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My head swivels around fast to my woman standing in the doorway, staring daggers at Gianna.Ah, hell!
Punk reacts before my body registers to move my ass, barely getting his arm around Josephine’s waist as she dashes in to attack Gianna with her outstretched hands. “Let go of me, Junior!” She steps down hard on his foot.
Punk grits his teeth, holding tight to her. “Calm down, sis.”
I go to take Josephine from my brother and she shrieks when I touch her. “Don’t you dare come near me. You would help her after everything she’s done to us?”
My heart sinks. “No, baby, it’s not like that,” I say quickly.
Josephine bares her teeth in disgust. “Yes, it is. Jacob might have violated my body, but she violated something far more private to me—my emotions, my deepest, darkest fears.”
Shit!Of course, this would be difficult for her. Josephine guards her heart behind a fortress of walls. She doesn’t open up to just anybody. Having been burned one too many times by others has made her cautious before trusting anyone. Her talking about the incident between her and Jacob was difficult enough with her counselor. Having her secrets exposed to not only Gianna but Bianchi too…this may not have been a physical attack, but it was an infringement of something private and precious to Josephine.
“I know you feel like Gianna violated you—”
“Because she did! But it’s not only me. What about her threatening Candy? What about her hurting Tom? What about her putting us all in danger? What about the other PTSD patients whose files were put at risk because of her? What about hacking into your company’s files and accessing confidential information on assignments and clients? This is bigger than her just hurting me.”
Again, I see her point. I try to comfort her, but she slaps me away. “Gianna was forced, like Candy and Tom—”
“Bullshit, Atlas!” Josephine wails.
My swallow is audible, my Adam’s apple bobbing. It’s usually not a good sign when my Pixie refers to me by my club name. I need to handle this delicately.
Josephine points at Gianna. “She wasn’t molested in a parking lot by one of Lorenzo’s men—raped repeatedly for years at the orders of that monster—like Candy. She used that fear against Candy to get her to help infiltrate the Mercy Ravens database. How fucking despicable do you have to be to force another woman into doing something against her will by threatening to hand her over to her sexual abusers if she doesn’t obey? It’s not excusable.”
I run my hands through my hair and grit my teeth to keep myself from choking up, seeing how this particular bit of intel is traumatic for Josephine. She survived sexual abuse, defending those who have been hurt in the same way. In Josephine’s eyes, what Gianna did to Candy is the ultimate betrayal—a woman hurting another woman by threatening sexual violence.
“She wasn’t held at gun point like Tom, or lived in fear of not knowing when or where he was going to show up. For crying out loud, she could have killed him. It’s not the fucking same and you know it,” Josephine seethes.
All my brothers look at the ground and shake their heads—they don’t envy my position.
“He threatened my family,” Gianna says in a higher voice. “Everyone in the mob knows that he makes good on his threats if you ignore him. I didn’t want it to get to that point. I didn’t want to hurt anyone—I had no choice!”
“Don’t fucking talk to me,” Josephine barks. “Don’t you dare.”
“I’m sorry,” Gianna sobs. “I didn’t know the damage I was doing by helping him.”
My woman’s costal eyes nearly glow with hostility. “What did you think he would do with the information you gave him? Hmm? He wasn’t gathering intel to write a book. He wanted it to get to me and hurt my family. You sacrificed another family to save you and yours. I don’t believe your lies. I don’t believe a fucking word that comes out of your mouth. You claim you left an easy trail for the MC to track you down, but that’s bull. You left enough of a trail to cover your ass if you were caught. Everything you’ve said is awfully convenient for you.
“You claim to be brilliant—well, you would have figured out a way to get a message to us. After all, who in Lorenzo’s circle would have known? He had no other cyber hacker to check your work. You could have saved yourself, your family, and kept everyone else safe had you picked up the fucking phone and made the call. You went along with all of this willingly.”
Josephine’s shouts have drawn the attention of the others in the house. Most of my men have entered the tech room, along with Simone and most of the bunnies—minus Candy. I’m sure she is hiding in her room, away from the wrath of my crew.
Gianna shakes her head angrily. “I thought I left enough clues to be found. I didn’t know things would escalate this far.”
My woman doesn’t let up on her attack. “You should have realized your tactics weren’t working the longer it took. You should have tried harder to contact us. But you didn’t. I believe you enjoyed being the mastermind behind all this havoc. You let your ego get in the way of doing what was morally right because deep down, you’re as seedy as the family you’re affiliated with.”
“That’s not true,” Gianna cries. Tears and snot run down her young face in torrents.
Tony tries his hand with Josephine. “You don’t understand, Little Jo. The things the circle was forced to do all out of fear was a strong motivator.”
Josephine bares her teeth at her friend. “Your right, I don’t understand!”
Tony tries to reason. “If you knew half the shit I was forced to do, you may not be talking to me right now. What Gianna says is true. If the Don gives an order, you follow it or face the consequences. Who do you think was the one forced to follow through with those threats? My hands are just as dirty. I was his top button man—a made-man by the age of fifteen.”
My woman puckers her face. “You’re nothing like them. You’re reformed. You’re righting your wrongs. Apples and oranges, Tony.”
“Jo, I was in her shoes,” Tony admits, gently. “You think when I was assigned as your bodyguard while working for Bianchi that I wasn’t feeding him intel on you and Atlas’s crew? I had no choice.”
