Hey, lovely readers.

Like I had said, I was thinking of writing another story.

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Born In Blood Mafia Chronicles Camorra and Chronicles by Cora Reilly, but I am obsessed! And I wanted to put my own spin on their story.

I have merged Cora's mafia world with characters from the Mortal Instruments. This is not a crossover, just the characters are present here.

Hope you'll like it!!!

Gianna's POV

14 years old

She could hear her siblings yelling and creating a ruckus, from where she was sitting at her desk. She had been trying to concentrate on the textbook open in front of her for more than an hour now, but to no avail. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts and worries.

Father just told Aria that she was going to be promised to Luca Vitiello, the future Capo of the New York Famiglia. Aria was fifteen! Just a year older than her, and Father was already selling her off to some asshole just for the sake of his own power and reputation! Sometimes she really hated this world, and wanted nothing more than to leave, to run away and never come back.

But...whenever she thought of running away, three faces flashed through her mind- Aria, Lily and Fabi. Her siblings...her lifelines.

Aria, being only a year older than her, was her soul sister, her closest confidante. Liliana and Fabiano, being four and nine years younger than her, had always been more like her children, her responsibility, rather than her siblings. Especially Fabi, he was the youngest of the four of them, and was coddled by Aria and her.

Aria, the girl who always looked out for everybody, who was there for Gianna through everything life had thrown at them, was now hiding away in her room, crying her eyes out. Terrified of an uncertain future that kept looking bleaker by the minute. And there was nothing Gianna could do. She didn't have the means to help Aria, no matter how much she wanted to. That was the price of being a woman in their world, Gianna had learned at a very young age. Your life gets played like a puppet, the puppeteer being men who want nothing more than to use and abuse you for their own gains. And you can't say or do a damn thing about it.

That's what she's always heard the women around her say. That's what her mother would say, while covering up her bruises with makeup, getting ready to play the 'Perfect Italian wife'. Bruises adorning her face and body, all gifts from her husband. Because that's how life here works...and the women are just supposed to keep quite and tolerate it.

But no matter what she grew up seeing and hearing, Gianna never was one to conform to misogynistic standards. Even before she became completely aware of the hell they lived in, she'd always questioned the double standards, misogyny and stifling patriarchy. And because of her outspoken nature, for standing up for what she believed in, she had earned the reputation of a troublemaker, a nuisance.

She had always heard things like, "That's not how a reputable Italian girl should act" , criticizing her every move, and by now, she'd gotten pretty desensitized to all the veiled hateful comments made towards her.

Aria hated the way some things in their world worked as well. But the thing was...Aria and her had very different ways of dealing with things. While Aria was gentle, and could tactfully get her way while keeping her calm, Gianna was more prone to having an outburst and wasn't afraid to give people a piece of her mind, no matter who they were.

They balanced each other out perfectly. Aria was the Yin to her Yang. People sometimes even mistook them for twins, because of how much they looked alike, except for their hair (Aria was a beautiful golden blonde while Gianna was a fiery redhead), and their contrasting personalities.

She was way past caring about what anyone thought. Not when her own parents hated her. Her father always made it a point to 'discipline' her, the scars of which she still bore, and her mother never did a thing to intervene. It was always her fault, something she had done wrong, something she said, always something...

The only person who ever stood up for her was Aria. She would intervene and try to reason with Father. And the two of them, together, had always protected Lily and Fabi, covered up for them. This was something they'd decided ages ago. That no matter what happened to them, they would make sure that Lily and Fabi never got hurt. That they would never have to feel the neglect and abuse that Aria and her were all too familiar with.

That was the only reason she stayed, her siblings, ignoring the desperate voices inside her begging her to leave and never come back. To go looking for freedom, to make a life of her own, away from all the fucked up madness, blood and death of the mob. A life where she knows she can be happy...

Snapping herself out of her daydream, Gianna forced herself to refocus on the book in front of her. This was all wishful thinking anyway. She was stuck here and noone knew that better than her.

But there was one thing she knew for certain— she would never endure an abusive, toxic marriage like her mother and so many women around her did. She would never submit to anybody, much less a man, and she didn't care what she had to do to achieve that.

So, what did you think of this chapter?

This story is based on how I wish Gianna's character was more like in the books. I'd always felt like her character had so much more depth and complexity than was explored in the books. And this is how I've always imagined her in my crazy imagination.

If you've liked it so far, please consider leaving a review and telling me what you think.

Reviews always encourage us to keep writing and getting better. Your thoughts and opinions are always welcome.

All the characters belong to Cora Reilly, only the plotline is a figment of my crazy imagination.