Chapter 72: Chapter 72

◇ KEL ◇

Hold it in. You're safe...

It was what my brain kept reminding me as his hug tightened around my cold, shivering body.  I winced.  My limbs felt like rotten vegetables.  Every muscle ached.  My eyes stang and felt strained.  Sleep was a rarity last night.

After he snatched me from the pool and terrorized me last night, Leandro had been kind enough to transfer me to a room with a decent bed, clean clothes, and a shower...but only to keep me prisoned in an old dirty room in the basement.

Worse? He had tried to gag me but decided otherwise when I pleaded for him not to and told him I was claustrophobic.  Then the psycho cuffed my ankle to the bedpost, hence the reddish marks on my foot now.

"Did they hurt you?"

At the question, I failed to decide which sounded better in my head:

1) Leandro didn't seriously hurt me when he tortured me last night

or

2) Enzo was too drunk and passed out in the living room to notice anything.

I just shook my head, my dazed logic struggling to let out a coherent response.  But at least I was safe now.  They had come to my rescue before Leandro could assault me again or try to humiliate me with his sick role-playing fantasies.

"I'm sorry." Miles pressed his lips onto my head. He hugged me too tight that my entire face stang.  His anger was palpable and his voice cracked.  Like he already knew the answer to his question.

I stood still, unable to speak my thoughts.

"You're okay. You're okay. We're here." Miles kept his voice low. "I'm here."  As his chin rested on my head, he stroked my back, perhaps in an effort to console me or keep me calm.

But even his heartfelt apology failed to drown out my dark thoughts.  His warmth comforted the physical pain somehow, but not enough to stop the constant trembling in me or the aggravating pent-up anger making my soul ache for immediate retribution.

But, no.  I shouldn't go down that road.  No crying.  Suck it up.  I wouldn't cry anymore.  I wouldn't want Miles to hurt someone again.

The red stains on his hands and jacket already told me he could've shot or stabbed someone. Most likely one or a few of the Tomassinis' security staff who tried to stop him and his bodyguards from entering the vicinity.

The thought of more bloodshed because of me would just worsen my state of mind, so I should act like I have my emotions under control.  Make him think I was completely fine.  Keep him from doing something he would regret later.

"Bring her down there." Miles was speaking to someone behind him.

I pulled away from him and took a few steps back.  A familiar face was walking towards us.  The guy looked balder than I remembered.  I squinted as we stood under the dimness of the sky and the early San Pietro dawn.

Niccolo came here with Miles?  What the heck?

I felt Miles pull me close again.  Then I just kept quiet in his arms while he talked to Niccolo in Italian.  My thoughts grew hazier as I watched the calm sea and the small waves that hit the bottom of the cliff.  A big yacht with the rest of the Falcos' men waited right below the cliff.

"Non possiamo spuntare e iniziare a fare domande."  It was Niccolo's voice. He sounded more panic-stricken than Miles.

"Che altro c'è da confermare? Voglio bruciare quel figlio di puttana."

"Okay. Cerca di calmarti."

"I'm fucking calm right now, Nicco. Don't tell me to chill out."

"They've all got guns in there.  We can't just barge through the door and start shooting at them."

"What? You got a better idea?" Miles scoffed loudly when Niccolo failed to answer his mordant tone and sarcastic question.  "Of course that fucker's gonna deny all of it.  Sadistic piece of shit.  I'm supposed to just ignore what he did?"

Miles' stern tone and crumbling composure held my attention as I stayed in his embrace.  My utter silence, pallid complexion, and the bloodstained scratches on my skin must be enough for him to suspect and conclude that something horrible happened to me because of a certain psychopath I unfortunately crossed paths with just yesterday.

"Mykaela." Miles tilted his head down and murmured to my ear when I kept still in his arms. "Talk."

I hugged him again.  Unsure of what to say, I shook my head as fresh tears left my near freezing cheeks warm and quite damp.  I muffled my sobs with his shirt to stay as quiet as possible.  As my vision blurred even more, I tightened my arms around his waist.  It was all I could do.

Tell him what happened?  Absolutely not.  It would only make the situation much worse, and he would do something unspeakable, something I'd rather not imagine right now.

"Sorry." His tone sounded calmer and more rueful this time, as if he was blaming himself for the horrors I experienced the previous night.  His lips stayed wrinkled by a deep scowl when I glanced up at him for a second.

"Don't apologize," I muttered to him.  For a quiet moment, I just stayed in his arms after noticing Niccolo was watching us closely with a worried look drawing small furrows on his dark and thick brows.

"You wanna go home?" Miles whispered to my ear while his palms continued to rub some warmth against my arms and back.

I didn't answer his question.  More tears just burned my eyes.  I just couldn't think straight.  I just wanted to leave this place and stay thousands of miles away from this island.

"Okay." Miles kissed my forehead when I simply kept staring at the serenely flowing ocean waves.

Dissociate.  Stay calm.  Hold it together...   I just wanted out of here.  I just wanted to sleep off the pain, forget everything that happened last night...but I also knew it wasn't going to be that easy.

"We're going home."

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