🎶🎶🎶
It's been months since we arrived here at the Rossi's, at first it was a struggle when it came to the topic of my role in Beatrice's life. They saw me as a parasite, a leech that was brainwashing their precious bambina, and if not exterminated then they would lose her all over again. Although it was difficult, they eventually warmed up to me and realized I was no threat to their spot in her heart, now instead of abusing me emotionally they took the role of annoying brothers and if i'm being honest.... I much prefer the emotional abuse.
"Ali~~ A~l~i~", Santi walked into my room singing my name out, and with no shame he jumped on my bed.
"What?" my tone came out harsher than expected but i didn't care since every single one of them has been doing this. Walking into my room, uninvited, and just laying there when they have nothing else to do.
"Noth~ing", he moved his index finger in a circular motion on my covers as his eyes looked around my room, they were filled with awe as if he hasn't walked in here everyday. I went inside my closet to find an outfit to wear, grabbing a handful I walked out once more and threw them on the bed hitting Santi's forehead in the process.
"OW!", was all I heard as I walked back to the mirror, holding up one outfit.
"What are you doing?" he asked while he looked through the pile of clothes.
"Alek invited me for dinner tonight with his parents", Santi looked up confused.
"Alek? You guys are actually dating, I thought that was a one time fling?" My head turned slowly, his eyes widened as fear spread throughout his body," wh- i'm just saying.... Don't look at me like that". He covered his face with one of my shirts and laid back on my bed," what are you planning on wearing anyway?"
I sighed, turning back to face the mirror," I'm not sure. I met them vaguely on our first date-"
"You what!" Santi's head popped out from the pile of clothes," did you really meet the Russian capo?"
"Uh yeah?" I turned to look at him with my eyebrows scrunched together,"Why?"
"I heard he's the most blood crazed motherfucker in all of the mafia world", Santi leaned on my headboard and began rambling on. "Supposedly he killed mutiple gangs because they looked at him the wrong way, and the way he tortures people is an experience worse than hell itself".
"What? Those rumors are ridiculous", he looked up at me with a sparkle in his eye.
"Then how did he act with you?"
I thought back to the man, who was teasing his son and made a puppy dog face when I didn't hug him, "he was nice".
"Wow... now I want to see him being all nice and shit", I laughed and shook my head," by the way did Alek just say it was dinner?"
"Mhm, he said it was a dinner and a surprise that he wanted to show me", Santi sat up on the bed and continued to look through the pile, tossing out clothing he didn't like. "He's probably going to show you the floor plan for the house", my eyes widened when his words reached my ears.
"What did you say?"
"Hmm?" he looked up at me, his face losing color when his eyes met mine, that were wide from both confusion and shock.
"Ah shit... Ali-", my door busted open once more and this time it was the remaining two from the trio walking in, Greg sat in my beanbag chair while Teo jumped on Santi, crushing his younger brother.
"What's up bitches", Teo yelled as he slapped Santi across the face before moving to his side.
"Why the fuck did you slap me?" he asked as he rubbed his cheek.
"Because"
"Because?"
"I wanted to", Teo smiled and folded his arms behind his head. I rubbed the space in between my eyebrows before looking at Santi once more," what floor plans Santi?"
"Dude! You fucking told her?" Greg looked up from his phone, glaring at his younger brother.
"It slipped out!"
"You're so stupid!" teo laughed as he began to look through the pile of clothes.
"Can someone explain to me what floor plans Alek has?"
Greg sighed before turning his phone off and looking at me," when we went to your flower field last month he saw how much you loved that place so he took the time when we got back to fly someone out there and come up with a floorplan to build you a house".
"Wha-"
"Look, the guy really cares about you and that's the first time he's seen you so happy, well it was a first time for all of us so he decided to make your future even better by building a house in the place that you love. It was supposed to be a surprise but that idiot ruined it for you".
"You won't tell him right?" Santi looked at me with puppy dog eyes," just act surprised because he'll definitely kill me and make it look like an accident".
"Too late, i already texted him", we all turnd to look at teo and a second later Santi's phone began to ring.
He gasped and threw his phone out the window," What the fuck dude! Dad is going to kill you for throwing your shit like that".
"I'd rather get killed by dad than by Alek", he whined as he got up and began holding clothes over me to check which one is better.
"What are you doing?" Greg asked while he watched us with amusement.
"She has a date with the parents", he made a dramatic voice towards the end, causing a smile to form on my face.
Teo got up and pinched my cheek," awww! She's smi~ling". He began to use the same singing voice like his brother, I rolled my eyes and smacked his hand away.
"Just help me".
"Help with what?" Bee came in with Alene, he ran over to Santi and Bee jumped on Greg's lap.
"Her outfit for her date", Santi replied as he studied the pieces of clothing before throwing them aside.
"A date?" Nico walked in with Ed right behind him, he looked around and opened his mouth to say something before closing it and just smiled. He stood next to me, I gave him a small smile,"It's okay", I patted his shoulder.
"By the way, is my room a new hangout spot? Why is everyone here?" they all looked at each other then glanced over at me and without saying anything all they did was shrug. I sighed, turning around to face the mirror while Santi continued to look at outfits. After a long agonizing hour, he finally chose one and if i'm being honest... It was worth the wait.
"Beautiful, like always", Teo said as he grabbed my hand and guided me so that I could spin around, showing the whole outfit.
"By the way...", we all turned around to look at Greg," The ball is coming up".
"Ball? What is this the 18th century", I began to laugh to myself while all the boys looked at me with a straight face. I rolled my eyes," tough crowd".
"Anyway, we know that balls are outdated but every year a different mafia hosts it and everyone from the underworld gathers there".
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Kinda, but we haven't had any trouble".
