Gia pried her eyes open and almost had a heart attack when she saw Alvan sitting down on a chair by her bedside and watching her sleep. She scrambled away from him but he grabbed her by her ankle and pulled her to the edge of the bed. He made her sit in front of him with her legs between his.
"We need to talk," he told her.
She eyed him wearily before speaking, "Good morning to you too," she said with a frown. "Can I at least brush my teeth?"
He hesitantly let her go. He tapped his fingers on his thigh while he waited for her.
She returned with a less sleepy face. Her face was fresh after washing it and the round neck of her shirt was slightly damp from splashing water on her face. He could tell that she ran her fingers through her hair to keep them in place but her fingers didn't really do much.
She was simply adorable.
"Sit," he instructed.
She stared at him suspiciously but sat down anyway. She sat as far away from him as possible.
He shifted his seat closer to her but she shifted further away. He repeated the action and she moved until she almost fell off the bed. She turned to him and was about to say something derogatory when his words shut her up.
"Did you mean what you said yesterday?" he asked her. He tried to play it cool but his thoughts were in shambles.
He could tell that she knew what he was talking about.
"I don't know," she told him honestly. "I don't know what I feel towards you but I do know that it's nothing good."
He drew a shaky breath and leaned back in his seat, "How did we get here?"
"Look, I am not having this conversation with you, Alvan."
"There is no better time to talk than now. We need to talk about Jace and Dana," he said, his agitation slowly growing.
"I don't know what you're talking about. You said so yourself. Dana is dead to you. The dead cannot speak for themselves, can they?"
"I never said that!"
"But your actions clearly did! I was in dire need of your help. I called and I begged you to come and save me that day but you hung up on me. Dana died in a car crash that day so forgive me if I can't talk about her," tears rolled down her eyes she spoke. She didn't realize that she was already crying.
"Talk to me. What happened that day? Tell me exactly what happened to you that day," he begged.
"Why do you suddenly care? I am pretty sure that someone must have said something to you. It's the only explanation as to why you are suddenly curious about my past," she wiped down angry tears.
His jaw ticked and he remained quiet. Her assumption was spot on. He wanted to deny it but wasn't even sure where to start.
"I don't want to ever talk about the past so please don't ever ask me about it," she said more calmly.
Alvan was silent for a while. He was more convinced than ever that whatever happened to her was the reason she turned out to be so different from the sweet girl he knew her to be.
"I understand," he said, surprising her. "Let's spend the day together."
"Bad idea," she quickly said.
"Gia," Alvan called her attention but she already ran off to the bathroom. She freshened up and there was no sign of Alvan when she was done. He was not there at breakfast and Javan too was absent at the table.
Giovanni walked up to her, just as breakfast was almost over. He whispered something to her and all eyes were on them, wondering what he was saying to her.
She got up and followed him. He drove out of the mafia house into the city. He followed the highway she could faintly remember from her last visit to Omri's office. He had the biggest casinos in Vegas and the one he liked was at the other side of the city.
Giovanni walked her to the back of the casino to avoid meeting so many people. Her heart thrummed in her chest as she climbed the steps that would lead to the floor where his office was situated.
Gia walked into Omri's office and saw his two sons already standing in front of his desk. Alvan looked pissed while Javan stood a little slouched.
"There is going to be a gala next weekend and I have something for you concerning the gala. I'm going to be giving you your first test," Omri said as soon as she walked in. He spoke with his eyes still on his sons.
"New York wasn't?" she glanced at Alvan in confusion written on her face.
"No. Your first assignment is to get allies on the night of the gala. To become a Grey Cobra, you need allies because when you have missions to complete, you will need informants and maybe even partners."
"How important is my initiation into the Grey Cobras?" she inquired.
Omri pinned her with his stare, "I don't need to further instruct you about allies, do I?"
A chill travelled down her spine, "No."
"Good," he said.
It was her signal to leave and she took her chance.
"And Gia?" his voice halted her. She slowly turned around to face him. "Bubba Jenkins was abducted from his mansion. If you can find a way to reach your family, make sure you do. Because if I find out that they have anything to do with his disappearance, things will get really ugly."
She rushed out, almost bumping into Vinnie in the process. He smirked at her but she left before he could utter a word.
Giovanni drove her home to get ready for training and took her for training with Dante. She was still a quivering mess when she went to Dante's.
x x x
Valeria barged into Omri's office and looked at her boys worriedly. "Did he?" her voice broke as she stared at Javan.
"Mama stop it!" Javan snapped as his mom tried to lift his shirt up.
"He is fine. Stop treating him like he's some child," Alvan said in annoyance.
"What are you saying, Alvan? Do you have any idea the kinds of things your brother has had to put up with over the years?" Valeria turned to her older son. "You have failed yet again at protecting your brother and you're doing the same thing to that poor Salvatore girl!"
