Omerta

Chapter 51

        In front of me was a printed photo of Mario Santillo. The mustache man. Those empty eyes were the last thing I saw before he attacked me and I woke up in a burning building. I shivered when I took a closer look at him and Nick placed his hand on my shoulder, as if reading my mind. We had his address now. 

"You'll be staying here, Gia. I'm serious. No leaving. Dom and I will handle picking up our friend. Once we get him we'll interrogate him. See what information he'll give us, and if he links us to Vincent," Nick explained. 

"I want to ask him questions too! You can't just leave me at home like some little pathetic girl. I'M the one who found the answers. Stop discrediting me," I scolded them both. Dom sighed, but Nick grabbed my chin and made me look at him. 

"How many times do you needa come close to dying before you realize you needa stay out of this business? Huh?" he got snappy with me.

        I pushed his hand away, but he just grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. The air thickened around us as though Dom weren't even here watching us right now. "Giada," Nick warned. He always used my full name when scolding me. 

"I wanna come, Nick. I need to see this through," I looked up at him through my lashes and gave him my sad eyes. 

"I worked hard to find this guy," I reminded him. He sighed, "I know. You've done an impressive job. Nobody's taking that away from you. But this part gets physical and you aren't gonna like what you see," he told me straight up. I swallowed knowing he was right.

Nick just stared into my eyes in silence for a moment. 

        "Gia, I think Nico's right," Dom broke our trance. We both looked at him like we didn't know he was in the room. "You underestimate me. Gimme a gun Nick, you said you would," I reminded him. Dom's head snapped his way as if to say 'what the hell man'. "That was- listen you haven't even gotten to practice with one. You...damn it Giada, you're staying here! End of discussion," he snapped. 

I slapped Nick's arm, then whacked his chest, and arm again. He flinched away and Dom looked at me with wide eyes like I'd just kicked a bull or something. It's almost equivalent.

"What the fuck Giada" he growled out. 

"Stop treating me like some breakable doll!! I've been through more than any of you and I'm still here. So stop damn it. I'm not a doll," I yelled at him. 

"Exactly, you've endured enough. Why do you want to add to that? You know what I'm gonna do to the guy, so why are you putting yourself in the situation of watching when you can't handle it?!" Nick snapped. 

Dom sat quiet because he knew it was the smartest thing to do. Nick wouldn't punch me, but he'd punch him. I went to open my mouth, but Nick cut me off. "And you are breakable, Gia. Just let me protect you," his hand came up to my face. I was surprised he was acting this way in front of Dom.

        "I used to think I needed protection, but I'm starting to learn I'm capable of more than I give myself credit for. What I lack in strength I make up for with smarts," I told him. Standing tall and proud. "Now's not the time for a girl empowerment speech. This is real life danger, Gia. And we're going to kidnap, beat, torture, then kill a man. You wanna watch that? Do you honestly wanna watch that or are you being stubborn?" he asked me. 

I went to speak, but yet again he cut me off. "And you do need protection. Should I remind you of the fire, because you wouldn't have gotten out if not for HELP," he rubbed in my face. 

I pushed his chest and walked into the connecting bedroom for some space. Nick growled in frustration and followed after me, snapping at Dom when he said to leave me alone.