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mia figlia = my daughter 
cara = sweetheart 
ti amo = I love you 
nonna = grandma 
sorellina = little sister 
grazie mille = thank you very much 
signor(e) = mister 
devastazione = disaster / devastation

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Scorpia — – –

She sits at the kitchen table, her cheeks red,  her hair wet and on her lap a little boy who looks the same way. They enjoyed their bath, even though there was some mopping required after their adventures in the bubble-filled water. Enzo sings a made-up song about kisses and Scorpia listens to it with a smile on her face.

Bruno chuckles and sets the table with mamma, who is laughing at her happy grandson too. Bruno lifts Enzo from his aunts' lap en puts him in the highchair. He takes the seat next to it, to help him with his breakfast.

Mamma hands Scorpia a cup of coffee and sits down next to her. She gives her daughter a questioning look and Scorpia says: "I haven't told Bruno everything yet mamma. I have ten whole years to tell him about and explain. But I swear on those two lovely men there, that I will tell you more about it all today. I just need to work everything out in my head first and Bruno is the one who can help me do that."

Her mom looks deep into her eyes and sees that her only daughter is still struggling through it all. But she can also clearly see that she's speaking the truth. "Mia figlia? Has Salvatore hurt you? And are Ciro and Dino involved in it somehow?" Scorpia looks up at her mom with a defeated look and nods.

"Then I know enough for now cara. But remember that I named you Scorpia for a reason. And not because it was that time of year, but because it's a strong animal, that defends itself when it's backed into a corner. An animal that knows how to rise above. Ti amo, Scorpia. I always have and I always will. Rise above, no matter how. But mostly in a powerful way, do you understand?"

She looks at Bruno and makes a fist on the table. Bruno nods when he sees his mom's permission to handle this problem with more than just words.

They finish their breakfast and Enzo asks: "Nonna? Duckies?"

Mamma smiles and says: "Yes, nonna will gather some bread, and then we'll go see the duckies together." His little face lights up and he dances in his highchair. Scorpia feels her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulls it out to see who is trying to reach her. It's a message from Thomas, with a picture of a drawing and a bag of mandarins. She smiles when she sees that the drawing is made by Lucas and Logan.

She looks at her bruised knuckles and bends her fingers. It's already hurting less than yesterday and she will probably be able to go back to school soon. She needs that part of her life, to prevent herself from drowning in the dark side of her soul. Thomas asks if he should bring the gifts over to the pizzeria and asks how she's doing. She types a message back.

Yes please, bring them to the pizzeria this afternoon.
I'm okay.
I won't stay away for long, I promise.
I miss the kids already.

Enzo walks through the kitchen, babbling enthusiastically while mamma gathers bread in a bag. They say goodbye to Scorpia and Bruno and walk out of the door. Scorpia sighs and finishes her coffee, before dialing mister Gentile's number. Bruno observes her from the other side of the table and listens to her end of the conversation.

"Good morning mister Gentile. I am calling to warn you that Thomas will be coming by to deliver mandarins for me. He thinks I have the flu... I will explain it all to you later, but this way he won't surprise you... Yes, to be honest, that is exactly what I am doing right now... Yes. Bruno... Yes finally... I love you too! Bye!"

Bruno has filled the mugs with coffee again and takes the seat right across from her. He says: "Mister Gentile? Thomas? Calling in sick at a school? Sorellina I am so lost right now."

Scorpia takes a deep breath and says: "I will try to explain it to you. If there's anything you don't understand, just cut in. I will start with the morning after the rape." She takes a few sips from her coffee and starts talking.

"I got up, was covered in bruises and my entire body hurt. I showered quickly and got dressed. I wanted to talk to mamma first. To share it with someone, somehow. I wanted to talk to Ciro and Dino too, because I was convinced that they didn't know what Salvatore did..."

"...but when I walked into the kitchen, mamma was kissing them both and told them she was proud of them. They looked at her with such innocent faces that I panicked. I must have screamed or something, but I don't remember exactly."

