The idea was tempting, but Cassie dismissed it instantly. That would be abduction, and would play right into Ms. Rossi’s hands, giving her the excuse she needed to lay criminal charges against Cassie.
It was so unfair, she thought, that the ongoing abuse from the children’s own mother was being so blatantly ignored, but any attempt to help from her side that overstepped the law would be considered a crime.
“We can’t do that. Running away won’t help, and they would find us very fast. You mustn’t do that, even when I have gone.”
She remembered her experience with Vadim. Terrible things could happen to these children if they became desperate and ran away from home. They could be kidnapped or trafficked, and end up trapped in another situation that they would never escape from.
With depression weighing her down, Cassie knew she could not offer Venetia the miracle she was hoping for. She couldn’t even offer her a viable solution.
“Running away will be too dangerous,” she whispered, keeping her voice firm. “You mustn’t do it. Are there any teachers at school who could help you? If you could talk to your teachers, they might be able to do something.”
Like go to Social Services, she thought, where their case would be “investigated” by Mr. Dellucci, who would make sure that it never saw the light of day.
“I don’t know which teacher could help us,” Venetia whispered. “I tried to ask one of them to help us before the Christmas holidays but she told my mother and she was very angry, and then I wasn’t allowed to have any food on Christmas day. We are not allowed to play with our toys at all now. That is why they are high up on the shelf.”
“Oh, Venetia.”
Cassie squeezed her small hands tightly. What other solution could there be? Venetia trusted her to help. This was her last chance to come up with something.
As she racked her brains for an answer, a shout rang from down the hallway and they both jumped.
“You will do it!” Ms. Rossi screamed. “You will never, ever say no to me. You are to obey!”
Cassie listened, with Venetia statue-still in her arms, not daring to breathe as she heard the noise of a scuffle followed by a stinging slap.
Then a high-pitched scream rang out.
“Nina?” Venetia cried, her voice small and helpless.
Cassie was out of the room and running toward the sound before she’d even considered the wisdom of her actions.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
The shouting became louder as Cassie sprinted along the tiles. She heard another slap, and another scream.
“Get inside that room!” Ms. Rossi’s voice was thick with rage.
“Please, no! Don’t make me!” Nina sounded desperate, and the terror was audible in her voice. “I can’t!”
“You will help your grandmother take a shower now, and you will get her dressed for bed. This will be your daily task, so you must get used to doing it.”
“I don’t know how to do it. I’m afraid of her.”
As Cassie rounded the corner, she saw Ms. Rossi towering over the young girl, who was huddled on her knees. Leaning forward, the businesswoman slapped Nina hard across her face.
Nina cried out, burying her face in her arms, but Ms. Rossi rained more blows onto her, slapping and punching her shoulders, while shrieking her furious tirade.
“You will obey me at all times. How dare you defy me! I will punish you for this, you will suffer, you sad, worthless, useless little girl!”
Cassie gasped as she took in the appalling sight. Ms. Rossi was in a screaming rage, hell bent on harming Nina. Perched on her ridiculously high heels, hammering her fists into her crying daughter, Ms. Rossi seemed more than just an abusive mother. She was revealing herself to be a madwoman who took an evil delight in hurting people smaller and weaker than she was.
“Don’t hit her!” Cassie rushed over and grabbed her arm, hoping she could hold her for long enough for Nina to run away and lock herself in somewhere, but she gasped at the steely strength in Ms. Rossi’s tall, solid frame.
“You will not order me around in my own home.”
Ms. Rossi wrenched her arm away and shoved Cassie backward.
Caught off balance, Cassie slipped and fell, knocking her head on the corner of the mahogany table outside the spare bedroom.
The blow was exquisite agony. Pain lanced through her skull and stars exploded in front of her eyes.
Her head whirled, and for a few moments all she could do was lie, sprawled, until the ornate ceiling above her had come back into focus. Blood was throbbing in her ears. Dizzily, she climbed to her feet.
Ms. Rossi was dragging Nina along the floor by her outstretched right arm. The child was screaming hysterically and kicking in protest. She tried to grab onto an open doorway with her other hand as they passed one of the spare rooms, but her small fingers couldn’t get enough grip and her mother pulled her easily away.
“You are going downstairs to the punishment room and you will stay there for a full day and a full night,” she promised. “No food, no water, no light. You will sit alone in the dark and the cold and reflect on what you have done. Then when you leave the punishment room, you will move into Nonna’s room, and sleep in the same bed as her, and look after her morning and night.”
Ms. Rossi’s voice was rough with rage and Nina howled in protest, abandoning all self-control as she succumbed to screaming hysterics.
Cassie felt physically sickened by what was happening.
This was out of control. No matter that the other woman was stronger than her, she had to get them away. Perhaps she could manage to lock them somewhere safe, or else take them with her to the
