Page 52 of When She Unravels
Nausea appears inside my gut. “Why is she in your lap?” I demand.
Nelo smirks. “You jealous,bella? Don’t worry, I’ve got another knee you can bounce on.” He releases Astrid’s wrist and pats his free knee.
“You’re disgusting.”
“You didn’t seem to think so the other night.”
Astrid tries to stand, but he won’t let her, pushing her back down with a palm on her bare thigh. She visibly stiffens. Her eyes are wide and scared as she flicks her gaze over Nelo’s friends. Astrid isn’t a weak girl, but these men are straight-up intimidating, and I can see that she’s frozen in fear.
“Let her go,” I say. My hand is curled into a fist inside the pocket of my apron, but I’m not De Rossi. I won’t be able to break Nelo’s nose.
But when his hand trails higher up Astrid’s thigh, I realize I’m furious enough to try.
“She’s not complaining, is she?” he asks in a low voice, his lips close to her neck but his eyes glued to my face. He’s doing this to piss me off.
“She’s terrified.”
“Terrified? I don’t think so. I think this pussy—” he moves his hand to cup Astrid’s crotch, “—is nice and wet for me.”
My knuckles brush against the ice pick inside my apron. Fury swarms inside of me like a dark cloud of locusts. I curl my palm around the handle. There are no thoughts. I’m not even breathing.
I jerk the ice pick out and sink it through the top of Nelo’s hand that’s resting on his knee.
Lazaro’s lessons with various sharp objects have finally paid off. I know just how hard I need to ram the pick to make it all the way through Nelo’s hand.
For a moment that stretches in my imagination, Nelo stares at the handle protruding from his hand. Then he shoves Astrid off him and lets out an astonished shout.
The music around us blares so loud it nearly drowns out the sound. Nelo’s men shoot up to their feet and yell in angry Italian. Someone grabs my arm.
“Ale!” It’s Astrid. I’ve never seen her eyes so wide. “Ale, what did you do?”
Nelo pulls out the ice pick with a pained grunt and blood streams out of his hand, dripping all over the floor.
He stands and levels his bloodshot gaze on me. “I’m going to kill you for that,bella.”
I suck in my first breath in a long while and look down at the blood on the floor. It’s like a gruesome piece of art.
My God, what have I done? I promised I’d never do this again.
The guy with the dead eyes pulls a switchblade out of his jacket.
Astrid gasps. “Ale, we have to go.” She manages to drag me a few steps before we’re stopped by two bouncers. Behind them is Maria. She must have summoned them just now. Where the hell were they moments ago when we needed their help?
“Get the fuck back,” Nelo says to them when they move to stand before Astrid and I. “We’ve got shit we need to sort out.”
“Sit down,” one of the bouncers says, eyeing the four men wearily. “Señor De Rossi is on his way.”
“Fuck you.”
Nelo and his companions start slinging insults at the bouncers, but the two men are clearly doing their hardest to deescalate by staying impressively calm. Astrid squeezes my wrist, and I whip my head around to meet her eyes.
What I see inside of them makes me stagger back.
Damiano appears on the other side of the booth and pushes past the seats. “What is going on here?” He does a double take when he sees me behind the bouncers, and then his gaze sweeps over the booth and all the involved parties. If he’s shocked at the sight of Nelo’s hand, he doesn’t show it. His eyes only narrow when he sees the other man’s switchblade.
“You brought a weapon into my club?” his voice is deadly.
Nelo’s face turns red with rage. “This bitch just cut me.” He lifts his hand. It’s looking ghastly. “Your rules don’t mean shit anymore.”
