Forever family

Chapter 5

Emmalin P.O.V

Once Sofie was out the room, all eyes were on me. It was so overwhelming, but when Dante placed an arm around my shoulders, the dam broke. I buried my face in his chest, and he pulled me into his lap. Everyone had sympathy laced on their faces, except for Antonio, who had his signature blank face.

"Emma, what was that about? What closet?" Enzo asks, once I've calmed down. I look down, not wanting to answer his questions.

"Everyone out." Antonio's voice demands respect. Everyone gives me a kiss on my forehead, then leaves. Antonio sits down next to me, and looks me dead in the eye. "Emmalin. I need you to tell me exactly what happened to you." His voice was calm. Too calm. I know for a fact, that he will see right through me if lie, and I don't want him to be angry at me.

"W-when we lived with mom and Carter, he used to hurt me. He would throw me around, and he would hit, kick or slap me." I take a deep breath, and see my brother's eyes darken. "We didn't have any money, and mom sold everything we had to get money for drugs. I practically raised Sofia myself. I got the best grades, and learned more languages so that one day I could give her a better life." Antonio pulls me into his lap, and rubs soothing circles on my back.

"What did your mom do?" He asks.

"Just told him to hurry up, because she wanted to go." I answered.

"Did they ever hurt Sofia?" I shake my head vigorously.

"Only a few times, but I always did something to make him come after me instead. Usually, I hid her in the closet. If he couldn't see her, then he was too high to notice her gone." I sigh. I really hope he doesn't send us away. What if they don't want us because of my nightmares? Do orphanages have food?

"Firstly, tesoro, I would like to say, that what you did to protect Sofie was extremely brave, and we will always be grateful for that. Not many people would take more pain to protect another person. Secondly, you should know, that for as long as you're under our care, not one of us will hurt you. We may ground you, and we may take away privileges, but we will never lay a hand on you out of anger. Ever."(sweetheart) I smile, and hug my oldest brother. "Emma, I need to ask. Did Carter ever... touch you?"

"H-he tried once, but I moved out of the way. He passed out before he could come after me. Carter never raped me." I say. His name is emphasised slightly, hoping he wouldn't notice, but of course, he did.

"Emma, has anyone else hurt you?" I look down and fidget with my hands.

"Y-yes." He knows this much, so I might as well tell him the rest. "H-he had a f-friend. We were out of money and they were out of drugs. One of their friends told them he would provide them with drugs if he could... If he could..." I couldn't get the words out, and I felt Antonio's grip tighten around me.

"I understand, bambina." (baby). I look up at him, and his eyes are dark. His face looks angry.

"I-I'm sorry. Please don't b-be a-angry at me." I stutter. His eyes snap to mine, and soften.

"No, principessa, I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at the person who hurt you. What happened to you is in no way your fault. Can you tell me the name of the man who took your innocence?" (princess)

"H-he didn't take my innocence. Well, not really, I, he did it differently, and it hurt a lot more..." Please tell me he understands what I'm saying. By the look on his face, he doesn't until a full minute later, when he squeezes his eyes shut. I didn't want to mention it, so I move on. "I don't know his name, but I..." I hop out of his lap, and dig through the backpack, until I find my sketchbook. My teacher gave it to me for my birthday. "Do you have a pencil?" I ask shyly. Antonio walks to the desk in my room, and grabs a pencil out of the drawer.

"What are you doing, miele?" (honey) I don't answer him. I just turn to the right page, and lightly colour the entire piece of paper. Slowly, the picture appears, and Antonio looks curious, and... Proud? "How did you do that?" I look down again.

"I drew him that night, but I didn't have anything to draw with, so I used a toothpick."

"And you drew this out of memory?" I nod.

"My memory is very good."

"I see. Emma, why don't you go to sleep? I'll see you tomorrow." Antonio tucks me into bed, and kisses me on the forehead. I must admit, it feels nice to be taken care of. Not to mention how good it feels to sleep on an actual bed. "Goodnight sorella. Ti amo." He whispers againts my forehead before sleep consumes me.

I wake up the next morning, and find myself smiling. I've never slept so well before. I head into the bathroom, and take a hot shower. The shower had nice, strawberry flavoured body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. I step into my room, and change into my only pair of jeans, with a large hoodie to cover up a bruise that was still visible on my shoulder. By the looks of it, it should be gone in about a day. 

Making sure my hair is brushed, I glance at the clock and see it's already half past six. This is half an hour later than I usually wake up. I'm sure Sofie is already awake, so I open the door that joins our two rooms. I look around her room, and see that she isn't there. Panic courses through my body, as I check her bathroom and closet. My breaths become quicker, as I search my room as well, hoping that she was in there. No such luck.