Chapter 5- Reilly
2255 Words
-Reilly-
I have made this entire situation more uncomfortable than it needed to be. I didn’t mean to, but the room and the sounds were just too much, and I had to get away from it.
Enzo’s mother got into a car with his brothers as we follow them to their home. Well, I guess it’s my home now. A lot has happened in just a few short hours.
We pull up to a large house, and Enzo stops the car, but he doesn’t get out. He sits there, hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel, as he stares ahead. I want to ask him if he’s alright, but he’s not. He can’t be. His father just died.
Luca opens my door, leaning down to look past me at his brother. “You coming in or do you have business?”
Enzo blinks a few times before turning and meeting my eyes. “I’m staying tonight.”
Anxiety builds inside me because I hadn’t realized that there was even an option for him not to stay tonight. There’s so much that I don’t know, and that makes everything seem scarier.
Luca offers me his hand, and I take it, letting him help me stand. “You good, Reilly?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I tell him, offering him a smile that I know is weak. “It’s just been a lot. I’m fine, though.”
Enzo gets my suitcase out of the trunk and tilts his head for me to follow him. We step inside the house that reminds me of my own, but there’s just more here- more decoration, more family. It’s more of a home, and I don’t think I dislike it. Sure, the decorations aren’t what I’d pick for myself, but it still feels nice.
“I’m sorry we met like this, Reilly,” Mrs. Esposito tells me as she puts an arm around me. “Welcome home, though.”
I try my best to smile at her, but I’m failing. I’m so nervous. This is it. This is where I’ll live with a man I don’t know. I don’t know what he expects from me, and perhaps I should have asked before I agreed to marry him, but I didn’t.
“Does Reilly need her own room?” Mrs. Esposito asks Enzo.
He sighs. “No, not yet. I still have to meet with her father to assess the potential danger to her from his side. She’ll stay with me until then.”
I swallow nervously. I guess that answers some of the questions causing my anxiety, and it’s not making it any better. Enzo instructs some men to wait for him to return before leading me upstairs. I nod and follow him, as if I have any other option.
“Wait here,” he tells me as he pulls out a gun and opens a door. He enters, checking the entire room before placing it back in the holster and taking my bag. “It’s clear.”
“Do you have to do that every time?” I ask.
“No, but since things changed, and now you’re here, I want to be safe.”
I nod, indicating that I understand, but I do not. Is he truly in any more danger than he was this morning? Am I in that much danger, and did my father hide it from me that well?
Enzo places my suitcase on a small table before giving me an awkward smile. “I’ll make some space in the drawers for you tomorrow. I need to get some things set up with the boys. Are you alright here alone?”
“Yeah, of course,” I tell him. I don’t feel the least bit alright, but I can’t tell him that.
He leaves, but instead of the door closing, his mother steps in. “I just wanted to make sure you have everything you need.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Esposito,” I tell her. “My maid packed the bag while we were talking, so I don’t know what’s in it.”
“Call me Gabriella,” she says sweetly as she sits on the bed. “Go check it, and we’ll sort it from there. When will the rest of your things arrive?”
I pause as I unzip the suitcase. She didn’t even pack the big bag. “I don’t know. I didn’t think about it at the time.”
“We’ll get it all figured out in the morning.”
“I’ll be fine. You have more important things to worry about.”
She sighs. “I need a distraction.”
I move things around, lifting a few items here and there. Carla packed a few dresses for me, as well as some pants and shirts. There’s nothing in here appropriate for a funeral, though. I continue to look, lifting some lacy lingerie and promptly throwing it back down.
Gabriella saw, but she’s kind enough not to say anything even though my cheeks are completely red.
“The only things missing are a toothbrush and something to sleep in,” I tell her awkwardly. “I can go get another tomorrow.”
“I have some extras,” she says. Her eyes crinkle, and I realize that Enzo has her eyes. They’re a bit darker, but they’re just as kind as his.
She leaves the room and returns with a toothbrush and nightgown for me. “We’ll go get your things tomorrow, sweetheart. I know it’s overwhelming now, but you’ve done something for my son. I’ll always be indebted to you.”
I shake my head. “I think it’s quite the other way around. Apparently, I’m in a lot of danger.”
She pats my cheek and kisses my head. “Danger is something we can handle. Good night.”
I take my toiletry bag into the ensuite bathroom and pull my hair back, washing the makeup off my face. I find towels in a closet, so I get into the shower, attempting to wash the day off. I dry off and go into the bedroom, shocked to find Enzo sitting on the bed.
He stares at me, his eyes traveling over my body, and I can only be thankful that the towel is huge. I scurry across the room and pull the cotton nightgown over my head, securing it over my body before I slide the towel off my body.
“What is that?” he asks.
“Carla didn’t pack anything for me to sleep in, so your mother got this for me,” I say, my cheeks turning red again. Carla knew I was getting married and didn’t plan for me to sleep.
He crosses the room, reaching past me to go through my bag. He reaches in, moving things around before his hands come up holding the lacy undergarments. “Carla had plans for us.”
