# 2 — Chapter 6
As the day progresses, Carmelo and I have seemed to make time fly by talking and doing a whole lot of fucking. I know that as soon as darkness fills the sky, Carmelo will have to call Antonio and tell him everything. It’s been so nice to be off the map and not have to worry. I’m not sure I ever want to go back to what life was like before I entered Carmelo’s apartment. I could stay here secluded from the world forever
Carmelo orders Chinese to the apartment and we eat in his bed as I tell him stories from my childhood. He asks me about Lazzaro and I tell him that they were similar in many respects and they’d probably even be friends if Laz lived here. Carmelo laughs at that.
Carmelo’s attention goes to the window in his small room, we both sigh knowing what is about to come. I give him a nod and he pulls out his cell phone.
“She’s at my apartment,” there’s a long pause and I imagine Antonio chewing Carmelo’s ear off. “Bring her father, there’s something we all need to discuss…. No, just have her father come. That’s it. Arabella has some shocking news to share that you’re going to want to hear.”
I slide out of bed and put on my shirt and pants. They should be arriving soon. I sit on the couch in the living room, Carmelo joins me when he finishes the phone call and gets dressed himself. He sits next to me and puts his arm around me.
“Everything will be okay.”
“What if they don’t believe me?” I frown.
Carmelo sighs. “I don’t know.”
Without proof, the only thing Antonio and my father can go off of is my word, and I’m afraid that’s not going to be good enough.
Carmelo and I nearly fling off the couch when my father kicks down the apartment door. “Keep your fucking hands off of her!”NôvelDrama.Org owns © this.
“Papa,” I walk toward him and put my hands on his chest to block him from strangling Carmelo. “He didn’t do anything. I came to his apartment because I had to escape.”
“Escape what?” Antonio says with his eyebrow raised. He shuts the door and walks in calmly, wearing a crisp navy suit. He pulls down his suit jacket and fixed the cuff links on his wrists, patiently waiting for an answer.
Antonio, while a vicious and ruthless man, has always had a calm demeanor. His calmness isn’t contagious though, it makes you uneasy and worried that he’ll snap at any moment.
“Leonardo,” I say breathlessly. I can feel a panic attack build in my heart and lungs. Suddenly, there doesn’t feel like there’s enough oxygen in the room. I sit back down on the couch and hold my head in my hands.
I can’t do this. I really can’t fucking do this.
“What about him?” My father’s rough voice cuts the unbearable silence.
“He… he…”
“He has been abusing Arabella since he was assigned to her when she was a teenager. The night she disappeared he tried to touch her and she ran away. She was petrified,” Carmelo saves the day.
“That’s ridiculous. Leonardo is one of my best men,” my father scoffs.
Antonio looks indifferent with his hands crossed against his chest. He stares at me waiting for confirmation.
“I told you he was up to no good! He’s sprouting lies about my daughter and bodyguard because he wants her all to himself,” my father yells red-faced to Antonio.
“I’ve known Carmelo since I was kid. He is many things, but a liar is not one of them,” Antonio defends adamantly.
I close my eyes and admit what has been my secret nightmare for years. “He’s not lying, Papa.”
“What?” His shoulders tense and he slowly turns to face me.
I’ve never felt so small in my entire life. Both physically or mentally, my height and carefree attitude made me feel like I could conquer anything, but now is one of the times I feel so insignificant that I want to curl into a ball and disappear. I’ve seen my father look at me with disappointment and I expected it, but this is different. He looks hurt, confused, and unsure of himself.
“You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you? This is all a ploy so Carmelo can be your bodyguard and you two can spend your days fucking like the whor-”
“Francesco,” Antonio warns and turns to me, “I need you to tell me everything.”
And I do.
I tell them how it started when he was appointed as my bodyguard at fourteen. I told them it happened frequently after ballet lessons. How it happened sometimes after school if no one was home, but also how it happened nearly every single night until I graduated high school and was then married off to Vinny. I tell them that he never touched my virtue, but he touched me when he shouldn’t have and forced himself on me in other unspeakable ways.
My father sits down putting his hand over his forehead. He shakes his head in disbelief and tries to wrap his head around how his daughter could be molested by one of the soldiers he commands-and in his own house. Under his own roof.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone, Bella?” He asks softly.
“I was scared,” my voice breaks. “I was scared no one would believe me. There’s no proof.”
Antonio rolls his eyes. “Fuck proof. You wouldn’t lie about something like that. I’ve known you since the day you were born and I’ve always looked out for you being my youngest cousin. You are under my protection and Leonardo will fucking meet his end.”
My father stands and with dead seriousness says, “I want to do it. I want to feel his life end at my hand.” Antonio gives a curt nod in agreement. “Nobody touches my little girl and gets away with it,” he says through gritted teeth and clenched fists.