The Ones Who Failed Us

Chapter 29

"Ava, honey, it's time to get up." I was awoken by Elijah's hand rubbing my back. As I slowly opened my eyes and looked out the window, I saw that it was pitch black outside, and I couldn't think of a single reason why Elijah would be waking me up at this ungodly hour.

I rolled onto my side facing my brother and rubbed my eyes. Looking at my bedside table, I tried looking at the time on my clock, but Elijah was blocking it. "What time is it?"

"2:15," he chuckled.

"In the morning?" Elijah nodded his head with an amused smile, causing me to groan and bury my face in my pillow. "Lijah, let me go back to sleep. I'm tired, and need my beauty sleep. I'll see you when the sun is up."

"Sorry, love, but Sandro's orders. You don't need to get dressed or anything. Just be downstairs in five minutes." I felt Elijah stand up, but when he noticed my refusal to get out of bed, he said, "If you're not down in five minutes, I won't hesitate to throw you in the pool."

I quickly bolted out of bed as a smirk took over his face. Realization hit me and I sent Elijah a deathly glare. "You weren't really going to do that, were you?"

"No," he laughed. "But the threat did the job, didn't it? Now come on, your brothers are already waiting downstairs."

Elijah walked down the stairs as I sleepily followed him. "Where are we going?" I asked once we reached the bottom of the stairs. Leo, the twins, and Teddy were waiting there, eyes drooping as they struggled to stay awake.

"The airport."

This caught my brothers' attention right away as their heads snapped in Elijah's direction. "And where is the plane taking us?" Matteo asked, rolling his eyes.

"No clue. I wasn't given any details other than we needed to leave now."

Leo ran his fingers through his hair, his eyebrows furrowed. "We didn't plan a family trip, though."

Elijah shrugged his shoulders and said, "Look, I'm just following orders, but there's a chance that he might have planned it in secret to surprise us."

"That's bullshit, and you know it," Emilio said.

"Lijah," I asked confused. "He didn't tell you why?"

Squeezing my hand, he responded, "No, Aves. He was busy arranging everything and didn't have much time to talk." Elijah briefly looked at his watch and said, "We need to leave now. Sandro wants us there in fifteen minutes."

"What about our clothes?" Teddy asked.

"Alessandro has everything prepared for situations like these," Elijah responded. "Kind of like an emergency kit so that we don't waste time packing."

I couldn't help but worry as Elijah drove us to the airport. The fact that Elijah was just as clueless as us didn't sit right with me. And then the emergency kit? It was too suspicious. Something had happened in the few hours between Christmas night and now that had caused Alessandro to arrange this spontaneous trip, and whatever it was terrified me. If this had anything to do with Demetri or the man who shot Matteo, Teddy's safety, and therefore my safety, was in danger.

Looking at Teddy, I saw how peaceful he was in our brothers' company. I didn't want this to change. I didn't want to lose my brothers, not again. My grip on my little brother's hand didn't loosen, even when the movement of the car had lulled him back to sleep.

Noticing my attentive gaze on Teddy, Emilio wiggled my hand away from Teddy's, drawing comforting circles on the back of it. "I'm sure it's nothing, Ava. Elijah is probably right. Sandro probably just wanted to surprise you and Teddy with your first family trip." I raised an eyebrow at him, knowing fully well that my brother was simply trying to ease my worries, but it wouldn't work. I knew Alessandro well enough to know that there was more to this trip than he had let on.