Every blow flashed a different image in her mind.Crack!Vincenzo's gloating face.Crack!Her parents sitting her down, telling her that her only value to the family was between her thighs.Crack!Gabriella standing over her, saying she was her new family.
Crack!Rodrigo's eyes widening when he first saw her.Crack!Rodrigo watching her come.Crack!Rodrigo kissing her.Crack!Rodrigo declaring to the whole of Sicily that she belonged to him.Crack!Rodrigo telling her that she meant more to him than her virginity, or an unclaimed fortune. Rodrigo. Rodrigo. Rodrigo.
Big hands came around the bag to steady it, and Giana paused, panting. Her cheeks were wet with tears, and she didn't know when she had started crying.
"Hey, little one," Silas appeared around the bag, his green eyes concerned.
Giana wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. "Please, just let me hit the bag."
"Okay, but I'll hold it for you. Check your form, draw power from your core. Remember your roots," he said, holding onto the bag.
Silas wasn't going to leave, but he didn't try to ask what was wrong. Leo and everyone else had probably streamed the whole video call. They allknewwhat was wrong.
Giana shook out her arms, checked her feet, and began to hit the bag again. The only time Silas spoke was to gently correct her on something or offer suggestions.
She punched and kicked the bag until she felt like she could think again. When she finally stopped, she was winded and covered in sweat.
Silas held out a bottle of water to her, and she guzzled it. He waited until she was finished before he asked, "Did he force you?"
It was a simple question, and while Silas's tone was neutral, he had a dark flicker in his eye that told her that he was in the mood to murder.
"What? No! Rodrigo didn't rape me. He would never hurt someone like that," Giana answered truthfully.
God only knew they had been alone enough to give him the opportunity if he wanted it. Despite his overbearing presence, she had never thought he would hurt her.
She sat heavily on the bench. "I took my virginity myself. He just…kept the evidence of it."
"I see. Do you mind if I share that information with Athena? If it wasn't for Kon and Dante holding her back, she would be trying to string Rodrigo up by his magical Colleoni balls as we speak," he replied and pulled his phone from his back pocket. He waited until she gave him a nod, and he quickly typed out a message. "Good. I didn't feel like having to dispose of three bodies today instead of two."
Giana huffed out a laugh and then buried her head in her hands. "I'm so fucking embarrassed."
"Embarrassed, you can live with," Silas said, resting a big hand on her shoulder. "You may have even managed to livethrough whatever Gabriella would have done to you if she had found out, though you probably would have wished that you hadn't."
Giana started crying again. She couldn't remember the last time she cried, hard and heavy.
Silas let her. He didn't try to tell her anything stupid like 'everything is going to be okay.' He just let her cry.
Silas rubbed a hand down her back. "I know by normal standards, what Rodrigo did was fucked up, but our world isn't normal, Giana. He did it for one reason, and that was to protect you."
It had been so long since anyone had tried to comfort her that it made her start weeping all over again.
"According to Dario, everything Rodrigo has ever done has been to try to protect you. I'm not saying I agree with his methods, but he defied his own mother and now all of Sicily to keep you breathing and in one piece."
"I know," Giana said, sniffing hard and finally lifting her head. "What I don't know is if I hate him or love him for it."
Silas's mouth twitched into a smile. "Same coin, different sides. Athena and Kon hated each other too. Once they got out of their own way, they realized that they were perfect for each other. My cub has a lot that makes her different and complicated. Me? I'm all kinds of fucked up, and yet somehow, we both managed to find people who could look at our darkness head-on and choose us anyway."
Giana's chest ached, and she stared up at the roof, swallowing the tears threatening to overwhelm her again. "I was never going to have a normal life, was I?"
"No," Silas answered. "The way you were born and raised, what your name is, you could have never escaped. I've watched people with more training than you crumble under less pressure. Whatever core you have, Sorrentino, it's solid. You're still a goodperson, unlike the rest of us. Rodrigo wanted to make sure you remained one as long as you could."
"What an asshole, right?" she whispered and let out a choking sob of a laugh. "I was so naive to think I could escape this fate."
"No, you were hopeful. He was too. That's probably why he let you go to begin with." Silas leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, but once this is over with Vincenzo, if you really still want out, I can help you make it happen. We all will, including Rodrigo."
"I doubt that. You heard him on the call, claiming all that shit about belonging to him," Giana replied.
"He was speaking as the boss to other bosses. The man loves you, Giana. He won't keep you locked up here as his mother did."
