15. Isa
ISA
I quietly moved out of the kitchen. I should have never left my room in the first place, but Dad had been on one of his binge drinking episodes for the last two days.
I managed to get scraps here and there from the kitchen, and once even some cold lasagna that Maura had cooked, all the while avoiding Dad.
The last time I had a full meal, before the lasagna, was when Elio took me out on that picnic in his truck at Lake Mead.
I didn’t know what had triggered this episode, and I didn’t care to know.
I just hoped it ended soon.
But I was hungry. I could feel the shakes coming on, and it looked like Dad was passed out on the couch.
Maura was busy cleaning in the kitchen, her back to me when I walked in.
I was much more fortunate than she was.
At least I could hide out in my room, away from the vicious storm that was Joseph Gambino.
She still had to work.
I moved quickly and quietly over to the fridge. There was some leftover chicken dinner from the night before, and my mouth watered at the sight.
I wouldn’t be able to warm it up. It would take too long, and the microwave was too loud, but cold chicken was better than no chicken.
I moved over to where Maura was cleaning to grab a plate, when she flinched and turned to look at me. It took everything in me not to gasp at the sight of her.
A few long seconds went by without any words passing between us. I didn’t know what to say. Tears sprang to my eyes as I took in the black eye already forming.
She shook her head, as if telling me not to cry.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She grabbed my hand. “Yes. It’s just one hit. Hurry and get some food and get back to your room.”
“But—”
She shot me a look, cutting me off before reaching up for a plate and handing it over to me.
My lip trembled. When I didn’t do anything more than stand there and look at her, she forcefully turned me around and pushed me toward the fridge.
I barely saw anything as I put some chicken onto the plate.
I turned to look at her once I was done, and she made a shooing motion with her wrist.
I blinked, feeling conflicted. I had never wanted to call Valentino and beg him for help more than I did then. But the ramification of Valentino getting involved wasn’t something I was sure I could handle.
I nodded and headed out, hearing loud snores coming from the sofa in the living room when I passed. I quickly walked to my room.
Others would talk. We wouldn't be able to keep it a secret. I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret, and just the thought of others finding out, of knowing just how weak I was…
I shivered as Chiara's mocking face popped into my head. Shame was a heavy thing sitting on my chest until it felt like there wasn’t enough air getting into my lungs.
How Dad handled his family matters was up to him. If Valentino got involved, no one would take his side.
And Maura.
She wasn’t forced into this.
There had been people forced to work for the families during Amadeo’s reign.
That was quickly shut down when Massimo took over. He didn’t deal with people. I didn’t know if it was because he thought they were too complicated to deal with, or if there were some moral lines that he didn’t cross.
Whatever it was, I was grateful for that.
But that didn’t mean Maura was free to leave.
Her mom was forced into this during Amadeo’s time.
She knew too much, so Massimo would never let her leave.
I could request that she work elsewhere, but I doubted Massimo would take my words into consideration, or even if he did, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t end up somewhere even worse.
I leaned back against my door and looked around the spacious room.
A room fit for a princess.
I felt like Cinderella stuck in the attic, with nowhere to go. I moved over to my bed and sat down.
It wasn’t always bad.
Dad wasn’t always in a bad mood. He didn’t always drink. He knew better than to put himself in that vulnerable state all the time.
I just have to wait it out until…
Until Valentino finds a husband for me, or…
I looked down at my chicken, picking apart the meat and no longer feeling that hungry. One thing about being in love with someone who hadn’t always felt the same was…
I didn’t know if Elio loved me or not.
Or if he saw a future with me.
I shook my head. It didn’t matter. And it wasn’t like I was going to make him marry me simply because I wanted to escape my life so badly.
What kind of marriage would we have?
One where he resented me for the rest of our lives?
I grimaced.
Yeah, I would much rather live unmarried for the rest of my life if that were the case.
I hooked my arms around Maura and led her off the property.
“Careful,” I said, leading her out to the waiting car.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I think you are making a big deal out of this.”
“I don’t think I am,” I said as I opened the back door to the car.
The driver eyed us, his expression wary. I didn’t blame him. I doubt we looked like we were going out for a fun outing.
There was nothing fun about today.
I helped Maura into her seat and climbed in after her, giving the driver the address to the hospital. We didn’t say anything on the way there. I looked back at Maura. She was looking out the window, lost in thought.
She lied.
It wasn’t just the black eye.
It was a sprained wrist that had made it hard for her to do anything in the house.
So I was taking her to the hospital, and Valentino was already looking for a temporary hire to take her place while Maura “rested” from a fever she had.
Valentino didn’t need to know the details. Dad wouldn’t be happy once he realized I had gone over his head and went straight to Valentino to handle what he considered his business.
We arrived at the hospital in the city about twenty minutes later. I tipped the driver and got out of the car, looking back at Maura. She hesitated.
“Come on,” I said. “I already called. They can see you right away, and Valentino had already set it up with Dad so that you can be off for a few weeks while your wrist heals.”
