Page 9 of The Devil's Deal

I continue to scream, to beg him to leave her alone, but it’s as though I’m not even there. His rage sees nothing but what it wants to consume, and right now, that’s my mother.

Running to the corner of the foyer, I grab the broom my mother had been using earlier and whack him on the head.

That’s when he finally drops her, holding the back of his head as he glares at me.

“You hit me?!” he growls with a thin slit of his gaze. “I’ll fucking break your hands!”

My eyes bulge, breaths flying out of me, fear plunging into the pit of my stomach.

“You hear me, Chiara? I’ll kill you!”

My mother runs over to me, standing between the two of us. “Don’t worry, baby. Mama’s here.”

He laughs cruelly, taking another step while we take one backward.

I’m almost against the wall when someone knocks on the door.

“Not a damn word!” he warns with a pointed finger in Mom’s face.

She clutches me in her arms, both of us trembling.

“Shhh,” she calms softly while I try to take normal breaths.

In and out.

In and out.

But I can’t calm the beating of my heart. It’s about to explode from my chest.

My father faces the door, nearing the peephole. And as he looks outside, he smirks, opening the door.

In walks my uncle Salvatore, his short brown hair spiked at the front.

“I’ve been calling you,” he tells my father, looking from us to him, his brows tugging curiously. “We have to get some business taken care of. Did you forget while you were scratching your ass all day?”

He glances at me with a smile, but I don’t return it. My arms curl tighter around my mother’s hips.

His lips form a thin line as his eyes return to my tormentor. “Get a jacket and let’s go, Faro. They won’t like us being late.”

“You think I give a fuck, Sal? Who the hell are they, that I should care?”

My uncle shakes his head as my dad heads for the walk-in closet in the hallway.

Crazy, Uncle Sal mouths to me, leaning over a little, gesturing with a finger around his temple, a suppressed smile on his mouth.

This time, I giggle.

My father whips around sharply toward the noise. But my uncle straightens, pretending nothing is going on.

Between my three uncles, Uncle Sal is the most normal one. He can be funny, unlike my dad. And his daughter, Raquel, and I get along as well as sisters.

My uncle Benvolio is okay too, but he doesn’t really talk to me much other than to say hello whenever I see him for family events or holidays, or when he comes over to do work stuff with Dad.

My other uncle, Agnelo, seems just as crazy as my own father. When I see him with my other cousin, Aida, he’s always yelling at her. She’s so timid around us. I hope he doesn’t hit her like my dad does me. But I think she’s scared of him. I really do. She barely ever talks when we have the family over. When she tries to, she keeps glancing at her dad like she’s scared he’ll hear.

Once my dad has his jacket on, he leads Uncle Sal out the door. As soon as they’re out, Mom runs, locking the door, then her arms are holding me again.

“Listen to me,” she says in a whisper, crouching down as she tucks my face within her palms. “I have enough money to get us out of here. My friend is setting up a place for us far away.”

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