Chapter 44
Gabriella
I have no memory of returning to the clubhouse. I simply woke up the next morning, having been plagued with nightmares most of the night.
It was still dark, and the house was quiet and still. It was almost eerie to hear it in its current state, when it was so full of life any other time.
I looked around the room, seeing Vienna asleep in the chair in the corner. His long legs were stretched out in front of him, his hands resting on his knees, a gun in one of his hands.
An image flashed behind my eyes of Vienna looming over me, his gentle hands stroking the hair from my sweaty face. His lips were moving, but I had no idea what he was saying.
He reached out for me, slow and steady, and I felt myself flinch, saw the hurt flicker over his face.
Then there was Dante. And Dante picked me up, despite me screaming and begging him to let me go, to not touch me, to not hurt me.
“No, brother,” I heard him say to Vienna.
I slapped him across the face, and though he grunted, he showed no signs of anger.
“Let me do this. She doesn’t need to associate you with this.
She can’t walk, so one of us needs to carry her out of here.
She’s going to have nothing but bad memories. Let me be the face she sees.”
Vienna looked on the verge of tears, but he nodded anyway, letting Dante carry me back out to Rachel’s car.
And then Nico flashed in my mind and I flinched once again, almost falling off the bed in my haste to escape the image of that monster.
Vienna startled awake, the gun in his hand outstretched before his eyes had even opened.
He blinked into the darkness, seeing there was no danger, and his arm relaxed, the gun going back to his thigh. He quietly cleared his throat and shuffled in the chair, groaning softly as he stretched out his back.
And then his eyes landed on me.
“Gabriella,” he said, his voice gritty and full of sleep. “How long have you been awake?”
“Not long,” I replied quietly. So quietly I could barely hear myself. Vienna sat up, leaning forward slightly so he could hear me, but he kept his distance.
“Do you need anything?”
I shook my head, knowing he couldn’t really see me in the darkness, but hoping he got the message anyway.
There was nothing he could give me that would help.
A drink would be a welcome relief for my hoarse throat. Food may stop my stomach from lurching and growling at me. A bath and a blanket may freshen and soothe my body, comforting me with warmth.
But none of it could dull the pain. I could take all the painkillers in the world to try numb it, but the memories would never be erased. And so long as they were free to roam in my mind, I would never be at peace. Never be pain free.
“Is Rachel okay?” I asked, because I didn’t want to focus on me anymore. I didn’t want to think about myself at all.
“She’s fine. They took her to the station, and Dante had her out within the hour. She was singing Aqua to them by the time he arrived.”
“Which song?”
“Doctor Jones.”
“Of course she was,” I replied with a hollow chuckle.
“I heard the man arresting her was reprimanded and given a disciplinary. Not for the fact they got the wrong person, purely for arresting Rachel and exposing the staff to her shit again.”
My stomach lurched. I know he was trying to be funny, to make light of the situation, but I couldn’t help but focus on what he had said.
They arrested the wrong person.
“Shit, Gabriella,” Vienna swore. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”
I guess my face must have looked as stricken as I was feeling.
“It’s okay,” I said quietly, twisting the blanket on my knees. “So Nico… Nico got away then?”
“Yeah. Rachel saw Nico enter the store and rushed to the car for her gun. She didn’t want to face him unarmed.
She ended up hitting the security man in the temple when he tried to stop her at the entrance.
She rushed around looking for you, and it was only when someone pointed to the changing rooms that she realised what was going down.
She raced in there and shot Nico in the back of the shoulder.
She’s kicking herself for missing her aim. ”
“It wasn’t her fault. It was a stressful situation.”
“She’s still blaming herself. She thinks it’s her fault Nico escaped.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I wasn’t telling you to make you feel bad, princess.”
“I know. But I’m sorry anyway.”
Vienna sighed heavily. “Do you want to talk about it? Do you want to tell me what he did?”
A flash of the changing rooms flickered behind my eyes—Nico pressing himself into me. The phone playing. The noises.
I squeezed my eyes shut tight and shook my head. “No,” I said, trying to smother my sob. “I can’t, I—”
“I’ve seen the footage, Gabriella.”
My head snapped back with shock. “W-what?”
He had seen me?
He had actually seen what Nico had done? Where he had touched me?
“Hacksaw had it before you’d even arrived home.”
“Why do the changing rooms even have cameras? Isn’t that illegal?”
“Yes,” he replied simply. “But that shop is on our territory. Crash had cameras installed everywhere a long time ago, and we’ve always kept them up to date.
We never look at the footage unless we need to—reports of drugs being taken in changing rooms, or people using it for private meetings thinking they’re safe there. It was a contingency plan.”
“So you saw everything?” I asked, feeling my stomach lurch in horror.
“Yes. I don’t want to lie to you, Gabriella. So even though I know you don’t want to hear it, I have to be honest.”
I didn’t like where this was going.
“I heard it as well,” he said, looking heartbroken.
“You heard…” I whispered, feeling the shame wash over me.
He had heard Nico tell me to betray Vienna. He had heard what he did to my mother.
I wanted to be sick.
“I know you’re not ready to talk about it, but you need to know, you’re not to blame for what he did. You—”
“Get out,” I said, my voice the strongest it had been since returning here.
“Gabby—”
“Get out!” I nearly screamed.
I was so overcome with shame. I was utterly fucking mortified. It was bad enough that Vienna knew but having him see, having him hear… I was fucking horrified.
My heart began to race, my skin prickling and sweating. I couldn’t have him near me. I couldn’t sit and talk about this with him.
“I need you to leave, Vienna. I need you to get the fuck out!”
“I’m leaving,” he said, standing up slowly. “But I’m only right next door. And whilst I’m there, I want you to think about what’s just happened in here. I want you to think of how you told me to fuck off, and I left straight away. Think about what that really means, Gabriella.”
I glared at him as he walked to the door.
He opened it and looked back at me. “It means you’re free, princess.
It means your voice matters. It means you are important and your thoughts, feelings and wants are all valid and listened to.
I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you today, but you are safe. You’re not back there.”
He closed the door softly, leaving me to think about what he had said.