CATERINA


    My biggest nightmare is taking ce right before my eyes can’t get my feet or body to move fast enough as <b>I </b>frantically throw myself between them again, shielding Gianni’s body with my own. I immediately notice the splotch of blood on his shirt and follow the trail oozing from his split lip, then his nose and the cut above his eye.


    He’s bleeding.


    The memory of racing through that basement while Gianni was bleeding out makes my heart race painfully, pumping adrenaline throughout my body.


    He took care of me. I have to take care of him.


    “Stop! Now!” I scream the words with everyst bit of strength I have. Silence surrounds me, and I re up at my father, who stands over me with his fists clenched. The knuckles of his right hand are already turning a sickly ck and blue. He stumbles backwards, his shoulders heaving with every breath, while drops of sweat glisten against his skin. “You’ve made your point!‘


    Roger rushes to Gianni’s side, and Ken grabs hold of my father, tugging him back, away from Gianni. “I’ll take him upstairs,” Roger grumbles, pulling Gianni to his feet, wedging himself under his armpit to keep him upright. “I’ll check his wound, but I’m warning you, he might need to be stitched back up.”


    “I’ll be up there as soon as I can.” I nod to Tatiana, whose eyes swim with unshed tears as they ping–pong between us. She’s weary of leaving me alone with my father, but I don’t need her here. I’m not scared of him. “Go ahead. I’ll take care of this.”


    I vaguely recognize the stranger hanging around the dark sports car with another man. “You should probably go too,” I tell him. Barely bringing myself to look at him, the humiliation of what my father has done twists my organs, making it difficult for me to feel anything other than shame.


    “Everything okay here?” There’s an edge of concern to his voice, though I don’t need the stranger’s pity or worry. “Whatever meeting you had with Gianni is over now. I’m sorry for the interruption. I’m sure he’ll reach out soon to reschedule something.”


    “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks again, and I’m so frustrated I could scream.


    “I’m fine, and everything here is fine. Please leave.” He gives me a slight shake of his head, probably questioning the balls of steel I must be carrying to order around a man like him. As he climbs into his car, I notice him peering over at Dad and Ken; they are in a heated argument. At least they aren’t punching each other. Yet.


    Once he starts to back out and turn around in the driveway, march down the steps and shove my father with both hands. “How dare you?” I hiss, flicking back a few raindrops thatnd near my eyes. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”


    “He installed a damn camera in your bedroom, to spy on you!! What do you think this is about? What’s it going to take to show you what a mistake this all is?”


    “You’re right, that was wrong of him to do,” I agree. Still can’t wrap my head around it, but then again, I can’t wrap my head around any of this. “And I’m going to talk to him about it. However,ing here and attacking him isn’t going to change what happened. It isn’t going to change anything!”


    He rolls his eyes, snickering. “Oh, you’ll talk to him.”


    “What do you want me to say? Huh? You want me to pack up my things ande home with you? Is that it?”


    <b>“</b><b>That </b><b>is </b><b>exactly </b>what I want you to do.” As <b>he </b>speaks, he keeps shaking out his right hand. It’s <b>clear </b><b>he’s </b><b>in </b><b>pain</b>, but <b>I </b><b>can’t </b>pretend to have any sympathy for him. Nobody trade him do any of this.


    <b>“</b>That’s not going to happen, and I can’t believe you would do <b>this</b>.” My chin quivers and tears blur my vision.<b>” </b>How could you?”


    Thunder rumbles all around us, even shaking the ground, while he res at me. “You’re not serious, <b>are </b>you? You’re not going to stay here, even after knowing what he did, are you?”


    “I know for damn sure I’m not leaving with you after what you just did. Did you ever think what that would do to me? Do you ever actually think about me at all, and the impact your actions have on me? I know you’re trying to do what you think is right, but this… this is… ” All I can do is shake my head in disbelief.


    His face crumbles with despair. “How could you even ask that? You’re all I think about. All of this is about you.”


