Let Me In

Chapter 37 - Be Safe

Raphael POV:

Since being around the Vitale family for most of my life, I've learned a lot about them. Or more specifically, their youngest daughter.

Bianca's story is long, and quite complicated if you ask me. I believe that the way she is today has stemmed mostly from her parents. Although that doesn't justify everything that she has done, it does prove that there is some reasoning behind it.

Starting with the mother, Valentina, I still haven't had the chance to fully understand that woman. Mostly because she's never around, unless she's cooking dinner in the kitchen.

Nobody really knows how she ended up marrying Giovanni. They never speak of it, so that's left me wondering many things. The lack of attention she's given to all her children was one of the first things I noticed.

It has definitely affected Bianca most of all, as she lives in a household full of men, and the one woman she could talk to and possibly relate to, is elsewhere.

Giovanni however, has influenced his daughter in ways that he obviously cannot comprehend, or at least he won't admit to the fact.

Bianca had spent most of her childhood alone in the house, unless Leonardo had managed to sneak away and see her. Her father and brothers were always busy with work, something Giovanni thought she could never understand.

Because of this, she felt a disconnect with the whole family, and how could you blame her? No child wants to feel like they don't belong, and that's exactly what happened.

Once her father finally realized this issue, he attempted to fix it, but it was the worst way possible. Instead of including Bianca and paying more attention, he threw money at her.

Giovanni had money, more than he ever needed, so why not give it to his daughter? Kids like money, they feel accomplished when they get it, and so that was his plan. Spoil my daughter and she'll be happy.

Since Bianca saw this as attention, it worked at first as love and affection from her father when it was really all a distraction. A temporary solution to a situation that could not be so easily repaired.

She was taught that she could have anything that she wanted, all she had to do was ask. And so Giovanni gave, and gave, and gave until she had learned this bad habit of getting what she desired, even if the answer was no at first. He would give in, because there was nothing else he could offer Bianca.

After she got older, Bianca found out about the family business. Since she began to look up to her father, she wanted to join him. To work alongside her brothers and help. Why not? She didn't think there was a difference between boys and girls doing that sort of stuff. Yet, it took until her eighteenth birthday to ask. And once she did, the outcome was horrible.

Personally, I think that Giovanni was threatened by her confidence. What would people think of him if he let his daughter work for the mafia? He had never heard of such a time before so he was scared to be the first.

And of course, being taught these spoiled tendencies, she reacted the way she did.

Lorenzo told me what Giovanni had said to her that night. He made her feel small, less than everyone else because of her gender, which was wrong of him. Instead of going through everything with her, giving her the reason why he told her no, he hurt her badly.

He could have gone to her the next day and explained, but he didn't. He chose to ignore her and assign me to watch her every move, as he was not ready to apologize or confront any of the issues.

Bianca's dominance had always intrigued me. She built it all by herself, and I thought that was something special. When Enzo told me they were looking for someone to stay close to her at all times, I jumped at the chance, and I was more than excited.