Here is a family tree of the Russo family since all of you asked. You can always come back to this chapter and remember who is who.
ARES RUSSO:
"If she's escaped then why won't she come back to us?" I ask, frowning.
Lorenzo sighs, "I'm not sure but if she's escaped it will make it easier to find her."
I look at him.
Like really look at him.
His dark eye bags are prominent and his hair is a mess as well are his clothes, telling me he hasn't been sleeping.
"What if the lady Elijah saw was actually her?"
He shakes his head, "It's not possible. How would Athena even get in? How would she even know where the ball was hosted?"
I frown.
"What do you think she's like now?" I ask him.
He shrugs, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure. Now be quiet I'm trying to work."
I sigh.
Lorenzo types on his laptop, heavily concentrated.
I slowly stand up and leave his office and go to the kitchen. I open one of the cabinets and grab a snack.
Before I open it, I check the calories. I frown and put it back. I grab a different one and look at the calories. I bite my lip.
Yeah, I'm just not gonna eat.
I put it back and shut the cabinet and leave the kitchen. I slowly go up the stairs, tired.
Nonna keeps bringing our cousins here every week because they keep getting kicked out like some idiots.
They came over again today and god I've had it with them. They are literal demons.
When I reach the top of the stairs, someone clings to my leg. I look down at my six-year-old cousin, Bella, confused while she looks up at me with an evil grin and cute pigtails.
I rub my eyes with the back of my hands and I still see her there.
"You're supposed to be at home with your parents," I state.
She giggles, "I know! But I hid and they left without me."
"Why did you hide?"
"Because I wanted to stay," she frowns.
I sigh and pick her up. "I'm going to have to call your Dad," I say, going to my room.
She hugs me, shaking her head. "Please don't. I want to have a sleepover with you."
I go into my room and turn the lights on. I place her down on my bed.
She huffs and crosses her arms, "I don't want to go back."
I gran my phone and look for my uncle's contact. "And why's that?" I ask, not looking up from my phone.
"Because Mommy won't get me a puppy," she exclaims as if not getting a puppy is the end of the world.
I look at her and gasp, "She won't let you get a puppy?!"
She nods, "Mhm. She said that Daddy is allergic to dogs but I don't want a cat!"
I sit down beside her, "Okay well let me call your parents and tell them you are and you want to stay for the night, okay?"
She gives me a small nod, smiling.
I call her Dad and he answers it right away.
"Look, I had to leave Bella there. I just had to. We can't deal with her tantrums anymore. Please just let her stay the night," Uncle Dario begs.
I sigh, "It's fine. I was just going to tell you I found her and she's staying but why the hell won't you let her get a puppy?!"
Uncle Dario groans, "I'm fucking allergic to dogs."
"So?"
"You know what, Bella is staying with you for three days now. Good luck."
He hangs up and I turn to Bella who's watching me with hopeful eyes.
"Daddy said you can stay for three days."
She gasps. "Three days?!"
I nod.
She hugs me, "Thank you so much, Ares!"
I smile and hug her back. "You're welcome, now let's get ready for bed."
✮ ✮ ✮
"I mean I'm supposed to be happy but I don't feel it. I should be happy that she has escaped but she hasn't come back to us."
Bella sits on the other side of the bed, holding her teddy bear. She frowns, "Maybe she can't find her way back to you. Like Nemo in Finding Nemo!"
I nod, "Yeah. Maybe."
Am I really talking about my sister to my six-year-old cousin? Yeah. I am.
"What is Athena like?"
A small smile grows on my face as Athena fills my mind. "She is so kind but so shy. She likes playing Uno because she wins every time. When someone was rude to me she always defended me even though I'm older than her. You would definitely like her."
Bella grins, "Do you think she would like me?"
"She definitely will."
"I hope she comes back soon. I really want to meet her."
"I hope she comes back soon too."
"Can we play Uno?"
I nod and grab the box of Uno cards from my nightstand that I've been saving for me and Athena to play.
I take the cards out and shuffle them then I place seven cards out for both of us.
She grabs her cards and grins. She giggles, excited.
I place a card in the middle and then pick up my cards.
"Can I go first?" She asks me, tilting her head.
Nodding, I say, "Yeah."
She places a card down.
I place a card down.
We go back and forth til we both end up on our last cards.
She frowns and picks up a card.
I look at her and then my card.
