Chapter 16 #2
It’s thanks to their stupidity I’m able to drive back to the house.
At first, I had no idea what the fuck I was doing at the wheel, but I watched them every time they drove me to this shithole.
Saw how they started it, what they did to drive it.
I memorized everything. Every damn detail of the outside.
I ate it up. Spit it out. Then chewed it up again. Until I could taste it.
Sure, I’m nowhere near good enough to drive, and I’m definitely afraid of going fast in case a police officer stops me, but it’s good enough.
They’ve got one of those GPS things too. After taking five minutes to figure it out, I realized they had Agnelo’s address programed in here, even had his name.
Finally pulling up to the house, I run to the door, banging on it so hard, I almost break the glass.
Ms. Greco opens it, Robby huddled to her side, but when she sees me, her eyes bug out. “Robby, sweetie, why don’t you go and finished building our tower?”
“Okay.” He frowns at me, darting off.
“Where is she?” I push past her, running into the house. “We all gotta go. Now! Aida! Where are you?”
“Matteo, you’re bleeding,” she whispers. “Your back. Your face. Oh my God.” She clasps a hand around her mouth.
“Is she upstairs? Why isn’t she down here with Robby?”
“Matteo…” She shakes her head with sorrow permeating her eyes.
“Tell me.” I walk up to her, gently clasping her shoulder, bending my head to meet her gaze as she lowers her face to the floor.
“She’s upstairs. Hasn’t come out since…” She pulls in a trembling breath, tears trapped in her lower lashes.
“Since when?”
“Since Agnelo brought her home yesterday…from that vile place.”
“Fuck!” I shout, stepping back, pulling at my hair. I don’t want to think of what they did to her there. The fury, it fills me to capacity, my chest expanding with every ravaging breath.
“I’m worried about her.” She wipes some tears away.
“She told me to leave her alone, so I did. Every time I bring food and leave it outside her door, letting her know it’s there, she never touches it.
I’ve heard her crying in there. That place…
” She swallows, shutting her eyes. “It still gives me nightmares.”
I clench my teeth. Hard. “We all have to leave now before they figure out I got out.” I start for the stairs, needing to see Aida, to hold her, to make sure she’s… She’s what? Okay? How the fuck could she be okay?
“I can’t go.” She shakes her head. “I can’t leave my family. But you take her and Robby and you go, as far as you’re able. You hear? This is your only chance.”
I nod, running up the stairs in a flash, banging on her door. “Aida! We gotta go now! Open up.”
But there’s not a sound coming from inside, even as I place my ear against the door. The ugly thought hits me fast.
What if she…
She wouldn’t. She told me she’d never leave me.
My muscles go rigid, my heart crashing in my ribs as I run at the door. Once…twice…slamming my shoulder into it with a gut-wrenching roar. I keep smashing the door, ignoring the pain running up my arm, until the wood cracks at the center, giving way as the latch breaks.
And when I’m inside… “No! Aida! No!” My heads spins as I rush to her unconscious body on the floor, a bottle of pills scattered beside her outstretched hand. “This is all my fault,” I howl, feeling for a pulse, my own filling my ears.
She whimpers. It’s low, but enough to know she’s still alive. “I’m so sorry!” Emotion clings to my throat as I scoop her small body up into my arms. “I’d take it all back if I could.”
I should’ve killed them, the boy and his father. They ended up dead anyway. If I did it myself, I would’ve prevented all of this.
“Oh my God!” Ms. Greco gasps. “I have to call 9-1-1!”
“We’ll take her now! I’m not waiting. She has a pulse, but it’s weak.” There’s panic-filled pain at my chest, my lungs, my throat. I can barely breathe. I can’t lose her. “It’d be faster if you drive,” I tell her. “I could barely do it earlier. I won’t be able to at all now.”
“O-okay.” I hand her the keys as we rush down the stairs. She grabs Robby from the kitchen, slips into her shoes and snatches her bag from the closet as we open the front door.
But in that moment, we’re no longer alone.
“Where do you all think you’re going?” Agnelo looks smug, a snarl planted over his mouth, six of his men beside him, their weapons drawn at us. “You thought you could get away?” He takes a menacing step toward us. “From me?” His eyes narrow.
I come at him closer. “I’m not afraid of you, cocksucker.”
“You should be.” He lets out one small chuckle. “I’m not nearly done with either of you.”
“Your daughter needs a damn hospital,” I tell him. “She tried to kill herself because of what you did!”
“That’s too bad.” He pops a brow. “Always knew she was weak. Nothing like me.”
“There’s nothing strong about you. You prey on those who can’t defend themselves.” If she weren’t here, if I were alone with him, I’d take them all. Every one of them would die. But I can’t. I have to sit on my revenge for when the day of reckoning comes.
“Really brave opening your mouth when I could shoot you all dead right now.”
“I don’t have time for your games.” My tone is sharp. “I’m taking her to the hospital. I won’t let her die.”
“Like hell you are.” His men move in on us, and Robby starts to cry. “She made her damn bed.”
“Shh.” Ms. Greco rubs Robby’s back as he hides in her thigh.
Every second we’re still here, she’s fucking dying! What the hell do I do? The vein at my neck pounds.
Aida jolts in my arms, eyes closed, gasping until she lurches forward and hurls. Relief washes over me, hoping she gets out everything she swallowed.
The men jump back, afraid of some fucking vomit.