𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐓 | 𝟏𝟖+

FIVE

A L Y S S A

"You found someone more exciting, the next second, you were gone. And you left me there crying, wondering what I did wrong."

. . .

When I get home, I see Alessandro heading upstairs with his girlfriend, Amber.

Amber is a childhood friend as well, and she's had an off-and on-relationship with Alessandro since begin college.

She's always been in love with my brother, and there's always been these unspoken feelings between them that everyone noticed.

She's nice enough, and we've obviously spent a lot of time together for me to consider her family.

Dante is over at Valentina's place, so I won't be seeing them this weekend.

"Hey, honey," dad grins when he sees me and wraps his arms around me. "How are you?"

I smile and hug him back, burying my face in his neck and relaxing in his embrace.

"I'm alright," I murmur, "how are you? Where's mom?"

"I'm always good, honey. Your mother is out with Fallon and Elena, having a girl's night out."

"And she didn't invite me?" I pout, and he flicks my nose with his fingers.

"Adults only," he says with a shit-eating grin and turns around to the living room.

"I'm an adult!" I exclaim and furrow my eyebrows, going after him.

"Sure you are," he chuckles and throws himself on the couch. "A grown adult who still can't go to the dentist alone."

"Mom still eats food on top of the kitchen counter!" I fire back, "Real mature of her."

"You might be the age of an adult," he retorts. "But you sure don't act like one."

"Whatever," I sigh and roll my eyes, cringing when dad scolds me for it.

Heading upstairs, I make my way to my room and see Amber exiting Alessandro's room. She pauses when she sees me and sends me a smile.

"Hi, Alyssa," she greets me, and I send a little smile in return.

"Hey Amber," I reply and don't bother asking her how she is.

Shutting the door of my room behind me, I throw my bag on my chair and take a seat on my bed.

Having nothing better to do, I take my phone and go to Instagram, typing in Roman's name against better judgment.

I immediately find his profile and am surprised by the number of followers he has. But of course, he's got a well-thriving business that's well-known.

All of the pictures he posts are of impressive buildings and architecture, all pictures in black and white.

Pictures of himself are rare, but if there are, it's either from the back of him or a picture where he's not looking into the camera.

There are some where he's with other people, but there's no special someone in his life from what I can tell of his account.

I quickly exit his account when a message from Zainab comes in.

Zainab: Matteo came over to the apartment, asking for you. Said he's here to apologize

My lips part at the message and my heart warms at the fact Matteo came over for me.

With a little smile, I text Zainab back and say I'm on my way.