CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
“SLOW THE HELL DOWN!”

GIOVANNI CASTIGLIONE

I was seated in front of Vito’s desk in his office, looking at all the shit he has piled up on his desk: colourful sticky notes, a calculator, black pens, business cards, a box of opened tissues and a stack of papers scattered everywhere across his entire mahogany island desk.

Not even my desk was so messy, but if he knows where everything is located underneath all that loose papers and shit he has everywhere on his desk, then good for him, I guess.

I throw my left leg over my right, sighing deeply as I waited for him to end his call. He was talking to one of Dad’s associates seeing that he couldn’t get in touch with Papà directly.

When Vito finally ends the call after for what felt like a few hours later, he sets his phone down onto his desk, heaving a big sigh of his own.

“There’s still no update on Papà.” He says, raking his fingers through his hair. “Papà’s associate says he can’t get into touch with him either.”

I shrug. “Maybe he’ll call back later from wherever he is.” I tell him.

Vito nods and then intertwines his hands before he rests them on the desk in front of him, over the loose papers. “You wanted to talk to me?”

I nod. “Scarlett came up with this strange theory today when I dropped her off at school.” I tell him.

I don’t know why it bothered me so much, but what she said this morning about the nightmare she had the previous night was nagging me and I needed to talk to Vito about it before I lose my damn mind.

Vito frowns. “What theory, big brother?”

I run my fingers through my hair, ruffling it a little bit before I let my hands fold in my lap. “She said she had a nightmare the other day right before we went shopping and when we went to that clothing store and she saw Vincent lying on the floor, a sense of déjà vu washed over her.”

Vito doesn’t say anything. He beckons for me to continue instead.

“Vincent was lying in the exact same position her brother was lying in her nightmare. He was shot in the stomach, just like her brother was in real life.” I tell him, feeling nauseas just thinking about everything.

“That was just some coincidence, maybe.” Vito says.

I shake my head slowly, licking my sudden dry lips. “You don’t understand, Vito… Today she told me about the nightmare she had the previous night. She saw a silhouette outside her window of her house, in the nightmare.”

I pause, taking a deep breath before continuing.

“Someone shot her brother from the outside. Glass shattered, telling me that they—whoever was outside the window—shot Antonio through the glass. She didn’t say anything about me being the one who shot Antonio.”

Vito frowns at me, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

Poor guy, I didn’t even blame him for being so confused. I was just as confused this morning when she told me about her theories. I couldn’t focus on anything else since.

“I still don’t understand…” Vito trails off, his eyebrows still knitted together in confusion. “Are you trying to insinuate something?”

I inhale deeply, knowing how absolutely absurd my next words were going to sound to a confused Vito.

“I don’t think I’m the one who pulled the trigger, little brother.”

It was completely absurd and not to mention impossible, but if there was the slightest possibility that I wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger… it would mean that I didn’t murder Antonio. I didn’t murder my best friend.

“I remember holding the gun in my hand.” I continue. “And I pointed the gun at Antonio’s body, but I can’t remember if I actually pulled the trigger.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, letting my head rest in my hand directly after trying to remember. “I just can’t remember pulling the trigger that day.”

I look at Vito again, preparing myself for a speech.

“Giovanni…” Vito sighs, “Antonio’s dead. We went to the house to kill him. You shot him.” He says. “I mean, who else would want him dead more than you did that day when you found out that he snitched on you? You. And I know that you want to believe that you didn’t pull the trigger, but there was no one else there that night but the four of us, big brother.”

I nod, feeling stupid now that I thought that I wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger. Scarlett’s theory was just that: a theory.

Vito was right: there was no one else there that night. It was just the four of us, and even thinking that there was a possibility that I couldn’t have pulled the trigger was absolutely absurd, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that what Scarlett said this morning might be true: that I didn’t pull the trigger and that there was someone else there that night outside the window.

“I was angry.” I admit. “But I can’t remember if I pulled the trigger, Vito.”

That possibility still haunted me even though the slightest possibility of that theory being true was very slim.

“What difference is it going to make anyways?” Vito asks. “He’s dead.”

“It’s a big fucking difference if I wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger.”

“True.” He lets out a sharp breath. “But how are you planning on finding out whoever pulled the trigger then? We don’t know shit, big brother.”

I sigh. “I don’t know yet. If I’m going to dig around now for information, Scarlett’s going to know that I lied to her face about her house being burnt down. She’s going to think we lied because we wanted to keep her here.”

Just thinking about Scarlett finding out about her house made me feel sick to the stomach. I don’t want her to think that we wanted to keep her here by telling her that her house was burnt down and that she had to believe that she had nowhere else to go, but I told her that her house was burnt down because I didn’t want her to leave here, so I was guilty because I did lie to her and because I wanted to keep her here, under my nose.