"Ciro told mamma that I had hurt myself and pulled me into the hallway by my arm while telling her that he would help me. He pushed me against the wall, looked at me with ice-cold eyes, and said: "Whatever happened last night, no one is going to hear about it. Do you hear me? Not a single soul! Dino and I are finally able to earn enough money to afford the mortgage of this house for mamma and you'll be able to go to school, without racking up a debt for her. So shut up!"

"I sank to the floor and he walked into the kitchen smiling, ready to crack some jokes with mamma. Dino came out to check on me and stared at the bruises around my wrists and neck. And for a split second I thought he was going to stand up for me, but he said he was sorry and left me there, without even looking me in the eye once. I heard mamma laugh and ran upstairs. I grabbed my school stuff and some clothes and crawled out of my bedroom window."

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Bruno — – –

Bruno thinks back on the rainy night when he came back from his tournament in England. He managed to become first in his class and instead of celebrating it there, he got on the first plane home. He rather celebrated his win with his family.

He got out of the taxi and walked towards the entrance of the apartment complex. It was pouring and it was late. He really thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when he saw her, crouched down and soaked to the bone, in front of the entrance of the apartment complex. 

"Scor?"

She jumped when she heard his voice and when she looked up at him, he didn't recognize her anymore. She looked like she had given up. He lifted her up and carried her upstairs. She was freezing and soaking wet and didn't respond to him at all. He had no clue what to do, but knew he had to be there for her.

He sat her down under the shower, clothes and all and heard his phone ring. He picked up and heard the desperate voice of his mother. "Bruno! She's gone! Scorpia's gone! I don't know where she is! I don't understand it! Ciro and Dino are not telling me anything either! Bruno!" He calmed her down and told her Scorpia was with him.

She demanded he'd bring her home, but he said: "Mamma. I don't know what happened to her. But it's bad. I'm not bringing her home, but I will promise you I will take of her." She cursed him out in Italian, but he just hung up.

He took clean clothes from the backpack that Scorpia had on her when he found her and walked into the bathroom. She was still sitting there, in the exact same spot he had left her. Under the warm water and with lifeless eyes pointed at the wall. He tried to put his hand against her cheek, but she moved away from him before he could even reach her. Her eyes showed terror and he felt completely lost.

He eventually sat down with his back turned to her and kept on talking to her, until she answered him back. She dried herself off and got dressed, all with a pain-stricken look on her face. 

When they sat on the couch together, he noticed the bruises. He jumped up and punched a hole in the living room door, as he yelled: "Who? Tell me!"

That was obviously the dumbest thing he could have done, because now she was scared of him too and closed herself off completely. He sank onto his knees in front of the couch, tears streaming down his face and begged her for forgiveness. "I'm so sorry little sister. Tell me what you need and I will do it. Whatever it is. Please."

She looked up at him and he saw a tiny speck of light appear in her eyes. She was still there. Deep down his little sister was still there. She whispered: "Stay here. See no one. Scared. Stay here."

She hasn't spoken much for years, since that day. She nodded or shook her head and answered with yes or no. Until last night, she never told him about what happened before he found her in front of the building. He only knew that his brothers had to be involved somehow. And that it was hard for her to face mamma.

The one time he spoke to mamma about it, was enough to figure out that she had absolutely no idea what happened either. And beating up his younger brothers, didn't give him anything useful either. If anything it made Ciro more arrogant and Dino even quieter. 

Bruno offered Scorpia her own room in his apartment and watched over her from a distance. He told her he loved her and made sure she knew where he was at all times. And swore that he would always be there for her.

He received money from mamma every month to cover all her expenses. And he knew she went to school every weekday and at night they trained together. She loved getting stronger every day and he enjoyed the time they got to spend together. Even though it was obvious to him that she wasn't just training for fun.

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Scorpia — – –

Scorpia looks up at him and she can tell he is lost in his memories. She drinks her coffee and when Bruno looks at her again, she says: "I went to school to become a teacher. I'm a kindergarten teacher, Bruno. But I'm someone else when I am a teacher."

