Devotion [Donati Clan #2]

Chapter 1

Thinking of her beautiful face, my tears wanted to spill and flood the whole plane, but I couldn't be weak.

After my Mother died, things drastically changed. It was like a curtain was lifted and truth could be seen. I wasn't able to stay ignorant. My heart was always empty and I couldn't seem to fill it. Everything surely evaporated over time.

I witnessed the truth 3 feet away. I went downstairs to get some food when I heard crying. I walked closer to what was happening and I saw a man on his knees crying. My Father had a gun pointing at the man and Mario next to him. Seconds passed and he shot the man. The body dropped and blood scattered all around. I froze. Everything changed. My Father came closer to me, and Mario was nowhere around. I looked up and saw his black eyes. He screamed why I was there and he slapped me with so much force that I fell. That slap still stings to this day. Sobbing on the ground, my Father's harsh words rang in my ears...

"Crying won't solve anything, Theodora. I may not want you but you are a Moretti and you have my blood. Feelings make you weak. From today, I don't want you to cry or sob, I don't want anyone to call this family weak, even if you are a girl. If I find you crying, then..."

Those words can never be forgotten. I used to hide and let my tears free, but he always caught me somehow. He used to drag me to the bedroom and slap me till he was content. He used to blackmail that if I told anything to anyone then he would beat Mario. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't do anything.

I was lost.

A year passed with this agony. When I was 7, I started school but even there I didn't have luck. I blended in the background, which caused me not to have friends. Eventually, his lesson to be cold caught up to me. The beatings stopped because I forgot how to smile and crying or show any true emotion. I was his personal puppet. Even his cruel words stopped over time. I was just ignored, which I was glad because his cruel words were worst than his beatings. At 12, I was sent to London and my other life began there. I may have new friends, but I never let them see my soul because I forgot how to live my life. I graduated from university and majored in accounting and I got a job. During those years, I kept in contact with Mario, he sounded happy. That's all I wanted for my brother.

When I asked about his dreams, what he answer made me fear everything. He wanted to follow in our Father's footsteps... That would mean obsessive power and deaths. I tried to convince him, but it was all a vain. Eventually, he convinced me that he would work to be the best and take care of himself.

How could I protect him?

****

I reached North Carolina the next day and took a taxi. Eventually, after many bumps, I reached my so-called home. I ran inside, ignoring a large number of guards. I ran and ran until I reached my Father's office.

I opened the door from his office and the whole air had evaporated.

There comes a time that you forget to breathe. I had forgotten then, but he snapped me from the fantasy and I was drifted to the present. I stared at my brother in a corner and ran to hug him. I embraced him with all my strength and let my tears fall. I forgot everything, my tears were genuine and my intentions were true. These emotions had been invoked after a long time. I felt his hands on my shoulders pushing away. I stared at him with my teary face and smiled. I said out loud the only thing that was around my mind, "You are okay."

My brother's expression was confused and he asked, "What happen?"

"Father ha--"

"One word." I was interrupted by a deep voice. I looked for the source and stared at my Father sitting behind his desk with several papers scattered around it. He continued, "Only one word was needed and you came running and you started crying. Do you need another lesson?"