Page 143 of Healed

Chapter 43

Gabriella

“Vienna won’t be happy,” I said to Rachel as we parked the car outside the supermarket.

“What’s he going to do about it?” she smirked, shutting the car off and climbing out.

We’d noticed that supplies were running low whilst the men were in Church, so we’d taken the opportunity to escape, since we both needed to get some shit of our own.

“Dante won’t be happy either.”

She frowned at me. “The same sentiment applies. What the fuck is Dante going to do about it?”

“You’re trouble,” I laughed, shaking my head and following her into the shop.

“We needed supplies. I know what those men are like,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes. “They’d bitch and whine about running low, but none of them would actually do anything about it. I’m avoiding a whole thing.”

“I’m sure,” I said, smothering my smirk. She shot me a warning glance that held no weight to it.

“Right. No offence, sweetheart, but I fucking loathe shopping in these places, and I hate company even more.”

“No offence taken,” I said.

“You get your shit, I’ll get mine, and we can meet in the booze aisle in about fifteen minutes?”

“Fucking hell, Rachel. Are we playing Supermarket Sweep?”

“Be grateful I said fifteen. I was going to say five.”

And then she was off, practically bulldozing some man down with her trolley, not even bothering to apologise.

I shook my head and rushed over to the chemist inside, picking up my birth control prescription and then made my way down to the clothing section. As nice as it was wearing Rachel’s hand-me-downs and Vienna’s oversized hoodies, I wanted some clothes of my own. Rachel had already given me Vienna’s credit card—without explaining why she had it in the first place, and I really didn’t want to know how—and told me to go to town. I knew he wouldn’t mind, so I took my time going through the various clothes, my excitement building at the thought of being able to pick my own style for the first time since I could remember.

Even before Nico, my dad had been ridiculously strict about what I could and couldn’t wear. No one at the Devil’s seemed to give a shit about how the old ladies presented themselves, so I was able to be selective, buying things that appealed to me and no one else.

Though I did throw a couple of sexy pairs of bras and nightdresses in the basket purely for Vienna.

What could I say, I had a heart of gold and aimed to please.

Not to mention how pleased I would be when Vienna rewarded me for my generosity.

I was so lost in my activity, my mind racing with thoughts of Vienna, that I never even noticed the shadow figure looming towards me until it was too late.

One minute I was holding a strappy top, the next I was being rushed to the back of the store, pushed into the dressing room, and a hand was over my mouth, smothering my breathing.

“Found you, you fucking treacherous little bitch,” Nico hissed at me.

My heart immediately stopped. I tried to scream behind his hand, but he pressed it down tighter, covering my nose at the same time.

“Don’t do anything fucking stupid,” he ordered, pinning me against the wall. “Keep calm, and this will all be sorted in no time. Can you do that, Gabby?”

I nodded, forcing myself to keep silent when every instinct demanded I did otherwise.

But instinct didn’t work with a man like Nico. Instinct would get me killed. I had to rely on my training, on what I knew after years of dealing with him.

“Where the fuck have you been, sweet old lady of mine?”

He looked absolutely manic. His hair was sticking out from under his black hood. His eyes were bloodshot, and there was a thick, overwhelming stench of stale alcohol on his breath.