Isaiah 14:12

•James 4:14•

Valentino said he'd stay in the car while I talk to my brother and Liv. Even though I told him I could be awhile he still refused and said he could keep himself occupied. When he said that and I see him starting to write Melissa I decided it was time to leave him alone. Shes not kidding when she says he can't get enough of her. When they're around each other, no matter how many people are in the room, he can't keep his hands to himself and his attention is all hers.
Liv answers the door after I knock a few times. She looks at me with wide eyes, her glossy lips parted in surprise. I'm shocked when she wraps her arms around me and yanks me into a tight embrace. Tears immediately run down my face. We squeeze each other tight, not letting each other go when I step inside and she closes the door.
"I missed you so much," she cries into my hair. I pull my head back and smile at her, my tears running into my lips. I cringe at the salty taste. She takes a deep breath and looks towards the garage. "Xavier is working out in the garage. D-do you-"
"Not yet," I say, breathing heavily. We sit down at the dining table and I look around. Nothing has changed except for the curtains. It's cold in here but much warmer than it is outside. "How have you been?"
"Good, good," she says. A wide smile grows on her face again. "Xavier and I are thinking about starting a family now and we couldn't be happier." My chest tightens. They've been considered starting a family and not even he told me. If this was two years ago I would have been the first person to know. "H-how's your family doing?"
"Good, the girls are amazing," I tell her. She raises her neat brows, the curve sharpening with her expression. "I had a girl...Evette; we call her Eve." She gasps, tears filling her blue eyes.
"After your mom," she says, her voice cracking. I nod, picking at my nail polish. The door opens and Xavier walks in. His body is glistening with sweat, a towel hanging over his shoulders. He still has his head shaved like always and the past year have done nothing to age him.
His jaw clenches he sees me. I slowly rise to feet, my knees and hands shaking. He rests his hand on the stove, letting out a noise that sounds like he got punched in the gut. Not thinking, I take large steps towards and throw my arms around him neck. I can feel myself come back together to when he hugs me back, soothing down my hair.
     "Hi," I say, my voice shaking like crazy. He pulls back and wipes the remaining sweat and now tears from his face. The smile on his face comes as a surprise to me looking back on the last time we were around each other. I wipe my tears and glance to Liv who also looks relieved and happy like me.
    "Let me grab a shirt real fast," he says and takes off upstairs. Liv and I walk to the living room and start talking about her baby planning  on the couch. She sounds excited and I wish I would have felt that way when I was pregnant with Eve. I have no desire to have more children and Sin hasn't mentioned it so I don't think I'll ever get to redo the experience. If it happened, this time I would do it right for the both of us.
     "Do you have any pictures of your baby?" She asks excitedly. My mood picks up when I turn my phone on and flip through all the pictures I have of the girls. Liv smiles and laughs at each one, repeating how cute they both are. She stops me at a picture I have from when Sin was holding Eve in the hospital room with Emmy sitting on his lap to look at her while she eats. I doubt he knows that picture existed but I couldn't resist capturing that moment of us being a complete family. "How are the two of you?"
    "We're-"
    "You really let him around those children?" I hear my brother say, giving me that now familiar disappointed tone. Liv and I turn towards him, our bodies tensing as he comes in and sits next to her. His jaw is clenched with his hands, looking at me with narrowed eyes. I can tell there's a lot he wants to say that he's holding back from. How can he go from being so happy to see me to so upset over who I'm in love with so quickly?
    "He's their father, so yes," I tell him, managing time keep my voice strong. He scuffs and shakes his head, grabbing Liv's hand and squeezing it. Her shoulders slump when she looks back at me, her expression sympathetic. She doesn't agree with his behavior when it comes to this, that much I can tell but she's never going to say it out loud. She wouldn't of wanted to see the pictures if she wasn't happy for me. "They both love him dearly."
