Page 67 of Twisted Throne
Several of our men were milling around outside. Ricky broke away from a cluster of serious looking guys and ran over to us. He took in the blood splatter that covered us both.
“You guys okay,capo?”
“Yes, we’re fine. But there’s a body in the rose garden that needs to be taken care of.” Paul’s response was curt as he switched back into business mode. “What’s our status?”
“Some of them managed to weasel away, but none of Sabitino's men left of the property are still breathing. We lost four of our own, with three more injured.”
Paul nodded.
“I’ll be back for a full report once I get her inside, find Carlos as well.”
Ricky took back off toward the rest of the men, when he reached them he pointed to the garden and two of them took off in that direction, presumably to gather Elimio's body.
When we reached the back door of the house, Paul opened it and gestured me inside. The breath left my lungs when I stepped into the kitchen.
The air was filled with the sickening, coppery smell of blood. There was a bloody streak leading across the white tile around the island.
I ran around the corner and saw Lucy sitting on the floor, Elena in her arms.
“S-she’s not b-breathing,” she whispered. “I tried to help, but she–” Lucy broke off with a sob. Her eyes were puffy and mascara streaked down her face.
Elena was limp and motionless, her entire torso was covered in blood, and Lucy was soaked with it as well.
I dropped to my knees by Lucy and Paul leaned down and put his fingers at Elena’s neck, searching for a pulse that I knew he wouldn’t find.
“She said s-she was fine.” Lucy whimpered, looking down to where she cradled Elena’s lifeless form in her arms. “But when we went to go back upstairs she fell… and there w-was so much blood…”
“Shhhh, it’s okay. You can let go of her now.” I tried to loosen her grip but she just clutched her tighter.
“She wanted me to go on.” Tears rolled down Lucy’s face. “B-but I wouldn’t leave her. I don’t care what she d-did!”
She burst out crying, and I wrapped my arms around her. Paul was able to ease Elena's body away from her.
“Come on, let’s get upstairs and get cleaned up, okay?” I pulled Lucy up out of the floor and nudged her toward the door, angling myself so that she wouldn’t have to see Elena lying on the floor like a pale, broken rag doll.
***
Rap.
Rap.
“Come in!”
It was early, but I had been up for a while. I’d snatched a couple of hours of sleep late last night—early this morning, really. It had taken hours before I’d been able to get Lucy cleaned up and calmed down. It felt so strange to see the hyper, enthusiastic Lucy so shaken and teary eyed. Silence had replaced her usual non-stop chatter and she had simply climbed up to sit on the couch beside me, her head on my shoulder until she finally fell asleep. I hadn’t had the heart to move her, so I ignored my aching back and threw a blanket over the both of us. Her parents had shown back up at around two in the morning, and I’d passed her off to her grateful mother and grim, silent father. I had only managed a few hours of restless sleep afterward.
The door to my room opened and Angelo stepped inside.
“May I come in?” he asked, polite as always.
“Please.” Even through the weary haze in my mind, I gestured him to the couch, then moved over and took a seat in one of the armchairs.
“I apologize that I didn’t get to speak to you last night, there was much to do but that was no excuse.” He studied me. “Paul told me about what happened with Emilio.”
I stared evenly back at him.
“How are you?” Angelo asked me cautiously. “Taking a life is… difficult. Regardless of the situation. It’s necessary at times,si, but still difficult.”
I had to stop and think before I could respond. When I did, I chose my words carefully.