Chapter 4

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The hospital was the last place Sienna ever wanted to be again.

Dread climbs her skin just like three years ago—the accident that had taken her parents’ lives.

The sound of the ambulance sirens, the scent of bleach and too-clean floors with fluorescent lights over the hospital’s broad white halls,

the nurses and doctors rushing in troves of panic—it was all the damned nightmare, and now she had to relive it again.

She watched, numb, as a hospital gurney rolls towards Lorenzo’s car. Lorenzo is quick as he reaches for Gabi’s unconscious frame in the back seat.

He carefully places her bleeding frame on the hospital gurney. Sienna had held on to it firmly as the nurses rushed her sister past the automatic doors.

“You’re going to be okay, puppy, I promise,” she whispered, Gabi’s nickname, as a lump felt heavy in her throat.

“I am sorry, miss, you can’t come through here.” The medical officials stop her by the emergency doors. One of the doctors quickly holds Sienna’s shoulder.

“Can you quickly tell us what you witnessed?”

“She fell… from the balcony and rolled on the stairs,” Sienna replies in a monotone state.

“We will do all we can; please wait,” the doctor says hurriedly before he too disappears past the emergency doors.

She is then asked many questions about Gabriella and fills out forms before the nurse ushers her to the washroom.

She then looks at her hands; the dark stain of Gabi’s blood on her skin had made her tremble and almost made her legs give out.

But she needed to be strong.

And so she heads towards the restroom; in the cold silence she turns on the tap.

Washing her hands as she watched the blood run under the water, her throat felt clogged when she recalled whose blood it was.

“Please… please don’t take her from me,” she whimpers in the space.

Sienna walks out a moment later from the washroom. The redness was still swollen under her eyes from the tears, her face pale and her blonde hair in a messy bun she had tied in the washroom.

She expected to be alone, but her gaze pulled to the end of the hall, watching a familiar frame pace back and forth as he was on the phone—Lorenzo.

His tense voice low, his hard, cold gaze made him look like he could be premediating murder orders on the phone or telling someone, maybe Luca.

Sienna wasn’t sure what drove her legs to his side, with Renzo’s brow drawing up in surprise as she stood in front of him.

“I don’t want you to tell anyone else, especially Luca,” Sienna says without a beat of hesitation.

“Even in this situation you are still thinking of that buddy, or is it your pride talking?”

“Mr. Vitale—”

“I was talking to a friend, and do not worry, she will be alright. The best doctors are on her; you won’t lose her,” he assured.

And Sienna didn’t know why that felt like what she had been waiting for, and she didn’t know why her shoulders fell from just his words. It was strange, and she didn’t like it or how he made her feel.

“Why are you helping me? Why are you doing all this when you clearly do not need to? You don’t even know me.”

No word was shared, as only their gazes were locked in a silent tension.

Then Renzo takes a step forward, as it forces Sienna to take a step back, stumbling up until her back meets the cool wall.

“Huh… I would say I know you well enough, little ballerina, especially since you were grinding on my cock just a few hours ago,” he says, his hands leaning on both sides of her head against the wall.

“T-that didn’t mean anything… we are nothing…” And that was a fact,

to owe a favour in this town, especially to a dangerous male like Renzo Vitale, was one of many dangers she wanted to avoid.

But in just a span of a day, she had stripped him, been given $30,000, and now he is helping her sister. She hoped that was it.

Not until Lorenzo spoke again.

“The bills are covered already.” She spoke too soon.

“No! I can do that.” She pushed past his shoulders and marched towards the nursing station.

“Please, can I get the estimate of the surgery bills?” she said to the nurse who barely looked at her, and then Lorenzo before they printed out the bills, and Sienna’s stomach dropped.

$89,000. That was a lot of zeros, and she only had a few thousand left in her bank account.

How was she even going to start paying this off? Stripping didn’t mean fast enough to get that amount in a short period of time,

The nurse clears her throat, bringing her from bad thoughts back to reality.

“That is the estimate, Miss Moretti, that is adding her old bruises—”

“Old bruises?”

“Yes, old bruises, as it seems domestic assault had been proved,” the nurse adds, and Sienna feels like her world is ending.

Her little sister, an angel who wouldn’t hurt a fly, was abused. God, now it made sense why they didn’t allow her to see Gabi.

She sees why all calls were only audio and never video calls; only pictures were ever sent and voice recordings, but never a live call.

And to think all this time her out-of-sorts self was going through abuse with her foster care parents.

She walks away numb from the nursing station; she takes her phone but is grabbed by Lorenzo.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling the police; those monsters need to pay for what they did!” Sienna rages.

“And you think the police and justice system will give them what they really deserve after what they did to your sister? They might have even escaped by now!”

“Then what, what do I do?”

“Rita and her husband will be punished. Say the word, and I will have their heads on a platter for you.” He shrugs,

but in no world did Sienna think Lorenzo was bluffing. He was deadly serious, and goosebumps appeared on her skin from his words.

“N-No, stay out of it, Mr. Vitale; the justice system will handle it—”

“ handle it? Just look at how they handled your parents’ case—”

She lets her hand land on Lorenzo’s cheek.

She had just slapped Lorenzo Vitale!

Her face was immediately crestfallen knowing he had crossed the line he wasn’t supposed to; her lips trembled as she whispered,

“Fuck you.”

She turned and walked away from him; she was done with it all.

Little did she know Lorenzo wasn’t done with her yet.

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