CHAPTER NINE
Ginny
Building Trust
I found Liana sitting on the terrace, wrapped in a blanket despite the warm afternoon sun.
"Mind if I join you?" I asked.
She looked up and shook her head.
I sat down beside her, and for a while, we just sat in comfortable silence.
"How are you feeling?" I asked eventually.
"Better. Physically, anyway."
"And mentally?"
She didn't answer right away. "I don't know. Some days I feel okay. Like I'm going to get through this. And other days..."
"Other days it feels impossible."
"Yeah."
I understood that. After everything I'd been through with Henrik, the accident, the investigation—there had been days when I didn't think I'd survive.
But I had. And Liana would too.
"It gets easier," I said. "Not quickly. And not in a straight line. But it does get easier."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've been there. Not exactly what you went through, but... I know what it's like to have your world shattered. To feel like you'll never be whole again."
She looked at me, really looked at me. "What happened to you?"
I told her. About Henrik, the affair, the accident that wasn't an accident. About waking up and choosing Deangelo, choosing myself.
"You're brave," Liana said when I finished.
"So are you."
"I don't feel brave. I feel broken."
"Broken things can be put back together. They're never the same as they were before, but sometimes they're stronger."
She smiled, just a little. "Is that what happened to you?"
"Yeah. I think it is."
We sat there as the sun started to set, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink.
"Can I ask you something?" Liana said.
"Of course."
"Your brother. Luca. Is he always this... intense?"
I laughed. "Yes. He's always been protective. Especially of the people he cares about."
"He barely knows me."
"That doesn't seem to matter to him."
Liana was quiet for a moment. "I don't know how to feel about that."
"You don't have to feel anything. Just let him help you. Let us help you."
"Why? Why do you all care so much?"
"Because you deserve to be cared for," I said simply. "And because we can. That's enough."
Liana's eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away. "Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me."
"I do. You've all been so kind. I don't know what I would have done if Luca hadn't found me."
"You would have survived," I said. "Because that's what you do. You survive."
She nodded, and I could see her trying to believe it.
It would take time. But she'd get there.