Fuck. Just thinking about it made my stomach churn in disgust.

“That is exactly what we did, brother.” Vito says matter-of-factly. “We just wanted to protect her, so let’s just hope she’ll see it as just that: protection.”

I curse under my breath. “I can’t keep lying to her either.” I tell him. “If she finds out about her house not being burnt down, she’s going to be pissed. She might want to leave us to go live in her house again.”

I lean back against the leathered desk chair and fiddle with the ring on my finger while Vito bent down to open his desk’s drawer. He takes out a bottle of bourbon and hands me the bottle carefully, as if he might drop it.

“What’s this for?” I ask him, scanning the bottle thoroughly.

“It’s for you to fucking chill a bit.” He chuckles. “I see the way Scarlett looks at you sometimes. You might not notice it, but I sure do. She looks at you like you’re her saviour.”

“Even though I’m a sinner?”

“You have to sin a little bit to protect the people you care about, big brother.” He smiles.

Damn if that ain’t the truth.

I grin at Vito. “Since when did you become such a wise man, little brother?”

He rolls his eyes at me. “Just take a damn swig out of the bottle before I change my mind about giving you the most expensive bottle I own.”

I shake my head and tilt my head backwards to take a huge swig from the bourbon. The sweet alcohol tastes like vanilla with a little taste of caramel.

I lick my lips, savouring the sweet taste of the alcohol before I hand the bottle back to Vito, who takes an equally big swig out of the bottle too before placing it back into his desk drawer.

“Did we make the wrong decision bringing Scarlett here?” I ask him.

“No.” Vito says simply without a trace of hesitation. “We might’ve broken the law bringing her here, but I will lie if I said that she wasn’t worth it, because it’s definitely worth seeing you happy whenever she’s around, brother.”

“Fuck yeah.” I agree.

Someone clears their throat behind me and Vito quickly straightens in his seat.

“Hello, i miei ragazzi.” (my boys)

I turn around in my chair slowly, seeing my dad—our father standing by the doorway with a smile on his face.

I choke on air.

“Papà?  (dad) You’re home early.”  I say after my coughing fit before getting up from the chair.

My dad pats my shoulder, looking at me with pride while all I wanted to do was step away from his grasp, and his piercing gaze.

I hated the fact that I looked like my dad in more ways than one.

I had his eyes, just a little lighter than his blue ones. And I had his smile too. Sometimes I had his anger too and I hated that.

He wore his usual navy blue blazer with a white shirt underneath, and a white pair of slimmed trousers held in place with a belt around his hips.

“I am. Why do you look so surprised?” He asks, eyeing the both of us.

No wonder we couldn’t get a hold of him.

He was returning home.

“We’re not surprised. We’re just relieved that you’re finally home…” I lie.

 As I was looking at our father, I tried to rid my mind from all the things that can possibly go wrong today, like him finding out that the sister of the traitor is currently lounging with us and that we’re actually enjoying her company more than we had intended.

Shit.

If he finds out about her…

“Good.” My dad smiles, ruffling down his blazer before he takes his seat on the desk chair. The one I was seated on just mere moments ago. “Are you going to give me a swig of that sweet bourbon or are the two of you going to keep looking at me like I’ve just shot a dog?” He smirks.

Vito takes out the bottle of bourbon from the drawer again and hands it to Papà and not so carefully like he did with me a few minutes ago because his hands were slightly trembling and after he handed Papà the bottle of bourbon, Vito intertwined his hands again, tightly.

Vito then gives me a look. He didn’t have to speak for me to know what that look meant. No. Because I knew what it meant: “What the hell are we going to do once Scarlett comes home and he finds out about her?”

I just shrug helplessly when Papà wasn’t looking. He was too busy savouring the taste of sweet bourbon like I was moments ago to even care about what the two of us were suddenly worried about.

There’s nothing we can do about this now, but pray that everything would work out today and not end in a damn bloodbath—with Vito and me being on the end of that receiving line for bringing her here in the first place.

• • •

SCARLETT DEL GATO

Where the hell are you, Giovanni? I thought, looking for his matte coloured Maserati in the parking lot that afternoon but he wasn’t anywhere in sight.

I sigh, looking at my phone for any messages for the millionth time since the last bell rang. At first I didn’t think much of it—them not sending any messages during the day—but now that I messaged them and there was no reply to any of them, I started to get worried, and pissed off.

“Is your ride running a little late today?” Eden asks, looking for the same Maserati I was looking for, but I eventually released a defeated breath, shaking my head in disbelief.

