by Bethany-Kris
“Hey,” came a quiet whisper.
Theo met Damian’s gaze outside of the Cadillac.
“Hey,” Theo said.
“You okay?”
Theo shook his head.
Damian frowned. “Me, either. I’m sorry.”
“About what?”
“Your mom and dad.”
Theo’s eyes stung with tears.
“Somebody hit you?” Damian asked.
“Yeah.”
Damian glanced down at Lily. She had her face hidden into Theo’s side, and covered her ears with her hands. “Don’t hit them back, Theo.”
“Why?”
“Only makes it worse.”
“Oh,” Theo mumbled.
“I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay, Ghost.”
Damian peeked over the car. “And I’m sorry about your brother, too.”
Theo blinked away his tears. DeLucas didn’t cry.
“Keep an eye on Lily,” Damian said.
“Nobody else does,” Theo replied.
“I do sometimes.”
It was true.
“Wake up, Theo.”
Theo glanced around at the whisper. The voice was familiar—her voice.
Why did she sound like that?
Scared. Tired. Sad.
She shouldn’t sound like that.
“Wake up, Theo, please.”
A warmth spread on the palm of his hand, coursing down his arm and straight into his chest. He swore he could feel something soft and smooth stroking against it, too. Theo touched the invisible something back.
“Wake up.”
Theo held tighter to Lily. He couldn’t go yet. He was still needed here.
“Please wake up.”
“I will.”
“Oh, Theo, get that goddamned pen out of your mouth,” Carmela chided.
Theo dropped the pen to the table and tried not to glare at his aunt. If he did, and she saw it, he would only earn himself a good smack in the side of the head. Carmela DeLuca had little to no patience for kids. Thank God she never had any of her own.
“And sit straight in that chair. Good Lord, you slouch too much.”
Theo forced his shoulders straight. “Better?”
“You’re getting there. Read the section back to me, now.”
Chancing a glance at the digital clock on the stove, Theo noted it was well after ten at night. Tired and drowsy-eyed, he recited the section of his history textbook that his aunt asked him to read.
“Perfect,” Carmela praised.
Her acceptance did nothing for him. It never had. The more Theo did right for Carmela, the more things she found wrong to criticize him with. It never ended.
“Can I go wash up for bed? I finished everything.”
Carmela looked over fourteen-year-old Theo’s homework with a keen eye and a severe expression.
“I suppose,” she finally drawled.
“Thank you.”
Mostly, Theo was just jealous as hell that his nine-year-old sister got to live away at boarding school for ten months out of the year while he was stuck here. He was glad Lily never had to deal with Carmela or Ben, though. Little Lily didn’t need their special brand of love.
Theo had to pass the door that led into the garage to get to the stairwell leading to the upstairs section of the DeLuca home. His uncle was always clear about Theo staying far away from the garage when nighttime fell because sometimes Ben did business in there.
Outfit business.
“Had enough yet?”
The question made Theo pause. He noticed the garage door was opened just an inch or two. It wasn’t like Ben to leave it open for someone to walk in. Usually it was locked up tight, and the shades on the door drawn.
Knowing better, but unable to stop himself, Theo pushed the door open a little more.
“Well, Dino?” Ben asked. “Have you?”
Theo’s throat felt like someone had tied a noose around it and pulled as tight as they could. Dino struggled to get up from the cement floor of the garage with a bloody mouth, blackened eyes, and a swollen cheek. By the looks of the way Dino’s ankle was twisted and it gave under his weight, it was probably broken. Theo grabbed the doorknob so hard he was sure he would crush it.
“What’d I fucking tell you, huh?” Ben growled.
“Don’t play with snakes,” Dino rasped.
“And there you go, fucking sleeping with one.”
“I—”
“Oh, give it up, Dino. I told you to stay away from that family. I don’t care about your feelings. They don’t make a goddamn difference to me. If you can’t follow my very simple fucking rules, then I will beat them into you.”
