*unedited*
"Then one of your brothers will take it," Salvatore said simply.
"You wouldn't"
"Child, stop arguing with me. If you think it will get you anywhere I will prove you wrong every single time" he said in an amused voice as if he was asking for her to openly defy him.
Maya did as she was told instead. She handed up the phone to Salvatore's hand and then she ran away to her room.
"So mother raised a spoiled brat," Diego said with disgust in his voice.
Salvatore's eyes darkened as he looked at his younger sibling
"You will refer to mother with respect am I clear Diego?" Salvatore asked quietly and Diego lowered his head
"Yes sir"
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"Maya, Salvatore asked me to take you to his office," Simon said gently as Maya was lying on her bed, apparently crying.
He sat next to her and asked
"I know everything is new to you, we aren't used to having a little sister either. Everyone is trying to adjust"
"You wouldn't need to adjust if your brother just leave me be"
"But he would never do that. To Salvatore family is everything and so is to the rest of us. This is how father raised us to be"
"Where is he? The father I mean?"
"He's not available at the moment," Simon said slowly.
"What does it even mean?"
"Some questions will be left unanswered Maya"
"Why?"
"It's just how our family is" Simon stated simply " We have many secrets but you will learn to live with it. Please come with me now. Salvatore doesn't like to wait"
________________________________
Maya once again has found herself in her brother's office. She quickly learned that it was an undesirable place to be.
He invited her to sit in front of his desk as he finished signing up the document.
"As I said yesterday today we will talk about the rules. First of all Maya - I want you to behave. Listen to me and your brothers, be respectful, and keep yourself out of danger. I want to hear only the truth from you. You will not be lying, you will always tell the whole truth without omitting any details.
I signed you up for the school your brothers are attending, I want your grades to be better if you need help I will hire a tutor, and in case you need any assistance you can always ask any of your brothers for help. Besides that I want you to always let me or one of your brothers know where you are not allowed to leave the house without permission am I clear? You also need to listen to them, if I'm not present they're in charge. The chain of command in this family is straightforward - from the oldest to the youngest, it's that clear"
"Yes," she said curtly.
Maya found herself nodding just for a sake of it.
"You will start school next week, during your school time I don't want to hear about any troubles from you. I hope it's clear when I say that I expect you to behave properly and do your best academically. No boys, no dating, nothing of that sort. Focus on your studies"
Maya nodded again.
"Verbal answer Maya"
"Why?"
"Because I want you to confirm that you understand what I'm saying, it's a sign of respect"
"I just want to go back to Pittsburgh... when will I be able to see mom? I can't just visit her at all" Maya said painfully
"I may take you during one of the upcoming weekends that is if you will be on your best behavior. I don't like to repeat myself nor do I like when my requests are being ignored is that clear Maya?"
Maya found herself nodding. It was rather a crystal clear.
"Lastly; this is your new phone" Salvatore took out of the shelf a completely new phone.
"I would like to get my old one?"
"it's not possible"
"Why not?" Salvatore wasn't pleased with being questioned
"I can't trust you to tell me with whom are you talking to you will be in contact only with the numbers approved by my all of which happen to be on the phone I just gave you. You may leave now"
Maya wanted to argue. She did. But she felt like it would only get her in more trouble.
"I understand," Maya said, completely defeated, and left the office as instructed.
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It was around dinner time when Maya was dragged to the kitchen by Simon he was not okay with her skipping on meals it was cute that he cared but also annoying.
"Oh, and who do we have here?" The jovial voice asked and a new figure, men around Salvatore's age entered the kitchen. Behind him, there was a girl who must have been a similar age to Maya.
"Hello, sir my name is Maya" Maya introduced herself quickly and put her head down, the number of people she met in recent days was quite overwhelming for her.
"Hi there Maya I'm Sergio hopefully your soon to be favorite cousin" Sergio smiled brightly and then pointed at the younger girl standing next to his side "This is my sister, Nicole"
Nicole. Nicole was beautiful. Everything about screamed - popular girl. She had a perfect figure, big brown eyes, cute freckles on her nose, fashionable quiet revealing and flashy clothes that Maya would never put on herself because she was simply too self conscious about her looks. Nicole she smiled at her, at Maya.
"Hii" Nicole said warmly and was about to say something more but Salvatore entered the kitchen. The mood shifted to a more serious one.
"I have not been expecting you here today," Salvatore said and the temperature in the room dropped several degrees.
"I'm sorry just wanted Nicole to get to know her new family member"
"Of course," Salvatore says quietly "if you excuse us I would like to see you in my office Sergio"
What? Sergio has a trip to Salvatore's office as well? So Maya wasn't the only unfortunate one it was a family thing.
After brief introductions, Maya threw away a half-eaten meal and took Nicola upstairs.
________________________________
"He took away your phone?"
"Yeah"
Nicole was the good one at listening. Maya told her a whole story about her mom's accident, about a family friend who wanted to take her in, about Salvatore's sudden appearance, escape attempt, private jet travel to California and finally her phone being taken away. Nicole was listening with fascination to her whole tale.
"You know usually people don't just defy Salvatore. He's a man respected through the whole city, everyone is just following his lead"
"Really?"
"Yes. Sorrentinos are one of the richest families in the region. People don't mess with even the lesser-known family members like me let alone the main branch like you"
"I have no idea what does that mean Nicole"
"Ah don't worry my dear I will teach you our ways," Nicole said with confidence and a mischievous smile.
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Hi, guys here's another chapter. I hope this story is readable. If it isn't, sorry. I will correct the linguistic problems at later date at this point I don't even know if it's worth posting.