Belladonna (Tom Holland)

Thirteen

Jacob started the car and pulled out of the motel. As we entered the highway, I wondered about the other residents and the staff. Where were they when this all went down? Did Lorenzo pay them off or did he kill them? What psychotic measures did he take to make sure that he could kill me without disruption?

    For a while, Jacob and I said nothing; there was nothing to talk about really. That was a lie. There was so much to talk about, but I doubted we were ready to express anything out loud. He played some music on the radio; at first it was some station that played the hits in a cycle of the same four songs. He then plugged his phone into the AUX and told me to choose the song, so I queued up a few I remembered liking over the summer. I hadn't had the time to listen to music ever since everything had gone down, and now it was almost freeing, to let loose to someone else's thoughts.

    "I'm gonna take you to the hospital first," Jacob spoke, "I want to get your hand looked at before it gets infected. Is that alright?" "That's more than alright," I scoffed, "What was the alternative?" "Have Georgiana look at it, I guess," he shrugged, "She's good with medicine. I think she was a nurse before she worked for us." I laughed at the thought of Georgiana being a nurse. She hated syringes; everytime she had to take me to get my shots, she had to wait in the other room. They made her queasy to the point she couldn't bear to think about it. She would have been a horrible nurse.

    Jacob raised an eyebrow, "Do you know her?" I remembered I told Tom that I didn't, but there was nothing to worry about now. I lied because I was scared of having anymore connections to the Biancattis, in case Tom wanted to use everything I loved against me. But now, there was no point in hiding. Being apart of the Biancattis was a part of my past, but it didn't define my present or my future; it was up to me to define my life. I shouldn't have to pledge loyalty to someone else before myself. I nodded, "She was our maid before my parents died." "Does Tom know?" Jacob asked and I shrugged. "I told him I didn't know her, but you never know with Tom," I said, "He probably knew before he met me."

    "Probably," Jacob's concentration on the conversation faded when a song on the radio began. It was from The Weeknd; I remember listening to it the night before graduation at a party with some friends. I didn't get drunk that night, but I wish I did. Parties were boring when you're the only sober one. However, the song was the one good thing about it. But it seemed that Jacob didn't share the same sentiment.

    "I can change it if you want," I picked up his phone, but he laid his hand on mine and gently put it down. His voice was a whisper, "It's fine." "You want to talk about it?" I asked, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. I used the hand Lorenzo stabbed; it was a mindless act that I regretted almost immediately. Jacob's stern disposition faded and he chuckled briefly. "Bella, you just went through all this trauma, and you want to know about mine?"

    "We can unpack my baggage at the hospital," I said, "Right now, you need someone to talk to." I turned the song down and waited for him to speak. I didn't want to rush him, no matter how curious I was. Jacob was a private man and he was willing to open up to me, whether he spoke it into existence or not. Already, this was a lot for him, but it was probably refreshing. It seemed that everyone in the mafia had trauma to deal with, so they never let someone else help them go through it.

    Jacob sighed. "My sister joined the mafia before I did. She married into the DeLucas, so she was Biancatti by default." I perked up. I remember him talking about her before we left for Wonderland, and how she loved Louboutins. "She got me a job with Lorenzo as an assistant before I became his second in command. I was nineteen and scared shitless; I was in and out of jail, so I thought I was hot shit, but the second I was in Lorenzo's presence I knew that compared to him I was nothing. I wasn't even a footprint on the trail of crime, and I was working with Lorenzo fucking Biancatti!"