Raise Your Heart

Chapter 20

Trinity paced her room. What just happened? Gio attacking Dante? Never in her wildest dreams would she ever think Gio would do such a thing. This was bad. She wrung her hands together. A pit in her stomach formed. Why would Gio think she would ever be in love with him?

There was so much history between her and Dante. Dante was all she talked about whenever she was around Gio. She never did anything to lead Gio on or insinuate she ever wanted anything more from him than friendship.

Not only that, Gio was engaged to Sarah. Did he break up with her? He seemed happy with her before she left. They were getting to know each other, going on dates. Then when she came back, Petra told her they were engaged.

But there were signs. That first night she sat with Gio and Petra, Gio didn't want to talk about Sarah. Then, he brushed all conversation of her off again at the fashion expo. All signs she missed! What a fool she had been. She needed to set the record straight. Tell him she was in love with Dante. That they were together, even if that was more than obvious. There was nothing worse than having hope for something that would never happen.

What time was it? Seven o'clock. Was Dante's meeting underway? Was Gio in attendance? Did he go home? Should she go look?

Dante told her to stay in her room no matter what. He made her promise him. But that was before Gio. What the hell should she do? Maybe she should ring Katie to find out where everyone was.

The line rang several times with no answer. She was probably in the kitchen helping Chef Rick. If she was, she didn't want to bother them.

Her only option was to wait until Dante was finished and came to bed. Hopefully he would tell her what was going on. Knowing him, he would probably keep it under wraps.

Trinity really wished Petra was there. When was she supposed to be arriving? No matter when, it wasn't fast enough. She needed her best friend. The door opened, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Dante?" she swung around.

"No, silly. It's Gio," he whispered.

Trinity gulped, then cringed. The side of Gio's face was all black and blue. It didn't take a genius to figure out Dante had done that. Despite it, Gio's face didn't look right. Those eyes. She knew those eyes. Her heart started to thrum. Blood shot eyes. Wild eyes. Nearly the same color as David's, reminding her of so much.

"Y-you shouldn't be in here." She backed up a step until her knees hit the bed, and she sat.

"Shh. It's okay. No one knows I'm here."

"What?" Trinity ran shaky hands through her hair before reaching for a glass of water on the night stand. Her throat was drier than the desert. She drained the entire thing.

"Yeah. My asshole uncle left me outside. Never mind. Listen to me, okay?"

"Alright."

"Remember that first night you asked me if Dante ever killed anyone?"

"Yes."

Where was he going with all of this? Maybe if she played along, that would calm him down a bit. Make him feel like she was listening. Sometimes she would use the tactic with David, and he would leave her alone. Still, she couldn't help but feel scared.

"Well, he's earned a moniker. They call him The Boiler."

Trinity bit on her lip and looked up at the ceiling, her expression thoughtful. "Yeah, I've heard someone say that before."

"Why do you think they call him that?" Gio didn't wait for Trinity's response. "It's because he boils his victims heads...alive. He tortures them just like he did your husband."