We were having dinner with Gio. He made it clear that he was going to stay here. He stuck to me even more because of what happened earlier. It seems like Marion is also trying to take my life.
David and Elliott arrived again. I didn’t know where they were staying now, but I knew they were watching over us.
Gio’s words were disturbing me. It haunts me. I’ve been watching him since he said that his demons won in his battle against himself.
Normally, if your demons win over you, it’s not a good sign, but it seemed to be the opposite for Gio.
“What’s on your mind, hmm? I’ve noticed you’ve been looking at me for a while now.” He looked at me as if studying me. I snapped out of my stupor when I heard Gio’s voice.
I blinked before smiling at him. “Nothing. Just thinking.”
“Tell me,” he insisted. I pouted because I didn’t really want to talk about it.
“You said your demons won over the weak part of you. What if you lose control over yourself and…” I couldn’t continue what I was going to say. What if he became a person I didn’t recognize?
Sure, I preferred this Gio, the one who would fight for me, but not the Gio who had no fear, the one who would make others fear him.
He paused for a moment, staring at me, probably not believing what I just asked.
“I can tame them; I can control them. Don’t worry about me. And besides, you are here, Millie. You’re like my restraint, preventing me from running havoc and destroying everything. We’ll be fine.”
I breathed a sigh of relief at his words. I smiled faintly.
I was about to take a sip of water when I remembered something. I hadn’t mentioned it to him earlier because it slipped my mind, but maybe now was the perfect time.
“Speaking of memories, by the way,” I glanced at him and saw Gio freeze. “About my past – my mother’s death and everything about my childhood. You were in it.”
“Come again?” Gio had an expression as if he didn’t want me to remember. I knew why.
I remembered everything, the memories my mind had concealed from me, and I remembered them all. Even my mother’s death.
A long stretch of silence engulfed the two of us. Gio didn’t say anything, and I took another sip, preparing to tell him the next part.
“Uh, I killed my mother by accident, didn’t I? Before my father hurt me, it was Mama who would hurt me when she wasn’t pleased with my actions. My father was mad at my mother; no, mad is an understatement. He began hurting me after Mama’s death because he was angry, he could see Mama in me. He hated me because I resembled my mother so much, and he associated me with everything Mama had done to him. Since I couldn’t protect myself, he directed his anger toward me instead.”
Gio didn’t speak. He remained silent, tightly gripping the cutlery.
Everything made sense to me now, except for one thing. “Why did you take the blame for killing my mother, Gio? We barely knew each other at the time. Moreover, what were you doing at our house back then? If I hadn’t lost my memory of the incident, or if my father hadn’t falsely claimed that my mother died of an illness, you might be unjustly bearing a crime you didn’t commit.”
Gio sighed and looked at me. His cold expression was replaced by concern.
“I don’t want you to suffer for killing your mother. I still think she deserved to die.”
“Gio.” I held his hand. “I hated you for something you didn’t do. You had the chance to tell me about it, especially when I was angry with you, but you didn’t. You still took the blame for my crime.”
“I’d rather you hate me than spend your life hating yourself for what you did to your mother. That woman was a freaking monster. If you hadn’t killed her, I might have.”
His jaw tightened. I remembered that Gio held resentment against my mother for what she did to his loved ones.
“I’m sorry about my mother. I can’t remember if I’ve ever apologized to you for everything Mama did to your loved ones.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” His storming rage dissipated in the air when he heard my apology. “You know, let’s not talk about this.”
I agreed with him, but I couldn’t help my heart racing every time I thought about how long Gio had known me. He had been watching over me for a long time, like my guardian angel. If it weren’t for him during those times, I wouldn’t know what would have happened to me.
When we sleep together, well… we don’t just sleep. Maybe we missed each other so much that we needed to feel each other’s presence. After making love, we’d drift off to sleep in exhaustion, and he would wrap his arms around me.
I was awakened by noise outside the room. I had slept in because there were no children to teach today. It was Saturday, their day off, and mine too. I rubbed my eyes while leaving my room.
“Gio,” I called him sleepily. If it weren’t for the noise, I wouldn’t have woken up.
I opened my eyes wide, stunned, when I saw Gio talking to a woman.
I saw her tears when she spotted me and she shouted, realizing I was real.
“Sis!” she yelled and ran toward me. I was almost knocked over by the impact of her hug.
I blinked a few times. I am still in a daze, and it hasn’t quite sunk in yet who’s hugging me.
“S-Sienna.” It’s like I needed to say her name out loud before my system could accept that she was here.
“Wow, we and Mama have been so worried about you! When Gio called me, I agreed to come right away.” She broke free from the hug and examined me closely. “Are you all right? Is there anything wrong? Do we need to call a doctor?”
“No, I’m fine, Sien.” My eyes were still wide open because of Sienna’s presence. Another tear welled up in her eyes, and she hugged me again. That’s when I finally snapped out of it. I also felt a mix of sadness and joy that Sienna was here, and I returned her hug.
“Sir, where should Miss Sienna’s…” We both looked at the one who had entered, and we saw Dario.
He also looked at us, more specifically at Sienna, but quickly averted his gaze. “Where should Miss Sienna’s belongings be placed?”
I looked at my sister, expecting her to confront Dario or something, but she just glared at him.
She marched toward him and snatched her belongings from Dario, who was holding them. Following Dario were Elliott and David, each with some of Sienna’s stuff, but she paid no attention to them.
I could feel a strong tension between my sister and Dario.