Theo’s heart hammered hard when Ben flicked out his wrist to showcase what he’d been hitting Dino with. A thin metal pole glinted under the light.
“You don’t mess with daughters, Dino,” Ben said.
Dino spat a mouthful of bloody saliva to the floor. “I know.”
“Well, you surely will after tonight. As for the little whore you were running around with, I’ll have that issue corrected before the morning, too.”
“Don’t, Ben. I’ll leave it alone. She didn’t do anything. She’s just a girl.”
“Too late,” Ben murmured. “Julia Trentini will not make it home from her track and field training tonight before the brakes let go in her car. A terrible, awful accident and one that is sure to break Terrance’s heart. He adores his daughter, after all. I’m sure you’ll understand, Dino, in time.”
Like a bolt of lightning had been shot under Dino’s feet at Ben’s statement, Dino was up and lunging for his uncle.
“You’re a bastard, Ben!”
Without even hesitating, Ben swung the metal pole. It caught Dino right under the chin, knocking the twenty-year-old back to the floor with a sickening crack.
Theo froze. Just for a second. And then he was running into the garage and straight at his uncle’s back, too.
Theo didn’t even get the chance to reach Ben before the metal pole cracked him in the side. Ben had always been quick about his beatings. Theo should have known better than to think he could catch his uncle off guard.
“Stupid boy,” Ben hissed as the pole snapped against Theo’s wrist.
A howl caught in the back of Theo’s throat. Something awful bloomed in his wrist, and he hugged his arm to his chest as he rolled to his stomach on the floor. It was the best position to save his body from a worse beating. His back was tough but his organs were not.
“Stupid, stupid child,” Ben continued, the toe of his shoe catching Theo in the cheek.
Tears welled as sobs choked Theo over and over. “I’m sorry …”
“Don’t fucking touch him, Ben. Don’t hurt my brother.” Dino’s breath was labored as he rolled onto his hands and knees, water filling his eyes and tears streaking down his bruised face. “Don’t—”
“Shut your mouth!”
Theo tried to scramble away from his uncle, but every time he moved, the pain in his wrist increased until he was gagging on the bile spilling on his tongue.
Then, Ben yanked Theo back by grabbing the back of his shirt. He flung Theo to the cement floor. Instinct made Theo throw his arms out to catch himself and something snapped in his wrist. The pain increased to an unbearable point. All Theo could do was watch the pole swinging from his uncle’s hand, hoping to hell it didn’t hit him again.
Ben went a different route. He must have noticed that Theo was holding his wrist, because his uncle smirked cruelly before grabbing Theo’s injured hand and dragging him across the garage. Theo’s air left his lungs and he felt frozen to the ground as his uncle popped the trunk on the back of a black Mercedes.
Theo fought.
He fought so fucking hard that his wrist throbbed and his ankle ached. He fought hard enough to make his uncle’s face bleed and to break his fingernails trying to keep Ben from shoving him into the small, dark space.
It wouldn’t be
the first time Ben had done this. Usually, the man favored closets.
“Ben!” Dino shouted. “Leave him be!”
Theo knew Dino was injured, but he still hated his brother for not helping him. Ben used the pole to push against Theo’s stomach as he grabbed the trunk and began to close it.
“Thank your brother for this, Theo,” Ben said quietly. “Three days will do you a world of good, I’m sure.”
Theo opened his mouth to speak, but the trunk closed on him just as fast. He kicked and beat against his confines, but nothing helped.
What was worse … what was worse were the sounds of his brother getting beat all over again. Dino’s cries and pleads were enough to make Theo throw up on himself. The sound of metal slapping against flesh and bone were so much worse.
Hugging his knees to his chest, Theo stayed curled in his safe ball.
“I’m here, you know,” came a soft voice.
His hand was so warm. Softness touched his palm over and over. It took the pain from the broken wrist away.
“All you have to do is wake up for me, Theo.”