Giovanni forgot to pick me up.

Or he forgot to send one of his guards to pick me up.

“They’re just running a little bit late.” I tell her, hoping that was the case before I let my assumptions rule over my brain again.

“I can drop you off?” She suggests, jerking her head toward her dad’s car.

“I’m okay.” I smile, pulling her in for a big hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

She nods, smiling at me before she makes her way to her dad’s car.

When I unlocked my phone, I was still left on delivered.

They were last seen this morning and I don’t think they’re going to pick me up today. Giovanni actually forgot or he decided that ‘enough was enough’, he’s going to leave me here so that I could fend for myself from now on.

I type another message to Giovanni, waiting for his reply but none came. I typed a message to Vito asking if they were on their way, but nothing too.

They stood me up. The both of them did.

I inhale deeply, composing myself before I really start to get frustrated. Maybe they were just running a little bit late or the three J’s are there and they forgot about my existence to play a few rounds of poker.

The little wait I decided to have turned into three full hours of endless waiting. There was still no Giovanni or his stupid Maserati was in sight.

I kid you not; I was sitting ass-flat against the parking lot’s gravel, feeling the sun’s warmth start to bake my arms and face the longer I stayed seated. I was for sure going to have a tan in the morning.

The wind was starting to pick up and a few chocolate bar wrappers flew past me on the gravel path of the empty parking lot. There were cars honking in the distance and leaves rustling in the breeze, but the roar of Giovanni’s Maserati weren’t heard, not even in the distance telling me that he wasn’t running late and that he wasn’t on his way.

I stand up from the ground, wiping the back of my butt with the palms of my hands before I started to walk out of the parking lot.

I wasn’t going to wait any longer for them.

About ten minutes into the walk, more like hike actually because I was going up the hill, I hear a car revving behind me.

Thinking it was Giovanni and his Maserati, I turned around.

It wasn’t Giovanni or his Maserati.

The driver’s seat window rolls down and Diablo sticks his head through, practically hanging out of the car. “The stunt with your boyfriend really upset me. He even broke my damn nose.” He says, driving a little faster to catch up to my long strides.

When he drives right beside me, his side-mirror nearly hitting my side, I glare at him. “You deserve a broken nose for being an asshole to me.”

His car comes to an abrupt halt. I look over my shoulder, seeing him getting out of his car. He leaves his car door open and leaves his car running too.

I frown when I see him starting to pick up his pace over my shoulder.

He catches up to me easily and grabs my wrist.

He flings me around so I can face him, but instinct runs throughout my entire body and I slap him, sending his face flying sideways.

I really should stop doing that before I get killed one of these days.

“What the hell?! I was going to offer you a ride!” He yells, rubbing his cheek where I slapped him, by the time his hand falls by his side, the entire right side of his cheek has my handprint imprinted onto his skin in red.

“Do you actually believe that I’m going to fall for that one, Diablo? You hate me and there’s no way in hell I’m going to allow you to drive me home. Your intentions are anything but pure. So go back to your car and leave.”

I start to walk away from him but he grabs me around the waist. He lifts me up from the ground as I started to claw at his arms wrapped around my waist, but just like Giovanni, he doesn’t put me down on the ground. He carries me all the way to his car.

Once we were by his car, throws me into the passenger seat.

Before I could get out of his car, he shuts the door and runs over to the driver’s seat before getting inside himself.

I look at him, wondering if his intentions were actually pure for the first time in, well, forever. I doubted if his intentions were pure, though.

He never liked me and Diablo offering me a ride right now scared the living shit out of me. It actually brought goosebumps to my skin.

“I will kill you for putting your hands on me, Scott.” I tell him.

Even though I tried keeping up a tough façade, my hands still shook in my lap, holding onto the tote bag to try and keep them from shaking, but to no avail. They kept betraying me by trembling.

Diablo ignores me and starts the car before driving off.

“Who taught you to threaten people?” He asks me. “Your brother?”

I frown. “How do you know my brother?”

Diablo chuckles but ignores my question.

“Answer me!”

He looks at me briefly before his gaze goes back to the empty road in front of him. “Let’s just say we go way back…”

Trees fly past us as he increases the speed of the car and it looks like he isn’t going to slow down soon. Yes, the road was empty, but he could lose his control over his car and we could crash directly into a tree, killing the both of us once the car connects with one of the thick trees.

“Diablo, slow the hell down!” I yell, clenching my tote bag tighter in my lap.

He doesn’t slow down. He just stomps on the gas and makes the car go faster until the trees started to become blurry as they flew past us.

