A Loaded Gun

Chapter 19

Daniel POV

My heart was broken. Shattered into a million pieces. 

The raw pain in her voice...I'd never heard anything like it. We all knew she went through some sh!t, but we never knew the extent. 

She was right; we weren't there for her 5 years ago, and that's our fault for not finding her sooner. 

A loud thump brought me back to reality. I jerked my head up to see Marcus had been punched by...Michael?

"YOU HAPPY, YOU BASTARD?" He screamed. "WE ALL TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THIS, NOW SHE HATES US!"

Marcus didn't defend himself. He had the same haunted look we all wore, and the guilt in his eyes was overwhelming.

"I...I shouldn't have done that. You're right, it was a mistake." His quiet voice made all our jaws drop. 

I have never once heard Marcus apologize, so he must be feeling really awful. 

Michael just glared at him and stormed out of the room. Lucas was next, shaking his head angrily, thumping up the stairs and slamming his bedroom door. I was the last one standing.

Marcus looked up at me, defeated. "Go ahead, say it. I f*cked up."

"I'm not going to say a word. There's nothing I can say that will make you feel worse than you are right now. 

"At least now you're feeling a fraction of the pain she went through when we betrayed her. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on my sister."

His voice stopped my footsteps. "What did she say? Nan soly estes kwi lingwam loki posoont? What does that even mean?"

I shrugged and spoke while walking away. "Look it up, I guess. She certainly isn't going to tell you."

Brooke POV

I curled under my blankets, feeling sorry for myself. My eyes began to close, but they snapped open at a gentle knock at the door. Daniel poked his head into my room.

"Hey. Can I come in?"

I nodded cautiously, hoping he wouldn't talk about any difficult subjects. He smiled and sat next to me, stroking my hair softly.

"You know, it was hard after Mom left. Even more than that, it was hard when you left. We were the closest. Michael was a bit jealous that he wasn't the youngest anymore, and he didn't really want to play with you at first. 

"I was a little older and I felt responsible for you. Lucas and Marcus were busy learning the family business with Dad, so they didn't have much time with you. 

"Speaking of Lucas, you called him DiDi. We're not sure where you got it from, but he hated it, so naturally we loved it.

"Even when you were a baby, you wouldn't stop crying until I held you. You used to come after me yelling, "Anyul! Anyul!" in your little baby voice. It was so cute.

"When Mom left with you, we were all devastated. I really missed you. When you came back, I didn't believe it was real. 

"I was worried we wouldn't be able to protect you, so I pushed you away. I know that was wrong, so wrong of me. I didn't want to lose you again. 

"I wish I could take it all back. I wish I gave you the love you deserve right from the very beginning. But I didn't. I'm going to fix that now. 

"I know pity is not what you want. But if you ever need to talk, I'll be right here. I can't promise I'll understand, but I can promise I'll listen. 

"I know it's hard to open up about your problems, believe me. If you're ever ready, and it's ok if you're not, I'm here."

I was crying softly at the end of his monologue. "Why did Mom leave?" Hopefully he wouldn't dismiss me like Lucas did.

Daniel sighed sadly. "She and Dad were having issues. Dad...wasn't the best. He was very insistent on us learning the family business, with little to no regard for our personal preferences. 

"She didn't want you to go through the same things Dad put us through. Marcus didn't want that for you either; he was way more grown up than most 10 year olds. 

"He helped Mom leave with you because he knew it was the best option. When Dad died, he wanted to bring you guys back. 

"But Mom was good. She kept you hidden. We weren't even sure if you guys were still alive until we got the call from the station."

"Mom left you guys for me? I'm sorry, it's my fault she hasn't been here for you."

"Brooke. Do. Not. Say that. None of this is your fault. Our father made his own, albeit bad, decisions, and so did our mother. 

"We were just caught in the crossfire. You were only 2 years old. This couldn't be your fault even if you tried."

"I just miss her–so much. I can't imagine how much you must miss her too."

Daniel smiled. "After not hearing from her for 14 years, we thought she was dead. We didn't realize she would hide you so well." 

I nodded. That made sense; Mom was always super careful when we were in public but I just assumed she was a cautious mother.

"Brooke? Would you mind telling me a bit about her? I was only 6 when she left."

I smiled. "She was amazing. She raised me alone for 9 years, but I never felt neglected. She would..."

We talked about Mom for 2 hours, exchanging memories and laughing over silly mistakes we made as children.

"Time out, you told Mom to go f*ck herself? And she let you live?"

I chuckled. "I was a preteen going through an emo phase. She let me live, but sometimes I wish she didn't. I washed dishes every night for 6 months. 

"You'd think with two people there wouldn't be a lot, but I think she just used more so I'd have to wash more." We both started laughing uncontrollably.

Finally, with tears in his eyes, Daniel managed to gasp out a question.

"So what language was that phrase downstairs? And what does it mean?"

I giggled, the stories still causing a giddy effect in my stomach. "Oh, it's Latin. I just told him he's not the only one who speaks a different language. 

"I don't like it when people talk in front of me and I don't know what they're saying, and I assumed he wouldn't either."

"That's really cool. I didn't know you could speak Latin," he exclaimed.

"Well I didn't know you guys could speak Italian, so we're even," I said, finishing off my sentence with a yawn.

"You're tired. Today must have been exhausting, get some sleep." He kissed my forehead and left the room, gently shutting the door behind him. 

I smiled happily and snuggled into my blankets, feeling content.

A/N Kind of boring but whatever.  Good news is I'm back on a writing kick and I think I should be wrapping it up within the next 7 chapters or so, so I'll start releasing more regularly.