Astrid Knight was the definition of cold. Preferring to stay in shadows, she had managed to successfully avoid any life-threatening incidents.
Fending for herself was hard when she was a minor, forcing her to work on the other side of the law.
After...
"The silence isn't golden. It's maddening and it's terrifying.
And you should be scared of those who mastered it."
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THEY SAY PEOPLE COME INTO your life when when you are not ready, and they leave when you need them the most. And seeing the scene in front of him, Luciano didn't know whether to cry or scream at his sister for not asking help. He didn't want to know why she came into his life.
It was a different form of torture watching his very own idol— his father use one of his arms to keep pressure on his wound and the other to hold on his sister's throat.
Was she even alive?
Rage. Even in this state, his father's half-closed eyes burned with unspoken rage, ready to burn anything that stands on his way. And yet... yet his vulnerability was clear. He couldn't even move without moaning in pain.
Leo grunted, making Luc snap out of his thoughts. Rushing over to his father, he wondered how his legs hadn't given out yet.
"L-Luc..." Leo stuttered, his eyes closing for just a second, "save her."
Leo wasn't sure what would happen to him, and if he were being honest, he couldn't bring himself to care not after what he saw.
"I can't—" Tears slid down Astrid's face, mixing with the Crimson right under her face. It was agony, pure and scorching pain.
Luciano and Alessandro held their father up, their arms shaking and legs trembling with panic— that utter world-stopping feeling forcing them from to think of the worse case scenario.
"Hang on, bambina," Leo had whispered, trying to stop the blood from flowing too much. His face etched up into a snarl.
Austin could hear the heartbeat in his ear and he could feel the blood rising up to his face. His grip on Astrid tightened as he wrapped his handkerchief around her throat.
"I–" Astrid tasted the sweet-and-salty blood in her mouth. For a moment, Astrid was fourteen and back in that wretched place begging them to kill her... to have mercy.
"Faster, Sandro!" Austin yelled at his brother from the back of the car, both of his hands on his sister's wound.
"I'm s-sorry," Astrid stuttered. It had been seconds— seconds since her slitted throat had started torturing her and she was already wanting to give in to the darkness.
Sandro didn't reply. He didn't see other cars in front of him, he couldn't hear others honking horns at him for going too fast.
It was like his head had been dunked under the water. He saw everything, he could hear everything too. But his brain refused to let the reality sink in.
