Page 33 of In My Blood
“Don’t tell me that. I’m intimidated enough,” I admitted.
“Don’t be, sweetheart. This is your home. It’s where you belong.” I didn’t argue with Rafe, but it wasn’t because I believed him. I just knew it was pointless. He could never understand how very much I did not belong there after everything I had done in the last eleven years. Sure, I was sure he had faced his own version of battles in that time. Stepping into Marcello De Santi’s shoes and trying to write so many wrongs to make things legitimate could not have been without it’s days of hell, and many decisions that would forever haunt him, but he’d never left the life of luxury he had.
It was all he’d ever known. He had no idea what it was to be so desperate for food that you’d take it from trash cans, or accept handouts from anyone willing to give them to you. He didn’t know the fear of sleeping on the streets in the dead of winter, or cowering against the door of a bedroom, just because you knewyour Mum’s boyfriend may try to sneak in at any time during the night. He didn’t know I had sold my body to Justin for drugs, more than once, or that I would have done it again and again if that were what I had to do to survive. If he did – if he knew how low I had truly fallen – he wouldn’t keep insisting I belonged in this world he and Gia had always been a part of.
I had zoned out again, I realised, when Rafe opened the door at my side, startling me. I hadn’t even noticed that he had gotten out of the car.
“Let’s go, Cara,” he said as he held his hand out to me. I looked up and found Dio and Dante both stood close behind Rafe, and I could hear doors closing as other men stepped from the other cars too. I glanced around me through the car windows and saw them taking positions all around us. They looked so out of place on that quiet, perfect street. “Cara?” I turned back to Rafe and tried to focus on what I needed to do. Get out of the car.
I placed my shaky and frozen hand into Rafe’s, then slid from the seat of the car, remembering to release the seat belt around me just in time for it not to rip me backwards again.
As soon as I set my feet on the pavement I knew I was going to struggle to get into the house. My legs felt so shaky beneath me, and my knees wouldn’t seem to lock in place. I had no choice but to reach for Rafe’s shoulder with my free hand to keep myself up right, and he quickly caught on and wrapped his arm around me.
“Sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so tired. Just…I’ll be okay…just g-give me a second,” I uttered as I tried not to freak out or fall apart.
“Maybe we should take her to the hospital and let a doctor check her over,” Dio suggested as he leaned in closer and watched me with concern.
“No!” I cried. “I’m okay. I’m not going to a fucking hospital!” I knew it was short tempered of me, but we’d been through this multiple times. The last thing I wanted after what happened in that parking lot, was to have strangers prodding and poking at me, even if they were medical professionals.
“Shush now. No hospitals,” Rafe agreed, obviously trying to calm me. “Let’s just get into the house. Shall I pick you up?” he offered.
“No,” I shook my head. “I’m alright. Maybe just give me some support though.” I had to find my strength again, or at least fake it until I could find some way to replenish what used to be within me.
“Fine, but I want you to tell me if you feel as though you’re going to faint on me,” Rafe told me, and I nodded. I wasn’t stubborn enough to end up face planting on the stone steps out front.
I turned and took a wobbly step. Leaning into Rafe’s arm, which was wrapped around my back at my waist, was the only thing keeping me up, and we both knew it, but he just held me tightly with that one arm and helped me fake some strength as I walked up the steps and through the heavy, charcoal grey painted front double doors.
We walked into an opulent entrance with polished white stone tiles on the floor and a modern, chandelier like light fitting that hung down from the vast, tall ceiling above. It was a long space that gave way to a historical, solid wood staircase with a beautiful, polished handrail. The walls were white, but not stark, and it didn’t feel cold or sterile, because the lighting had been installed to give a warm feel. A long sideboard ran along one side, and atop it stood a statue that had to be some kind ofmodern art, because I couldn’t make head nor tail of what it was supposed to be. Rafe led me deeper inside, and Dio, Dante, and Arran followed behind, closing the door behind them.
“Wh-what about the others?” I asked, nodding to the closed door.
“My men never come into the house unless it’s an emergency. We try to keep our home as peaceful and business free as possible,” Rafe explained, and I let out a small sigh of relief at that. At least the strange men wouldn’t be wandering the house, as they often did when I was a kid. “We keep men surrounding the house, discreetly, of course, and the others will be close by if we need them for any reason.”
“The only people who come into the house are us…” Dio waved his hand around to indicate himself, Rafe, Dante, and Arran. “…Gia, Callan – that’s Arran’s younger brother – my Mum, and two young girls who help with the cleaning twice a week. We’ll always let you know if we ever have cause to bring anyone else in.”
“Rafe!” The squeal came from the top of the stairs, then a ball of red sped down and stopped halfway with another squeal. I looked up as she stopped, and there was no mistaking who looked right back at me.
“Gia?” I whispered as tears instantly filled my eyes. I swiped them away, wanting to be able to see my sister properly. She was so much older, but of course she would be. Her hair was blonde and hung in long waves down her back. Her face had changed, her adorable chubby cheeks long gone and replaced with a model like bone structure. Her eyes were glassy, but even across the space between us I could see the bright greenthey had always been. She was slim, but not thin. Her curves were perfect and she was definitely taller than me, even though she was only sixteen. She was wearing a red fluffy hoody thing that covered her almost to her knees and below she had on red and black striped socks that pulled up over her knees. She was obviously comfortable, and she looked so good. Healthy and strong. Suddenly all of my pain, panic, and fear left me and I felt this warmth inside me to know she was safe and thriving. I thanked whoever was listening that Rafe had kept her home with him the day I had been sent away. I would never have wanted her to endure what I had been through.
“Oh my God!” she whimpered as she slammed a hand over her mouth after taking me in. “I-it really is you. I remember…oh my God!”
She ran down the last of the stairs, then she threw herself at me. I tried to brace, but I’d have definitely still fallen over if Rafe hadn’t placed himself right behind me. I grunted in pain as she smashed against me, but it didn’t stop me from wrapping my arms around her and holding her tightly.
“It’s me,” I told her as I held her and just cried. She was taller than me, by a good half a foot, and she smelled of vanilla. Her soft hair was brushing the side of my face and I remembered brushing it for her every morning when she was little.
“I missed you so much, Cara,” she told me tearfully.
“I missed you too. You grew up so much,” I sniffled as we pulled apart from one another and I took her in all over again. “You’re so beautiful,” I remarked.
“So are you. I don’t think I’m the little sister anymore though. You’re tiny,” she announced with a smile.
I looked down at myself, like I didn’t already know how short I was. Ever since my Mum told me Marcello was not my dad, as I’d always believed, I had questioned if my bio father was where the short genes had come from. My Mum hadn’t been short. Quite the opposite – she’d been tall and statuesque, always towering over me. That was a part of why, even on her toughest days, she was always able to get a few hits on me before I managed to escape her in the last few years.
In contrast I was small, standing at five feet two inches. As long as I could remember I had been skinny too, and not in an attractive way, but in a teenage boy kind of way. As I stood there, I felt so inferior compared to my siblings, or half siblings to be accurate. They were both good looking, tanned, and in shape. Next to me they seemed to glow,
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean anything by it. You’re gorgeous! Petite and perfect.” Gia seemed to panic, and I knew it was because I had lowered my head and not lifted it again.
I lifted my head quickly, not wanting to upset her, but the move made the room around me sway. Heat rushed to my head from nowhere and I frantically reached to grab onto something as I felt I might pass out.
