Page 99 of Forbidden Eyes
She twists around and nods, and the next thing I know, I’m ripped from my father’s grasp. I stumble forward, but sure arms catch me and pull me close. By the time I turn back, Mom is in Dad’s hands.
“No!” I scream, my voice piercing the air. My body thrusts forward, desperate to get to Mom, to try to save her, but this time it’s Carter who holds me in a vice-like grip. And for the first time since I met him, I'm not sure if I want that or not.
Twenty-Nine
She struggles and screams in my hold, arms trying to reach for her mother. I grip harder, dragging her backwards away from both of them. I don’t even know how she got into my arms. Maybe Hope pushed her here, a last shove of motherly intent in the middle of this chaos. Her eyes watch me as she keeps walking towards Vico, a small nod as if she’s telling me to keep Fia safe, keep her away from her father.
“Mom! Please!”
My gun rattles against her belt buckle, my hand splayed over her stomach to keep her from running straight back to them.
“Fia, come on,” I murmur, watching Vico carefully.
He slides his gun back under his jacket, eyes directed at me as he shrugs his jacket straight and calls his men off. Nate moves in front of me the moment they obey. Logan, too.
“Hope?” he says.
“It’s alright, Nate. I’m fine.”
“No, it’s not alright. MOM! Stay, please.”
“I love you, Fia. I’m fine. Really. I’ll call you soon.”
The look Vico gives Hope tells me everything is not fine, and nor will she be. She’ll take a beating for this, take the brunt of his anger and hatred. Everyone knows he doesn't give a crap about hitting women, the woman he apparently loves included. I grip tighter to Fia, the thought of what she could have suffered infuriating me, and start turning, physically lifting her from the ground to get her back into the house and away from the pain she’s feeling. The pain he's caused. But the rage of her fight, the anger and fury inside her, cause me to lose my grip on her.
She scrabbles and runs, feet barrelling back again.
“Nate!” I shout, trying to grab hold of her.
It’s Logan who spins and catches hold of her, his hands pushing her back into me the moment I get to him. Vico chuckles and reaches for a pack of smokes, lighting one. He surveys the carnage around the house, a smooth sense of calm returning to his features regardless of the dead bodies littering the ground or us having hold of his daughter.
“You sure you don’t want to come home, Sofia?” he asks, drawing on the smoke and putting his body in front of Hope. "It's safe. Secure. Mommy's there to wipe those tears up." Asshole. If I weren’t holding onto her so damn tightly, I'd rip his fucking tongue out and get back to teaching him some manners.
“I hate you!” she spits, still kicking and fighting me. “Let Mom stay. Please, Dad. Please don’t do this.”
She’s all over the goddamn place in my hold, nails digging in and elbow pounding me in the ribs like a bitch to get back to them. I grunt, ignoring the pain of my broken bones, and cling on regardless of her spirit. He’s not going to let Hope stay, and she won’t anyway. Not now she sees it as the only way of placating him. I didn’t expect this from Fia, thought her mind was settled. Perhaps I read her wrong.
I squeeze her, undecided what the fuck to do as I look at Hope. She shakes her head at me, quietly telling me to keep hold of Fia as she puts her hand on Vico’s shoulder to try easing him back. I can't do that, though. Won't. Not even after all this. They're her decisions. Her rules from now on.
“Fia, make up your fucking mind,” I mutter, releasing her. “I’m not doing it for you.”
She spins to look at me, shock and anger all over her features. “What?”
“Go, stay. This has all been for you. Either way, I’m not forcing you into anything. I’m not him and I never fucking will be.”
She looks lost standing there with nothing to hold her still, her body vibrating as she glances between her mother and me. Doors on one of the cars slam and then the other, the few guys on Vico’s team getting ready to leave by loading in their dead.
Looks like time’s up for decisions.
“This isn’t over, Vico,” Nate calls, his feet inching forward.
Logan moves with him, blocking Fia’s view. She doesn’t move, though, just keeps staring at me as if I’ve got answers to questions she hasn’t even asked. My goddamn eyes stare back, not sure if I have any answers or not, but no way am I forcing her to stay if she’d rather go.
Another fucking chuckle from Vico breaks our gaze at each other. Fia’s so quick to pick up some stones from the floor and launch them at him, I feel like pulling a trigger at him to help her out. They scatter over the vehicle, some of them hitting him on the back of his head as he opens the door and pushes Hope inside. He barely acknowledges them, just brushes off his jacket sleeves and then slides into the car with her while looking back.
No other response. No show of care.
No goodbyes.