Save Me

Chapter 10

About an hour (I think) after arriving inside the house, Papa and Romeo enter the house, and they look satisfied yet they're covered in blood from the tops of their heads to the tops of their shoes. Swallowing around the lump in my throat at the sight of them, Lucca and I are still on the couch, and cuddled together as Da sends them off to shower, and throw their dirty clothes into the washer. They head off to do as Da told them, and he and Alexi focus on Lucca and I again with a forced smile.

"You boys are safe, so are Romeo and Rome and the others," Da assures us, and I flinch when someone's hand is placed on my knee.

Dropping my gaze down to my knee, I find the hand belongs to Alexi, and when I look at him, he gives me a weak, reassuring smile that I can't even bring myself to return.  Several long, and silent minutes pass before Papa and Romeo return to the living room fresh from showering, and have on clean clothing, and they sit down in front of Lucca and I on the coffee table, facing us as Da sits next to us, and Alexi sits on the arm of the couch.

"So, the white and Black SUV's were part of a gang from two towns north of us," Papa starts explaining. "They know that you're a part of this mafia, so they decided that it would be a good idea to try and take you out, by any means necessary. You did an amazing job today, and I'm proud of you. We took care of them, and we'll take care of the remaining gang members tomorrow night, so until then, you and Lucca are on lock-down."

"Wasn't really planning on leaving the house anytime soon, so that works for me," I mumble, kissing the back of Lucca's head as he reaches out for Da who happily takes him, and gives him a kiss on the temple, mumbling that he loves the little boy. "Thanks for taking care of the problem, by the way."

"You're welcome, love, though you never have to thank us for taking care of our own," Papa replies, and Romeo agrees with this statement.

"Can I take a nap, and finish my work later?" I beg my parents, hoping they'll keep an eye on Lucca for me.

"Take nap wif you?" Lucca hopefully asks with a loud yawn, crawling off his Poppy's lap, and back onto mine.

"Of course you can, baby," I instantly agreed with a bright smile, despite not feeling fully happy, but content that my son wants to nap with me.

Gathering him into my arms, holding him against my body, Lucca and I tell the others that we'll see them later after our nap, and we make our way up to my bedroom, and straight into the bathroom, so we can potty before napping. Washing and drying our hands after using the toilet, we climb onto my bed, settling under the covers with me on my back, and Lucca on his side, lying against my side with his head on my chest as he sucks his thumb. Within minutes we're both sound asleep, exhausted from being at the cemetery, and the incident on our way home.

Startling awake when a loud banging noise breaks through my sound sleep, and I bolt upright in bed, scanning the room for an intruder. My eyes land on Romeo and Alexi, both standing still just inside the bedroom with the light from the hallway spilling in behind them. They look shameful for scaring me, and startling me awake.

"Hey, sorry, we didn't mean to startle you awake," Romeo quietly says, he and Alexi step closer to the bed, so I can hear him easier. "We wanted to wake you to let you know that lunch is ready."

Scrubbing my face with my hands, nodding as I drop my hands to my lap, mumbling; "Yeah, okay. Give me a few minutes to wake Lucca, and then we'll be down after using the bathroom."

They leave the room, leaving the door open, and I focus my attention on my still sleeping son, letting out a soft sigh as I gently shake his shoulder, and softly telling him to wake up. This takes me several minutes before he fully wakes, and we use the bathroom before making our way downstairs for lunch. We slowly move downstairs, one step at a time to ensure that Lucca doesn't fall, and when we reach the kitchen, everyone including the henchmen are in the kitchen and dining room, and are grabbing something to eat.

Picking Lucca up to settle him in his high chair that's placed in between Da and my chairs, I head back to grab a plate of food for Lucca and me before heading back to my seat. When I move to sit down, I don't pay attention to who is sitting on my free side, and jump slightly when I notice that Alexi is the one who is sitting next to me.

"How are you feeling after your nap? How's Lucca feeling?" Alexi softly asks once I've placed Lucca's plate, silverware, and his sippy cup in front of him on the tray, and I've turned to face the table.

"Lucca's fine, thanks, and I'm fine, too," I assure him with a weak smile as I start to eat. "I'm used to being a target, seeing that this is part of our life."

Alexi curtly nods, mumbling near my ear because it's really loud in here with everyone around; "I know it's part of our life, but I'm sure it's still upsetting when your son is with you."

Humming with a nod as I try not to break down into tears at the mention of this, and avoid his sympathetic eyes. I hate sympathy, even if it's from people I know. Alexi drops the subject because I think he understands that I'm uncomfortable with the topic. I remain silent the rest of the meal except to speak with Lucca.