     "So he doesn't only have you brainwashed, but your daughter and his kid as well," he says. I brush off the fact that he put them into two different categories. I clear my throat and scoot closer to the edge of the couch, lacing my fingers together to keep from balling my hands into fists. If I show that I want to get violent he's going to make some stupid comment about how Sin's "bad behavior" has rubbed off on me.
    "I don't appreciate you speaking about him like that, Xavier. I only came here to try and fix things with us," I say, waving my hand in the space between us. Liv looks up at him with hope in her eyes that he'll just let it go. He's always been too stubborn.
    "Excuse me for hoping you would have came to your senses by now," he says, his whole demeanor changing. I'm willing to move on, put everything he said in the past away. "You have to think about what you're doing to yourself and your little girl."
"Myself and the girls-"
"Girl. Evette your baby, Emilia is your stepchild. She doesn't even deserve our mothers name being his child! And don't try telling me you're safe with him, cause that cut on your wrist is telling me otherwise."
"Where were you when that cut got put there? Here, doing nothing, while he was saving my life." I can't keep my voice from cracking when those words leave my mouth. The tears start escaping my eyes like two waterfalls, my tears bug and hot.
    Liv takes her hand out of my brothers and moves over to me, wiping my tears away in a motherly fashion. She's always had such a comforting aspect to her which is why we bonded so easily in the beginning.
    "What do you mean saving your life?" He asks, not letting the forcefulness of his voice drop. She shoots him a hard look while rubbing my arm up and down. I swallow down the lump in my throat and tell him what happened in a way that he'll be able to take. All I've wanted this entire time was to vent to him about this, let everything out and feel protected again. Over time, it's become Sin who only brings me that kind of feeling and I wish I was in his arms right now.
    "My baby girl," Liv gasps, shedding her own tears after I'm done. My brother stands up and starts lacing back and forth. The muscles in his arms flex as he crossing his arms. It feels like there's something sitting on my throat, but I don't try getting it off. I can't hardly see with how blurry my vision is. "I'm so sorry you've had to go through that all alone."
    "I haven't been. Sin, the people that work for him, the maids, they've all helped me so much," I tell her with a smile. Again, he rolls his eyes but this time they land on me. He suddenly points towards the window.
    "That man sitting outside in the car, the one in the suit, is that who drove you? One of the guys who works for Sin?" He asks angrily. I clear my throat and nod, feeling ashamed even though I have no reason to. How is it so bad that I fell in love with someone so much that I'm willing to look past everything bad about this?! "I can't fucking believe you're the same girl I grew up with."
    "I haven't changed!"
    "YOU'RE TOGETHER WITH THE LEADER OF THE ITALIAN MAFIA! My little sister would never do that!" He screams at me, even making Liv flinch back. The veins in his face and neck budge out with rage. "YOU SLEPT WITH HIM, CHOSE HIM OVER YOUR FAMILY!"
    "I WAS PREGNANT! What-what I supposed to do?!" I tell, having to take a deep breath in between. He runs his hands down his face aggressively, looking like that would cause him pain.
    "Adoption! I don't fucking know but you birthed the child of a murderer! Someone who sells drugs; turns innocent people into addicts! Could possibly be working the people who abducted you and is playing an act!"
    Liv gets up and slaps him hard across the face. I gasp in shock, covering my mouth with my hands. Her shoulders rise and fall rapidly as she heaves out her anger.
    "YOU DON'T SPEAK TO YOUR SISTER LIKE THAT, XAVIER!" She cries. "I know where you got the horrible image from but you have no idea who is with her. Such a terrified monster wouldn't hold his new boy baby like that! Just look at that fucking picture!" She says, grabbing my phone and showing him. He looks at it for a few seconds before turning away. "You're pathetic!"
     "Mind your own goddamn business," he tells her calmly. Knowing what that means when Sin's upset, I glare at him and make her sit down. He turns his attention back to me. I grab my bag from the couch and stomp my way to the door. The car turns on when I step outside, the cold air amazing in my hot skin.
    "Mom and dad would be disappointed in you."
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