Right, I know I said I'll be taking a break AND I SWEAR I AM but since something very good happened to me, I've decided to give you another update before I really do take a proper break.
You may be wondering, oh what is this very good thing that has happened to me? Let me tell you.
I GOT FUCKING TICKETS TO THE ERAS TOUR. I'M GOING TO SEE TAYLOR SWIFT.
ELIJAH RUSSO:
Silence fills the room as we all wait for Athena to come. Marcello told us she would come, so why is she an hour late?
Rocco, my fourteen-year-old cousin, speaks up, "Well this is boring, can we just eat?"
Lorenzo sends him a look and he sighs and leans back in his chair crossing his arm, mumbling something to himself.
"I'm sure she will be here, she's probably had to run an errand," I say, keeping my eyes on the door.
Marcello sighs. "No, it's very unlikely, she hasn't responded to my messages."
Leonardo, my sixteen-year-old cousin speaks up. "We've waited for an hour now and I'm starving," he complains, fixing his hair.
"Son," Dario says, "Have some patience. She will be here."
And so we all wait.
For another hour.
The little one's started to complain and then the older ones and then all of them. Now everyone is upset because Lorenzo won't let them eat until Athena comes here.
I tap my fingers on the edge of the dining table. They all may lose hope but I'm not.
Dom chuckles, "Remember when Dad wouldn't let us eat and made us wait because Athena wanted to finish reading her picture book?"
Dante smiles, "I remember that we never had dinner that night."
Ares frowns, "I don't remember that."
"You unconsciously blocked that traumatic memory away as a defensive mechanism," Marcello explains, glancing at his phone when he gets a notification.
Ares stares at Marcello for a moment and smiles and nods, "Thank god I did that, I don't know how I would live if I didn't."
I glance at Lorenzo who has his eyes trained on the floor and roll my eyes at him.
He's being dramatic.
So what if she's two hours late? At least everyone will eat all of their food. She's done everyone well.
Suddenly, Alessia, Alessio, and Bella all grab the forks and try to stab poor Nicolo and Carlo.
Mario holds all three of them back, snatching the forks out of their tiny little hands, and sighs in relief when the three of them sit down grumpily.
Francesco comes into the room and smiles at us, "I can't believe you guys waited two hours for me!"
Matteo walks in behind him, coming back from the bathroom and sits beside Marcello, "No we didn't. We've been waiting for Athena."
Francesco scowls at us and takes his seat.
One of our men comes in, "She's here—"
"Move."
Athena shoves the man out of the way and looks at us all. "Sorry I'm late, I was busy stalking you online so I know everything about you guys," she tells us not one ounce of shame on her face.
The little one's just stare at her and she stares at them back.
"Do they bite?" She quietly asks, keeping her eyes trained on the kids.
"No," I answer, "They just have behavior problems."
Bella jumps out of her seat and runs to her.
"Ares told me everything about you! Do you still like milkshakes?"
Athena glances at Ares before nodding at Bella, "Yeah but only strawberry milkshakes."
Bella grins, "Do you still like Uno?"
She shrugs, "I haven't played it in ages but I think I do."
"Can you sit next to me?"
"Sure."
Bella grabs her hand and takes her to her seat. She looks at Luca, "Sit somewhere else, Luca."
Luca looks at her in disbelief, "But I'm your big brother?"
Bella crosses her arms, "So?"
Luca scoffs and gets out of his seat. He watches Athena take his seat next to Bella. He faintly smiles before sitting next to his brother, Elio.
"So, I have a few questions for everyone," Athena says, pulling out a notebook, "What do you all do in your free time?"
"Athena," Lorenzo starts, "This isn't an interview."
She gives him a look, "I know. But I couldn't find their hobbies online."
Marcello quickly types something on his phone. I quickly lean over to see it.
Athena is mysterious, sometimes kind, mostly to me, thoughtful but doesn't realize it, intelligent, insane, strategic, scary, a murderer, and apparently now a stalker.
He's got a list of things about Athena?
I should do that. Mine would be better.
"Anyways, tell me what do you do in your free time?"
Uncle Mario goes first, "I reassure my wife that I'm not cheating on her."
Auntie Katie gasps, "No you don't!"
"Don't even start, my love, you call me every day accusing me—"
"Dario you're next," Athena says, smiling.
"It's Uncle Dario and in my free time I argue with my wife and kids."
Gianna scoffs, "Yeah right."
"What? It's true!"