Theo let the familiar voice drown out the memories he didn’t want to relive. The monsters that hid in the dark. The hell all around him.
It was gone when she spoke.
“I have something to tell you.”
Theo shuddered. Dino’s grunts of pain got louder. Metal clanked to cement.
“Die there for all I give a damn,” Ben spat from somewhere outside of the trunk.
“Please wake up for me.”
“I want to, Eve.”
“Do what you will,” Ben said, flicking his wrist in Theo’s direction.
Dismissed.
Just like that, forgotten.
“But I didn’t do anything wrong,” Theo said. “Not on purpose. It was an honest mistake, Ben. I apologized to the guy. I’ll stay the fuck away from the girl. It wasn’t my fault she’ll open her legs for a good-looking man. Maybe if the bastard treated her better, she’d stay home where she belonged.”
Riley scoffed. “Women are only good for a few things, kid. If all you’re looking for is to get your dick wet, Theo, find a woman who is meant just for that. She’s called a whore. There’s a dozen of them everywhere you look.”
“I still didn’t do anything wrong!”
Ben shook his head. “You started an issue with Riley’s man when you slept with the guy’s woman, Theo.”
“I didn’t know she had a fucking boyfriend!”
“Oh, well,” Ben murmured as he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Music from the strip club’s floor pumped down to the room. “I’m sure you and Riley will figure out a way to work this little problem out, Theo.”
Stuck staring at his uncle as Ben closed the door, Theo didn’t even see the metal chair coming. It smacked him right in the back and knocked the air out of his lungs. His knees hit the floor as a shout ricocheted out from his chest.
“Fuck,” Theo snarled. “Cheap shots are for cowards, Riley.”
“Just teaching you a lesson you should have already learned, DeLuca.”
Theo’s worst mistake was rolling over to defend himself. Riley brought the chair down on him again. The sharp end of the leg sliced through his shirt and pec, cutting him a good five inches long and deep if the amount of blood was any indication.
Just barely managing to get out of the way of the chair when Riley swung it down again, Theo scrambled to find something to fight back with. His fists were one thing, but considering Riley was coming at him with a chair, it didn’t seem like they would help him much.
“Ah, there they are,” Riley said, looking over Theo’s shoulder and grinning coldly.
Theo made the mistake of looking back. Two men stepped inside the room and lunged for him. There was no escape this time, no way out. Theo found himself on the ground as Riley’s boot landed on one of his ribs with enough force to break it. Arms barricaded him down. Fists, feet, and a chair pummeled him bloody and unconscious into the floor.
At least like that he didn’t feel.
Theo wasn’t entirely sure how long he stayed like that, but he vaguely recalled bouts of consciousness and pain. Hours, maybe. Days was more likely. There was so much pain in the one side of his body that he could barely breathe. The more air he tried to draw in, the worse it hurt and the less his lungs worked. He was sure he’d lost a lot of blood because he was too goddamn weak to stand, but he couldn’t be sure because there was no light. But the floor around him was sticky in spots and crusty in others. The darkness of the room and the coldness of the floor was unsettling. No matter how many times he called out, no one answered him.
“Is he in there?”
Theo heard a familiar voice shout somewhere behind him. Something hard landed against something solid.
“Is he?” the voice asked again.
“Ben said to leave it be.”
“Fuck you. Get out of my way or I’ll give you a taste of metal when I blow your throat apart with bullets.”
Light filtered into the room. Theo squinted up at the ceiling, remembering where he was and how he’d gotten there again. The pain from the light wasn’t unbearable, but it wasn’t comfortable, either.
“Christ … Theo …”
Dino leaned over him, his hands ghosting over Theo’s face.
“Something’s wrong,” Theo told his brother.
“Yeah, man. How many fingers?”
“Six?”
“No,” Dino said lowly. “There’s only five fingers to a hand, Theo. What did he do?”
“Riley,” Theo tried to explain.