Bruno looks at her a bit dazed. He knew she went to school, but she never told anyone about her education or her job.

"At school, I'm Miss Pia, the teacher. I wear red clothes and red-trimmed glasses. I'm the sweetest teacher in the world. Outside of school I'm Scorpia. Leather clothes, Harley and ruthless. I drink Scorpion Vodka and follow Salvatore's men in the shadows."

She takes her scorpion bracelet off and folds it open in one swift move, revealing the razor-sharp blade that was hidden inside of it. Bruno feels all the puzzle pieces fall into place and how unbelievable her story might seem, he immediately believes her. She looks him straight in the eye and sees he believes her without a doubt. She breathes out and puts the bracelet back on.

She speaks softly when she says: "Salvatore runs a human trafficking ring. He still loves young girls. He enjoys being the one to take their innocence, then sell them off to someone else or just leave them behind in a dirty alley. I have spent all these years gathering evidence against him and I have killed twelve of his men so far."

"I thankfully never caught our brothers with an underage girl, but if that day comes, I promise you they will be sent to hell the same way as the other men before them. I haven't been able to come near Salvatore in all those years. He is never alone. And yesterday I had my shot and I ran. I ran away from him."

She bursts out in tears and Bruno jumps up to hold her. When her tears have run dry, Bruno says: "We'll get him. Together. I'm glad you didn't kill him in mamma's kitchen. Because mamma wouldn't have been able to handle that. None of us would have. And think about Enzo."

Scorpia stares at him in shock and thinks about Enzo. After a while she softly asks him: "Do you want to meet Pia?" Bruno nods and she says: "Come." They ride to mister Gentile's pizzeria and she opens a garage door at the back of the building. She parks her Harley and Bruno parks his bike next to hers.

Mister Gentile comes in to see who has entered his garage and smiles slightly at her as she takes off her helmet. She gets off the bike to hug him and says: "Bruno wants to meet Pia."

Mister gentile looks relieved and says: "Come with me Bruno. I'll pour you a drink, while Scorpia gets changed.

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Pia — – –

Bruno sits down in the kitchen with mister Gentile and the older man studies him carefully. Bruno looks at him and asks: "Do you know about everything?"

Mister Gentile shakes his head and says: "No. I only know she wants to keep Pia and Scorpia separate and I gave her a place for her transformation. She never stopped coming here, not even when she moved in with you. Every Saturday we eat a pastry with our cup of coffee and she makes me soup. The soup you get to eat at night in your home. We also dine together on weekdays. She goes to school from here and comes 'home' here as well. Her colleagues at school think she lives here."

Bruno rubs his neck and tries to understand it all as much as he can. He hears someone come down the stairs and turns towards the kitchen door. The door opens and in walks a happy, sweet, young woman with red-rimmed glasses, which give her a cheerful look. She smiles wide at him and comes over.

She holds her hand out to him and says: "Nice to meet you, I'm miss Pia."

He shakes her hand and looks at her with a happy expression on his face. "Wow."

They stay for lunch in the pizzeria and Bruno can't stop staring at her. He just can't believe how different she is. Open, loving, happy. A true teacher. The kind you will never forget in your lifetime. He sees a tall, bearded man walk up to the entrance with a bag of mandarins in his hand and his sister gets up to open the door.

Mister Gentile whispers: "Tomaso. Colleague."

She smiles wide and says: "Thomas!"

Thomas answers her smile with one of his own and hugs her carefully. "Pia, good to see you. I brought you the mandarins and the drawing. How are you feeling?" She takes the mandarins from him and he looks at her knuckles for a second, but doesn't say anything about it.

She puts the mandarins on the table and unrolls the drawing. She looks at it with a sweet smile on her face and says: "Thank you Thomas. I feel a bit better already. I will stay home for one more day and then I'll come back to work."

Thomas looks into her eyes and sees that she has put up her wall again. And he can feel the man at a table in the back stare at him. He clears his throat and says: "I'll leave you alone and hope to see you at school the day after tomorrow." He waves at everyone and walks out.

