I wasn’t ready for that. I thought I had kept my visits a secret. I hesitated to answer, and I knew he saw the truth.
“Does he look at you the way I do?”
“What?” I had to resist the urge to gag.
“Has he seen you naked?”
“Seriously, Renzo? You really need to grow up already.”
He shifted his weight off the wall and stood square on both feet as he tossed his empty beer bottle into the sink. The noise was so loud it made me jump, and he took that opportunity to push me backward against the sink and shut the door behind him. His hands were on me, and I fought and scratched at him to make him stop. He put a hand to his now bloody cheek and stood straight.
“You’ve been tempting me for years, flaunting yourself around, teasing me, and I’ll be dammed if he takes the one thing that is mine.”
“Enough,” I hissed when he came at me again. “I said enough!” I screamed at the top of my lungs then flew at him and with all my force and drove the palm of my hand into his nose. He shot backward and hit the wall and fell into the tub with a howl.
“What the hell, Sienna!” Cara looked terrified as she rushed into the room. “Andrew is going to kill you.”
She was right. No matter what I did, I was in the wrong, but assaulting his beloved firstborn just sealed my fate.
I raced past her, grabbed my book bag, and filled it with as much as I could that was mine. This was it. I knew if I didn’t leave now, I would never be able to.
“Here.” Cara handed me her jar of cash. “Please take it.”
“No.” I hugged my friend, the only person who always had my back in this awful place. “Come with me.”
“I can’t, you know I can’t.” She was just as panicked as I was. It had been beaten into us at every turn that we could never leave. They constantly undermined us and chipped away at our self-esteem. We were kept off balance, never knowing when we would be beaten, never knowing when or if we would eat. I had hit my wall, and if my mother had not come looking for me yet, well, chances were she never would. “Where will you go? Elio’s?”
“Yes. I know they will keep me safe.”
“Goodbye my friend.” She hugged me so tightly I could feel my heart and hers as they said their goodbyes too.
“Bye.”
With all my life’s belongings in one bag, I raced through the forest, never once tripping in the pitch black, even with tears of hurt and freedom streaming down my face. This was it; I had finally broken free.
The pool lights were on, and one of the doors was open on the patio. I called out as I stepped inside.
“Elio?” I raced toward the kitchen. “Andrea? Piero?”
As I entered the living room, my world stopped, and it suddenly registered. The house was a mess.
“What?” I whirled around and saw the place looked to be ransacked. Everything had been gone through. As I ran in a panic through the rooms, I saw closet doors and dresser drawers had been left open, and items of clothing were strewn about the floor. The furniture was left behind, but most of their personal items were gone. I found no notes to indicate where they had gone. There was very little evidence left at all to show that the Capri family had once lived there.
Pain burst through my chest as I picked up a picture frame from the floor and brushed my finger over the broken glass. It was taken a few weeks ago, of his family and me at lunch by the pool. Elio’s arm was wrapped around the back of my chair, and he was smiling at me while the rest of us smiled at the camera. I couldn’t help but wonder why the photo had been left behind.
With a sick feeling that had taken over my stomach, the sad reality slowly seeped into the cracks of my soul. For the second time in my life, I had been abandoned by someone I loved. I tucked the photo in my bag and bolted for the woods.