Page 90 of Mafia And Maid
I need to get away, far away before he arrives.
My feet carry me down the familiar path toward the edge of the woods where the trees stand tall and menacing in the darkness. The moonlight filters through the branches, casting eerie shadows on the ground.
It’s darker here, the thick canopy above blocking out most of the light, and it feels safer than the open streets. At least if he follows me into the woods, maybe I can lose him in the tangled maze of trees.Please God, let me get away before he gets here.
I stumble over a root, barely catching myself before I fall. My breaths are ragged, my lungs burning with the effort of running. I can’t keep this up. I’m not strong enough, not fast enough. But I can’t stop. Stopping means he’ll catch me, and if he catches me...I don’t want to think about what will happen then.
My thoughts race, frantic and disjointed. Every step feels heavier, harder. I’m not going to make it. He’ll find me.He always finds me.
My legs buckle, and I drop to my knees, the damp earth cold against my skin. I press my hands to my face, trying to steady myself, trying to stop the world from spinning out of control around me.
Eventually, I make it back to the main road, and keeping to the shadows, I wait for what seems like a lifetime for a bus to come along.
And once I’m back at Kori’s, I confide in her everything that’s happened, knowing that I won’t tell Camillo about any of this later. As far as he’s aware, I’ve spent the evening at Kori’s house, and I want to keep it that way. Because a part of me feels ashamed and embarrassed that my family’s unwilling to help me—that there must be something wrong withmefor them to treat me this way.
When Ethan and I catch the bus back to the Marchiano estate, I’m hypervigilant. Thank God I didn’t tell my family where I’m living. Because today has told me loud and clear that they won’t be helping me.
But another thing is also clear: that there’s no escape. I know that now. I’ve known it all along. No matter where I go, no matter how far I run, he’ll always be there, just a step behind, waiting to pull me back into the life I thought I could leave.
I’m trapped, caught in a nightmare with no way out. But for now, I just have to get us back to the Marchiano estate without Grayden catching me...
CHAPTER 21
CAMILLO
The image of Rosa in that little black one piece is burned into my mind.
The way it hugged each and every one of her curves, cutting high on her hips, and exposing a mouthwatering expanse of creamy thighs haunts my dreams nightly.
But it’s the yellow and purple that decorated the slope of her back that prompts me into the gym today. My knuckles are bruised from where I slammed them into the brick wall of the house after she fled inside. The sting of it is dull now as it collides again and again with the bag.
Anger is a different beast altogether. It festers and sinks, settling deep down inside me. An old friend roaring to life once more.
As badly as I want to storm over there and repay him for every fucking mark on her body, I restrain myself. He’s connected in a way that would be bad for us. There are ways around it—especially given where I sit in the organization. But with the FBI breathing down all our necks, it’s not a risk I can take.Yet.
And it’s this thought that keeps me going.
My heavy breathing fills the room as I wipe the trickles of sweat from my brow and gulp water from a glass. My imagination works overtime, conjuring different images of Rosa. Curled up on the floor of that alley with tears running down her face. Cowering beneath his hands. Struggling to free herself from his hold.
Memories of it still affect her. She was quiet and subdued after she came back with Ethan from her evening off—it’s clear she finds it difficult to relax even when she has time off and should be relaxing.
The sound of shattering glass fills the room.
I look down, and I realize I’ve smashed my hand with the glass into the wall, blood trickling from my battered knuckles. The sting of it brings me back into the room. The haze of red fades, and in its place is something else, crystal clear.
Never again.
I won’t allow it to happen ever again to her. She’s going to learn how to defend herself. I’m here to protect her, but it’s just in case for when I’m not around. My jaw ticks. The idea of her having to use it at all settles like a lead brick in my stomach.
Quickly, I clean off my hand and wrap it. Jogging into the kitchen where Rosa’s busy chopping for a vegetable platter, I pause in the doorway. And leaning against the frame, I watch her. She never fails to take my breath away. To calm the demons prowling deep inside me.
“Rosa.”
She looks up at me.
“How much do you have left to do today? And what’s Ethan up to?”
“Just the food prep. Ethan is drawing in the lounge.”