I shook my head.
Elio wrapped his arms around me and pulled me carefully into his body, as if I were a fragile thing and he was afraid I would break at any given moment.
I felt like it.
“Massimo is coming,” Romeo said. “I just got here first. Why don’t you take Isa home, and I’ll take care of the mess? It doesn’t look like the wound is too deep, and it has stopped bleeding already. I’ll be by tonight to check on you.”
Elio didn’t say anything. He looked around at all the bodies.
“Go take care of your girl,” Romeo said. And that was all the push he needed. He helped me up, and I nearly fell back. Romeo stood up, as if he were afraid I might fall. Elio tightened his arms around me.
“I got her,” Elio said.
Romeo nodded, and I let Elio lead me out of there. I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. It didn’t matter, anyway. Not when the image of all those bodies was already deeply entrenched in my brain.
17
ELIO
I was so fucking mad.
Fucking bastards.
I broke nearly every traffic law trying to get us back to my house. Isa hadn’t stopped shaking since I got her in the car. I looked over at her.
She was so quiet, and I didn’t know what to do.
Fuck, but what did I do?
Had what she witnessed traumatized her?
I shook my head. Of course it fucking did.
I told myself I would do whatever it took to protect that innocence of hers, to never let her see any of the darkness in this world, and I fucking failed that tonight.
My fists tightened around the steering wheel. Thankfully, there weren't a lot of cars out, so I was able to get her back to my house quickly. I pulled into the driveway and got out. She flinched when I opened the car door for her, as if she hadn’t been aware of her surroundings just now.
“Baby, let’s get you back inside.”
She blinked up at me. “You’re hurt. I need to check that out. But I… I don’t know what to do about a wound that big.” Her lips trembled. “Maybe we should drive to the hospital.”
I bent down until we were at eye level. “I don’t need a hospital. And you don’t have to worry about it.”
I barely felt anything during the drive home. I was sure it would be a different story later on, but right now, I was still too hopped-up on adrenaline.
A gust of wind pulled through. It wasn’t cold now, but still, she shivered. I quickly undid her belt and pulled her up from her seat.
“Come on. Let’s get you inside.”
She fell quiet as we made our way into the house.
I looked back at her every once in a while, but she had her head down.
Worry gnawed at me.
We reached the master bath, and I moved over to the shower, turned it on, and stepped in. She barely reacted when I started pulling off her clothes, until she stood in front of me with nothing on. I undressed in record time and moved us into the shower.
I let the warm water rain down on her skin, hoping that would get her out of her reverie.
