tw: violence
We got home late last night. Everyone was either asleep or not home so Vinnie and I went down to the music room. I sit down on the piano bench as Vinnie sits down across from me in the arm chair. I smile over at him and his lips tug at the corners.
The lights aren't on, only letting the moonlight guide my eyes as I look at his contrasted features. "You're too far away." I say in almost a whisper. After a moment, he gets up slowly and walks across to me. He sits with his legs on either side of me on the piano bench and I can feel his breath on my shoulder.
"Better?" He whispers. I just nod my head as my cheeks heat. "Did you ever listen to the rest of the cassettes?" He leans his lips on my bare shoulder.
"No, I didn't get that chance." I told him.
"Do you want to?" My eyes meet his and I nod. "Not all of them were tragic. Some were fun to record with the guys. There's one..." He trails off as he gets up from the bench and moves toward the roll top desk.
"Other drawer." I say as my heart lodged in my throat as he reached for the drawer with my tapes. He takes out the manila envelope with the letters and tapes that he snuck into my bag in LA and then walks over to the tape player, sliding it off the dresser and bringing it to us.
He sits back down, shutting the piano to rest the tape player on top. He reaches into the envelope and takes out the next tape, a rubber band binding the letter to the tape. He unwraps the letter and hands it to me before sliding the tape into the player but not pressing play.
He looks over at me as I hold the letter and looks down at it as if to tell me to read it. And so I did.
Esty,
After I shared my story with you, and you treated me as if I wasn't something to be fixed, I knew that this friendship of ours would grow into something else. I knew that when you bought us actual food because you were worried that drinking energy drinks and eating poptarts for the rest of our lives that it would ruin our bodies so you bought us food.
You sang Safe and Sound for me, about the recent guys in your life. Thinking of ever having a song written about me makes my skin prickle with goosebumps especially if that person is you with your gallons of talent.
I wrote this song with Troy. He helped me record it, sing it, and express how I've been feeling.
Right now, I wish you were here with me Esty.
Vinnie.
I look back up at him with a large smile on my face. I nod toward the player and he pushes the play button. A guitar begins to play and I lean myself into Vin as I listen.
"Lights go down and the night is calling to me, yeah." Troy sings. "I hear voices, singing songs in the street and I know,"
"That we won't be going home. For so long, for so long but I know. That I won't be on my own." Vinnie's beautiful voice sings. I feel his chin rest atop my head and I lace my fingers with his.
"Right now, I wish you were here with me." Vinnie sings and Troy 'Oh ooh' along. "'Cause right now, everything is new to me. Oh ooh. You know I can't fight the feeling. And every night I feel it. Right now I wish you were here with me." They harmonize the last line. I smile.
"Late night spaces. With all our friends you and me, yeah." Vinnie sings solo again.
"Love these faces, just like how it used to be." Troy sings.
"And we won't be going home. For so long, for so long, but I know. That I won't be on my own. I'm feeling like," Vinnie sings.
"Right now, I wish you were here with me. Oh ooh." I hear Vinnie hum softly above me and I squeeze his hand. "Cause right now, everything is new to me. You know I can't fight the feeling. And every night I feel it. Right now, I wish you were here with me." They sing together.
"And I could do this forever." Vinnie sang out. "Woah woah oh." Troy joins in. "And let's go crazy together. Woah woah oh." Vinnie sings.
"Lights go down and I hear you calling to me, yeah." All instruments were dropped and only Troy's voice played through.
Suddenly the drums and guitar start again and Vinnie and Troy sing the chorus again. When the tape clicks, telling us that it is over and sitting up from Vinnie's embrace. "You aren't going to yell at me again are you?" Vinnie says.
I laugh out into the dark room, shaking my head. "No, no I'm not going to yell at you." I turn around so I am facing him. I hold his face in my hands and bring his lips down to mine. "That was probably the most beautiful thing I've ever listened to." I told him.
"I love you." He says against my lips.
"I love you." I replied.
++
I'm woken up by a crash from down stairs.
"Vinnie?" I turn around and Vinnie rubs a tired hand over his face. The crash happens again.
"What the hell was that?" His voice is husky and tired. There is another crash and then the sound blares through the house. Alarms start going off and red lights flash through the crack in my door.
"Shit." I curse and I rush to pull on my black pants and my boots. I thank God that I kept my wifebeater and my bra on as I rushed around the room looking for my gun.
"I'm assuming those are alarms for something bad?" Vinnie asks as he pulls on his shirt and shoes, having left on his black joggers.
"Intruders." I reply as I toss a loaded gun at him. I walk softly to the door and then I hear the cracks and screams from down stairs. Gun shots.
I pull the door open quickly, Vinnie on my tail as I nearly crash into Silas and Rose who, like Vinnie and I, have been woken up and rushed into clothes.
"What the fuck is happening?" Silas whisper shouts at us, keeping his gun low. Rose is behind him with a rifle that is probably from the safe in Silas' room.
"How the hell should we know?" Vinnie replies.
"Estella!" I hear someone yell from down stairs. The voice is strangely familiar but I can't quite place where I've heard it. More gun shots fire from down stairs.
I rush to pull my phone out of my pocket as it vibrates. Harry's name and picture pop up on the phone and I quickly answer. "Harry?" I say into the phone.
"Ella! It's Calgri! Sam, Aiden and I are trying to hold them off but there are too many." Harry yells through the phone. It sounds like they are outside.
"Hold on, we're coming." I hang up and then move toward the stairs but Silas catches my arm.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"They need my help!" I yank my arm away from him and Vinnie follows me down. I have my gun gripped tightly in my hands in front of me as I look around for any possible movement.
