The explosion deafened them but didn't kill them…
Claude slowly pulled himself up before locking an arm around Gionna's waist and pulling the petite brunette up to her feet.
'You okay?' Claude mouthed, his 21 year old companion nodding… they had been walking towards the car left in the alleyway when it exploded and threw them across the damn street.
Slowly and being as careful as possible, the two limped to the undamaged Banshee. Claude picked Gionna up into his arms and placed her into the passenger seat, buckling her in before running to the driver's side and jumping in.
The slip south of Callahan Bridge had a small pier… when they reached it, Salvatore's 27 year old wife Maria was waiting for them, her dark hair pulled in a tight bun as always and her completely frantic.
"Listen, Salvatore knows you two are getting cozy so he was offering you to the cartel to make a deal! It's partly my fault because I told him you two were an item, don't ask me why, I don't know!" Maria ranted.
Gionna's blood started boiling… she tuned out Maria and moved closer threateningly, ready to let her Sicilian temper out and push Maria into the water until the eerily calm woman nearby stopped her.
"Come on, enough of the speeches. Let's get out of here before we get more hysterical Italians wanting less friendly reunions." Asuka says gently, Gionna managing to hold back her temper as Claude guided her to the boat, Maria and Asuka following them.
Maria and Asuka talked in a hushed conversation as Claude drove the boat towards Staunton Island, briefly resting his right hand on Gionna's lower back and kissing her on the corner of her mouth.
He was gonna make the betrayal hurt less… he hated seeing her hurting...
As humans, we can only take so much before we lose our minds completely… this had been proven true earlier.
I wrap the white towel around me after drying off, using the red towel to wring the water out of my hair and step out of the bathroom… the warehouse Asuka suggested Claude and I hide out in isn't exactly the warmest looking place but at least it's a roof over our heads.
I'm also trying to not admit that Claude and I have been getting close lately… I don't want to get my heart smashed up into pieces again.
Feeling his arms wrap around my waist, I turn around slowly and have to stand up on my tiptoes to kiss him… the two of us hold each other before we stop kissing long enough for me to pull his shirt off and lightly trace a finger onto his bare skin. I don't want to crash from the betrayal from earlier, not on my own at least.
Reaching down, I unbutton the green cargo pants he's wearing as he kicks his sneakers off and pulls his pants down… his boxers are the next to be on the floor before the towel I'm wearing hits it too.
Soon, I'm roughly shoved onto the bed… he wants it just as bad as I do and he's on top of me before I know it, brushing his fingers onto my hips. I flinch slightly, remembering the metal pins and rods in my right hip… I don't want to remember that morning either.
"Shh… it's okay." Claude whispers, the first words I've heard him speak since I've known him. Carefully, he moves my legs to where both of ours are entwined and moves forward… there's no going back now, I've done this before and repeatedly since I was 15 but damn, this feels damn amazing now.
The headboard hitting the wall repeatedly, I toss my head back and dig my nails into Claude's back, drawing drops of blood… but he loves it and responds by pulling my hair as we lose awareness of everything around us… even the phone on the bedside table being knocked down and inadvertently answered before the person on the other line hangs up immediately.
Both of us scream out loudly and fall limp to the bed, next to each other as the adrenaline starts to wind down.
Crashing from a betrayal is a hell of a lot better when you're not alone.
Third person perspective, 5 seconds earlier…
Slamming the phone down, Billy Grey was pissed off!
He was at the peak of his current high and had dialed a number he hadn't in a some time, one to a safehouse Gionna hid out at… only to overheard multiple noises that aggravated him.
"Billy, what's gotten into you?!" Brian asks.
"Shut up, Brian!" Billy snapped irritably and walked outside into the bitter autumn air.
He was crashing hard… and out of all the things that Gionna had done over the past 6 years, he felt like this one was specifically targeted at him.
And there was no way he would let her get away with it.