"If it's then you can sleep on the couch tonight."
"It isn't true, I was just messing around!"
"Damn right, you were."
Athena still hasn't written anything down. She probably thinks they're not taking her seriously, but to be honest they are.
"Katie. Gianna. You're next."
Katie goes first, "I like painting in my free time."
Gianna smiles. "I normally go on shopping sprees."
She writes that down but as she does I notice a ring on her ring finger. It's an engagement ring.
I glance at Lorenzo and he stares at it. "Do you think Hades gave that to her?" I quietly ask him.
He nods, his jaw clenched.
Hm. That's thoughtful. I don't get why he's angry about that.
Matteo, Elio, Luca, and Leonardo all talk about what they do in their free time then she moves on to Rocco, and Luciano and Athena write their responses down.
She talks to Bella, Alessia, Alessio, Nicolo, and Carlos. They all say they like to play with guns and fight each other.
She proudly smiles at that.
"Hey, what about me?" Francesco asks.
Athena rolls her eyes. "You post your whole life on the internet. I know everything about you."
He scoffs, "No you don't."
"Stop stealing Lorenzo's guns, you have enough money to buy your own."
"You stole my guns?!"
"Okay, we can eat now," she says, putting her notebook away, and looking at all of us with a small smile.
This isn't the Athena I saw a few weeks ago. No. This is Athena is the old Athena.
A few minutes later, dinner is served.
Immediately everyone starts grabbing food and swallowing it down like it's air.
Athena calmly eats as our cousins bicker with each other. She looks at me and smiles before going back to eating her food.
Half an hour later all the food on the table is gone.
Francesco leans back in his chair and pats his stomach, "I'm so stuffed."
We all give him a look.
"Uncle Franky, you're getting bigger," Alessio comments, grinning. Alessia snickers. "Yeah, lose some weight, fatty."
I glance at Ares who frowns.
"That's not nice," Ares says, crossing his arms. Bella nods, "Yeah. Not nice."
Francesco scrunches his nose, "I don't need little kids to defend me."
We all give him a look.
He clearly does.
Bella whispers something to Athena and she nods. Athena pulls out her phone and gives it to her. "Download whatever game you want. Also Lorenzo?"
"Yes?"
"I need to see the contract."
Lorenzo stands up.
Well, I guess I'm pretty useless in this.
"Elijah? You coming?"
Lorenzo and Athena wait for me at the doorway.
Do I act normal? Do I act nervous? How should I act? What do I do when we talk about the contract? Does she want support? Do I need to be angry?
Awkwardly, I clear my throat and quickly walk toward them.
We begin to walk to Lorenzo's office. Athena looks around the new mansion we bought a few years ago. I smile at her, watching her slow her pace just to get a good look at the paintings.
We enter Lorenzo's office and he quickly gets the contract and passes it to Athena.
She thanks him and starts reading it.
"Wanna watch Gilmore Girls later?" I randomly ask her.
As I wait for her response I quickly pray that she says yes. I hope she does. She can't just come and leave. We need to catch up before she just disappears.
She shrugs. "Sure," she says, continuing to read the contract.
I give Lorenzo an excited look and he just shakes his head at me.
Halfway reading it she tenses. "I need to live with him for a year?"
Ah, shit. Little does she know it gets even worse.
Lorenzo quickly nods, "Yes." Athena takes a deep breath and continues to read the rest of the contract.
She grits her teeth. I hold back a smile, she's at that bit. Bless the poor girl, all she wanted was her revenge, which she did get, she didn't want to get married.
"Are you fucking kidding me? Who fucking idea was this to add this?!" Athena exclaims, pointing at the contract.
"What bit?" Lorenzo asks, slightly scared.
"That I must be on house probation for my own safety for two months? Does it look like I've got people after me?"
I nod. "Yes, you do."
She rolls her eyes, "If I don't know them then I don't care. They can go die for all I care."
Lorenzo clears his throat, making us both look at him. "I think that's a good thing, Athena. It would be nice to get some rest."
She purses her lips, in thought then she smiles a few seconds later, "As long as I am not some housewife, I'm good with that."
"You should pretend you're sick and make Hades do and get whatever you want," I suggest, shrugging.
She leans back in her chair, a cruel evil smile on her face. I scoot my chair a few inches away from her. She's gotten scary. Too scary.
"Elijah you are a genius. I should make Hades my servant."
I tilt my head, "That isn't what I meant—"
That is exactly what I meant.