"Well I'm sorry that I didn't turn out to be the protector you hoped for. But you aren't any different , are you?"
"Alvan," Javan called in warning.
Valeria just stared at him as he walked out of the room. There were a lot of unspoken words hanging in the air. Hanging over everyone's heads.
"Where is he?" Valeria asked in a coarse voice.
Javan shrugged his shoulders. "Come on. Let's get out of this place," he said as he led her out of the office.
"I'm sorry," Valeria whispered.
"Mama, you had nothing to do with any of this," he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"But your father blames me for it. Now even your brother, it seems," she muttered the last part.
"Papa has always had his own issues. Alvan doesn't blame you. He is just as frustrated with himself as you are with yourself. And he's right, I'm not a kid anymore."
"Javan," her voice broke as she called softly.
He shook his head, "No mama. I'm old enough to take care of myself."
"I accept that you aren't a kid anymore but you can't fight alone," she tried to reason.
"I can't have this conversation over again," he shook his head and walked away, leaving his mother standing alone in the hallway.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She was worried about both of her sons and even more heartbroken that they were keeping her out of their lives. In indignation, she made up her mind to help her sons and not watch from the shadows as they suffered. She had been useless for far too long.
She hurried home, went to the garden to find Ila who was there talking to her cactus plant.
"Still talking to Leonardo I see. How is he holding up?" she asked.
Ila sighed before staring at her, "You think I'm crazy too, don't you?"
She walked to the back porch where Valeria was standing like the dainty wife of some rich ass man.
Valeria smiled at her, "We are all just worried about you, that's all. Who talks to an ugly plant anyway?"
"Leonardo can hear you," Ila hushed her. "Everyone is all grown up so nonna apparently is useless now."
"Lucky for you, I have something in mind for nonna. My boys are in some sort of trouble with their father. And Javan, the boy has barely recovered."
"So what do you want to do?"
"Turn the odds in their favor," Valeria said.
"I don't like how you make this sound. What exactly do you have in mind?"
Valeria heaved, "I don't know. That's why I brought you on board so that you can help me help them."
* * *
Gia returned from training still unsettled by her conversation with Omri. The mafia house was surprisingly quiet. Too quiet. She reached into her bag to retrieve a dagger. She placed her gym bag at the foot of the stairs and started to look around the ground floor. The left wing was empty and when she went to the right wing, she could hear faint sounds. Carefully she followed the sound to the last room and the sound was more clear. There were moans and groans. Her hold on her dagger tightened as she peeped through the door that was open in a crack.
Her eyes widened in horror at the sight before. She gasped and slammed her hand over her mouth. Her dagger dropped to the floor with a thud and she quickly retrieved it but the man heard her anyway. The two lovers' eyes darted towards the door and she quickly sprinted to the stairs. She could hear them fumbling for their clothes. She nipped her bag from the floor and ran up the stairs running into Alvan in the process.
"Shit! Fuck!" she cussed and picked herself up quickly. "Please come with me. I can't get caught."
"What exactly are you talking about?" he asked.
"No time," she said frantically as she heard footsteps at the stairs. Her heart slammed in her chest and she felt so high on adrenaline. She tugged at his arm and he followed her to their room as they treaded carefully to not cause too much noise. Gia carefully shut the door without making much sound.
Alvan was going to say something but she hushed him with her index finger pressed against her own lips.
"Where are you? Who are you? Show yourself you coward!" Valentino yelled.
"Try to be nicer, you are only going to scare them into hiding," Francesca chided in a hushed voice.
"You know what? I think it's best if you hide because if one word about what you just saw gets out, I will be able to trace it to you and trust me, I'm not nice at all," Valentino threatened and stomped down the stairs.
Francesca lingered longer before leaving too.
Gia finally sighed with relief.
"Start talking," Alvan said.
Gia stared at him for a while, contemplating her next words. "Nevermind, it's not like you will do anything to help."
She moved away from the door and walked towards the closet with her bag slung over her shoulder.
Alvan turned to her, "Tell me what is going on or I'm going to meet Valentino downstairs to tell him you're the one he's looking for."
Gia turned to him and scoffed, "Go ahead. Do whatever the hell you want, I don't bloody care! Call your entire family to come for my neck, I am far gone from caring. Just know that if anything happens to me, I'm not going down without a fight."
She dropped the bag in the closet and picked a fresh set of clothing.
The corner of his lips curved in a small smile as he watched her. He didn't doubt her at all.
"What are you doing, Alvan?" he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
His phone binged in his hand. His face slowly contorted in anger as he looked at his screen.
"Fuck!"
He threw his phone on the wall with annoyance and the device smashed into pieces.