2 months later (A few weeks before her birthday)
Xavier stares at us with a firm look while Jack and I who are sitting across him shuffle our feet nervously, both unwilling to apologize or move past this.
Having had had enough of this Xavier instructs to sit on the sofa all the way on the other end of his study while we 'think' about what we have done... 'Yeah like that's going to happen' I scoff inwardly while I wallow in the pool of anticipation eyeing the screen of my phone—that is concealed in the pocket of my jacket—with a watchful gaze.
'He should have been discharged by now...but why hasn't he called yet?'
A thousand questions flood my mind while I dwell in silent agony all thanks to my beloved brother Jack. As if on Jack cranes his neck to face me with a death glare of an expression.
"This is all your fault," he hisses earning an eye roll from me.
"Is not," I retort with the same amount of aggression.
"You stomped my foot!" He points out.
"I never wanted to practice that stupid dance to begin with!" I reply defensively.
"Like I said, all your fault!" He repeats, huffing in his seat beside me.
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is to—" He cuts himself off when we catch sight of Xavier staring at us with a reprimanding look in his blank gaze.
"I've had enough of this. Either the two of you apologize to each other...and mean it," he says giving us a stern look before continuing. "Or you two can spend the rest of the day here thinking about it."
Hearing the alternative option both Jack and I fall into deep thought. 'Apologise to him? Nope...not gonna happen' My pride chimes in immediately.
'But if I'm stuck here the entire day, I won't be able to video call Alessandro later'
'He's getting discharged today...it won't be long before he has to leave for Italy again' I weigh my options.
'Maybe I should tell the others about him and I?'
'But is now really a good time?'
My train of thought is cut short by Jack's annoying voice. "She was the one who stomped my foot, why should I apologize?" He says accusingly.
Sighing Xavier gets out of his chair and makes his way towards us and takes a seat at the coffee table right across us. "Astoria what have you got to say to that?" He asks in a calm tone.
I shrug, "it was an accident." I reply. "But wasn't an accident, was him pulling my ponytail after that," I add, inwardly smirking.
"She started it," he says throwing his hands up in frustration when he realizes that I have a way more appealing case here.
"No, you did," I retort.
"Can the two of you please just act your age," Xavier sighs pitching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"I will if she does," Jack says snapping his head in the opposite direction from me.
"I'm sorry...but I've been fourteen just once. But what I do know is that eighteen-year-olds aren't supposed to be pulling people's ponytails!" I reply smacking his arm.
"She just hit me," he points out grabbing a hold of my ponytail and giving it a harsh tug causing me to wince in pain while I grab the throw pillow my back is resting against and smack him right in the face with it.
"Enough!" Xavier orders in a deadly calm tone causing the both of us to freeze immediately.
"It's both of your faults," he concludes.
"Mine?" Jack and I ask simultaneously in outrage. Then turning to face each other in a heartbeat be add pointing an accusing finger at one and another, "yeah, you!"
"Astoria apologize to Jack for stomping his foot," Xavier demands in a strict tone causing a look of smugness to shadow Jack's face and a look of disbelieve to pastes itself on mine.
"And Jack apologizes to her, for pulling her hair," he adds.
"What I did was an accident, but what he did on the other hand was on purpose," I point out.
"Doesn't matter," Xavier dismisses, "now apologize," he adds firmly.
But even though we are scared shitless neither of us lets a peep leave our lips. Sighing once again, Xavier visibly appears to be slowly starting to lose control of his calm façade.
"I'll apologize on one condition," I negotiate, glancing at his watch from my peripheral vision and wanting to get out of here as soon as I can without letting Jack win.
"Of course, and what is this condition?" He asks, in an impassive tone.
"No more dance classes and no birthday ball," I reply and by the almost inconspicuous shift in Jack's posture, I can tell he's more than okay with my condition.
"Those are two conditions," he remarks.
"Fine no birthday ball... so if there's no birthday ball, there's no need for those stupid dance classes," I say with my arms crossed across my chest.
"And if I say yes, the two of you will stop fighting?" He asks, eyeing the two of us with a suspicious gaze.
"I will, about him, I can't say," I reply while Jack remains silent.
"Fine," he agrees then looks at me expectantly while I swallow my pride and try to formula my apology to Jack.
