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Falynn

PLAYLIST: ? SHATTERED RING - SZA ?

Giovanni doesn’t saya word to me for the rest of the afternoon. He left the bedroom with hot rage pulsating off of him. He and Louis disappeared into another room in the compound Tasha and me are forbidden from.

Dusk arrives early, darkness eventually sweeping over the desert terrain. Other than us, there’s not another living, breathing soul for what seems like miles.

We’re too secluded. Too outside of the city. Even the highway is so far off, it’s out of sight. Only the empty black sky and dusty canyons keep us company.

I spend my time restlessly. Tasha and I eat lunch together and then lounge on the second-story deck. She goes off for a soak in the tub, and I wander the massive compound. It’s how I came across the room Gio and Louis are in, though I don’t catch anything but a couple of low, discreet words. Gio motions his head, and Louis responds by shutting the door the rest of the way.

Great.

So I try to take a nap. But every time I close my eyes, I can feel hands on me—and I’m not sure if they’re Gio’s. I say this because I wake in a cold sweat, a sick feeling in my stomach.

I’ve spent days burying any thought of what really happened between Giancarlo and me that night, but it’s like with Gio’s return, I can no longer shut it out. There’s a real chance Giancarlo had his way with me in my drugged state.

As much as I keep telling myself none of it was my fault, a little voice whispers in my ear and reminds me of what Giancarlo said. He’d told me I’d moaned. I’d…I’d came. I’d woken upnaked.

I was lost in grief, so down maybe Iwassubconsciously seeking some kind of sexual release.

“No,” I whisper, leaping out of bed. “He drugged me. I didn’t ask for it.”

I’ve been down this road before. Years ago, when Mom’s boyfriend Mac attacked me. I’d come home from school unaware of what was about to happen—it was the afternoon he finally escalated from creepy leering and comments about my body to forcing himself on me. I’d been sober then, kicking and screaming,squirmingas I fought to free myself to no avail. Overpowering me was easy work for him. Even seemed to excite him a little.

I wasn’t a virgin. I had a boyfriend. I wasn’t innocent. I snuck out to parties and drank alcohol, and sometimes wore clothes I probably shouldn’t have at my age. Mom eagerly reminded me of these things when I told her what happened.

Maybe it was me.MaybeI’d come onto him.

I was trying to get Mac in trouble. He was the real victim. Her accusatory reaction told me all I needed to know. She didn’t believe me.

She kicked me out. I was more than happy to go. I couldn’t stand living under a roof where I felt like I was going crazy, where I was questioning my own recollection of events. We haven’t spoken since.

That was then. I’m a different person now. I am a grown woman who knows I can’t be manipulated like that anymore—I didn’t want anything to do with Giancarlo, and I never will. No matter what he says. Whatever happened between us, I didn’t want it.

But does Gio believe me? Will he still want me? Or am I damaged goods now that his brother has possibly had me?

I shake these toxic thoughts from my head and wrench the bedroom door open. Too much time alone with my thoughts is never a good thing. I need human interaction. Gio and Louis are probably still engrossed in their mafia matters, so I set off in search of Tasha.

Halfway down the staircase, the voices of the others reach my ears. Gio and Louis are fully dressed, down to the guns resting in their holsters. He must’ve grabbed a suit from one of the many other bedroom closets because he never returned to our room.

That realization sinks into my stomach like stones in water. He’savoidingme…

As if reading my thoughts, he glances up as I step off the bottom stair. His vibrant blue eyes still send electricity sparking down my spine. He’s never looked sexier, wearing an all-black suit, dark hair pushed back from his face.

“What’s going on?” I ask them.

Tasha answers first, her hands on her shapely hips. “We’re getting ready to leave.”

“You’restaying, kitty cat,” Louis interjects. “We—me and the boss—are out of here.”

My brow furrows, my eyes locked on Gio only. “Where are you going?”

“Where do you think?” Louis answers for him. He cocks the hammer on his handgun and then shoves it into his shoulder holster. “The Dollhouse.”

“Which is why I’m coming. A girl’s got to earn a living. I’m scheduled for the stage tonight,” Tasha says smoothly. She moves to walk past Louis, but he places a hand on her waist to stop her.

“Down, kitty. The stage will have to survive without you tonight.”

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