Page 8 of The Sicilian Brotherhood I

If I had to escape, I’d have to wait for them to go to bed. I could still hear their boots in the hallway and the occasional hushed Italian voices. I had my regrets about never picking up the language well enough to get by. Their Sicilian dialect had words I was totally unfamiliar with.

I had no idea where I’d go if my escape plans worked. I wouldn't go back to Franco after what he'd done.

Maybe I’d lay low with Lynn and Elise for a while. If I could make it back to Rhode Island where Franco and I had lived for a time, maybe Skye could help me out.

She had a kid, so she’d likely want nothing to do with what I got into, but maybe I could convince her to give me a place to rest my head for a week. All I’d need was a week.

I heard Giacomo say in English, “I need to sleep. Get some rest.”

Giacomo retired and for a while, there were no sounds of boots in the hallway. The house was quiet. Dead silent. I breathed in and out as quietly as I could, watching my chest heave up and down beneath the oversized clothing they’d given me. At least I wasn’t trapped anymore.

I got up out of bed, careful not to step on any floorboards that creaked. I approached the door and nearly screamed when I heard a fist banging against it. I clapped my hands over my mouth to avoid screaming and stood still.

I heard Raimondo’s voice coming on the other side of the door.

“Dahliaaaaa,” he whispered as if he was singing.

“Dahliaaa,” he repeated when I didn’t answer.

I swallowed and tried to breathe out slowly. My body trembled.

“Open the door,” he growled, “Let me in.”

He reached for the handle and rattled it. I pressed my hand to my mouth even tighter. Please don’t come in…

He had to know that I couldn’t let him in. Giacomo had locked the door and there was no way for me to get out from the inside without picking the lock.

“Let me in, my love.”

He rattled the handle again.

“Are you wet thinking about me?”

I started crying then. When I didn’t respond, he seemed to get angry.

“I know you can hear me you bitch,” he growled.

I remained frozen, sweat pouring down my forehead as I tried to control my breath, still terrified that he could hear me.

“You stupid dirty whore, I know you can hear me…”

I whimpered and muffled the sound with my hand.

He rattled the door handle again, but after I didn’t respond again, he dropped it and I heard his boots stomp down the hallway until he entered his room and locked the door. He had to have the room next to mine because knocking came from the wall against my headboard. He knocked in a slow rhythm for what felt like an hour.

He stopped hitting the wall as suddenly as he'd started.

I walked to the bay window and waited for two hours on the window seat. I didn’t hear another noise and I knew both men were asleep. I peered out the window. No other cars arrived; it was just the three of us.

I had to act fast. If I stayed here another night… I couldn’t bear to think about what Raimondo would do if we were ever alone.

Screw that. I had to get out of here.

The locked door had never been a huge obstacle for me. I needed quiet to work on it, but I had the talent to pick the lock. Like I said, dating Franco I’d picked up a few skills. I took my engagement ring off my finger and slipped it into my pocket.

I could pawn that at the first shop I came across. I'd have at least $5,000 which could carry me for a while.

I pulled a hairpin out of my braid and approached the door. The flowers that remained in my hair were crumpled and brown. I pulled them out and crunched them beneath my feet as I approached the door.

---