"Yes, it is, now be quiet. I need to finish reading this."
Holding back a proud smile, I lean back in my chair. Lorenzo crosses his arms, staring out the window.
Athena mumbles incoherent words to herself as she reads the last bit of the contract.
Once she is done, she sighs, defeated. "Alright. Pass me a pen, I'll sign it."
✮ ✮ ✮
Athena walks over to the window and looks out at the garden. I stand beside her and quietly ask, "What's going on with you and Hades?"
"I hate him and he acts like I don't."
"Hate is a strong word."
She crosses her arms, rolling her eyes, "Fine then. I dislike him."
I smile. "You sure you don't like him a little bit?"
She gives me a weird look, "What is there to like about him?"
I shrug.
She looks over her shoulder and so do I. We watch as our family laughs, playing with the kids while a movie is playing in the background.
Everything is good. We are all together. Happy.
Suddenly the doors open and Nonna walks in angry. "Why did no one tell me Athena was going to be here?!" She exclaims.
The room falls silent as everyone stares at Nonna, shocked. Nonna scoffs, "You're all useless, now where is she?"
I glance at Athena. A warm smile is on her face as she stares at Nonna.
My heart drops, she looks exactly like Mom with that smile. She always used to smile at us like that.
I quickly compose myself before saying, "She's over here."
Within a few seconds, she is standing in front of us, looking at Athena with so much love and kindness. Her small frail hands cup her face, smiling as if she's finally found her long-lost treasure.
"Oh my dear," she softly says, "You look so beautiful."
I take a few steps back and look at my brothers. Ares frowns. "So not fair," he scoffs, playfully rolling his eyes at them.
Nonna hugs Athena so tightly that she looks at me for help. I just stand there and watch her be suffocated.
Immediately Lorenzo pulls them apart . "She can't breathe when you hug her like that," he scolds.
Nonna scrunches up her nose at him, "You're just jealous, that's all."
He furrows his eyebrows, "Jealous? No. Concerned for my dear sister? Yes."
In the corner of my eye, I see Uncle Mario and Dario both stand up from the couch. Oh my god. They sneak up behind Nonna and then whisper in her ear, "Boo!"
Nonna jumps and turns around slapping them both. "I did not raise you to nearly give your mother a heart attack!" She shouts.
"No wait! We're sorry!"
"Shut up!"
She pushes past them and ignores Francesco when he asks for a hug.
We all watch in her disbelief as she quickly comes back and drags Athena to the kids.
The kids grin at them and start playing with their toys with Nonna. Athena stands there, having no idea what to do.
Marcello comes out of nowhere, "It seems like Athena doesn't know how to play with kids. That's a weakness."
My head slowly turns to look at him, "What the—"
A man walks in and walks up to Francesco.
My jaw drops. "Please tell me that isn't Stefano," I beg.
Lorenzo clenches his fist, "What is that damn pig doing here?"
Stefano and Francesco talk and immediately start drinking whiskey.
Mario and Dario look at him in disgust. "He better not try to flirt with my wife again," Dario grumbles. Mario scoffs, "He's not even family, why is he here acting like he is?"
Their wives look at Stefano and for the first time they both start talking like best friends, fawning over Stefano.
Dom and Dante give Stefano death glares, getting ready to punch the shit out of him.
Lorenzo steps forward when he sees Stefano walking over to Athena with a flirtatious look.
Luca drags him back by the collar of his shirt and our other cousins gang up on him.
"Stay the fuck away from her," Matteo warns, towering over him.
Elio, Luca, and Leonardo, give Setefano death threats but he doesn't seem to care cause he's too busy staring at Athena probably planning a way to impregnate her.
Stefano steps away from our cousins, his eyes trained on Athena. She's too oblivious to know Stefano is now walking toward her because she's too busy watching Nonna and the kids.
Lorenzo strides to Stefano, ready to kill him but he's too late. The little fucker's hand is on Athena's shoulder.
Athena turns around and looks at his hand on her shoulder then at Stefano. She slowly picks his hand off of her shoulder, gives him a weird look, and turns back around.
He says something to her but I'm not close enough to hear it.
In a blink of an eye, Stefano is on the floor, groaning in pain.
We all freeze.
"Ew. I need to take a shower now," Athena says to herself, disgusted.
She begins to walk out of the room but the doors open and Hades stands in the doorway, smiling at Athena.
Since when did he smile?
And why is he here?