Page 42 of Silent Night with Massimo

"What are you going to do about it?" Elio's voice.

For a second, I duck. Not sure where it is coming from.

I wait, listening for anything else.

Vera's voice carries towards me and my entire body floods with relief at the sound. She's alive. She sounds strong.

I sneak quietly towards the sound of their conversation. It quickly becomes clear that my son is in that room with them.

Vera is arguing with Elio, and it sounds tense.

I stand just outside the door, trying to assess the situation and how I can get the upper hand.

"This is your last chance, Elio. Let my son go." Vera says, determined and forceful.

"I said it already - what the fuck are you going to do to me, Vera?" Elio snaps back.

I step into the doorway.

"Actually, Elio, I think you should be more worried about what I am going to do to you," I say sternly.

"Massimo." Vera breathes in relief.

Elio spins around to face me, dragging my son with him. Elio's expression is one of pure horror.

Mateo cries out in pain as Elio's grip digs into his little arm.

"Massimo, this woman was going to run away with your son. She said so herself. She told me she had no intention of going back to you." Elio blurts out.

Blood is running down my leg, pooling around my foot andsoaking into the floor.

Elio's eyes trace down my body. "You're hurt. I can help you. Come on man, I'm your family. You know me. You know I only have your best interest at heart. Everything I did - working with the Vitales - it was only a way in - into their family - so that I could find your son. And I did. I found him. To bring him back to you."

Elio is rambling on, trying desperately to talk himself out of the very deep hole he has dug himself into.

I lean against the doorframe, my Glock pointed at his stomach, listening, but only because I need a moment to catch my breath.

The blood loss is not helping my situation though - so, I think it is in my best interest to end this as quickly as possible.

"Elio, if you mean what you say, then let my son go."

"No, she will grab him."

He gestures towards Vera, looking horrified at my suggestion.

"She can't. I'll shoot her if she does."

He scrunches his nose, unsure about whether to believe me or not.

Of course, he would be stupid to believe me. But he was stupid enough to betray my family - so who knows what else he is capable of.

"Let my son go," I say again, more sternly.

"Fuck you." Elio snarls, taking a step back and dragging my son in front of him.

He is willing to use a six-year-old boy as a shield.

I shake my head. I don't want to have to do this in frontof my son. It is not the image I want my son to have of his father the first time he meets him, but I have no choice.

---