"Sorry," I mumble meekly, then look at him with the same expectant look.
"What? I never said I would apologize too," he retorts rolling his eyes now getting on Xavier's last nerve.
"Jack," Xavier says in a warning tone which intern earn a grunt of an apology from Jack followed by him storming out of the room the first chance he got, giving me the perfect opportunity to seek the answers to the questions that have been haunting me since the day of the incident.
"What is it, Astoria?" He asks pulling me out of my thoughts as he makes his way to his chair.
Just as I'm about to voice my question, the door opens without warning and dad walks in, his eyes focused on his phone screen that in his hand to even notice me. "Xavier, have you checked on the—" he cuts himself off when his gaze locks with mine.
Dad had gotten back just a day after the guys rescued me. And to say he's worse than the guys when it comes to being reasonable is an understatement. For the first month, after I returned home, he gave all the house staff strict instructions that I wasn't to leave my bed unless it was to use the washroom.
I had all my meals brought up to me and away it was funny and annoying at the same time to watch these full-grown mafia running men tip-toe around me like I'm made of glass. And the panic that overtakes them when even the slightest cough leaves my lips is more than hilarious!
"Amor, what are you doing here? Did you need something?" He asks and before I have the chance to answer he continues. "Do you feel alright?" He asks in worry, making his way to me and placing the back of his hand on my forehead.
"I'm fine dad," I assure him, pulling his hand away from my head and giving him a reassuring smile, but the hesitant look doesn't leave his eyes.
And with and guilty conscience, I admittingly don't want that look to fade away as well. Because the more he worries the longer he stays and I've just gotten my family back, I don't want it to break apart so fast.
"I just have a few questions I wanted to ask Xavier," I tell him, before shifting my attention back to Xavier.
"I can come back later if this is important," I say referring to the reason dad's here.
"Oh no, I can come back later querida," dad interjects before Xavier can say otherwise.
"You sure?" I ask.
"Yeah, I'll have Noah mail you the final report," he says directing the second part of his sentence towards dad to which he nods in acknowledgment.
"And dad?" Xavier calls his attention before he can fully exit the room halting him at the door. "On another note, we're canceling her birthday ball," he informs him immediately causing dad to frown and my heart to race.
'I really don't want this stupid ball, please don't let dad object to canceling it' I pray to every holy being I can think of.
"Why?" Dad asks.
"She doesn't want a ball," Xavier shrugs while dad shifts his attention towards me for confirmation of the claim and I nod in solemn agreement.
"Sound good to me. It's your birthday, we'll celebrate it however you want to," he assures me with a gentle smile which I return with a beaming one of my own before he leaves the room.
"Back to my questions," I say grabbing Xavier's undivided attention.
"Did you know that she had killed mum?" I ask with clear hesitation in my voice that I try so desperately to mask yet it slips by.
"We had a hunch," he admits while I process this and try controlling my outrage.
'How many more things have they been hiding from me? Do I even want to know?'
"Do you know why?" I ask, this time successfully being able to mask my anger and hesitation and putting an impassive front.
"Take a seat," he instructs motioning to the visitor's chairs.
Once I'm seated, he removes the coaster sitting atop the glass of water on his right side and placing it in front of me. "This is in no way your fault, but I'm not going to lie to you," he says truthfully giving me a moment to process his words.
"She killer our mother when she failed at her numerous attempts at trying to get what she wanted from her. She thought that in case of her death, the authority would contact her to take guardianship of you, what she didn't count on was me taking that responsibility before she had the chance to make her next move."
As I let his words sink in, I frown when things don't start adding up. "Why didn't she anticipate you taking guardianship of me?" I ask, puzzled by his explanation.
"When Eri—mum left with you, things between her and the rest of us were tensed. We hated her for leaving us and more so for taking you away with her. She never contacted us and we never tried either...to us it was as though she was dead," he confesses visibly hesitant as he calls her 'mum' instead of Erica which makes me smile inwardly.
"What changed then?" I ask as I mentally piece my memory and the new information together to make sense of the events of the past month.
"It was never your fault Irmazinha. The only reason you didn't know about us any sooner, is because she didn't want you to and neither of us was willing to put you at even the slightest bit of danger by reaching out to you when we knew we couldn't be there to protect you if the need arose."
