Being Saved

Chapter 31 - Broken Promises

Michele's POV

I pace around my office as my thoughts continue to race. One sole though, raging in my mind:

I'm a fucking screw up.

I can't even laugh bitterly at the thought because that's what I am: a screw up.

Sometimes, I think I forget: I'm a brother first, and a mafia don second. Although, even this sometimes can be confusing when at times the line between the two might have a slight haze, forcing the lines to cross. Especially when a threat is made against my family because of our mafia. In turn, I sometimes treat my famiglia like I would my soldiers.

If it's possible, I hate myself more now than the last time that I hurt my baby sister when she first arrived.

No, it's definitely worse this time around. Suddenly, I lash out once more, sending my booted foot into the side of my desk, causing a gnarly crack to splinter the wood.

I watch as one of the oak desk's legs snap; the contents falling off the top of the table before scattering onto the floor as papers lazily flutter across the floor in a messy haze. I stare blankly at the newest mess before my thoughts consume me once more.

Everything is more intense, especially since we have gotten so close since she got here. Our principessa is finally home after having been missing for more than ten years, and what do I do?

I fuck everything up after have finally broken down some of her walls that she uses to guard her heart.

One of the worst things, though, is that I'm scared.

I'm scared that she will never be able to forgive me for lashing out.

At the thought, I tug painfully at my hair, knowing that I have caused irreversible damage to my relationship with Katerina because I lashed out and hit my sorellina.

I hit the one person who I profusely promised that I would never hurt again. Hell, I hurt her after promising that I would always be by her side, no matter what.

I promised to always be in her corner, and what do I do? I yelled at her.

I belittled my only sister and accused her of things that she didn't do.

Although, I don't know which is worse: the fact that I hurt my baby sister, or the fact that I broke my promise to always keep her safe.

I just didn't know that I was going to have to keep her safe from myself.

What a sad revelation.

It's inexcusable what I did, but the fucking Irish are starting to mess with my head.

One thing that I had been putting off telling her — other than the fact that our famiglia is the Italian Mafia — is that a war is brewing against the Irish Mafia.

The bastards think that they can overpower our famiglia and take my rule out from under me. They want our family's power, and they are stopping at nothing to get it.

Earlier in the week, the Irish tried to hit our family where it would hurt the most. They attempted to kill Lorenzo and the twins as they came home from school after a late practice.

Thankfully, the boys were all armed, and they were vigilant enough to notice that they had a tail fairly quickly and had already called for backup in case things turned deadly. My men actually arrived just as the boys' Hummer was assaulted with the first volley of bullets.

The attack lasted less than five minutes, with no casualties on our end. However, the same can't be said about the two SUVs full of Irishmen.

At that moment, we were all glad that Katerina was still riding her motorcycle to and from school and had arrived home well before the shoot out took place on the winding forest-lined roads that lead to our home. Moreover, I have since increased the amount of security that tails behind my siblings' cars as they go to and leave the campus's grounds.

I've also amped up security around the estate, and I'm surprised that Katerina hasn't mentioned it. The most she ever did was raise a small questioning brow at the influx of guards before lightly shrugging her shoulders, only to wander off down the hall with her dogs trailing closely behind her. The two mongrels would snap at any guard who dared to follow to close behind.

Unfortunately, we've been dealing with those Irish fuckers for so long, but only now have things actually turned deadly, since it had only ever been open and vague threats before.

They crossed a line, going after my brothers.

We should have been better prepared for a potential attack.

No, I should have better prepared my siblings for the imminent danger that our famiglia faces'. Moreover, this has put more pressure on me to retaliate.

And I finally snapped.

Regretfully, I snapped on the one person in my life who knows nothing about the dangers that our family faces.

She knows nothing of our world, meaning that she knows nothing of the true dangers that potentially lurk around each and every corner. She doesn't understand the consequences she could face from her actions.

Although, between Katerina leaving the property alone, not answering her phone, only to find out later that the damned thing was broken, along with the threats and close calls that week, I only planned to yell and scold her about how dangerous and stupid it was for her to leave when she did.

And on top of it all, when we got home, we saw her and Sebastian in a compromised position, and we all overreacted before ever giving them a chance to explain that it was a misunderstanding and bad timing at its finest.

So between stress, anger, and a massive rush of protectiveness, I fucking snapped and lashed out. The worst part is the way that she looks at me now; although I've barely seen her since early afternoon. She has since holed herself away in her room, refusing to speak with any of us after the... incident.

Every time I look at her now, all I see is the unmasked fear in her eyes. Hell, the image plagues my mind every time I close my eyes.

But worst of all, is her look of disappointment and betrayal that she sent me when she skittishly passed me by on the way to her bedroom.

And I fucking hate myself for it.

———

What are your thoughts?

Do you hate Michele for what he did?

Word Count: 1,087