Chapter 9
"Let's get you access straight away, Giana. The more proactive we are, the better," Leo said, turning back to his laptop.
Her hand still burned with the imprint of Rodrigo's lips. She shouldn't have touched him. Now she knew what his face felt like, knew the way his eyes had widened in surprise before filling with a heat she hadn't expected.
"If it's okay with you, Giana, I would like to do a quick check to make sure there was no magical influence placed on you," Kon said, appearing beside her.
"You think that's a possibility?" she asked.
"With what I have seen in the past few months, trust me, you don't want magical crabs," Dante chimed in from his place beside Leo.
Giana's eyes widened, and she laughed despite herself. "No one needs crabs of any kind. Go ahead, Kon."
Kon's warm, calloused fingers pressed against Giana's temples. Light flickered in his eyes, there and gone in a flash. "No marks. No traces. Good. The men who took you used ordinary methods."
Kon looked at Rodrigo and gave him a small nod. "She's okay, I swear."
"Thank you," Rodrigo replied, his shoulders softening.
Giana was going to ask what that was all about when Leo cleared his throat.
"You're in, Giana. All Colleoni network drives, encrypted comms channels, all the internal and external surveillance feeds, and the shared operational folder for this clusterfuck.
Welcome to the madhouse, signorina." He shot her a wry look.
"Try not to break anything vital while you're in our system, or if you do, make it look like Dario did it. "
Dario scowled. "Really mature, Leo. I'm not that bad with computers."
"You don't even run a VPN for your Pornhub account, idiota. I had to fix it before some scammer hacked us."
Giana ignored them, her focus already narrowing on the screen that Leo pivoted toward her. The sheer volume of data was staggering. There were financial dossiers, intercepts, satellite imagery, personnel files, and threat assessments.
She made a 'get up' gesture to Dario, who gave her his chair beside Rodrigo and passed her Leo's laptop. She flexed the fingers of her good hand, the pain in her left a constant reminder of the cost of ignorance. Never again.
"First move," she announced, her gaze scanning the files. "The engagement announcement. We need it out there before Vincenzo or whoever else gets wind of our suspicions through their own channels."
"How?" Rodrigo asked, his eyes never leaving her face. "You want us to do an announcement in the newspaper with little doves and roses?"
Giana rolled her eyes at him. "Don't be naive.
We need the underworld to know instantly, and we need it to look official.
Like a declaration of war wrapped in wedding bells.
" She tapped a finger on the table, her mind racing.
"The Old Bazaar's dark web forum. It's the digital town square for our kind of people.
Announcements like this? They're practically a tradition. "
Kon raised an eyebrow. "You know the access protocols for the digital Old Bazaar? It's not exactly user-friendly, and you aren't in the magical relics scene."
Giana tsked. "Kon, please. The Old Bazaar is used for more than trading relics and books.
It's about information, and if the families are worth their salt, they have people who know about it.
Besides, I built a ghost virus that siphoned millions from Gabriella's offshore accounts while she was still breathing down my neck.
I can handle an announcement on the Old Bazaar.
" She turned to Leo. "Do we have a secure terminal that's untraceable? Not this one."
"We have a spare in the server room next door," Leo said, already pushing his chair back. "Clean slate, isolated network. Dante, you mind?"
Dante, who had been watching the exchange with a quiet smile, shook his head. "Lead the way, love."
Giana pushed herself up from the table, a wave of dizziness washing over her. She gritted her teeth, refusing to show weakness.
Before she could take a step, Rodrigo was beside her, his hand hovering near her elbow, not quite touching.
"You should rest," he murmured.
"Later," she said, stepping away from his offered support. "Partners don't get carried to the server room, Rodrigo."
He held her gaze for a beat, then gave a curt nod before stepping back.
Giana focused back on the job at hand. "Leo? We will need a picture too, and put on the filters because I don't have time to look good."
"You always look good," Rodrigo said and turned to his brother. "Standing or sitting?"
Athena made an irritated sound and got to her feet. "We are not letting a man take this picture. You will get it all wrong. Rodrigo, get closer and put your arm around her."
Rodrigo cleared his throat. "Let me know… I don't want to hurt…"
"I will survive a few bruised ribs," Giana reassured him.
"Around her hip then," Athena suggested, angling her phone.
Rodrigo did as instructed and gently pulled Giana into the cradle of his arms. She fit perfectly against him, their height difference tucking her shoulder neatly under his arm. Heat flushed her cheeks, and she really hoped no one would notice.
"Okay, now look into each other's eyes. No, not awkward like you hate every second of this. You have to sell it," Athena insisted, a teasing note in her voice.
Giana lifted her eyes to Rodrigo's and smiled at him. The effect it had on him was instantaneous. The cold facade fell away, and his expression softened.
Giana couldn't hear whatever Athena was saying. He was so sickeningly handsome when he was being a bastard, and now, when he wasn't, his looks hit her fair in the chest.
"Mia bella donna, will you fake marry me?" he asked, grinning now.
Giana laughed, shocking herself as much as him. "Yes."
"And that's the shot! Perfect," Athena declared, studying her phone screen. "Damn, you two could make even me believe it with that picture. Sending it through to you now, Leo."
"Good, let's get this out there," he said and clapped his hands. "Let her go, Rodrigo."
Rodrigo's hand slipped slowly along the curve of her hip as he dropped it, leaving a trail of heat behind.
Giana brushed her suddenly sweating hand over her shirt, smoothing the fabric. "Okay, show me the way, boys."
