Emilia's POV
The gun fired. And everything else...slowed. Me. Linda. The awful man with the gun.
I thought that only happened in shitty movies. An exaggeration. I mean it's a fucking bullet, those don't slow down for anything or anyone. Physics says it doesn't.
Except it did. It really did.
Or maybe I just imagined it.
Maybe I was losing my fucking mind.
Did I lose my mind?
Because I swear I saw the bullet move. I saw the second it went wild, ricocheting off the stupid brick wall above Linda's head. Because something had slammed into the shooter from the side—something huge, something awfully fast.
Something that gave me back my ability to breathe.
It was a giant.
He was massive—easily six and a half feet, built like a freight train. His arms were the size of my thighs. Hell, his arms were four of my thighs tied together.
He grabbed the shooter by the collar and lifted him off the ground like he weighed nothing.
Then he started using him as a drum. I didn't know one could do that.
He slammed the man against the pavement. Once. Twice. Three times. I stopped counting by the fourth.
The gun got away from my father's thug as his bones cracked under the giant's grip and blood sprayed. And just like that, the shooter stopped moving.
It took a second to sink in. He was dead.
He was really really dead. I stared at them in horror.
The giant tossed him aside like garbage.
I didn't wait to see if he was friend or foe.
Because this was Little Fucking Italy and I was Vittorio Conti's daughter. Foes lurked at every corner. Friends? Not so much. Except the girl crumpled on the ground with a gaping hole in her abdomen.
"Linda!" I dropped to my knees beside her. Blood soaked through her jacket. Her face was pale. Her breathing shallow. "Lyn, stay with me. Stay with me!"
"I think I got… shot," she rasped. "Did I get shot, Baby? Oh… that's a lot of blood." She crumpled to the ground.
"Linda!" I hooked my arm under hers and hauled her to her feet. She cried out—a heartbreaking sound that came from somewhere deep and wounded. Her weight crashed against me. But I needed to get us away from the giant.
"That's really… a… lot… of blood… I'm dizzy."
"Stay awake!" I yelled.
Behind us, the giant turned. His eyes found us. Fuck!
I dragged Linda faster toward the van. Every step was a war. I kept glancing behind me to see if he was following us.
I yanked open the passenger door and shoved Linda inside. She slumped against the seat, moaning.
I ran around to the driver's side—
And froze.
The giant was standing right in front of me.
Oh crash!
Up close, he was even bigger. His face was round, almost soft, but his eyes were sharp. Calculating. He wasn't breathing hard. He'd just beaten a man to death with his bare hands, and he wasn't even winded.
He took a step toward me. And my heart took a dive into my stomach.
I pulled the knife—the trucker's knife, the one with the wooden handle—and held it out.
"Don't come any closer. I will kill you. I don't want to, but I swear I will."
Maybe he would have believed me if my hand wasn't shaking like a leaf in a storm. The tears running down my face didn't help either.
He stopped. Looked at the knife. Then at my face.
"Easy. Lamby" he said. His voice was deep, rumbling, but not mean. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Back the fuck off."
"My name is Theodore." He didn't move and I didn't lower the knife. "Everyone calls me Teddy. I'm a friend of Luca's."
"Luca, huh? Do you think I'm stupid?" I asked him, my hand shaking even more. "Do you think I would seriously fall for that
..ruse?"
I held the knife tighter, ready to stab him if he came closer. If he got in the way of finding help for my best friend.
"Lamby. You are Emilia Conti. We are..." He looked like he was thinking. "... Famiglia. Family now, Lamby. I will be Uncle Teddy soon." He pointed at my stomach.
And everything else went to hell. He knew.
"I don't—" I was suddenly winded. "—know what you are talking about."
I shook my head, exhaustion making me feel cold. I looked inside the van at Linda clawing at the door in pain.
"Luca says to grab you and bring you back"
I dimmed my eyes at him. "Grab me?"
He groaned. "I meant invite you over to stay with us. Not grab you. Because that would be kidnapping, Lamby"
He had this look come over him. "Luca hates it when Magnolia or I kidnap people. He says it's bad" He shook his head. "So, we don't do kidnappings... anymore. Well—magnolia still does but not me. Not anymore. So, you can trust me"
"No. Thank you." I said.
"But I said please"
His countenance changed. Like he couldn't believe I declined him.
It dawned on me rather quickly: if this giant could beat one of my father's thugs to death while he held a gun, I stood no chance with my little rusted knife.
"Emiliaaa" He drawled out my name like he was trying to will me into submission. "It's too dangerous here. Come with me"
I took a step back.
"Shit! I'm scarring you. Okay. See?" Teddy smiled. It was almost gentle. "I'm friendly"
He reached out his hand.
I didn't think. I just moved.
I slipped to the side, grabbed his wrist, and plunged the knife into his thigh.
Teddy grunted. His leg buckled. But he didn't scream. Didn't fall. He just looked at me with something like surprise.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I yanked the knife out, jumped into the van, and slammed the door.
The engine roared to life. I peeled out so fast the tires screamed.
In the rearview mirror, I saw Teddy standing in the middle of the road, one hand pressed to his bleeding leg, watching me go.
He didn't follow.
I drove like I was on fire. The van fishtailed around corners. The city blurred past. Linda moaned beside me, her hand pressed to her side, blood seeping through her fingers.
"Hold on, Lyn." My voice shook. "Please. Hold on."
"Emilia…"
"Don't talk. Save your strength."
"You stabbed that guy."
"He was gonna touch me."
Linda laughed—a weak, broken sound. "Good girl."