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“Why don’t you take the bed? Try to get some sleep.” I looked at the overstuffed armchair and the couch, knowing I had plenty of other places to lie down. Not that I’d be able to sleep. Atheist hopped onto the chair.Couch it is.
Gia blinked at me for several moments before turning toward my bed. She peeled the blanket back and looked at the mattress with noticeable hesitation before cautiously climbing onto it as if she were crawling into a fire. Atheist lifted his head and hopped down from the chair, leaping onto the bed and pressing his body into her, protecting her. A smile crept across my face as I fluffed a pillow and lay on the couch.
I kicked off my shoes and stared up at the ceiling fan. My thoughts raced faster than the blades spinning above my head.Did Silvio really allow and encourage what Lorenzo tried to do?I wasn’t naïve. I knew the men of my family were no strangers to sexual assault. Women were a plaything. That was how I grew up. I wasn’t the kindest to women, but Gia was different.She ain’t gonna forgive me for this one.I sighed as I looked over at her, her arm wrapped around Atheist, a soft snore coming from the bed.What do I do about Lorenzo?I rubbed my forehead at the thought because I knew what had to be done.
“Enzo?” a small, tired voice said from the bed, and I realized the snores had come from Atheist.
“Yeah?”
“You stopped him in time,” she said so softly I almost didn’t hear her over the buzz of the fan. I blew out a breath and rubbed my temples.
“You weren’t even scared of him? I ain’t ever seen a girl so calm.”
“I’m a Silvani. You think this was my first rodeo? Shit, it’s probably not even my last.” She turned over and stared at me.
“How many times?” I asked, unsure if I even wanted to know the answer.
“How many times, or how many men?” she said with a sadness in her voice that I could feel from the couch. “Too many.”
“And I...” My voice trailed off, unable to complete my sentence as shame burned a hole in my gut. I cringed, recalling how I’d tried to force her, even if it was just to scare her a bit.
“Hey, it’s fine. Really. Such is this life.” Her lips pushed into a pout as her eyes stared ahead, locked in her memories. Even through her strength, I knew she wasn’t fine. I felt the intense desire to go to her side and kiss her, to comfort her the only way I knew how.
Have you ever wanted someone so badly you can almost taste them on your tongue?I bit my lip.Not this way.
“I didn’t have anything to do with this. You know that, right?” I said, covering my crotch with a pillow to hide my unintentional excitement.
“I don’t. I don’t trust you,” she said with no emotion. This was merely a state of being for her.
“Give me a bit, Giovanna. I’ll show you.” I put my arm behind my head and exhaled. She didn’t speak, but why should she have believed me? I was a Viglione.
“Yeah, yeah.” She sounded drowsy.
Atheist stood and walked in a tight circle before plopping down on the bed again. I looked at her, her eyes closed, her lips loose.
I know what I have to do.
ChapterFourteen
Gia
The clouds hung above us as we walked toward the woods on their property. Going into the cover of the trees with a Viglione was a terrible fucking idea. He could be taking me to assault me or murder me. Who the hell knew with him? I dragged my feet across the forest floor as birds flew to the ground, pecking at the earth muddied by the recent rain.
“Where are we going?” I said, a bit more petulant than I meant.
“Stop whining, will you? We got a little ways to go.” Every tense muscle in his rigid body flexed. He had a gun tucked into his waistband, different from the one I saw in the bedroom, and I envisioned grabbing it off him with every step he took.
He wiped his hand through his hair, which he always did when he was nervous, and I finally grabbed his sleeve and made him stop walking.
“What’s your problem?” I asked with my hands crossed over my chest. Another petulant gesture.
“You’ll see in a minute,” he said with a hardened glare.
We walked deeper into the woods until we were surrounded by towering trees. The leaves shook and sent leftover droplets onto our bare skin. I bumped into Enzo when he stopped while I was still admiring the scenery, and my gaze landed on something I enjoyed much more than the trees.
Lying in front of us was Lorenzo, bound and gagged. Dried blood mixed with fresh streams as it flowed down his face. He was soaked from head to toe, shivering in a ribbed sleeveless shirt and boxers. Water and dirt mixed with his graying hair to create thick mats. He screamed, though it was muffled by the thick black fabric wrapped around his mouth. Water dripped from the tip of his nose as he thrashed on the ground.
I stared down at him with wide eyes, his piercing gaze locked on me as Enzo lifted him onto his knees. The gag fell to the ground once Enzo untied it from the back of his head.
