Page 1 of The Only Time

Chapter One

Mia

It’s nothing. It was probably just a breeze that knocked a branch against the house. There is nobody outside.

I take a shaky step towards my bed, willing myself to be strong. Then I hear another noise coming from downstairs. My heart is pounding out of my chest. It can’t be him. There’s no way he is in my house.

I tiptoe out of my bedroom and lean forward over the banister to look downstairs at the front door. The doorknob shakes. It hits me that he really may be more dangerous than I could have ever thought. We broke up over a month ago, and he is just getting more persistent.

It started with some threatening texts that I thought were him just trying to get me to text him back. I showed them to my sister-in-law Alexis. She freaked out and forced me to tell my brothers about them.

My brothers threatened to end his life. What can I say, they’re Italian. They don’t mess around with the safety of their loved ones.

Do I think they would actually do that? No.

Well…I don’t think so. Honestly, they might. They are crazy protective of the women in their lives.

Another jiggle of the handle, more aggressively this time, and my stomach drops. What if this is an actual killer or burglar? Is that more or less scary than having Don at the front door? At this point, I’m not sure.

I remember my other sister-in-law Savannah had given me a blow horn after Don started sending threatening messages and showing up wherever I was. She told me if I ever think someone is in my house, don’t go downstairs, just sound the horn, and I’ll scare the crap out of them.

Shit, I’m sure I’m going to scare the crap out of my neighbors, but at this point, I think I want to wake people up.

I run into my room and open my nightstand drawer. Just as I grab it, I hear the door open downstairs. I don’t give it a second thought; I push the button and fall back on my ass. The piercing noise blares in my ears, causing them to ring instantly. I keep it in my hands and continue to hold the button while the effect on my ears leaves me feeling disoriented.

When I stop, I look around. I don’t know what I’m looking for. Maybe to see if it worked or if he’s standing in the doorway, ready to hurt me. I crawl on my hands and knees out of my room and back over to the banister. I peer downstairs at the door. It’s open, but I hear the sound of screeching tires as a car pulls away from the curb by my house.

Motherfucker. It’s Don’s car. I watch his taillights get smaller as breathing becomes more difficult. Tears begin to fall down my cheeks as I realize this has officially hit a level that I can’t handle on my own anymore.

“Mia!” Mrs. Mayberry shouts from my front porch. “Are you okay? I heard a loud noise. When I came out to look, some man was running off your porch.”

I look down at my hands, which are trembling, then back at her. “No, I don’t think I’m okay.”

“I don’t think I want you leaving Cleveland. How are we supposed to protect you if you’re twelve hours away from us?” my oldest brother Gabe says as he paces nervously back and forth about my parents’ kitchen.

His wife, Alexis, trails behind him as she tries to get him to stand still for a second. I don’t think there will be any calming him down right now.

Ma is anxiously cooking up a storm in the kitchen while we all are scattered around her. I know we’re Italian and can eat a lot, but the amount of food she’s made today can feed an entire homeless shelter. I’m not going to call her out, though, because I’d rather have her distracted right now.

I’ve never been as scared as I was last night. I called Savannah, who insisted I spend the rest of the night at their house. My second oldest brother, Lucas, is slightly less high-strung than Gabe. But even he is standing in the corner, intently biting his nails and quietly stewing with worry.

Pa is pouring a glass of whiskey. He looks up at me. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with us?” he asks.

“I think getting away from it right now feels like the best thing for me to do. He knows where all of you guys live, and I don’t want to put anybody else in danger.”

“Don’t leave because of us,” Savannah speaks up. “That’s not what our concern is right now. It’s aboutyoursafety.”

Tears threaten to spill down my cheeks again. I do my best to blink them away. If I fall apart now, they won’t let me leave.

“I know. I’m leaving because it’s what I want right now. I feel safer taking a step back while we work with the police.”

“You know, there’s an easier way to fix this,” Gabe says through a clenched jaw.

I roll my eyes. “I don’t think going all mafia and killing him is the answer here. You have a wife and kids to worry about. You can’t take care of them from jail.”

“Geez, Mia,” he chuckles. “I was gonna say let me beat him up, maybe put some fear in him. I wasn’t talking about killing him.”

Pa slams down his whiskey and then looks up. “If anyone’s taking him out, it’s me. No one threatens my daughter’s safety like this and gets away with it.”

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