I see three men come around the corner and take aim. They go down in seconds as Vinnie shoots as well. I look over my shoulder and he just nods to me. We walked further down the hallway, past my father's office and into the main foyer.
About ten guys are standing in front of the front door. One comes straight for me and before I can shoot him he knocks the gun from my hand. I take a swing and land a lousy blow to the man's cheek. He pulls me forward, trying to grab my neck but instead my elbow connects with the side of his head. He winces out in pain and I take that as a chance to pick up my gun.
As I do, I hit the same guy in the nose with the bunt of my gun. He stumbles back with his hands clutching his nose and I shoot him in each leg causing him to fall.
I turn back to where Vinnie is fighting off two guys while the third makes his way to me and the others check on the guy on the ground. I take a shot at the guy's foot but miss, leaving me with only one bullet left. I groan as I drop my gun, leaving the bullet for when I truly need it.
The guy makes a terrible mistake of stepping forward widley, giving me the perfect opening to trip him. As he falls he grabs my leg with him but I just flip my weight around so my thigh is around his throat. I bring his arm up across my chest and shift my hips up to hyper extend it and he yells out in pain.
I squeeze my thighs tighter and his struggling begins to slow as the air leaves his body. When he is passed out I untangle myself from him and go for the guy taking blows at Vinnie from behind.
I jump on his back, latching my feet on his hip bones, flipping so he gets off balance and then causing him to fall under me. I land a few good punches before I grab his own gun and hit him in the side of the head and then he's out cold and I turn back and see Vinnie leaving the other guy's body motionless.
With only two guys left, I take the smaller one as Vinnie takes the bigger one. The kid can't be any older than seventeen and he looks scared shitless as I stalk toward him like a predator to her prey. I hear grunts behind me as Vinnie fights the guy and I stop in front of the boy.
He drops his gun and puts his hands up into fist like an untrained fighter would. "Where does he get you people?" I ask before he throws himself at me. I dodge him and grab onto his leg, pulling up so he is unbalanced and then kicking my foot up to collide with his face.
As he stumbles back I jump up and grab the vase from the pointless table in the middle of the room and smashing it into his head. He falls to the floor and as I crawl on top of him, grabbing onto his collar and pulling my fist back to finish the job I hear a gun cock from behind me.
Shit.
"Step away from the boy, Estella." Calgri's cool voice rings through the air. I let go of the boy's collar and then four large hands wrapped around my biceps, yanking me from atop him. I am turned harshly toward the direction Calgri's voice came from and I see a larger man holding Vinnie in a choke, with a glock pressed against Vinnie's temple. Vinnie struggles against the man but doesn't get far.
My heart sinks and my stomach is in my throat as I lock eyes with Calgri. He is in a wheelchair. A rather high tech one at that, but his legs aren't operational and that sets a feeling of pride in my heart. "Where is my father?" I grit out.
"With the others." Calgri replies. "You did me a great tragedy when you took my legs, Miss Grimaldi. I can no longer punish people the way I wish." He coos. "But maybe Adam here can help me with that." My head snaps to the side and I see the familiar blue eyes staring back at me.
"What the fuck?" I attempt to yank my arm from his grasp but his gloved hand stays clamped around my arm.
"Adam has been looking for you Estella. He heard from one of your little American friends that you were in Brazil and found out your dirty little secret about your fun little life. He then reached out to his uncle, who at the time was reconvering in the hospital." My eyes snap over to Calgri. "Yes, that's right. Adam is my nephew."
"Of fucking course you are. Sick bastards are always related." I seeth in Adam's face. "Does Jack know the truth? Does Jessie? Do they know that your uncle is a big, bad, mafia drug lord who kills people. For fun? Or do they know how fucking sick" I spit in his face. "You are." I finished. Adam's eyes travel up to Calgri as he wipes the spit from his face with his shoulder.
Calgri nods out of the corner of my eye. Adam's head suddenly connects with my nose and my head flys back. I try to blink back the stars that swirl in my vision.
"Don't fucking touch her." Vinnie barks out.
I feel one of Adam's hands grab the back of my head, pulling at my hair harshly. "I've been waiting months to do that." He whispers in my ear. I feel his tongue touch my ear lobe and I fight back the bile building in my throat.
"Fucking. Bastard!" Vinnie yells. Adam's tongue stills against my ear as he looks up at Vinnie.
"And you..." Adam drops my arm, only to be replaced by another's hands. "You really tried to send me to jail. You left me with a broken nose, a ruptured cornea and a bad reputation." Adam chuckles coldly. I see a flash of gold get pulled out of his pocket. Brass knuckles.
"Don't!" I plea. Adam stops in his tracks. His hand is fixing the knuckles onto his other. "Please. It's me you want."
"You're right, Esty." He says. He walks back over to me. "Let her go." He tells the two men holding me. He walks over until he towers over me, a sly smirk on his lips. "You're going to do it." He slides the brass knuckles off his fingers and holds it out for me to grab. I stare down at his hands in disbelief. "Either you do it with the sly chance of him surviving... or I do it." He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "And he dies."
I look back to the man that still has a gun pressed to Vinnie's temple. Then back at those sickly blue eyes that haunt me. I shakily grab the brass knuckles from Adam.
"Oh... this is gonna be good." He chuckles. "And don't think for a moment I don't know you can fight." He tsks.
I step toward Vinnie, biting my lips hard so I keep my emotions at bay. I won't let Adam see me cry. I stop only a foot from him. "It's okay." He nods his head. Suddenly the man behind him pockets the gun and then shoves Vinnie down to his knees. My eyes blur with tears as he looks up at me. "It's okay baby."
"Tick tock, Estella." Calgri says.
Vinnie nods his head as I slide my fingers into the weapon. "I love you." He breathes out. "It's okay. I love you."
And then I swing.