Page 78 of Brutal Legacy

Every night for a month,I’d sat at the window and shined the flashlight toward the barn.Come to me. Come to me.Please.Come to me.

No one had come. Elio was gone. He’d taken the money and left. He’d really left. And if he ever came back, for all I knew, Salvatore De Sanctis would have him killed for stealing from him.Elio, what have you done?

“Stop crying,” Tommaso murmured, running his hands through my hair strewn across my pillow. Lately, I was either looking forElio, or crying, sometimes both at the same time. I’d never been so tired.

I’d made it home before the tears had come, and now they wouldn’t stop.

“Georgie. Stop,” Tommaso murmured, his voice sounding wretched. “You need to shower. Come on, get up.”

“Pass.”

“No, I’m not taking no for an answer. You stink,” he said and whipped the covers back dramatically.

“I can’t,” I sobbed.

Tommaso dragged me out of bed, losing patience.

I crawled to the window and grabbed the flashlight. I flashed it at the barn while tears dripped down my face.

“Georgia, stop. He’s not there. He’s long gone, and he’s not coming back. He left you, sweetheart. He left.”

I shook my head frantically. That earlier feeling that my heart was going to burst out of my chest returned tenfold.

Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. Spots danced in front of my eyes, and the air in my lungs burned.

I saw Tommaso reaching for me, then the world went black.

I satin an exam bed hours later, empty. I had no tears left. I’d cried them all. I stared at the sun sinking below the horizon. Myfather had been to see me and left when I failed to speak to him. The doctor had already been in.

“You had a panic attack. It was a severe one. Passing out allowed you to breathe again… it was a lucky break. The body’s fail-safe.”

The door opened, and Tommaso came in, shutting it behind him.

“Here, I brought you this.” He lifted a bottle of red wine from a bag and shook it temptingly. “Times like these, you just need to get wasted.”

I swallowed, my throat dry and raw, then reached for my water glass.

Tommaso sat beside me. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I just lost everything that matters,” I muttered. “Like I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“The hospital?”

“Earth,” I admitted with a sigh.

Tommaso gripped my hand. “Don’t fucking say that to me. You’re my best friend. Yes, this is shitty, and awful, but you’ve got a whole life to live. This cannot be the thing that destroys you.”

“I can’t get over it. I know I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Fuck being sorry! Just snap out of it. Sure, take time to grieve, but then move on.”

“I don’t know where Elio is—” I started.

Tommaso snorted, his patience running out.

“I don’t care! He’s not here… he’s not here when you need him. Do you think he’s dead? Did your father have him whacked?” he demanded.

I shook my head. “I don’t think he would. He might not be the best person in the world, but he’s still a prosecutor…”

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