"What did she have against mum or any of us?" I wonder aloud. "I thought she was supposed to be family," I add softly as an afterthought.
"According to what I've heard, she always believed that mum stole her life," I say rendering me even more confused than I was before.
Reading the look of pure confusion pasted on my face he goes on further to explain. "Mum wasn't born into the mafia...we not like you and me at least."
"Yeah, still trying to process that fact," I mumble under my breath causing Xavier to sigh.
"I know we have been hiding a lot of things from you. But I'll try giving you as many answers as I can right now," he assures looking truly apologetic. "I'm not going to lie, there will still be a few things I can't disclose, but I'll try my best to give you as much clarity as I can," he adds as an afterthought.
Knowing that this is the most I'll be getting, I nod my head in understanding and wait for him to continue. 'At least he's being honest this time'
"Being the younger twin, Eric—mum was second in line to be married. And since our grandfather—mum's dad—was good friends with our avô, he proposed that our dad should marry our aunt."
It's more than evident that he's still a bit hesitant in calling her 'mum', but it's understandable, I too was hesitant at first in addressing dad as 'dad', but at least he's trying.
"Initially I was told he agreed, and they had even met a couple of times. But with time he started to get closer to our mother and just weeks before the wedding, he changed his decision and eloped with mum. His family slowly came to terms with it and welcomed her into the family."
As he explains things start to get clear while her words start to make sense. She wanted revenge from mum for taking what she thinks should be her life. This whole thing has always been about power, and now that I think about it, I don't know whether I should feel raw ranger towards her or pity.
"While Er—mum got the riches and power that comes with being married to a mafia kingpin, she had to settle with marring in the lower ranks of the Russian mafia," he adds.
As I let all this newfound information sink in, I sit silently in my seat while also contemplating what comes next. That's when realization hits me and I remember that I need to get back to my room and wait for Alessandro to call as he promised he would as soon as he got out of the hospital.
As this crosses my mind, the butterflies in my stomach set themselves lose as anticipation floods my veins and heat creeps up my neck and to my cheeks which I so desperately try to mask by lowering my head and letting my hair fall like a curtain on either side of my face shielding me from Xavier's piercing gaze.
'Now I just need a perfect excuse to leave' And with that my devious mind gets to work trying to formulate the perfect excuse.
"I-I need time to process, I'll be in my room," I tell him to which he nods without any further questioning.
"And Xavier," I call out, just as I reach the door and my memory hits me.
"Yes?"
"I was meaning to return this a long time back," I say turning on my heels and making my way back to his desk while simultaneously delving through the pocket in my cardigan.
"Here, it's safer with you...not that I could ever manage to open it anyway," I say handing over the small wooden box I had retrieved from mum's jewelry box.
"Why not?" He asks taking the box from my hand and visually examining it. "All you need to do is twist and pull," he adds running his thumb over the engraving that translate to the very same instruction before grabbing a hold of the top of the box, and in one swift yet powerful move he twists the top half breaking it away from the rest of its body and pulling out a glass-like, thin case that holds a small black microchip at its very center.
My lips curve into an 'O' as I examine the small piece of technology from a distance before tearing my eyes away from it and focusing it back on Xavier.
"What's in it?" I ask curiously.
"Information that can land us all in big trouble if in the wrong hands," he replies vaguely, but I don't question it further instead I nod in understanding and proceed to make my way to my room with eager anticipation for that one call.
Author's Note:
Hey guys I hope you enjoy this chapter and that this chapter has also cleared a few things out as well.
I know that there are a lot of plot holes and I plan to clear as many questions as you guys have so do leave them in the comments and I'll try giving you an explanation in the next chapter while I also plan to write an epilogue to finish off the book, but before that, I think I'm going to add a few bonus chapters.
On another note, I really hope you guys check out my other book 'Fitting The Stereotypes' Many of you expressed your interest in reading a book about wizard older brothers and this is my attempt at that so do give it a shot.
I'm not able to put the link here because my laptop is acting up, but you can find it in my bio...hope you give it a chance and love & support it just like you guys did WTB!
Anywho thanks for reading!
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Stay Safe & Happy
~Kia