The more he talked, the worse his face felt.
“I’ll get you out of here. I think you’ve got some kind of internal problem.”
Dino’s words drifted straight past Theo.
The light kept getting brighter instead.
It was really beginning to hurt.
“Wake up, Theo.”
The light flashed like a direct beam into his eye.
Someone was holding his arms down.
A hand was touching his face.
“Stop,” Theo mumbled.
“It’s all right,” Dino said quietly. “You’ll be okay, man.”
“Pupil response is there,” someone said. “Can you blink for me, Theo?”
Theo did what they told him to.
“Let me go,” Theo croaked.
“He’s trying to talk,” the familiar voice whispered. “Please let him go.”
“He’s going to hurt himself!”
“Stop holding him down!”
Evelina.
Eve.
His.
All his.
Theo sucked in a lungful of air and struggled again. The darkness had faded finally. The room was bright and his head ached. Raw in his throat and achy in his arms and legs, Theo kept struggling.
“Stop moving, Mr. DeLuca, please.”
“They usually don’t wake up with this much strength,” a man muttered.
“Stop holding him down!” Evelina cried. “He suffers from—”
“Hush, girl. You’re not making it better.”
Theo didn’t recognize the room. He didn’t know why there were monitors on the wall or why there were leads and tubes attached to him. He grabbed at the wires and IVs, and pulled. He wanted those fucking things off. But in the midst of the chaos, he found the most familiar thing in the room; the one thing that settled and calmed him.
Evelina …
Tears streaked down Evelina’s cheeks, and she was biting down on her thumb hard enough to break the skin. A female in white scrubs had Evelina pushed into the corner, refusing to let her come any closer.
“Eve,” Theo rasped.
His body sagged into something soft.
“Please,” Evelina whispered. “Stop.”
What happened?
She was alive.
Evelina was alive.
“Just a sedative,” the man said. “Enough to calm him an
d make him sleep whatever this is off for a couple of hours. Sometimes this happens but it isn’t usually this violent. Can you count for me, Theo? Count to ten.”
Go fuck yourself.
“That’s not very nice,” chided a nurse.
Had he said that out loud?
A prick stung his arm.
Bastards.
He just wanted Evelina.
“Can I see her now?” Theo asked.
“Soon,” the nurse replied.
A bitchy nurse. The woman was nasty as hell and Theo was two seconds away from telling the woman exactly that.
“Listen, I’m moving, talking, you’ve even taken the goddamn catheter out and I took a piss. All is good, right? I’ve been awake for over twenty-four hours. The physical therapist came in and checked me out. My reflexes are good. The doctor has been in and did all his tests. The brain woman came in and looked over the scan. The shrink came in and pestered the shit out of me. So if you’ve had enough of trying to cop a feel of my junk, I’d really like to see my girl. Now.”
The nurse gaped at him like a fish.
It wasn’t like Theo was lying. The woman had gotten more handfuls of his cock in the last hour than he was comfortable with. He was sure she’d probably gotten a handful or two when he was unconscious, too.
The very idea of being prone in a bed, unable to help himself or take care of his basic fucking human needs, made him disgusted.
The first twenty-four hours after waking from the coma had been hell. Non-stop tests from the doctors who wanted to make sure he suffered no brain damage. Theo had felt dizzy, confused, and dazed for hours. His eyesight hadn’t been able to focus until nearing the twenty-four hour mark. Sometimes, he’d just stare off into space while in the middle of a conversation. He’d talked to his sister, thankfully, but that was it. No one else had been allowed in to his room.
Theo wanted to see Evelina.
He was desperate for her.
“And when can I eat?” Theo asked. “I’m starving.”
Quietly, the nurse said, “The doctor would like to wait for a certain time to pass. Sometimes, when coma patients wake up, their stomachs are sensitive. More so than usual.”
“Fine.”
“You’re very temperamental.”
“He always was,” came a voice from the doorway. “It isn’t a new development.”
