The only reason why Gianna had a smile on despite the roller coaster events of the recent days was because of Seth. She'd returned his call after Mimie and Kelly had left, blabbed about everything and anything as always, only this time, with a different relationship stand. He listened to her, meticulously, and went as far as acting protective.
She felt his steaming rage when she talked about the allergy story and as much as she had never seen him that way, Gianna felt a distinct sense of safety, comfort, and love behind the reaction.The two girls had left her home with a first kiss anticipation for when next she visited the city and an instantaneous letter of summoning in the confinement of her room. And since then, she hadn't stopped thinking about the kiss to come, the fear of fumbling, and the awkwardness after that.
Her cheeks heated up.
"Why are you red?" Petra asked, her face an inch from Gianna's in observance.
"Back off. Little
Sean currently stood nose to nose with one of the Imperiya men in black in the underground battleground. They'd been there for the past five minutes with no talking, no coughing, no shuffling. Just a stoic staring confrontation."You can leave us." A man approached them from a dark bend with slow and steady steps. The kind that left eggshells indifferent when walked upon. His voice was heavy with power and his demeanor stunk of superiority. He said this, and Sean's staring partner instantly walked away, but not without a bow. "Sean Dimitri Vladimir," The man said his name as if he'd known him for ages. If he expected to pull a reaction from the mentioned, he failed big time. The man smirked and nodded his head. "Didn't expect any less from you.""Who are you?" Scrutinizing him, Sean concluded he was no more than fifty-five and no less than forty-five. The ten-year age gap doubt resulted from the wealthy aura he radiated: he looked thoroughly kempt in his hundreds-of-dollars burgundy t
"You're so wrong to think Adam needs 'professional help'. Much, you do not need. Your presence alone is more than enough, Gianna." Her face crumpled as if about to cry. "Oh well, you're just a kid, I don't expect you to understand how it feels to...to be an incapable mother, helpless and useless. At this point, I would do anything, I mean anything to see Adam happy. So please, I need you. My son needs you.""I—""Please.""I've heard you.""Thank you. Thank you so so much," Mrs. McCoy brought her palms together. "I'll forever be indebted to you. You don't know what this means to me.""I'm not doing this for you.""I know. I want to make you understand the impact your decision has on me and the rest of the family."Ever since then, Gianna's mind has been on power off and on. Her tête-a-tête with Mrs. McCoy completely destabilized it to a whole different level. The kind of level to go back on her words.As if the universe was taking sides, days before the D-day, her uncle had traveled l
Viktor lowered his head. "I want revenge on my family, Sean. And Imperiya being the most powerful mob in Russia says a lot; you can attain anyone in a finger snap. Now, my gain? Is I'm counting on you to help me spot this bastard out from the rooftop. I'll take matters from there once that's done."Sean chuckled."What?""Haven't heard anything so pathetic in a while. Assuming he's advanced in the mob tree, position as experience wise, what could a frail nobody with zero chances of survival do?" Viktor sat silent for a while. "What matters is the gesture. At least I'll die peacefully knowing I unleashed the bottom part of my heart...knowing I tried something.""Hmm. Can you handle a gun?""It's not that complicated.""Let me rephrase it; how good are you at targeting?" Viktor didn't speak. "Thought as much. Proceed." Sean urged in unexplainable annoyance."I must have learned two or three about it by then. What about you? You good with arms?""It's not about me.""I know, but keep in
"Boo!"Gianna skipped, frightened. "Oh my God, Tish...""Who dreams in broad daylight? Tell us, what's been on your mind?""Nothing." Too engulfed by her thoughts to notice the end of lectures, Gianna shut her notebook, corked her pen, and packed them in her backpack. She'd barely slept the previous night for unexplainable reasons, and when she did, it was swamped with ice-blue eyes she wished to forever forget. If they once were empty, they were even more so in her dream. Soulless. Teesha squinted."Next week is Hi-bies," Tay casually announced, pulling Teesha's pinned attention from Gianna."My my, it completely slipped my mind, and I've been looking forward to this for the longest time," Elsa acknowledged, disappointed in herself."Isn't that what to expect from a dick-clogged mind?" Teesha giggled, Gianna tensed in expectations of heated word exchange or perhaps worse but all Elsa did was roll her eyes and wave it off with a mere, "Oh shut up.""What's that? The Hi-bies thing," A
It was a tough fight.The basement was unusually overcrowded. No one wanted to miss out on Ring Kong's final fight, especially not with the 'pretty face stranger' involved—as the homeless natives referred to him. The news of Sean confronting Kong had spread like wildfire so much to the entry fee collector's surprise. That night, he'd made more money than he'd ever made in the history of its existence, he was quite a devoted employee: he's been since thirty-five. Now forty-two, single, and searching? Not sure, Strav's excitement was unmatched as he flipped through a stack of bills, outlining the expenditures of his share. He'll finally put his landlord on a door number 38 break, afford a ticket to watch his favorite football team play, get himself a brand-new toaster, and restock his fridge with enough booze to take him through a week or two. Now that sounded like a perfect plan.That very night, Strav had seen faces; ones he'd seen once and never again, ones he'd never seen before, on
"What are you doing here?"Adam seemed amused by the question. "Talking with you, of course." But there was no linger of humor around Gianna.Adam cleared his throat. "Fine, I'll tell you what, but not here. Unfortunately, I'm yet to get familiar with this place. Plus, it's not appropriate for catch up...care to come over?"What has familiarity got to do with anything? She almost asked. "No.""Come on, Gigi. It's been months since we saw each other, don't you think it'll be the perfect time to catch up? There's a whole lot I need to tell you if it's not your case. So?""Adam I can't. I can't do whatever I want when I want. I owe my uncle and his wife some respect."He held both of her shoulders. "Visiting a long-time-no-see friend for some catching up isn't wrong. Maybe you should let me talk to them, I'll make them understand that I'm absolutely harmless.""Oh my God, no, are you crazy?"Adam shrugged, and with a straight face, he replied, "Guess I am, ever since I met you." "Oh, pl