“Yes, but you will stay on the stairs,” Gianna said before she started her descent. I hesitated only a second before I went after her. Nobody had ever said I was good at following orders. In that regard we were very much alike.
Gianna glared. “Stay there. Promise me.”
I wanted to argue, I wasn’t a little kid anymore, but then someone cried out in the room below, and the hairs on the back of my neck rose. “Okay. I promise,” I said quickly.
Gianna turned and moved down the remaining steps. She froze when she reached the last step before she finally stepped into the basement. I could only see part of her back but from the way her muscles tensed I knew she was upset. There was a muffled cry and Gianna flinched. Despite the fear pounding in my temples, I crept downstairs. I needed to know what my sister saw. She wasn’t someone who freaked out easily.
Even as I did I knew I’d regret it but I couldn’t resist. I was tired of being left out of everything, of always being too young, of being reminded every day that I needed protection from myself and everything around me.
The moment my feet hit the basement floor, my eyes settled on the center of the room. At first, I couldn’t even comprehend what was going on. It was as if my brain was giving me a chance to leave and be none the wiser, but instead of rushing off, I stayed and stared. Kept staring as my mind went into overdrive, soaking in every detail, every gruesome detail before me. Details I still remembered vividly years later.
There were two of the Russians who’d attacked us, tied to chairs, and then there was blood. Matteo and another man were beating and cutting them with gleaming knives, hurting them. My vision tunneled, and terror rose up my throat, and then my gaze settled on Romero and his kind brown eyes, which weren’t as kind as I remembered them. His hands, too, were covered in blood. The good guy and knight in shining armor I’d fantasized about? He wasn’t that guy. A scream ripped from my body, but I could only tell because of the pressure in my chest and throat. I didn’t hear anything beyond the rushing in my ears. Everyone stared at me like I was the crazy one. I wasn’t sure what happened after that. I remembered fragments. Hands grasping me, arms holding tight. Soothing words that did nothing. I remembered a warm chest against my back and the smell of blood. There was a brief burning pain when Matteo injected me with something before my world transformed into eerie calm. The terror was still there, but it was blanketed. My vision was blurry but I could make out Romero kneeling beside me. He picked me up and straightened with me in his arms. The forced calm won out and I relaxed against his chest. Right in front of my eyes a red blotch disfigured his white shirt. Blood from the men that had been tortured. Terror tried to rip through the medication, but it was futile and I gave up the fight. My eyes fluttered shut as I resigned myself to my fate.
Romero
As Made Men it was our task to keep those safe that we were sworn to protect: the weak, children, women. I, in particular, had devoted my life to this goal. Many tasks in my job involved hurting others, being brutal and cold, but keeping people safe always made me feel like there was more to me than the bad. Not that it mattered; if Luca asked me, I’d do every bad thing imaginable. It was easy to forget that despite our own ethics and morals and codes, we Made Men were what most people perceived as evil. I was reminded of our real nature, of my real nature when I heard Liliana’s scream. The screams of the Russians hadn’t moved me. I’d heard those, and worse, before. But that high-pitched, not-ending scream of a girl we were meant to protect was like a fucking stab in the gut.
Her expression and eyes were the worst; they showed me exactly what I was. Maybe a good man would have sworn to be better, but I was good at my job. Most days I enjoyed it. Even the terror-stricken face of Liliana didn’t make me want to be something other than a Made Man. Back then I hadn’t realized that this glimpse of brutality wasn’t even the worst way I would fuck up her life.
Liliana didn’t stop screaming.
“Romero!” Matteo snarled. “Take care of Liliana.”
I headed toward her but her eyes didn’t even register me. Gianna made a move as if to step in my way but then she allowed me to pass.
The steel door slammed at the top of the stairs, and Luca stormed in. “What the fuck is going on here?”
I was right in front of Liliana but she hadn’t stopped screaming. “Calm down, Lily. Everything is okay,” I murmured. She didn’t seem to hear me.
I reached for her, my fingers closing around her thin arm, but the touch sent her into flight mode. She jerked, tried to lash out but I slung my arms around her chest, trapping her arms at her side. Her back was heaving against my chest as she struggled against my hold.
She screamed and kicked. For a girl her size she put up a hell of a fight.
“Shut her up! Aria will hear,” Luca growled. He tried to catch her legs but she managed to kick his chin. He stumbled back, more from surprise than anything else.
Fuck. I had fought men twice Liliana’s size, experienced fighters, but with them I had been ruthless, intend on killing, but with Liliana I had to make sure to subdue her without harming her. Luca faced the same problem. Aria would go off on him if he hurt her baby sister, and even though he was Capo, Aria held that kind of power over him.
“Lily,” Gianna tried to calm her sister. “Lily, stop.”
Tito made a move as if to help us but Matteo shoved him backwards. “No. Stay out of it.”
Liliana twisted in my arm. It was like holding a wiggling cat. She raised her leg and kicked the wall. I stumbled backwards, not having expected that kind of move, and fell to the ground. Liliana was still pressed up against my chest but my grip had loosened. She pushed to her feet before I could grab her and tried to storm past Matteo but he was too quick. He grabbed her wrist, and wrapped an arm around her waist. A moment later she was sprawled out on her back and he was kneeling on her legs and had her hands pinned above her head. I jumped to my feet, not comfortable with what I saw. A fourteen-year-old girl shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t experience these kinds of horrors. Luca headed toward them with a syringe in his hand.
“Don’t hurt her!” Gianna shouted. “Don’t you fucking dare hurt her!”
“I’m trying very hard not to hurt her, but she’s making it difficult. Luca, now!” Matteo growled from his spot on top of Liliana.
Gianna blocked Luca’s way. “What is that?”
“Something that will calm her down,” Matteo said.
“Get out of the fucking way,” Luca said as he brushed past her, knelt beside Liliana and pushed the needle into her arm. She stopped struggling. Matteo released her wrists and straightened. Freed from his hold, Liliana whimpered, curled into a small shivering ball and started to cry. Luca sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, regret on his face.
“I hope you all burn in hell,” Gianna said. She knelt beside her sister and stroked her hair.
The Bratva asshole dared to laugh but Matteo got right into his face. “Shut the fuck up, or I swear I’ll cut your dick into pieces while you watch.”
“Romero, take Liliana into her room and tell the doc to check on her,” Luca ordered.
I nodded. I bent over Liliana, slipped my arms under her petite body and lifted her in my arms.