Page 25 of Demon's Speak

Romina thought of pressing more, but then she thought better of it. Maybe it was better if she were ignorant of the facts, as she had been in the past.

“We should get Dr. Paul over here to see about him,” Romina suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Giordano replied. He looked to his personal butler to make the call.

“I’m fine,” Massimo uttered, trying to sound reassuring although he was aching.

“You are not fine,” Romina strongly expressed. “Let’s get you to your room and wait for the doctor.”

Massimo wanted to protest, to reassure his mother that everything was fine, but he didn’t have the energy. He started to feel the weight of all the violence he’d endured. He just wanted to rest, no matter how much it hurt.

She winced in pain as she felt the heated prick of his dick tearing her vagina apart. She felt the pangs as she tried to make her mind blank, to distance herself from the pain and humiliation, so she didn’t remember.

But she did remember.

The assaults tormented Isotta as she tried to rest, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t seem to close her eyes, and her mind not return to what she’d been through. She tossed and turned and tossed some more. She stared at the television, trying to take her mind off what had happened, but that didn’t work either. Immediately after getting home, one of the help helped her attend to her wombs and ran her a hot bath. A hot bath seemed like a good idea at the time. But the minute she lowered her body into the water, she was immediately reminded of how much pain she had been in when Alessandro assaulted her. She remembered the sting of the hot water as she tried to focus on something else because it was too hard to remember what had happened to her. It was just too hard to remember.

She hadn’t really spent much time with her family. They were all processing what had happened in their own way. The ordinary tradition of eating dinner together was attempted. It was an attempt to return to what was expected. But the endeavor was woefully disastrous. They sat there with the food in front of them. The silence was strained. Celestina tried to focus on her food but apparently was overcome with emotion. She started to tear. Francesco noticed and reached his hand out to hold hers. Isotta noticed her mother’s eyes misting over, but she didn’t linger. By the time her father reached his hand out, Isotta’s eyes were already back on her plate, where she pushed the food around. The act of doing so reminded her of the time she sat at the table with Massimo and his family – where Massimo managed to remind her that she was just a wife, just a woman.

“What are we going to do?” Costanza asked. It seemed like an odd question directed at no one in particular, but Costanza’s eyes rested on her son.

Francesco tried to ignore the obvious stare that he felt. It was enough to make his skin crawl. The awkward silence drew the attention of Celestina and then Isotta, as they both knew the question was not directed at them. Their eyes drifted to Francesco as Costanza restated the question.

“What are we going to do, son?”

Francesco allowed his fork to hit his plate as he lifted his eyes to meet his mother’s.

“Are you serious right now?” He seethed.

“Quite,” Costanza replied as she set her fork down much more quietly.

“I’m sure, but you could have at least waited until we were alone,” Francesco quipped. “They don’t need to be exposed to any of this.”

Costanza was prepared to argue, but once she looked at Celestina and Isotta, she decided to let it go.

“Fine,” she acquiesced, “for now.”

They knew what mission their son was on. Gabriel advised them after Alessandro left. There was no objection on their part because they understood. They’d made a pact to take out those that embarrassed them, that shamed their family in social circles, and insulted their legacy. So, there was no overt objection when Alessandro informed them of his plan. They were confident in their son’s skill set. Still, they had Gabriel check in frequently to keep them abreast of what was going on. Sofia certainly appreciated the reassurance that her son was okay. Although Alessandro was confident, and she had every confidence in him, she still desired the reassurance that he was okay, so when Gabriel reported in, Sofia breathed a sigh of relief.

So, when they heard movement outside their front door, Sofia and Carmine assumed that their eldest son was returning home, that he’d been successful in his venture and was coming home. Gabriel was already there, having left the site just hours earlier. Alessandro didn’t want him to be a part of the final battle he’d anticipated with Massimo. He didn’t want his younger brother to be culpable in any way. But as he lay barely conscious in front of his parent’s home, Alessandro regretted that decision. Maybe if Gabriel had been there, things wouldn’t have happened the way they did.

Alessandro didn’t have the wherewithal to scream to get someone’s attention inside the home. All he could do was hope that there had been enough noise with the dropping of the bodies that someone would come. Anyone. And as he wished for a response from inside, Alessandro lost the last bit of consciousness he had only a few minutes before regained.

When they didn’t hear anything more from the front of the house, Sofia’s expectation of her son walking in being fine started to fade. She was curious as to what the noise was about. Instead of sending one of the staff to see what the noise was, Sofia lifted herself from the chair she had been sitting in and strolled toward the front door. The side panels were her first indication that something was amiss. Sofia saw what looked like body parts, but more than just body parts of one individual. There was a quickening in her soul and a quickening in her step.

“Carmine?” She called out as she reached for the door handle. She hesitated, a feeling of discontent and motherly instinct settling into her belly. Sofia wanted to see, but there was still overwhelming hesitation in her heart.

Then, she heard her husband walking up behind her.

“What’s going on, dear?” Carmine asked.

Sofia lifted her finger and pointed to the side panel. She couldn’t find her voice due to the onslaught of internal feelings she was having. Carmine’s eyes followed where his wife pointed. His brows lifted on his forehead, but unlike his wife, there was no hesitation in Carmine’s movement. He eased his wife behind him as he unlocked and then turned the door handle. Although she didn’t want to see, there was a part of Sofia that was curious, so she stepped slightly from behind her husband. Her mouth instantly fell open. Carmine couldn’t believe what he saw. Past the bloody guards, Carmine saw his son.

“Gabriel! Gabriel, come quick!” His father called out.

He moved, checking to find a pulse of the guards whom he encountered first and then moving to his son.

“Alessandro! Alessandro!”

---