She put one foot in front of the other, following Leo and Dante out into the hall, and didn't take another full breath until Rodrigo was out of sight. Mio Dio, what the hell was that?
The server room they stepped into was humming with the constant drone of cooling fans and blinking LED lights. It cooled the heat still burning Giana's skin, and she sighed with relief.
No more hugging Rodrigo. It wasn't something she should have to remind herself of.
Leo showed her to a terminal tucked away in a corner, disconnected from the main network.
Giana couldn't stop her smile. "Oh, I love this room."
"I had to clean it up after Gabriella died because it was a damn mess, run by amateurs for years," Leo grumbled.
Dante stood by the door, watching them with a small grin. "Look at you, nerds, all excited."
Leo ignored his teasing and powered up the sleek machine. "It's got a clean OS, VPN pre-loaded, and burner credentials."
Giana sank into the chair and flexed her fingers again, trying to relieve their stiffness. Typing one-handed would be a bitch, but she would manage it.
She took a deep breath, centering herself, and pushed the pain away. This was her element now in a way that painting used to be. Code. Networks. The invisible battlefield.
Her fingers danced over the keys as she navigated through layers of encryption, bouncing the connection through multiple anonymizing proxies Leo had pre-configured.
The Old Bazaar forum interface loaded, a stark, minimalist design in deep crimson and black, except for a Medusa head at the top of the page. It was the same design as the one in the physical Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, which was used to mark the entrance to the underground.
She navigated to the 'Announcements & Accords' subforum, a digital Colosseum where alliances were declared, wars ignited, and fortunes shifted with a keystroke.
"All right," she muttered, more to herself than Leo or Dante. "Time to light the fuse." She opened a new post window. The cursor blinked, demanding content. What sold a Colleoni engagement? Not flowers and lace… power.
Giana breathed out and typed:
`SUBJECT: Formal Declaration: Union of Houses Colleoni & Sorrentino
From the Office of Rodrigo Colleoni, Capo dei Capi, House Colleoni:
Let it be known to all interested parties within the recognized spheres, that I, Rodrigo Colleoni, head of House Colleoni, commander of the Condottieri Legion, hereby announce my formal engagement and impending marriage to Giana Claudia Sorrentino, sole heiress and head of House Sorrentino.
This union consolidates the legacy and holdings of both ancient lineages. Any and all prior claims, perceived obligations, or speculative interests regarding the Sorrentino legacy or its heiress are hereby rendered null and void.
The bonds forged by this union extend the absolute protection and formidable reach of House Colleoni over House Sorrentino and its interests.
Any action perceived as a challenge to this union or a threat to the person of Giana Claudia Sorrentino-Colleoni will be met with immediate and overwhelming retaliation.
Details regarding the public celebration of this union will be disseminated in due course.
House Colleoni stands vigilant against any who would object to this union.
She paused, rereading the cold, formal text. It was a gauntlet thrown.
Perfect. She attached a single file of the high-resolution photograph Leo had ready. Her mouth went dry as she looked at it. Athena had caught the precise moment she had laughed. Rodrigo was staring at her, smiling as if all his dreams had come true.
"It really is a great photo," Dante commented over her shoulder. "I didn't think Rodrigo knew how to smile like that."
"He does. He is just careful who he shows it to," Leo said defensively. "Gabriella almost managed to stamp it out, but there are some things that Rodrigo would fight her on until the bitter end."
"Proof of life, proof of claim," Giana interuped them, uploading the image. She didn't want to think about the way Rodrigo had looked at her or how it made her feel.
Giana encrypted the post with a Colleoni digital sigil Leo provided, a complex, shifting pattern of code that authenticated the source beyond doubt.
Her finger hovered over the 'POST' button, and unease wormed through her resolve. This was it. Throwing herself back into the viper pit and making herself a target.
Her spine straightened. She was already a target. If she was going to be bait, she was going to be bait with teeth.
She slammed her finger down, and the post vanished from the screen, uploaded into the digital ether of the dark web. Within minutes, it would be dissected, analyzed, and spread like wildfire through the hidden channels of the underworld. The announcement was live.
"Fuse lit," she announced, pushing back from the terminal. The adrenaline surge left her feeling shaky and strangely hollow.
Leo whistled softly as he read it. "Damn, Giana. That was ice cold. 'Overwhelming retaliation'? Rodrigo's going to love that."
"He better," Giana muttered, standing up carefully. The dizziness was back. "It seems like his brand of romance."
Dante offered a steadying arm as she wobbled. She hesitated then accepted it, leaning slightly against him as they walked back toward the conference room.
Giana was overwhelmed by a sudden sense of uncanniness.
Dante Hill was offering her support. She was working with Leo, who had pulled the trigger on her parents, and was teasing Rodrigo.
The world kept twisting and turning her upside down until she no longer knew which way was up and what was true anymore.
Back in the conference room, Rodrigo paced with restless energy.
Kon and Athena were huddled over a detailed schematic of the villa grounds, Athena pointing enthusiastically at potential choke points and explosive placements.
Frederica was cleaning a sleek, matte-black pistol, ignoring Dario's pointed glares from across the table.
"It's done," Giana announced, her voice cutting through the low murmur.
Rodrigo stopped pacing instantly, his eyes locking onto her. "Already?"
"Yes. Posted, encrypted, authenticated, and burning up the forums as we speak." She sank back into the chair she had claimed earlier, exhaustion pulling at her. "Expect reactions and fast."
"Good," Rodrigo stated, though his jaw remained tight. "Now all we can do is wait."