"Whose turn is it to host this year?"
"I think it's ours", Santi added.
"Yeah it is, so everyone should have their outfits ready because it's on christmas eve", Nico said as he kept his eyes on his phone, typing away.
"That's literally in a week", Teo groaned.
"Yeah, so get your things in order because we need everything to go smoothly", Nico said as he stood up, before walking out he made his way towards me and caressed my cheek with a small smile. "Have fun on your date love, don't be nervous... they'll love you". He lowered his hand, and walked out with Ed right behind him.
"So Ali, what kind of dress are you thinking of getting?" Bee asked.
"Oh, I won't go".
"What?" they all asked in unison.
"I have something that day", I looked at each of them but my eyes locked with Greg, who had a suspicious smirk on his face. My eyebrows scrunched, I looked at him confused but turned my attention away and faced Santi instead.
"Like what?" Santi asked.
"Don't worry about it", I walked away and entered the bathroom, finishing up my look for my date.
I can't tell them I have my showcase that day.
After doing the finishing touches on my outfit, the doorbell rang and that was my cue to leave the burning eyes that were creating holes in the back of my head.
"Okay, i'm leaving", I walked out the room hurriedly trying to get to the door while footsteps sounded right behind me. My hand reached for the knob, opening the door, revealing Alek. He smiled at me but it faltered as his eyes landed on the crowd behind me," what's going on?"
"I-"
"Ali's not going to the ball!" Santi interrupted me but he soon backed away when he saw Alek glaring at him.
"I suggest you disappear from my line of sight because I am still pissed at you for ruining the surprise", he sneered before wrapping his arm around my waist, pulling me towards him and kissing my forehead.
"Hey", he whispered.
"Hi", I smiled and gently kissed his cheek.
"So... the ball", I groaned, freeing myself from his grip.
"We'll talk about that later", I quickly turned around and kissed both bee and Alene, then closed the door behind me.
"Let's go".
Greg's POV
I walked out of the room, heading to my father's office, after arriving I knocked and waited for him to allow me to enter.
"Come in", when I opened the door, he was sitting behind his desk, finishing up some paperwork.
"Hey dad", he glanced up at me for a second then looked back down to his papers.
"Hey Greg, what can I do for you?"
I sat down in the chair in front of him," have you decided what the entertainment will be for the ball?"
He lowered the papers, rubbing the bridge of his nose," No. i've been busy with the gangs that are causing us trouble with the shipments''. He sighed, leaning back on his chair, then returning back to his original position.
"Well.. I have an idea on what we can do for entertainment".
"What is it?"
"We can just ask the ballet instructor from school".
"Ballet?"
"Yeah, they are having their showcase the same day as the ball, we can even invite the recruiters to the ball".
He looked at me but it felt as if he was just staring right through me, it was one of his things that he tends to do while he thinks, it's kind of weird. "Hmmm alright! That seems like a good idea, she's known for recruiting the best dancers".
"And since it's on Christmas eve, we can have it be white themed and they'll fit in perfectly with the aesthetic", I added. He slammed his hand on the desk excitedly," you finish planning it since it was your idea", he let out a sigh. "That's one thing off my plate", he let out a small laugh," are you ready for tomorrow?"
"Hmm?" I looked uo from my phone,"yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Do you think-"
"Do i think what?"
He began to fidget around in his seat, nervously, something I've never seen him do before.
"Dad? What's wrong?"
"Do you think... Ali can handle it?"
"Are... are you worried it might happen again?"
"She saw someone the first time we took her, i just don't want it to happen again".
"Why do you care so much dad?"
"I've grown used to her, and I want Alessia to be part of this family... permanently."
"What do you mean permanently?"
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, without saying anything he stood up and headed towards a file cabinet. "She's sixteen, which means she is still a minor".
"Yeah?" he placed a file in front of me, gesturing me to look at it," she's technically an orphan, under my care".
My eyes widened when I scanned through the paperwork," you're serious?"
"Yeah", a small smile made its way on his lips.
"A-adoption?"
He took the file away from me, gently placing it back in the cabinet as if trying to hide the most valuable treasure," don't say anything".
"What about Mike?"
"He's surprisingly okay with it", he chuckled," Mike wanted us to file for it together".
"You two adopt Ali?"
"Yeah", he laughed, shaking his head.
"I'm not even surprised, he loves her to death".
"Too much, to the point that he's willing to make me his fake husband so that we have a higher chance in adopting her".
"You know... Ed can always hack into the system".
He rolled his eyes," Mike wants me to do it 'legally'", he made air quotes with his fingers. "In his mind, it'll be more special if we do it correctly", he smiled.
"When are you going to tell her?"
"The day after the ball".
"Christmas?"
"Yeah, it's also-", he was interrupted by a knock, looking down at his watch a sigh escaped his lips. "Sorry bud, I have a meeting".
"It's cool, I have to go talk to the instructor for the ball". He nodded, stood up and walked out of his office, leaving me alone. I looked back at the cabinet that contained Ali's paperwork, and for some reason a warm feeling spread throughout my body.
"Adoption", i whispered, my face hurting from the smile that kept on getting bigger.
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IT FEELS SO GOOD TO BE BACK! THINGS WILL GET INTERESTING FROM HERE ON OUT... SO PREPARE YOUR TISSUES!
I'LL SEE YOU ALL NEXT WEEK, BTW INSTEAD OF WEDNESDAY, UPDATES WILL BE ON SUNDAYS!
EDIT: I APOLOGIZE BECAUSE I THOUGHT THIS WAS PUBLISHED BUT I REALIZED THAT THE A/N WAS THE ONLY THING THAT WAS POSTED
LOVE YOU ALL
-ELI💜