Her crying became moans of pain.
I peeked through the tiny gap in the door—I’d never been able to close it all the way—seeing her lying on the cracked linoleum floor.
Blood ran down her face along with her tears.
I blinked, and suddenly, it wasn’t my mom laying in the floor, it was me. Not the six-year-old I’d been then, but the adult I was now. Only I didn’t have any strength. I was only half-conscious, but I could hear footsteps.
My father’s footsteps. They were coming toward me.
With great effort, I opened my eyes to see something in his hand. What was it? My vision was too blurry to tell.
But then it cleared enough for me to make it out. Some sort of tool. Something metal with a wooden handle.
Then I recognized it. A hammer. He was going to beat me with it, just like he had that man at work.
He was going to kill me…
“Molly... Molly, are you all right?”
I jumped awake to find Luca striding toward me from across his bedroom, Anna in his arms, both his voice and features concerned. My heart was sprinting so flat-out that I clutched at it, trying to slow it down.
To reorient myself I scrutinized man and daughter. He stood in nothing but flannel pajama bottoms, his feet and chest bare, his corded arms bouncing his daughter as she fussed. Her cherubic cheeks were wet, but she quit making noise the moment Luca placed a bottle to her mouth. She seized the thing and sucked on it greedily, the sound echoing in the room.
“Is she okay?” I asked to divert him.
“Just hungry. Sometimes I don’t get her food ready fast enough for her. Especially lately. Her pediatrician said it’s because she’s going through a growth spurt.” He kissed the top of her head and sat her down in a little device I hadn’t noticed in the corner. It looked like a plastic cart with toys attached. She immediately lifted the bottle in her chubby little hands, happy as a clam.
My mind hopped to my memory of the crying baby in my dream. Hearing Anna while still asleep must’ve instigated it. Then, my brain warped the combined sound of her and my old remembrances into a nightmare.
That was fun.
The first light of day had appeared outside, turning the sky from inky purple to something grayish blue. I focused on it, doing my best to return my pulse to normal.
I glanced down to find myself still naked, and rearranged the quilt, making sure I was covered. Granted, Anna was still a baby and had no idea what her father and I had been doing last night, but it seemed wrong to parade around in the nude in front of her. Also, Luca had come to sit beside me. I wasn’t typically modest or shy, but my dream had left me feeling unsettled.
“You never did say whether or not you were all right,” he said, refusing to be sidetracked.
“Fine. I’m fine.”
“Uh huh,” he said in disbelief, drawing a thumb beneath my eye and wiping away a tear.
Dammit.
“Must’ve poked myself in the eye.”
Now he bobbed his head to his left, gathering his lips to the side. It made his scruff all lopsided, which should’ve looked ludicrous but didn’t. No, he was still as hot as hell. “You know, I seem to recall that you acted this same way your first night here, trying to play the tough girl with me. I already know you’re a badass so you can stop pretending.”
That brought me up short for a second, but then I smirked at him, liking the sound of that. “I am a badass.”
He chuckled, putting his hands in the air. “See? Told you.” But just when I thought he’d drop it, he leaned in and whispered in my ear. “I trust you, Molly. It’d be nice if you’d learn to trust me.”
Then he stood, strolled into a truly gigantic walk-in closet and started shuffling around out of sight, I assume getting dressed. Since the baby had dropped her bottle and was now preoccupied with one of the toys on her walker, I took the opportunity to throw on yesterday’s clothes before sneaking out of the room.
Over the next month the goods coming from Corridor B came in without a single hitch. I’d traveled with Luca to meet with the various players involved, checking up on them and making sure they towed the line just like they always had. I watched how Luca negotiated with them, then put my own spin on things, laying on the charm and flirting a bit.
And in no time at all, they became putty in my hands.
I knew such a thing would never work with any of Luca’s brothers, so I didn’t bother with them. I didn’t know if it was because of the video, because I wasn’t Alana, or because they simply didn’t like me, but the Varassos treated me like they would a mousetrap kept under the fridge.