𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 ✔︎ || 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑

58

~ phoenix ~

I opened my eyes and the ones that met mine weren't the ones I hoped to see.

Gianna's hazel orbs bore into me, widening when she realised I was awake.

"Phee," she whispered.

I winced, stretching my neck and glancing past her. We were surrounded by bright white walls, and even brighter lights which stung my adjusting eyes. There was an irritating dripping noise beside my ear, and I found with a sigh that I was attached to an IV.

"G..." I blinked furiously to focus my gaze. "Where—"

"—Are we? I have no clue," she sighed. "But you and little Darius are safe. That's all that matters."

"Safe?" I repeated, my body sagging with relief.

"I hope so," she murmured, bringing up her knee for her to rest her chin on, "We'll know when the doctor's report returns. They did some tests on you when you were... sleeping."

"I thought it wasn't safe to go to a hospital." I couldn't piece together the events from the morning, or whenever it was that I was last awake. I remembered being in a church, the pain, a strange man...

"This isn't a hospital," she told me. "From what I can tell—" Gianna stopped to yawn. "—this is some sort of safehouse. I was knocked out so I couldn't see where we were heading. I don't even know if we're still in Italy."

When I looked at her, really looked at her, I noticed the shadows looming beneath her eyes and how prominent her cheekbones had become. I'd also noticed how she was still dressed in her shredded blouse whilst I was wearing a soft t-shirt.

"And you, Gia?" I asked, softly. "You didn't have to do this."

She laughed humourlessly. "I have a lot to make up for, Phoenix. I'm pretty sure this is nothing."

I frowned, with concern. "No, you—"

"I'm sorry," she interrupted, fidgeting with the threads on her torn sleeve. Her eyes became glassy. "I thought I was helping because I mean, it was your mom. But I didn't think about what you'd want. I didn't realise when I became a puppet."

"A puppet," I repeated, slowly.

"I know nothing more than what I've already told you, Phee." She released a shaky sigh. "Your mother and my fucking step-brother were planning something. After we found the will, I thought we were just supposed to overthrow my father. I thought we were trying to stop the trade and take what belongs to us."

"I-"

"I know that's what you wanted too! But Giovanni made it clear that you couldn't find out or 'it would become messy'. I believed him because he genuinely cared for Sofia. She's his—"

"I know who she is and what happened to her."

"A-And your mother was a woman as well. She said we needed the support of the Bratva to take control of the Cosa Nostra and we'd get that—"

"—Using me."

Nodding, Gianna stood, moving over to the window. "But then there were rumours about your father being alive and your mom panicked. She said there was no time to win the Bratva's support, so she enlisted the support of that leech, Sokolov. When that happened, Giovanni decided that you were then useless and an inconvenience. I don't know if your mother knew but to prove his allegiance to my father, he said that he'd caught the 'Russian doll' and he'd already planned your execution. I overheard and—" She locked her gaze with mine. "I won't ever let that happen to you."