“It’s driving me insane,” she whispered. “Lying to the sweetest people I know. To Dante, to Marco, to you.”
“I can’t promise there won’t be consequences,” I warned. “But no matter what, I promise we’ll find a way to make you safe.”
Bambi used the soggy tissue in her hand to blow her nose then smiled at me weakly. “Thank you, Elena. You really are a beautiful donna.”
I sighed again, standing up with Rora. “You pack quickly, okay?” I’m going to lie her down on the couch and come back to help.”
The blonde nodded eagerly, her eyes already a little clearer now that we had a plan.
I moved into the main room and went to put Rora on the couch when there was a click at the door.
Such that.
A click.
But it set the hairs on the back of my neck on end.
Slowly, quietly, I crept away from the living room and its front door back into the shadowed kitchen.
Bang.
Something pounded on the door.
My back pressed against the kitchen cabinets, Aurora a heavy weight in my arms.
Bambi appeared in the bedroom doorframe, her hair a haloed mess, red rimmed eyes wide as blue saucers.
“Is that him?” I mouthed.
She nodded hysterically.
“Where can we hide?” I asked as there was another bang at the door and a voice yelled Bambi’s name through the wood.
She jerked her chin at the long, narrow wooden door next to the fridge. I opened it to find it mostly empty, only a mop, dust pan, broom and vacuum inside. It was just big enough to fit us both if we squeezed.
“Go,” she whispered harshly moving to us.
I folded myself inside, ducking my head and pressing Aurora tight to my body. Bambi took a long look at us folded in the enclosure before she closed the door on us.
My breath was loud in the dark space.
Aurora didn’t make a sound, out like a light.
Carefully, I fished my phone out of my pocket and sent a group text to Dante and his crew.
Come to Bambi’s. Agostino di Carlo is here. We need help.
I prayed fervently that they were done whatever they’d been called to do and they’d get there soon.
Next, I typed in 9-1-1 and pressed send.
It was too late to speak, but I laid the phone on mute next to the crack in the door.
“Why the fuck didn’t you answer the door?” Agostino’s cold, cruel voice emanated across the room like dry ice.
“I was cleaning,” Bambi tried to explain in her sweet voice. “And I’m a mess. If I’d known you were coming I would have made myself presentable.”
His laugh was harsh. “You know I have no interest in you that way, Georgina. I’m in this for the intel. You didn’t show up at the shop yesterday. You know I get irritated when you miss our dates.”
Dates.
What a fucking psychopath.
“I’m sorry,” she said meekly. “Dante got out of jail yesterday so I spent the day cleaning his apartment. It’s my job.”
“I don’t give a fuck it’s your job. Your job is to keep me fed with intel about the Salvatore’s or I’ll take our daughter away somewhere you’ll never find her.” There was a pause and then, “Where is she?”
“At a friend’s house.”
The response was too quick. I could feel the suspicion in the air between them.
There was a clack of shoes against the wood floors and then his voice was closer.
“Aurora?” he yelled.
In my arms, his daughter jerked awake.
I clamped my hand gently over her mouth so she wouldn’t scream, but she only looked up at me, her eyes wide in the thin stream of light cutting in from the living room. She trembled slightly, so I held her even tighter.
“She isn’t here, Agostino,” Bambi insisted. “And you shouldn’t be either. If you want me to be your precious rat, you can’t keep showing up where they could find you.”
“Dante come to your house much?” he asked in a low, dangerous hiss.
“N-no, but he has before to pick up Rora or drop her off.”
“The filth near my daughter is disgusting. He’s not even Italian, you know that? The British figlio di puttana. The soon I end him the better. That’s why I came, I want you to tell me what he’s planning now he’s on the outside.”
“I don’t know.” Her words were immediately followed by shrieked as he hurt her somehow. “Please, Agostino, I really don’t know anything. I’m his housekeeper and his cook, he doesn’t speak freely around me very much.”
There was a pause filled with the sounds of her struggling and then, “You’re right. The only useful thing you’ve done is given us Jacopo who has value to Salvatore. You’re nothing. Not to him and not to me.”
“Please,” Bambi whispered. “Please just leave us alone.”
“You’re pathetic, Georgina, you really are. A pathetic liability. If I don’t need you, what are you good for, huh?”
“I’m the mother of your child,” she tried.
In my arms, Aurora whimpered, ducking her head under my armpit to block out the noise. It was impossible to stem my own panic, both remembered and real. Hiding in the kitchen felt too much like a nightmarish déjà vu waiting for the Camorra to beat up my father.
“You’ve been a waste of my time since the moment I met you.” He hummed as if in consideration and then there was a bang as he slammed something against the wall.
From the feminine gasp, it was obviously Bambi.
“I don’t need you anymore,” he decided in a cold, detached way as if assessing a stock risk. “And I don’t need you running your mouth to your precious Camorra men. You saw what happened when you got to close to Marco, didn’t you?” he teased cruelly. “Stubborn bastardo, I thought for sure he would die.”
Bambi started to cry, soft sobs that rolled through the room like a fog of despair.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins. I couldn’t just let him hurt her or kill her or whatever he was gearing up to do. But I was also stuck in hiding with Aurora and I didn’t want to put her in danger.
The choice was taken from me when I heard the cock of a gun.
Gently, I shifted Rora off my lap, encouraging her to curl up in the depts of the cabinet under the mop handle. She shook her head frantically, clutching at my hand as I tried to peel her away from me.
“No, stop,” Bambi screamed, the cries followed by thumping as if she was kicking at him. “Please, Auggie, think about your––”
Three things happened at once.
One.
I burst from the door of the cabinet, slamming it behind me to shield Aurora and startle Agostino.
Two.
He fired the gun.
Straight into Bambi’s sternum.
I shouted wordlessly raced across the twelve feet between Agostino holding her up against the wall and my hiding place.
Three.
There was knife lying on the counter, a paring knife to cut fruits of vegetables. I gripped it in my fist and lunged at Don di Carlo.
I impacted with him as he was turning to looking at the commotion I’d made. I was lucky to catch him off-guard because he was almost as big as Dante. He staggered as I hit him, loosening his grip on Bambi who fell to the floor clutching her chest, leaving a big wet, red smear of blood on the white wall.