Page 166 of Monster in Disguise

I grunt an acknowledgement. Then I ask what's been on my mind all along.

"Why didn't you come earlier?" Enzo notices a trace of desperation in my voice, and he grimaces slightly.

"We didn't know the location," he admits. "Marcello left an automated message to be sent after a certain amount of time had passed."

I take a deep breath, things becoming a little clearer–and more alarming.

"He came here to die, didn't he?"

Enzo doesn't answer, but the tight clench of his jaw tells me he agrees with me.

"He... Nicolo was behind everything. The incident ten years ago, Father Guerra... every single thing," I say, closing my eyes, overwhelmed at everything that had happened.

"Does it matter?" Enzo asks after a pause, his eyes focused on the road. "Does that make Marcello any less guilty? God, Lina... He raped you." He groans, emotion rolling off my brother like I'd never seen before.

"I don't think it's as black and white."

"Sure, he just raped you a little," he laughs derisively.

"Stop... please. I can't do this right now," I whisper.

"Sorry," he apologizes, and we drop the subject altogether.

We get to the hospital to find out he's been admitted into surgery. The doctor on call proceeds to tell us it was a miracle he survived this far considering his extensive injuries and blood loss. From the way he's recounting it, it seems that the wound in his throat wasn't too deep.

"There are lacerations at the level of the trachea, and it might cause some vocal impairment, but the esophagus is intact, and that's the good news. As to the other wounds, we've administered a tetanus shot, and we now have a joint team working on his throat and his shoulder."

"He'll make it, right?" I ask, a glimmer of hope blooming inside of me.

"I can't promise anything, but it looks like it. It could have been much worse."

We thank the doctor for his time and we head to the waiting room. Enzo is glued to my side all throughout, as if he's afraid I won't be able to handle this.

"I'm fine, really," I try to assure him, but he doesn't seem convinced.

"What happened there, Lina? Did Nicolo..." I quickly shake my head.

"But there's something you need to know." I take a deep breath. "Allegra was the one who took me there." His expression is tense as I tell him what happened, from the lie she'd told to get me out of the house, to the weird way she was talking.

"I'm sorry, Lina." He sighs. "I'll take care of it. I've been ignoring her for too long." He shakes his head.

"But why? What happened to her?"

"She's not well... mentally. I tried to make excuses for her because of that, but it's one thing to do crazy shit all the time, and quite another to betray the famiglia. When she took up withNicolo, she knew what she was getting into." He mutters a curse under his breath.

"But if she's so unwell, how could you let her near Luca?"

"Trust me, I don't. She sees him briefly and under supervision. He needs to know that his mother is at least around."

"I'm sorry." I touch his arm lightly.

Marcello's friends, Adrian and Vlad, join us in the waiting room.

"Won't the police be called?" I ask suddenly, remembering the gunshot wound. Isn't it standard protocol to call them?

"I handled that," Adrian grimaces. "We wrote it off as a suicide attempt gone wrong. With his history, no one will ask questions."

"You mean the last attempt?" I probe, curious about what Nicolo had meant.

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