by Bry Ann
The moment is tense and uncomfortable, painful.
“Okay, no big deal,” Nix finally says, forcing a casual tone. “Easy fix. Let me get a first aid kit. Stay there.”
Just like that, Lacey cracks. Her body completely crumbles. No one’s expecting it, so her knees crash to the ground painfully.
“Oh God!” I nearly scream. “Nix, no!”
I jump to the ground by Lacey, along with Cut. Maria and Nix look a little shell shocked. See, I don’t know the whole story, but when Adam and Lacey “met” (Lacey was his prisoner, long story) their thing was healing each other with the first aid kit. Apparently it was the one time Lacey could get him to be gentle with her, and now it’s just kinda their thing. Nix could literally not have said anything worse.
“I let him break me! I swore I wouldn’t need anyone, but… no, I’ll be okay.” She shivers. “I’ll be fine. I have to be.”
She sucks in a breath. I watch as her body goes almost creepily still.
“I have to.”
She pushes away from Cut and I, and gets to her feet.
“I have to go. Don’t follow me.”
With that, she leaves the room and heads down a blackened hallway. All four of us look to each other. My heart feels like it’s quivering with pain and worry for Sven, but right now, it’s dull. Shoved down for a moment. What do I do? She not only lost her husband, but it was one of her best friends that crossed her.
Again.
I swear when I see Enzio — Derek — again, I’m probably going to go to prison right along with Sven. Maybe this life changed me. Maybe being loosely connected to the mafia and marrying a known criminal darkened my heart, but it’s too late to change it. Derek crossed Lacey when he swore to protect her.
“Leave her for a bit,” Nix says, cutting through my thoughts.“But what if she hurts herself?” Maria whispers.
Nix sighs heavily. “We’ll only make things worse right now if we smother her. Lacey is a woman who needs to be alone to pull all her strings together sometimes. Unfortunately, she has a daughter, and she needs to do what she needs to to be strong for her.”
We all go quiet and look to the floor, except for Maria, who looks to her boyfriend, Cut.
“I think it goes without saying that I will be staying here with Rose until further notice.” “Yes, babe,” he says quietly. “It does.”
She lifts her chin. “Good.”
I guess we all have a role to play now.
Cut: Train Lacey. Keep her fighting. Keep her strong.
Maria: Be here for Lacey and I until we somehow come to terms with this.
My heart burns fire at the mere thought of that happening. How can I ever make peace with this? With Sven behind bars? Especially with what I know of his childhood.
Nix: Save our men. Save our guys. Please, say he can do it. I’ll forgive him for ignoring me half my life if he can just, please, save Sven and the boss. Even if they don’t deserve it.
Me: 1) Don’t fall apart. 2) Don’t let Lacey crumble. 3) Give Enzio — Derek — a piece of my freaking mind!
Derek
Me: Hey Iris, it’s Derek. I’m just checking on you. Did you get back to your room okay?
The response comes back immediately.
Iris: Yes! Jess is awesome. She introduced me to the fella driving me so I’d be comfortable. Thank you. You were totally right.
