An Italian Secret: Utterly gripping and heartbreaking World War 2 historical fiction (Daughters of Italy Book 1) by Ella Carey

Author:Ella Carey [Carey, Ella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781837900299
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2023-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 30

CARA

Cara opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the sky, filtered through the trees that lined the road to the Villa Rosa. Her shoulders were bruised, and her breasts stung from where Luigi’s hands had mauled her. Cara tried to ease herself up to her elbows, but when she did so, the back of her head ached with such a sudden throb that she collapsed back down again onto the rough ground.

Tears streaked down her cheeks. Slowly, she brought her hands up to do up the buttons on her dress. She would dress herself, and then go and retrieve what she could, but her mind was all over the place, as if playing a million different tunes, and she was not completely certain what had happened, nor, she realized in horror, how far Luigi Santino’s attack had gone.

After a few moments, she heard a rustling sound in the trees nearby. “Oh, please, let him have gone away,” she murmured. “Santa Maria, make him go away…” Cara stifled a sob. She had been working so hard, trying so hard to move through the grief she felt for Papa, and all she had wanted was to do something to help those who were risking their lives for this valley.

And yet, the forces of power in the world they lived in felt so formidable that it seemed anyone who wanted to do something to help those who are suffering had no hope. And nobody cared anymore whether you were vulnerable or unable to fight against those who wanted to torment you.

She brought her hand up to her mouth, and a trickle of blood ran down her fingers from where he had cut her lip. Or she had cut it on something sharp when she fell. She hardly knew.

When a shadow appeared over her, she closed her eyes, not being able to face Luigi Santino.

“Cara mia? Santa Maria!” Raf was down by her side, scooping her up in his arms, and instinctively, she reached up and curled her own arms around his neck, tucking her aching head into his firm chest and closing her eyes, feeling the salty tears running down her cheeks as he lifted her up.

“I’m sorry about the dynamite…” she managed.

“Don’t you dare apologize,” Raf growled.

Every footstep he took thumped through her entire body, and it was all she could do to manage the throbbing in her head as he carried her back toward the road.

She took in a shaking breath at the sound of her weak voice, and she closed her eyes again.

“Don’t go to sleep, darling,” he murmured. “You must stay awake. I’ll take you to Bettina. Stay with me, sweetheart.”

Blood still trickled from her lip, and her whole face hurt from where she had been pushed into the tree. “It was Signor Santino,” she managed. “My own neighbor.”

“I know who it was. I have dealt with him.”

A sudden lurch of nausea roiled through her system, and she brought her hand to her stomach. “I’m sorry,” she said.

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