Giana focused back on the job at hand. "Leo? We will need a picture too, and put on the filters because I don't have time to look good."
"You always look good," Rodrigo said and turned to his brother. "Standing or sitting?"
Athena made an irritated sound and got to her feet. "We arenotletting a man take this picture. You will get it all wrong. Rodrigo, get closer and put your arm around her."
Rodrigo cleared his throat. "Let me know… I don't want to hurt…"
"I will survive a few bruised ribs," Giana reassured him.
"Around her hip then," Athena suggested, angling her phone.
Rodrigo did as instructed and gently pulled Giana into the cradle of his arms. She fit perfectly against him, their height difference tucking her shoulder neatly under his arm. Heat flushed her cheeks, and she really hoped no one would notice.
"Okay, now look into each other's eyes. No, not awkward like you hate every second of this. You have to sell it," Athena insisted, a teasing note in her voice.
Giana lifted her eyes to Rodrigo's and smiled at him. The effect it had on him was instantaneous. The cold facade fell away, and his expression softened.
Giana couldn't hear whatever Athena was saying. He was so sickeningly handsome when he was being a bastard, and now, when he wasn't, his looks hit her fair in the chest.
"Mia bella donna,will you fake marry me?" he asked, grinning now.
Giana laughed, shocking herself as much as him. "Yes."
"And that's the shot! Perfect," Athena declared, studying her phone screen. "Damn, you two could make even me believe it with that picture. Sending it through to you now, Leo."
"Good, let's get this out there," he said and clapped his hands. "Let her go, Rodrigo."
Rodrigo's hand slipped slowly along the curve of her hip as he dropped it, leaving a trail of heat behind.
Giana brushed her suddenly sweating hand over her shirt, smoothing the fabric. "Okay, show me the way, boys."
She put one foot in front of the other, following Leo and Dante out into the hall, and didn't take another full breath until Rodrigo was out of sight.Mio Dio, what the hell was that?
The server room they stepped into was humming with the constant drone of cooling fans and blinking LED lights. It cooled the heat still burning Giana's skin, and she sighed with relief.
No more hugging Rodrigo. It wasn't something she should have to remind herself of.
Leo showed her to a terminal tucked away in a corner, disconnected from the main network.
Giana couldn't stop her smile. "Oh, I love this room."
"I had to clean it up after Gabriella died because it was a damn mess, run by amateurs for years," Leo grumbled.
Dante stood by the door, watching them with a small grin. "Look at you, nerds, all excited."
Leo ignored his teasing and powered up the sleek machine. "It's got a clean OS, VPN pre-loaded, and burner credentials."
Giana sank into the chair and flexed her fingers again, trying to relieve their stiffness. Typing one-handed would be a bitch, but she would manage it.
She took a deep breath, centering herself, and pushed the pain away. This was her element now in a way that painting used to be. Code. Networks. The invisible battlefield.
Her fingers danced over the keys as she navigated through layers of encryption, bouncing the connection through multiple anonymizing proxies Leo had pre-configured.
The Old Bazaar forum interface loaded, a stark, minimalist design in deep crimson and black, except for a Medusa head at the top of the page. It was the same design as the one in the physical Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, which was used to mark the entrance to the underground.
She navigated to the 'Announcements & Accords' subforum, a digital Colosseum where alliances were declared, wars ignited, and fortunes shifted with a keystroke.
"All right," she muttered, more to herself than Leo or Dante. "Time to light the fuse." She opened a new post window. The cursor blinked, demanding content. What sold a Colleoni engagement? Not flowers and lace…power.
