Page 100 of Dreadful

She lifts her head slowly, her eyes full of an ache that pounds into my own chest. Memories collide with the present, filling in the blanks I’ve blacked out due to trauma, pain, and shame. I’m back in that bedroom, fifteen years ago, planning an escape with the girl with no name. But I know it now, don’t I?

“Chiara?”

She shakes her head hard. “I’m not…I’m not that girl—”

“Chiara—”

She hums the song again, but I say the words out loud.

“The butler, the maids, the gardener… The driver, capo, and priest… The judge—”

Her eyes snap open and plead with me as she continues, “Godmother-and-father—”

“To them, I beg to leave.”

“Tallie,amore mia, what the fuck have I done?”

I scramble to unlock the cuffs on her hands and feet, freeing her from the chains I trapped her in. When I quickly gather her in my arms, I bump the cart behind me and land against the refrigerator’s cold wall. Trying to soothe us both, I rock her against my chest. My movements are slow, the weight of her revelations making me sluggish. Incredibly, after everything, she wraps her arms around me and tucks her head into my neck. Her tears burn my skin and sear straight into my soul.

“The butler, the maids, the gardener, the driver—”

“Shh, shh. It’s okay. I’ve got you, Chiara—”

“That’s not my name!” she hisses and shoves away from me.

Her rejection is so quick that I don’t even register she’s gone until the cold, empty air slaps my skin. My chest aches with every inch she puts between us. The distance yanks the invisible hold she has on my heartstrings.

She glares at me, her eyes red. “That’s not my name. Not…not anymore.”

“Okay.” I hold my hands up. “I’m sorry, I’m just shocked. Fuck, I thought you were dead. What happened—”

“What happened?” A forced laugh bursts from her chest, but tears stream down her cheeks. Her eyes lock in on something on the cart beside me, and she snatches it from the table. She points at me with the sharp end of the knife blade that I’ve seen her use on at least two of her enemies. Venom laces every word.

“Madonna mia, save me from selfish men with short memories. What happened is Ididn’tdie. I survived with the memories of everyone who wronged me, their voices, their faces, their scent, my emotions,everythingplaying in my head nonstop. The only thing that has saved me is silencing them with justice.”

“Your song…that’s why you began all of this with the butler.”

“He didn’t feed me. The maids ignored me. The gardener…the gardenerpleasuredhimself at my expense—”

“What the fuck?” I growl, but she talks over me.

“And then he had the audacity to rat me out, which nearly killed me in the process. The driver killed my mother.”

“What? Why?”

“All because your father and that sick stepfather of yours wanted my dad’s shop.” She startles at the sentence, as if finally registering where she is. “Thisshop.”

“Your father was the butcher?” My heart stutters, and I watch her knuckles whiten as she grips the knife harder.

“I was never allowed to come visit him at work. He said there were monsters down here that would give me nightmares. I never realized he meant literally.”

Her brow raises as she looks me up and down. I can’t even defend myself. She’s right.

“Then Claudio retaliated,” I continued.

She nods. “My dad tried to appease Claudio. He thought making him my godfather would show his loyalty. But that wasn’t enough. Claudio ordered his driver to run into the car. The accident killed my mother instantly. That’s when the capo kidnapped me.”

“He’s dead,” I reassure her. “I killed him right in this room.”