I nod nervously and look away. Enzo walks to a drawer and pulls out a t-shirt that he tosses to me. “I don’t care WHAT has happened. Never get into bed with me wearing my mother’s clothes.”
I laugh because, honestly, it’s what I need right now. He crosses his arms over his chest, staring at me as he waits for me to change.
“Turn around,” I demand.
Enzo sighs, but he complies and turns his back to me. I quickly pull the nightgown off and put on the soft t-shirt. “Alright.”
He turns, a smirk on his face, and I realize that all I did was make him watch my reflection in the mirror behind him. I huff and get my phone charger, plugging it into the wall before I climb into bed.
Enzo doesn’t take the hint, though. He comes and sits on the bed beside my legs, gently placing his hand on my thigh over the blanket. “What happened at the hospital. You looked like you were going to be sick.”
I look down, staring at his large hand on my leg. His hand is strong.
“Reilly,” he says, his voice carrying a tone that tells me I’m not going to sleep without telling him.
“That was the room I was in when I was shot,” I whisper. It seems like such a silly thing, because it’s just a hospital room. It shouldn’t hold any power over me, but it did. “Your dad… he sounded like my mom did when she was shot. It… I…”
I don’t know how to describe what I was feeling. It was terrifying. It was horrifying. I never wanted to hear that sound again, but then I did, and I couldn’t keep it together. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run off, but you said it wasn’t safe to leave the room.”
“I didn’t realize,” he says, squeezing my leg. “No more hospitals.”
“Thanks,” I say softly. I feel so foolish about the whole thing. “If I ask you a question, will you tell me the truth?”
“Yes.”
“How much danger am I really in? I knew Dad worried, but I didn’t know his worries had a reason. He didn’t let me work. I didn’t go to college. Hell, he wouldn’t let me drive.”
“You can’t drive?” Enzo asks. I close my eyes and shake my head. I thought he knew I couldn’t do anything. “Truthfully, I don’t know how much danger you’re in. You’re in danger because you’re married to me now, and there are verified reasons from your father’s side of things. I’m going to go talk to him tomorrow afternoon. You can come and pack the rest of your things if you’d like.”
“That would be good, thanks.” Maybe he’ll get some answers, though I doubt anyone will tell me anything.
Enzo leaves to shower, and I fall straight to sleep.
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“Can I have ice cream, Mom?” I ask.
“Not for lunch. Maybe after dinner,” she smiles.
I look at our bags. We’ve been shopping this morning to buy new clothes for school. It starts next week, and I’m so excited. I have clothes and shoes, as well as new notebooks and Hello Kitty pencils!
There’s a loud pop, and it sounds like something breaks. People scream, and it scares me. I look around with wide eyes, trying to figure out what’s going on.
“Reilly!” Mom shouts. “Get under the table.”
I look around as the loud sounds continue.
“Reilly!” Mom shouts again. She sounds scared.
Mom grabs me and throws me onto the floor. My stomach hurts. She places her arm over my head and lies on top of me, covering me with her body.
I scream because it’s scary, and my stomach hurts. She’s so heavy, and the sounds are so loud. “Mommy!”
The sounds stop, and Daddy’s friend screams for us. “Madeline. s**t. Shit.”
He pulls her off the top of me, but my stomach still hurts. “Oh God,” he says.
“Get Reilly,” Mom tells him. She sounds funny, and I don’t like it. I don’t think she can breathe well.
Daddy’s friend presses onto my stomach. “One in. The other is just a graze.”
“It hurts,” I cry. Mommy grabs my hand.
There are lots of sirens. Too many. It’s so loud and it makes the walls light up with colors. I don’t like it. “Mommy, I’m scared.”
“It’s alright. You’re going to be just fine.”
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I wake with a start, sitting up and gasping for air. A man beside me sits up, grabbing a gun off the nightstand and throwing me back against the mattress, just as my mother did.
“No, stop,” I cry, not fully realizing what’s going on.
“Is someone in here?” the man asks. His voice is familiar.
Enzo. It’s Enzo. It’s all coming back now. I’m at his home. I’m in his bed. He’s my husband. I shake my head, realizing what’s happened.
“It was a dream,” I tell him softly through tears.
He looks at me, though I can barely see him in the darkness. He looks around again before relaxing and moving off me, before placing the gun back on the table.
“I’m so sorry,” I say through shaky breaths. “The hospital, my mom.”
That’s the worst explanation anyone has ever given for anything, but he seems to understand. He pulls me against him and places his arm across me. “You’re safe, Reilly.”
I nod, and as foolish as I feel, I burrow my face into him. “Sometimes I dream about that day.”
Enzo reaches under the blanket. His hand slides up my body, resting on the scar that I know he saw when he watched me in the mirror. His hand is rough, but it’s warm and gentle against my skin. I take his hand and guide it higher to the scar on my side.
“They told us after that the bullet that went through her chest hit me,” I tell my new husband.
“s**t,” he breathes. He pulls me tighter against him before moving his hand so it covers both scars. “You’re safe now.”
- Writer