My heart started to beat faster and faster with every second that passed and he didn’t slow down. I start to feel sick to the stomach. He was going to kill me. He’s going to crash his car and actually kill me today.

“Your brother is a traitor.” He says through gritted teeth. “He couldn’t choose a side.” Diablo says.

I wanted to grab the wheel but he grabs my hand from the wheel before he sets it down on my lap again. When I try to reach for it again, he just does the same until I finally just gave up.

I don’t want to be the cause of us crashing, so I left my hands in my lap.

We reach an intersection, but he doesn’t slow down.

Cars turn left.

Cars turn right.

Cars go straight.

And cars stop.

But Diablo never stops.

“Diablo, slow the fuck down!” I yell, the panic in my tone evident.

He stomps on the brakes and the car skids across the tar, definitely going to leave some sort of skid mark.

Once we were driving slower, I started to relax a little bit in my seat, but my heart still beat uncontrollably, I actually felt it hammering inside my throat.

His words from earlier come to mind. “What did you mean when you said that my brother couldn’t choose a side? What side are you referring to?”

If he knows something, I have to play along trying to find out the truth.

“You’re as clueless as ever.” He says, shaking his head.

Diablo turns right in the intersection and the road in front of us were clear of any cars. If he decides to speed up again, there won’t be any cars we can crash into, but there were still an endless line of trees.

“Tell me, please.” I beg him. “I need to know.”

“I didn’t let you drive with me so I can answer the questions you have, sweetheart.” He says, the look on his face enough for me to scoot away from him, I was practically flush against the door.

“I let you drive with me because I wanted to see if you could give me some answers. But by the looks of it, you’re just as clueless. And when you’re clueless, you’re no use to me.”

Before I could ask him what he meant, he leans toward me and grabs me by the hair, pulling hard at the roots. I whimper, trying to get his hand to release my hair, but he only grips it harder.

“If you tell the brothers that this happened, I’m going to kill your little friend Eden.” He warns before he slams on the brakes yet again.

The force of the braking and his hand behind my head couldn’t stop me from letting my head slam against the dashboard. I guess he wanted to slam my head against the dashboard anyways if the braking didn’t work out.

Everything goes black.

• • •

I wake up in the middle of the woods.

I was lying beside a huge dead log. I nearly yelp when I see a big insect crawling onto the log, but once it disappeared behind it, I finally started to calm down a little bit.

The wind shuddered through the branches of the tall trees, sending shivers down my entire spine when the breeze was cool to my skin.

My tote bag was lying by my right side and my phone was beside my tote bag, but the bag Giovanni bought me was covered in dirt and my phone’s screen was cracked.

Diablo probably rummaged through my bag and when he didn’t find anything of interest to him, he threw my things to the ground.

I groan and I try to sit up.

A shooting pain runs through my head and I feel a wave of déjà vu washing over me: I woke up in the mansion with a pulsing headache, but this time the headache was due to the impact of my head against the dashboard.

I grab my phone and bag from the forest floor and lift myself up.

My legs feel wobbly at first, but when I walked deeper into the woods trying to find a way out of it, I got used to the jelly-ness of my legs.

The sun was on the verge of setting, disappearing behind the trees as it starts to get darker by the minute.

The more I walked, the more my headache started to take over.

“If you tell the boys that this happened, I’m going to kill your little friend Eden.” He warns before he slams on the brakes yet again.

Diablo threatened me and he threatened Eden.

If I tell the boys about what happened, there would be another body on my hands, and Giovanni won’t let this slide, if I tell him. I would just have to figure this out on my own without telling the boys anything.

By the time I finally make it out of the woods, my headache made me feel as if though I wanted to pass out on the spot, but luckily I recognised my surroundings. It was the woods right in front of the Castiglione Mansion.

My wobbly legs prevented me from running toward the gate where the guard always stood, just waiting to open the gate for Giovanni if he drives his Maserati.

The guard greets me and opens the gate for me and once I was inside, I spot an unfamiliar car standing in the driveway.

I ignore it and make my way to the front door.

I walk through the front door, expecting Vito or Giovanni to sit on the couch, but I was greeted by a man in about his late forties instead, looking down at me like I am intruding in his home.

I was confused the longer we stared at each other, but it eventually clicked.

It’s their dad. The Castiglione brother’s dad.

It was him I saw in the photograph the other day.

“Cosa ci fai a casa mia?” (what are you doing in my house?) He asks in a deep Italian accent.

“I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand…” I tell him, but by the looks of it, he was not happy at all by my appearance.

“Partire!” ( leave!)

When he shouts, another stinging pain shoots through my head and black dots cloud my vision.

The next thing I know, I’m falling to the ground without a very specific Castiglione brother to catch me before I land.