Page 168 of Massimo

I let go of Lucia and turned around on high alert.

The man in camouflage was still alive.

He hadn’t moved from where he’d fallen…

But he wasn’t dead.

I grabbed the shotgun off the floor and angled the butt downwards, ready to bash in what remained of his skull –

But when I got to him, I could see it was pointless.

His ruined throat gave one final death rattle before he finally went silent.

I kicked the gun out of his limp hand and turned back to Lucia –

But now she was sitting on the ground.

Her black-clad knees were bent, and her arms were wrapped around her legs as she hugged them to her chest.

Not only were her eyes staring straight ahead in vacant horror –

But she was rocking back and forth a little, like an inmate in an insane asylum.

Shit –

This was bad. This was really bad.

I crouched down next to her.

“Baby – you didn’t have any other choice. He would have killed me. You did the right thing.”

She didn’t look at me, and she didn’t make a sound.

“Lucia… we have to go… others are coming right now… Lucia, please, you’re scaring me…”

No response.

FUCK.

This wasn’t just someone traumatized by killing another human being –

This was something else.

She was catatonic – probably in shock – and I didn’t know what to do.

What I did know was that I had to get her out of there.

So I gathered her up in my arms and carried her like a child towards the house.

I stepped over the other dead man – the one I’d killed with the ax – and moved as quickly and carefully as I could.

I could feel her wet hair, still damp from the shower, pressing against my neck as I carried her.

Please God, I prayed silently, please don’t take out my failure on her – PLEASE –

Once inside the house, I set Lucia down on the floor.

She didn’t react; she didn’t make a sound. She just kept rocking back and forth.

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