Ms. Rossi swore violently again. She dropped the belt and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Cassie was breathing hard and her blood was singing in her ears. Somehow, her intervention had brought an end to the horror—or had it?
Was this ogre of a woman going to get another belt, or some other weapon, and come back to continue her attack? She waited, watching the door, dreading to hear the return of those high, clicking heels.
A moment later the front door creaked and slammed.
Ms. Rossi had gone out.
Cassie let out a long, shaky breath. She was trembling all over and her face was throbbing from the blow. When she raised her hand to her cheek, it came away with a smear of blood. But her problems weren’t important now; they could wait.
“Are you OK, Venetia?”
The young girl had put the glass down and hidden behind the bed as soon as Cassie had tried to intervene.
Now she stood up. Her face was sheet white and she was shaking as hard as Cassie was.
“Everything’s all right.” Cassie held out her arms.
The young girl splashed across the sodden floor and ran into Cassie’s embrace, hugging her with all her strength as she sobbed.
Cassie stroked Venetia’s hair gently, wanting to hug her also, but knowing that her back would be in agony after the torture she’d been through, and that any touch would cause her pain.
“Thank you for helping me,” she said.
“It’s all right.” Cassie sniffed hard.
“I don’t know why Mama did that,” Venetia whispered. “I made a mistake. Why did I get punished so badly?”
“I don’t think anyone knows the answer. It’s not right, and people who are normal don’t do that kind of thing,” Cassie said, explaining as best she could. She didn’t want to tell Venetia outright that her mother was an abusive monster, but she had to make it clear that this behavior was unacceptable and she would never condone it.
“I will always try to help you and not allow anyone to hurt you that way,” Cassie promised, but she felt cold with fear inside, because she had been ordered to leave.
In another day, she would be gone, and she knew that the punishments and abuse would continue as normal—or might ramp up if Ms. Rossi felt she had a point to prove.
Protecting these girls through her own physical intervention was a short-term solution, like putting a Band-Aid over an embedded nail.
Cassie resolved that before she left, she was going to do everything in her power to save them.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Cassie was worried that after storming out of the house, Ms. Rossi might return later and continue oppressing her children. Her father had sometimes done the same, and she remembered the fear she had felt when hearing him arrive home, drunker and angrier than when he had left. She was thankful that in this home, the front door made an audible scrape and crack when it opened, because it would at least give her some warning.
She left her bedroom door ajar and slept fitfully, jumping awake whenever she heard a sound. At around midnight, the front door opened and closed. Immediately, the house felt like a threatening place again.
Cassie got out of bed and tiptoed to the door so she could hear better, holding her breath as she listened, but to her relief, the businesswoman went straight to her bedroom. Checking through her window, she saw the children’s rooms remained dark.
She returned to bed and did her best to sleep, but she was so wired up with anxiety that she didn’t even feel drowsy. For the rest of the night, she tossed and turned, fretting about what would happen in the morning and running all the possible courses of action through her mind.
In the morning, when she came out of her bedroom, she heard Maurice arriving. He tapped on the master bedroom door while wishing Signora a good morning.
“I’ve brought your coffee.” His voice carried from down the corridor.
Cassie didn’t want to see Ms. Rossi, or speak to her, ever again. She waited until she’d heard them go to the study, before she headed to the children’s rooms. It was easy to time it right, because Maurice didn’t stop talking, and his voice carried.
“The video conference with Harrods’ top management went really well. I’ll fly over there next week and get everything signed, but it should just be a formality. And closer to home, has Signora decided on the preferred layout for refurbishing the Rossi offices?”
Cassie wondered if Maurice was speaking especially loudly so that she could hear. His voice sounded full of self-congratulation. Cassie’s dislike for him crystallized into loathing. How could he brag about unimportant things like meeting store owners and rearranging offices, when he was refusing to intervene in a clear-cut case of abuse that was destroying two young lives?
She was glad when they moved out of earshot and she didn’t have to listen to his pompous diatribe any longer.
When she went to the children’s rooms she found Nina and Venetia were ready for school, and Cassie greeted them calmly, trying to act normally in front of the two girls and not give away how panicked and helpless she felt.
“Let’s go and get you some breakfast,” she said, and they trooped down to the kitchen.
She noticed how Nina glanced warily at her mother’s bedroom door as they passed it. Cassie felt overwhelmed by despair, because she was realizing the extent of the fear that the children had to live with. They had nobody at all on their side, and there was no one who could stand up for them against the abuse. Maurice was complicit, while the household staff came and went and didn’t seem to interact with the children at all.
“What can I get you? Toast? Jam?”
Cassie helped the children
