Page 138 of Broken Mafia Bride

“Look out!” she cries, but it’s too late. I’m still reaching for my gun when something comes crashing down on the side of my head.

43

GIULIA

“What is it, Mama?” My daughter blinks up at me.

She’s so pure and innocent, and I feel sick at what I’m about to make her do. But if we want to get out of here, there’s no other choice. I grip her shoulders, holding her gaze.

“We’re going to play a game,” I tell her with a pasted-on smile. “You know how you were the mom in the class play?”

She nods slowly, looking unsure of where I’m headed.

“Today, we’re going to play something similar.” I glance over at the door, eyeing it, then at the uneven grooves on the wall. This has to work. I have one shot at this, and if it fails, I’m not sure what else I’m going to do.

“We’re going to pretend that I’ve just swallowed a bottle of laundry soap.”

Noemi makes a face. “That’ll make your tummy hurt so bad.”

I laugh. “I know, right? So that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to pretend that my tummy hurts so bad. It’s so bad that I’m throwing up, and there’s a lot of blood too.”

I’m not surprised when she doesn’t make a face. My daughter has always been stoic about things like that. The first time shefell and scraped her knee, she walked up to me in the kitchen and pointed at her knee. She hadn’t cried or pouted.

Sienna has mentioned more than once that there’s a possibility she’s on the spectrum. None of that matters now, though. The most important thing is our escape, and I need to drive home how crucial this is to our survival.

“Look, baby,” I tell her, brushing a lock of her curly, dark hair away from her face. “This is really important. You need to put on your best act so we can get out of this room and go meet Ra—Marco,” I correct myself immediately.

Raffaele and I might have fixed things between us, but Noemi still has no idea who he is. I was supposed to have the talk about who her real father is and why he’s not a part of her life with her before she was taken away from me.

But this is the wrong time and place.

“Marco is out there?” she asks, excitement bleeding into her voice.

I nod, hoping she’ll forgive me later for the lie. “Yes, and he’s waiting for us. So are you ready to play the game and help get us out of here?”

Noemi nods rapidly, a smile blooming on her face. This should better work. If not…

I don’t even want to think about what will happen if it doesn’t.

With no time to waste, I grab the nearest groove in the wall and pull myself up, muscles straining. I’m heavier than I was back in Chicago, and I’ve long since fallen out of the rigorous training routine I used to follow, so the climb is much harder than I expected.

But I grit my teeth and bear it. Sweat pours down my body, blinding me as I finally grab the final groove, biceps burning.

“Now,” I whisper down to Noemi.

She stares at me, mouth gaping open. “You’re just like Spider-Man.”

“I know, honey,” I tell her, trying not to let the impatience bleed through my voice. “It’s time for you to do what we talked about.”

Nodding, she rushes toward the metal door and starts banging on it with her little fist. “Help! Help us!” she screams, voice shrill and a little shaky with terror.

I’m taken aback by the level of emotion in her childish voice. Of course, I know my kid is smart and her school play was beautiful, but this is simply brilliant. It’s almost like she knows what’s at stake here.

“Please! It’s my mama. Her puke has blood in it!” she cries, sounding on the verge of tears. I almost jump down to comfort her.

She keeps banging on the door, screaming for help. I’m starting to think the plan’s a flop when I hear the sound of heavy footsteps rushing toward us. I hold my breath and press myself tighter against the wall, just to the side of the door.

There’s the sound of keys rattling just before the door bursts open and two of Lucio’s men rush in. I leap down from my perch against the wall, elbow slamming into the back of one man’s head. He grunts in pain, stumbling forward and reaching for his gun—too slow. I grab it first.