When She Falls (The Fallen, #3)(80)

CHAPTER 26





RAS


Snowflakes slap against my face as Gemma and I walk out the front door.

I shrug my jacket off and wrap it around her shoulders. She’s trembling, her skin white with shock except for the blooming pink mark on one side of her face.

He hit her there. He raised his hand and struck her.

My vision bleeds red. It takes everything for me to keep moving my feet forward instead of turning back around to finish what I started.

No matter how much I want to decimate Garzolo, my priority is Gemma.

I open the car door and help her inside, careful not to touch the side she’s clutching. She’s taking short, shallow breaths. The vein in her neck pounds fast and hard.

I lean over and clip in her seat belt. “You’re okay. I’ll make sure the doctor sees you right away.”

She nods, her hands finding mine.

“Show me where you’re hurt,” I ask, pulling a handkerchief from my pocket and pressing it against her bleeding bottom lip. When I pull it away, she seems surprised to see the fabric is stained red.

Garzolo split her lip.

I clench my jaw and swear to the heavens that Garzolo will pay.

“I don’t know,” she says brokenly. “My ribs, I think.”

“Okay, we’re going to figure it out.” I cup her cheek with my hand. “Gem, you’re safe now. I promise.”

Fear slips into her gaze. “Ras, you have to flee. Call Damiano. Papà—”

“Don’t worry about me.” She’s the one who’s hurt, and she’s thinking about me. The back of my throat prickles. Fuck. I can’t stand this.

I press a soft kiss to her forehead. “Give me your phone. We’re going to turn it off so that your father can’t track us while we get you taken care of.”

She slides it into my hand. “Where are we going?”

“To the closest hospital.”

“And afterwards?”

“I don’t know. I’ll figure it out. But you’re never going to be alone with your father again. Ever.”

She gives me a wary look, like she thinks that’s impossible, but she doesn’t argue.

I give her shoulder a squeeze, shut the door, and climb into the driver’s seat.

Yes, the next time I see Garzolo, I’m going to kill him. Rage burns beneath my flesh as I imagine all the ways I’d like to disfigure that motherfucker before he takes his last breath.

Watching him kick Gemma while she was curled up on the ground woke something primal inside of me. I heard the commotion from where I was waiting in the living room, and I immediately ran to the office, but I was seconds too late.

And in those seconds, he managed to knock her to the ground and land a few hits.

My hands strangle the wheel.

I should have never let her go into his office without me.

“Peaches, how are you doing?” I ask, trying to keep my voice calm for her sake.

“My side hurts badly when I breathe in.” She prods her ribs, wincing as she does it. “I don’t think anything’s broken though.”

My teeth grind against each other. “How often has he done this to you?”

A long while passes before she answers. “Until recently, it was only every few months. Whenever he was in a bad mood and had no one else to take it out on. But after Vale ran, he started doing it more.”

“Fucking unbelievable,” I growl. How dare he? It’s bad enough that he’s been hitting her, but the fact that he’s been doing that while planning to use her to save his own hide makes it even more perverse. Does he even view her as a human being? Or is she just a fucking object? “And your sisters didn’t know?”

“I’ve always hidden it. In the past, he rarely hit me hard enough to leave a bruise, so it was easy.”

“But in Ibiza, he didn’t hold back. How did Cleo not see anything?”

Her fingertips lift to her cheek. “I wore an eye mask in bed to make sure she wouldn’t notice. She’s not big on details anyway.”

Yeah, she sure isn’t. When Vale asked her about it, she was clueless.

Gemma’s been protecting her and Vale all this time by keeping this secret to herself. She’s been carrying the burden of her father’s anger and violence. There was nothing her sisters could have done when they were younger, but why not say something to Vale in Ibiza? Why not ask for help?

I stop at a red light and glance at her. “Why didn’t you say anything to me? Or Vale?”

“If I’d told Vale, she would have done everything she could to get me out of here, and Papà wouldn’t give me up easily. That’s a fact. I didn’t want to be responsible for more violence. Especially with my family on both sides of the fight. Plus, he stopped when you arrived. I thought maybe it was over, but then I fucked up. I told him what I thought of him for the first time. I didn’t hold anything back.” Her voice wavers. “It was stupid. I provoked him.”

The fact that she thinks this is somehow her fault lights a fire inside of me. “Gemma, you did nothing to deserve this.” I take her hand, pulling her attention to me. “Do you hear me?”

Her eyes are filled with tears. It takes all my willpower not to drag her over the center console and press her against my chest.