The shower was the best I’d ever had.
Not because the bathroom was luxurious; it wasn’t. Nothing special.
It was the best of my life for one single reason: as the hot water rushed over me, all the tension and terror from the last eight hours started to fade away.
I turned it up as hot as it could go and stood there with my face in the water, letting it roar over my ears and block out everything else.
All the muscles in my back and neck gradually begin to relax.
Adriano’s delicious bourbon hadn’t hurt, either.
Adriano…
As I let the water wash over me, I started thinking about him.
I didn’t get him. Not at all.
He was a walking contradiction… an impossible puzzle.
One minute he was a furious, shouting monster –
And then he was unexpectedly kind.
He could be a total dick one second –
And then a real sweetheart the next. (Even if he did try to hide it under his gruff behavior.)
I remembered the way he’d bantered with me at the hotel.
I’d thought he was an asshole at the time, sure…
But I’d also thought he was hot.
However, I never would have guessed that he was kind.
Or that he would go to such lengths to keep me safe.
Especially the way he’d taken up for my mother against Massimo and Lars.
The way he’d shot Sergio to protect her –
Sergio.
Horrible memories flooded back into my brain:
The hotel –
Gunshots –
Breaking glass –
Falling out the window –
into his arms
he caught me
A gun to Mama’s head –
Adriano firing –
he saved her
Sergio’s head snapping back –
Blood in the air –
My mother screaming and falling to the ground –
I was back there in the middle of it all, and it felt like it was happening to me again.
I started hyperventilating and sobbing all at once.
I pulled away from the hot water, put my head against the cool tiles of the shower wall, and tried to control my panic.
It took several minutes, but I finally calmed down.
Just focus on the water.
Feel it running over your shoulders.
You’re safe.
Mama’s safe.
Adriano’s going to help find Papa, and then HE’LL be safe.
It’s going to be okay.
Don’t give up hope –
It’s going to be okay.
It took me another five minutes before I could manage to get out of the shower.