She shook her head. “Mr. Gambino will not be happy about this.”
I looked over at the driver, who was pretending not to hear us. “He’ll cool off by the time you come back. But you need to get this checked out.”
I watched as indecisiveness moved in her eyes.
We were already here. There was no point in going back home.
She shouldn’t go back home and try to work with an injured wrist. I let out a small sigh of relief when she nodded and got out of the car.
I walked to the familiar entrance of the hospital door.
I didn’t come here often.
But I knew a nurse who worked here who would help us. We had insurance, but I usually paid with cash, not wanting to leave a paper trail behind me. We would also be paying with cash for Maura today.
Nurse Jane greeted us near the entrance.
Her smile was soft when her eyes found mine.
We stopped in front of her, and I watched as she looked me up and down, as if to check for some hidden injury I might have.
I wasn’t here for me though. “Hi,” I greeted her. “This is Maura.”
Nurse Jane’s eyes moved from me to Maura, as if trying to decide what our relationship with one another was, before she plastered on the professional smile I knew well.
“It’s nice to meet you. I have the room set up for you. Why don’t we get started, and a doctor will come by to see you after.”
I nodded, pulling Maura away from the entrance, and followed Nurse Jane. The best thing about her—she didn’t ask too many questions.
By the time I managed to drop Maura off at her place and headed back home, it was dark.
I hesitated when the car pulled up, and I saw that one of Valentino’s cars was in the driveway.
I let out a small sigh and got out of the car. I barely noticed the driver taking off.
There was no avoiding this.
I walked through the door and was met with silence, though I doubted it was because no one was around.
Sure enough, when I walked into the living room, Dad and Valentino were sitting across from each other. Dad was glaring at Valentino, while my brother remained relaxed, gazing at something on his phone.
They had never been close.
Not even a little bit.
I thought it was because Dad always viewed Valentino as competition in a game he was losing, and Valentino didn’t much care for the way he tried to raise us.
Both men looked up at me when I entered.
“Were you going to tell me Maura needed a break ?”
He said “break” like it was a dirty word, and that Maura was just being lazy. I worked hard to control my expression.
“I didn’t want to bother you with these things,” I said.
“So you went to Valentino? He doesn’t even live here anymore.”
I opened my mouth to answer him, but I didn’t know what to say at that point.
“It’s done,” Valentino said, looking from me to Dad as if there was just something he couldn’t figure out.
Dad’s lips thinned from Valentino’s voice.
He stood up, and I resisted the urge to beg him to get me out of here. To not leave me alone with Dad when he was feeling like this. But he surprised me when he said, “Come on. I’m taking you out.” Valentino turned to Dad. “You don’t have any objection, do you?”
“You would do whatever you want, with or without my objection.”
Valentino shrugged, like he couldn’t care either way.
“I have already put in a request with Massimo. Letting you take over my position is one thing, but the family matter of marrying Isa off should be my decision. And you have put this off for far too long.”
Valentino’s face darkened from his words. He walked over to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, leading me away. “You do what you have to do. We’ll see what Massimo says in the meeting, then.”
Valentino led me out of there before I could say anything. I didn’t dare look back at Dad. I could only imagine the look on his face then.
Finally, we got out of the house. It wasn’t until we were both in the car that Valentino turned to me. “Does Dad seem different to you?”
“Different?” I asked, feeling my heart start to speed up from his question.
He frowned. “Yes. Different. There’s something… off about him.”
I shook my head, not knowing what to say.
“Or maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I last saw him.”
“Must be,” I said quietly, settling back into my seat.
Valentino turned on the car and pulled out of there. “How’s Maura?”
“Resting,” I said. “Thank you for finding someone to fill in for her.”
If Valentino hadn’t found someone, I was sure she would have been back at work in the morning.
He grunted at me. His way of saying “You’re welcome.”
I smiled. I missed hanging out with my brother. It had been a while since I showed up at his apartment or even just hung out with him for the night. And everything was always better when he was around.
I stared out the window, watching as Las Vegas passed by. It took me a while to realize we weren’t heading back to Valentino’s apartment.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I thought you would like a night out.”
I looked back at him. “Really?”
He smiled, turning his eyes briefly over to me, and said, “Really.”
“Where?” I looked down at my outfit. I wasn’t dressed to go anywhere fancy. I didn’t think I wanted to go anywhere fancy, but I supposed we were pretty limited in where we could go tonight.
“Where would you like to go?” Valentino asked.
I tried to think. Where did I want to go? It wasn’t like I could come up with something off the top of my head.
Valentino waited patiently for me to decide. I smiled and looked at him. “Let’s go to a movie.”
“A movie?”
I nodded. “Yes. I want to watch something mindless. Maybe a comedy. I just don’t want to think about anything anymore.”
His smile was soft when he said, “A mindless, funny movie? Yeah, I think we can do that.”
And that was what we did.
It was the first time all day when I didn’t have to think about Dad or Maura, or this feeling of being suffocated from the inside out.
It was nice.
It was perfect.