Burning Ties

Chapter Eight

Before you read this chapter, please note that it may be triggering to some and I urge you to please skip it or leave the entire book if it triggers you. And remember that my DM's are always open if you ever want to talk.

Iris POV

Walking into the unfamiliar mansion, I trail behind my parents. My mother, to her credit has not forgotten the layout of the mansion and she walks confidently next to my father who seems more than a little bit nervous, however, the second we enter the lounge, all signs of nervousness are masked with faux confidence.

I scan the faces of the people sitting on the sofas, they're my brothers, I know that much but in regards to which one is which, I have no clue.

Suddenly, my nerves overtake me and I barely register the words spoken between my father and one of my brothers before suddenly, a man runs toward me and wraps his arms around me.

For a second, I panic, I didn't know this man but then I feel a sense of familiarity if that makes any sense, and despite my mind screaming at me not to, I find myself relaxing in his warm embrace.

Strangely enough, I don't feel uncomfortable in this man - my brothers - arms, and the thought alone scares me, but I brush it off.

"Welcome home, la Mia luce." The man says, the nickname warms my heart and I find myself smiling into his chest. My arms wrap tightly around him, and just like that I know that this man is someone that I can trust.

Sure it may seem like I'm trusting him too soon, but there's something about this brother of mine that makes it seem as though he would rather die than hurt me, and my brain acknowledges that fact enough to trust him.

A few moments later, he reluctantly pulls away from the hug and looks me over as if to see if I'm real before he walks over to our parents to give mama a short hug before he stands next to dad.

The rest of the boys simply stare at us, and I feel more than a little weird so I quickly find my way to the man and hold his hand.

Somehow, I trust him more than I trust my father, and a part of me knows that even though it might hurt my father's feelings, I don't care enough to change that. He's done nothing to make me trust him but at the same time, he hasn't done anything to make me distrust him.

In the next few minutes, I'm introduced to the rest of my brothers, and I realise that Leandro is probably going to be my favourite and that I'll be sticking to him like glue until I'm comfortable with the rest of my brothers. Right now, he seems like comfort to me and even though it's a strange feeling, I welcome it and so, I welcome him.

Once everyone is acquainted with one another, it goes dead silent. I don't think any of us really knows what to say right now. I always knew this was coming, it was inevitable, but I imagined it would be a lost less awkward than it is right now.

"C'mon, La mia luce, I'll show you to your room." Leo says, I think he's pretty tired of the awkwardness too. The silence was pretty damned suffocating in there.

I nod and he immediately takes my hand in his once again before leading the way to my apparent room. Despite myself, I can't help but feel happy to finally have my own room. At this point, I don't really care about the way it looks because I'll take pretty much anything.