I can actually win this. Right now. For the first time in years. But it doesn't feel right. It feels wrong.
Athena isn't here with me. If I was playing against Athena I would win but she isn't even here, even if she was I doubt that I would even win. I'm playing against a kid. And I don't want to make Bella sad. I don't like making kids sad.
So I pick up a card.
Bella places a reverse card, "Uno!" Then she places her final card and wins.
She jumps off of the bed and does a victory dance.
I smile.
"I won! Yeah! That's right! I won!" She loudly sings, jumping up and down.
I grab my phone and look at the time.
"Bella?"
She stops dancing and looks at me, "Yeah?"
"It's late. We should go to sleep now."
"But I'm hungry. Can we quickly eat something?"
I stare at her. She looks at me, giving me those puppy dog eyes, pouting. I sigh, "Fine."
I stand up from my bed and pick her up. She rests on my hip as I walk out of my room.
The second I do I see Dom sitting on the floor, outside his bedroom, sleeping. His head hangs low, his hair covering his face.
"What is Dom doing?"
I place Bella on the floor, "He's just in a silly mood. You go downstairs and get some food and then come back, okay?"
She nods and happily skips away.
I sigh and walk over to Dom then I slap him.
His eyes snap open and he tiredly looks around. His eyes land on me and he glares at me. "What the fuck..."
"When you get high, you do it in your room. So no one catches you like this. You know that, right?"
He slowly nods, his eyes closing.
I slap him again.
He jerks, his eyes snapping open again. "Stop doing that man," he croaks out.
"Go to your room, Dom."
I take a step back when he slowly stands up and stumbles into his room, shutting the door behind him.
What an idiot.
If Lorenzo found him like that, he should've given him a lecture.
"I'm back!"
I turn around and see Bella holding a bunch of snacks. I raise an eyebrow and she sheepishly smiles at me.
"I couldn't help myself when I saw all those snacks. I had to take more than one," she explains, hoping I won't get mad.
I wave a dismissive hand, "It's no problem kiddo."
She grins and runs into my room, no doubt jumping on my bed.
I just know I'm not going to get any sleep tonight.
I enter my room and find her jumping on my bed.
She jumps in the air and falls onto the bed, laying down on it. She laughs like it's the funniest thing ever.
I sit down on my bed and give her one of the snacks, "C'mon. Eat and go to sleep."
She takes the Oreos from me and opens it. "Aren't you going to eat something?"
I shake my head, "No. I'm not hungry."
She frowns, "Here just eat one Oreo."
I look down at the packet and my lips pull into a thin line then I look back at her and see she's doing the puppy dog eyes on me again.
Dammit.
I take an Oreo and eat it.
She smiles and pats my head, "Good doggy."
I playfully roll my eyes. I might just have to get her a puppy now because no way in hell am I letting this kid call me a dog.
Five minutes later and we're both happily eating all of the snacks.
Bella falls onto the bed, landing on her back. She groans and holds her stomach, "I think I've eaten too much."
I smile, "That's okay. Eating too much isn't bad."
"Really? Why do I never see you eat then?"
I freeze.
This kid is too observant for my liking.
"I don't like eating in front of people," I lie.
She sits up and nods, "Same. I hate eating at the dinner table. Nicole always makes fun of me when I eat."
She grabs her teddy bear. "Sometimes I just want to do this—" she strangles her teddy bear "—to him. He's so annoying. I don't care if he's my little brother. He should die."
"But he's only three."
"I don't care! He always bullies me."
"Maybe you should bully him?" I suggest, grinning.
She strangles her teddy bear even tighter. I look at her, concerned. This kid—
"I do! But I always get in trouble."
I nod, "Same. Dante would always throw pranks on me but when I pranked him, I got in trouble."
She sighs, "I want to be grown up just like you so I can do whatever I want."
I cross my legs and rest my chin in my hands. "Trust me. Being a grown-up is worse. People expect you not to make mistakes now because you're finally an adult but when you do they just treat you like a kid," I tell her.
She yawns. "Then I wish to be a queen when I'm older. Queen Bella. Everyone will do everything I say. Like the game Simon says!"
I lay down and sigh. "Wanna play Simon says?" I ask.
"Sure."
"Simon says go to sleep."
"You're so mean!"
"And tired," I add.
I turn the lamp off when Bella snuggles up beside me. "Fine. I'm only going to sleep when I want to, alright?"
I smile, "Alright."