distance for now, and in time, Badger and I would be brought back together.
I truly believed that. We were meant for each other.
FORTY-NINE
BADGER
I spent most of my time at the women’s shelter teaching Lily how to protect herself effectively. When we weren’t training, she was in her therapy program and going to school. I was amazed at how well she had transitioned back to classes. She wasn’t behind and caught on quickly. My girl was a superstar.
Nighttime was the worst. She stayed in my bed, clinging to me, and had nightmares constantly. Even with some new medications, there was only so much I could do to help her.
She was definitely feistier than she used to be, questioning me on where Machine was and why she couldn’t go to RSS with me every time I went. She refused to speak of our father, and I wasn’t sure what to do with him now that Lily was back. When I had asked if she wanted to see him, her words were as sharp as a knife:he can rot there.
I was wiping down the counter for the fourth time today, keeping myself busy to avoid thinking about Machine, when Lily let out a groan of frustration.
“Would you just go see Machine already?” she growled.
I looked at her in confusion. “What?” I hadn’t spoken to Machine since the night he’d saved me, and I only ever saw him at team meetings, where we both kept our distance.
“It’s clear you miss him,” she deadpanned, placing her hands on her hips.
“No, I?—”
“Don’t you dare lie to me, Jessica Fitzgerald,” she said, pointing at me.
