163

163
Raella's POV
I needed to run.

I needed to scream.

I needed to tell Vincenzo.

But there wasn’t time for any of it. For a second, it was like I was back at the dinner last week. I was having déjà vu. Carmella hurled herself at me exactly like she had before.

The only difference was, no one was here to stop her this time.

There was nothing between me and Carmella except empty space, and she was closing it quickly.

When she smashed into me, my lungs compressed. I couldn’t scream. I could barely even breathe.

We collapsed on the tile floor, and every training session I’d had with Giselle and Vincenzo fell out of my head. All I could do was throw my arms over my face and try to protect myself from Carmella’s nails, fists, and teeth.

She grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked. I swung out at her, but I hit dead air. Then she smashed my head against the floor. Stars exploded behind my eyes.

“You ruined everything, you fucking bitch!” Carmella screeched. Her breath was hot on my neck. I drove my elbow back in the general direction of what I thought was her face and yelped when her teeth dug into my bicep. She was fucking rabid.

Then Carmella spluttered. She let go of my hair and slid back, and I realized my bicep had smashed into her teeth.

She hadn’t bitten me. I’d hit her.

That one success was enough to wake me up. It was enough to pull me out of the shock of her showing up and lunging at me so that I could see what I needed to do.

When I was sore and exhausted from training, I told Vincenzo that he and Giselle were going to break me. He swore they were training me so no one would ever be able to break me.

I guessed it was time to put that to the test.

Carmella was still trying to reclaim the little bit of ground she had just lost when I flipped onto my back and kicked out. She was practically on top of me, so all I managed to do was kick her shins. But it was better than lying on the ground defenseless.

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be!” Carmella panted, scrabbling for grip on my arms.

I knew if she pinned me down, I wouldn’t get back up. So I threw all of my weight to one side and rolled. It gave me enough space to pull my right leg up and then kick straight back with the heel of my foot.

Carmella’s knee snapped awkwardly under my kick. Things that weren’t supposed to move went pop-pop-pop. Even I winced.

Her shriek echoed off the high ceilings as I crawled away on my hands and knees. My head was still spinning from the earlier blow, so standing up wasn’t an option. I just needed to get far enough away to—

Then there was a cold hand around my ankle.

Carmella raked her fingernails into my skin. I tried to kick, but she threw herself on top of my legs, pinning me down to the floor.

Her breathing grew louder as she scrambled over me. Vincenzo was going to find me dead on his entryway floor. Maybe Carmella would lie in wait and attack him, too. He’d drop to his knees next to my corpse in horror and that’s when she would strike. He’d probably still be able to fight her off, but he’d never forgive himself for letting me die.

That thought was scarier than realizing I was about to die. And I mustered up one last burst of energy.

I hauled myself up onto my arms, pulled my legs in as fast as I could, and threw myself forward. It only put a few feet of space between me and Carmella. It wasn’t enough, I knew that.

But at least I’d tried.

I hoped Vincenzo knew I’d tried.

Carmella reared back to launch herself at me again… just as shots rang out.

She dropped flat on the floor, but I spun around, searching for the source. Lorenzo? Vincenzo? Maybe even Joey? Vincenzo had told me his household staff was trained for emergency situations like this.

Maybe someone had come to save me.

Then I turned and saw my dad standing in the hallway, his gun pointed at the ceiling.

“Stay the fuck away from my daughter.”

There was a hole in the ceiling and plaster dust rained down in a white haze.

A few hours ago, he had shown up carrying flowers and tagliatelle. Now, he was holding a gun. It was hard to reconcile the two sides of him. But it didn’t matter. He was here. I was safe.

So why didn’t it feel that way? Something still seemed wrong. Carmella was still lying flat on the floor. My dad was sighing with relief and setting the gun down on the ground. A hole in the ceiling was smoking.

It took me a second to put the pieces together.

Then it hit me. He had fired a warning shot.

Which meant he hadn’t hurt Carmella.

Which meant she shouldn’t be lying motionless on the floor.

My dad moved toward me, leaving the gun behind. I saw it all happen in slow motion. He was holding a hand out to help me up, but behind him, Carmella lifted herself. She didn’t stand all the way because she didn’t need to. She could reach what she needed to while lying down.

She picked up the gun in her hand and, unlike my dad, she wasn’t pointing at the ceiling. She was pointing it at his back.

Without a word, she fired.

Unlike him, she didn’t start with a warning shot. No remorse. No chance to give up.

Carmella pulled the trigger and my dad jerked and crumpled to the floor.

“Dad!” I reached out for him, but my head spun. I thought I had a concussion, but if I didn’t get to him, things were going to be so much worse.

I couldn’t put one foot in front of the other, but I tried anyway. I lifted myself to my knees and the world was yanked out from under my feet. I fell sideways with my shoulder pressed to the wall.

Carmella’s shadow fell over me. She scoffed. “What Vincenzo sees in you, I will never fucking know.”

Then something heavy smashed into my temple. The world went dark.

The last thing I saw was the blood spreading across my father’s shirt.