His protector

Chapter 17- Kai

The late afternoon sun filtered through the windows of my room as I changed my bandages and then pulled a t-shirt over my head, grimacing as the material touched my back.

Mila had left two days ago. Two long days that felt like weeks. She was the only thing that was on my mind, and the quick peck she gave me before she left. I still blush at the memory of it. I was struggling to focus on anything else.

My father didn't so much look at me. He locked himself in his office and refused to get out, which I'm happy about. I don't want to see his face, not after he touched Mila and insulted her.

But I do need to talk to him about my brother, I don't even know if they held a funeral or how's mom doing. I'll probably need to fly out to Italy myself to find out.

Even though i want in the mood for anything, I forced myself to meet with Romeo. He said we needed to talk and that it's urgent.

The door creaked open, and Romeo strolled in, casual as ever, but I could tell he was happy. He didn't know what had happened between me and my father, and I don't want him to know. That day, I told him I'll just talk with my father and to not interrupt.

"About time,"I muttered, sitting up straighter as Romeo dropped into the chair across from me.

Romeo grinned, kicking his feet up on the table between them. "Miss me?" I rolled my eyes.

"You said you had news. Get to it." Romeo's expression became more serious, dropping his feet back to the ground.

"I did it, Kai." He smiled."I finally got to Gianna." My eyebrows shot out, surprise talking over my body. I hadn't expected Romeo to pull it off, especially not with how Gianna had been. She was Vendetta, after all, our enemy.

"You actually talked to her?" He nodded.

"Yeah. She wants to help us." I frown.

"Help us with what?"

" Taking down Vendetta." I'm not truly convinced. Gianna had always been always out of reach no matter how hard we looked for her, and now that we got attacked after her organization, she finally decided to talk? It doesn't sit right with me. But if she was willing to turn on Vendetta, this could be a huge advantage for us.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"It's a long story. She said she wants to meet with the both of us to talk."

"Why now, though? Couldn't she reach out earlier? Why the fuck did she betray us in the first place?!"

"I don't know, okay? She said she'll explain everything if we have one meeting. Place of out choosing. Kai, trust me on this. I know my Gia."

"She isn't the same girl you knew, Romeo." I said crossing my arms. I don't want him to get hurt in the process.

"She's still in there, Kai. I know it. If you won't come I'll go anyways, I don't care. I need to see her again." Romeo sounded desperate and I hated it. I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"Fine. We're going to meet at one of our clubs, we're going to shut it down for the meeting and there will be extra security. She's not allowed weapons of any sort." I decided. We were taking s risk but I couldn't let Romeo meet up with her alone in case it was a trap.

Kai nodded. "You got it."

••••

The club was quiet, shadows lingering in the corners of he room. We headed toward the VIP area and sit down on the couches. I had a pistol strapped under my suit and a pocket knife inside my boots. My back was to the wall as Romeo stood across from me, anxiously fidgeting, glaring at his watch.

The sound of heels filled our ears and I looked up at the familiar girl I knew since I was a child. She wasn't a little kid anymore, she was a woman. Her black hair was brushed back, flowing down her exposed back. she was wearing a short black dress with black heels who made her tall frame look even taller. She was easily 5'10. Her emerald green eyes were contoured with black, making them cat-like, her lips a bloody red. She looked completely at ease despite the fact she was in enemy territory, meeting with men who had every reason to mistrust her.

Romeo looked mesmerized as Gianna finally approached us and took a seat, crossing her legs. "Nice seeing you, boys." She said nodding to the both of us.

"Weapons on the table." I ordered, eyeing her carefully. She smiled slowly.

"Ah, Kai. Why so grumpy? I just got here." She reasoned.

"I don't care. Weapons." I said.

"I see you've changed since we were kids. Back then you weren't this mean to me."

"We've all changed."

"True." She agreed, smirking but taking out a gun out of her purse and placing it in the table. "Your guns too." She said. I clenched my jaw but put my gun down too, keeping the knife. Looking at Romeo, get out down his knives. "Good. Let's start then."

"Why did want to help us? All of us know you went willingly to Vendetta." Her lips tightened. "You betrayed us, Gianna. Why should we trust you now?"

"All those years ago, I didn't went willingly to Vendetta. Do you think I'd want to leave the place I had friends and had a roof over my head? No. I was a kid when one man that was a part of Vendetta approached me while I was playing in the garden. He was a spy. He's dead now though." I frown. We would have known if we had a spy between us. She noticed my expression and chuckled. "Everywhere are spies, Kai. It doesn't matter how good your security is."

"And what happened?" Romeo asked.

"He'd told me my parents, who were in America for business at that time, came back and that he would take me to them. I was a stupid innocent child, so I followed him. I was happy that I would see my parents I haven't seen in three years. " she stared off in the distance as if she saw the scene replaying in her head. "He took me to this abandoned warehouse and told me to get inside. I did as he said, and once we were inside, he locked the door behind him. My parents' dead bodies were on the floor. Their head cut off and blood everywhere." I stilled- that can't be true-.

"I was terrified, of course. Then, Paul, the Don of vendetta came. He claimed that my parents sold me off to your family as a sex slave and that he'd saved me and offered to give me shelter. I felt betrayed by your family, including both of you-"

"Gia, we'd never do-" Romeo began, clearly angry but not on her. Gianna held out a hand.

"Let me finish. I accepted his offer. He took me in and taught me his ways. From what I've been told, your family knows me and my parents' switched sides which led to a deeper hatred between Bianchi's and Vendetta."

"I'm sure you figured it out eventually, why didn't you come to us? We would have helped you. I would have helped you." Romeo said.

"I was in a dark place when I found out. I was sixteen when I did. By that time, I'd already had my fist kill and learned how to turn off my emotions. I wasn't the same sweet of Gia who loved candy. So I stayed with them, learned their trust, and now I'm going to destroy them." She took a deep breath in, looking between the two of us. "If you want to help. If not -"

"I'll kill them for this, Gia. They took you away from me, and I'm not letting anybody else do it again." Romeo said. Gianna chuckled.

"You're still overprotective over me, Stef. I guess some things never change." I freeze. Nobody called Romeo Stefano is years, actually she and his parents called him that. Only them.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight again, cuore mio."