    “Are you sure it isn’t about you, too? I told you that you were right already, that what he did was wrong<b>, </b>and I will talk to him about it, but that’s not good enough for you. I will get to the bottom of this, but damn it, you don’t get toe over here ranting and raving and beating him when I beg you to stop. And that’s what bothers me the most, Dad. I begged you to stop, and you wouldn’t listen to me. You don’t <b>care </b>how much this hurts me. All you want is revenge.”


    Maybe I’m finally starting to get through to him. His breathing slows, and some of the tension drains from his face. “He broke into my home and ced a camera in your bedroom. He deserved to get his ass kicked for that.”


    “Did you know he took a bullet for me? Of course, you did. You were at the hospital, but who cares about that, right? Who cares that he’s healing from a wound in the very ce you had to kick him. Don’t tell me that was idental. He took a bullet to save my life, and all you could think to do was kick him right where you knew it would hurt the most.”


    “You wouldn’t have ever been kidnapped, or in a situation to be shot at, if it hadn’t been for him!” He tosses his hands into the air while blurting out augh. “Nothing I say gets through to you anymore. He’spletely destroyed you. I don’t even know who you are anymore.”


    “No, the problem is you never knew me at all.”


    Ken backs away, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t be here for this.” He’s right; he shouldn’t be. I’m tired of pretending anything about this is normal. I’m tired of trying to be polite, tired of trying to do the right thing just to keep the peace. I’m tired of trying to make everyone else happy. It’s exhausting, and truly, the only person who loses is me. I’m an adult who’s old enough to make my own choices.


    “Can I remind you of something that happened not very long ago?” When all he does is lift his chin, I continue, ” Remember when you called thatndlord and told them I wouldn’t be moving in? Remember that? Remember when you made that decisionforme? When you made a fool out of me without even considering my feelings? Remember when you thought you knew so much better than I did?”


    “Don’t even try topare me to him. There’s no way you actually think that what I did came anywhere close to what he’s done.”


    “Oh no, but it is. You only did that because you wanted to protect me and keep me safe. I get it. I don’t have to agree with it, but I can at least understand where you wereing from.”


    “What’s your point?”


    “My point is, he’s just like you. Maybe, just maybe, that’s why you hate him so much.”


    “Don’t try to put us in the same box,” he warns, holding up a hand. “I’m nothing like that man. You don’t get to twist around the past until it looks the way you want it to look. You know damn well what I’ve had against him for


    <b>+15 </b><b>BONUS </b>


    all <b>these </b><b>years</b><b>.</b><b>” </b>


    I’m angry. Angry at my Father. At Gianni’s past actions. I’ingry that I have no control over my own life, and <b>I’m </b>done being a doormat for others.


    Let me put this in the simplest terms for you. It’s none of your damn business. You’re not even a <b>cop </b>anymore. Why make taking him down your life’s mission? What <b>is </b><b>it </b>about him that makes you <b>so </b>bloodthirsty for revenge<b>? </b>Is it because you didn’t like that he got away with the things he did?” I sigh in defeat.


    “How many other people get away with those same things Why didn’t you go after any of them? <b>If </b>you ask me, it doesn’t necessarily have to do with what he did ordidn’tdo that’s got you angry. You grew obsessed with the need to pin a crime on him, and you became obsessed with making him pay because no one ever has, so you wanted to be the first.”


    My father’s lips press into a firm line, and it looks like he wants to say something, but I shake my head.


    “If he put a camera in my room, it was because he wanted to see with his own eyes that I was safe. I can’t pretend I understand why he thought that was a good idea, but I do understand his reasoning. Just like I understood yours even though I was furious with you at the time. You vited my trust and my privacy just as much as he did. And if you can’t see that, then I don’t know how to make you.”


    “I should press charges.”


    “Can you prove it was him? Can you prove any of this?” When all he does is sputter, I shake my head. “You should know, of all people, you have to have proof. The fact is, you don’t know when that camera was ced there. And you don’t know why it was there, to begin with. But, okay<b>, </b>sure, press charges. Make all of this even worse.”


    I can see that I’m getting through to him as much as he wants to ignore every word I say. He is determined to live in his own twisted mind where I’m being held here against my will, and that my life is over because I love Gianni.