Pia picks up the drawing and walks over to Bruno with it. Bruno looks at the drawing and smiles. He asks: "Are they brothers? Lucas and Logan?"

Pia thinks for a while and says: "No. Logan might be Lucas' dad. But I don't know. Lucas says he doesn't have a dad and I have only spoken to his mom so far. They look a lot alike though..."

She gets lost in her head and Bruno asks: "Sorellina?"

She looks at him with a confused look and wipes a tear from her cheek. She whispers: "I'm still your little sister?"

Bruno stares at her angrily and says: "Of course you are! Silly girl! You will always be my little sister. Even if you end up being twenty different people in one." They burst out in laughter and Pia sits down at the table with him again.

She says barely audible: "Logan might be a problem."

Bruno raises his eyebrow and asks: "Why?"

Mister Gentile senses that this is a private conversation and retreats into the kitchen.

Pia says: "Logan is the owner of the cafe I frequently visit for a double Scorpion Vodka at the end of the night. As Scorpia. To calm myself down. But I ran into him at the market as Pia." She sighs and rubs her chin.

Bruno asks: "Has he said anything about it?" Pia shakes her head. "Are you worried he will blow your cover or something?"

Pia shakes her head again and says: "No, I don't think he's that kind of guy. He doesn't stick his nose in other people's business. But I don't want to put him in danger." Bruno looks into her eyes and waits for her to explain. "Ciro and Dino drink a whole bottle of Puni Alba there every Friday night."

Bruno swears softly and says: "Okay, I hear you. But let's try to figure this out one step at a time. We have to come up with what to tell mamma first."

Pia sighs and says: "I don't want to lie to her anymore. But I don't think I'm comfortable with telling her all the details either."

Bruno says: "If we tell her that Salvatore raped you, she'll want his head on a plate. You know how mamma gets. And now that she knows that Ciro and Dino have something to do with it, she will not be very forgiving to them either."

"They work for Salvatore Bruno. They must know something about these young girls. And I don't want them anywhere near mamma or Enzo anymore. Let alone Salvatore. But if we tell her all about it, we will have to make sure that they are never alone again."

Bruno thinks for a second and says: "I'll take Enzo with me to the gym tonight to discuss some time off with the owner. I'll tell him it's a family issue. You stay home to tell mamma whatever you want to tell her. Tomorrow we'll sit down to come up with a plan and we'll all sleep at mamma's house for now. You will go back to school the day after tomorrow, for your own health and for the children's well being."

She starts to relax and smiles at her brother. "Okay. I'm going to get changed again and then we'll go to mamma's house." She gets up and walks upstairs. Bruno walks into the kitchen with the mandarins and the drawing in his hands.

He finds mister Gentile there and smiles at him. "Grazie mille, signor Gentile."

"No, thank you Bruno. The brother I've always trusted in to be more than his fists, is exactly the brother she needs. I'm really glad she has shared this all with you. I am proud of you. No matter how hard it gets, you're there for her. If you ever need to talk or just want to eat some pizza, come over. You will always be welcome here. And the same goes for Enzo. She is so in love with that little boy, that I would love to meet him.

Bruno looks at mister Gentile with eyes full of emotion and says: "I promise I'll bring Enzo here sometime soon."

Scorpia comes in and says: "Yes, that way we can eat a pizza Devastazione together." Bruno pulls a face when he hears the name and mister Gentile chuckles softly. 

They walk into the garage and the siblings get on their bikes, while mister Gentile opens the garage door. Scorpia says goodbye to him and puts her helmet on, while Bruno does the same. They ride out of the garage and mister Gentile watches them drive away with a smile on his lips.

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There you go, chapter 6. Or Capitolo Sei.

Mostly one filled with background information and maybe less exciting, but not less important.

What do you think of it?

What do you think of Scorpia?
Bruno? 
Mamma?
Pia?
Mister Gentile?
And cute Enzo?

See you next update!

XO Hankie ❥