After hanging out with my brothers for a while I went back to my room feeling extremely exhausted. I laid in my bed like a star fish drifting off to sleep quickly
"Aww she's so cute"
"Absolutely adorable"
"Can you two shut the fuck up before you wake her up!" I heard voices, the last one being Stephano
"It's too late. I'm already awake" I said and opened my eyes seeing all my younger older brothers in my room
"What are you guys doing in my room?" I asked groggily, still half asleep
"It's time for dinner bambina" Xavier said and I nodded
"I'll be down in a minute" I said and they shook their heads
"We know you, you'll go back to sleep immediately we leave so get up" Xander said pulling me up from my bed and I groaned
"Fine. Carry me" I grumbled and jumped on his back
"Shit! Bambina that's extremely careless. We could have gotten hurt" he scolded and I rolled my eyes
"But we didn't so stop with the complaining and get moving" I said, hitting both my legs on his sides as if he were a horse
"Stop that!" He growled at me, turning his head back to glare at me
"So whiny" I said with a mocking grin
"Let's go guys the others are waiting for us" Stephano said, cutting Xander off from whatever he was about to say
He grumbled something in italian and finally took me downstairs. The others were already sorted and clearly waiting for us and their eyes widened seeing Xander carrying me
"Okay settle down so we can eat. I'm famished" Dom said and Emilio placed pasta on the table
"Damn this looks amazing Em" I said, my eyes gleaming in excitement. Food is by far the love of my life. Especially Emilio's, he is indeed gifted
"Thanks bambina" he said with a chuckle
Small talks were made as we ate. When we finished eating Antonio suddenly stood up and looked at me
"Meet me in my office now" he said coldly
"Why?" I asked in confusion, last time I checked I haven't done anything wrong
"Just do as I say okay!" He snapped and I scoffed at him
"Screw you" I said and walked away. If he's gonna act like a dick then I can too.
My room door suddenly burst open and in walked the asshole who is supposed to be my brother looking furious
'Gabriella do not test my fuckin patience. Come to the office right now" he said through gritted teeth
"Or else what?" I dared him.
He took a threatening step forward and I raised a brow at him stepping forward as well. We continued to glare at each other before someone pulled me away from him
"Okay that's enough guys. Antonio please go to your room" Alessandro said placing me behind him. It seemed as though they were having a silent argument with their eyes before Antonio finally caved and left.
"Bambina I know you're still very upset with him but you must not forget that he is your brother and you should respect him. Please try to hear what he has to say, he wouldn't call you to his office for nothing" Ales said and I sighed knowing he's right
"Fine but if he says any bullshit, I won't hesitate to punch him" I said firmly and he smiled
"Go now" he urged me and I walked to Antonio's room. I hesitated before knocking on his door
"Come in" he said lightly and I walked in. Looking around, I like his room, dark and beautiful
I turned my attention to him to see him looking at me with a bottle of alcohol in his hands. His eyes were red, almost like he was crying and the sight causes my heart to tighten
He may be a dick but he is still my brother. I hate that I can't hate him for what he's done
"Why did you want to talk to me?" I asked coldly. Keeping the cold facade up, he doesn't need to know that I care
He got up and walked ahead of me. He stopped and turned slightly to see if I was following him. He took me to his office and started searching his drawers for something.
He pulled out a bunch of pictures and placed them on the table, motioning for me to grab them. I took them and my eyes widened at what I saw, my chest tightened and it became hard to breathe, tears brimmed in my eyes as I looked at the picture
There in the picture was Luke all bloodied, with different holes in his body and one final hole in his head. My hands shook seeing him, his voice started to haunt me just by looking at the pictures
"W-what i-is t-this?" I stuttered finally looking at Antonio and saw him studying me closely
"Ever since you came home we've been getting different threats from different mafias but one stood out. The one from the Russian mafia, they kept sending threats after threats and it became alarming
I soon found out that one of the workers in the house was a spy and kept reporting everything going on in the house to them. I wasn't sure who it was that was why I had to start treating you cruelly
If they thought that I didn't care for you then they'd have no reason to harm you. They wouldn't see any use in hurting you. When I finally caught the person I tortured him greatly before he confessed that he was indeed giving all our Information to the Russians. He then told me that he only reports to Luke who I know is your mother's boyfriend
It wasn't easy but I managed to catch Luke after much difficulty. He didn't budge, he refused to tell me anything so I tortured him and finally killed him
I tried to tell you so many times but you didn't give the the opportunity bambina. I really didn't like treating you that way but I had to protect you. I'm sorry Sorella" Antonio said, tears welling in his eyes
I stared at him wide eyed, I couldn't believe this, all this time, he was trying to protect me. How is this possible?
"Does Ales know?" I asked after sometime
"No. I haven't been able to tell anyone since no one wants to listen to me" he said sighing in defeat
I walked to him slowly, tears freely falling from my eyes. I hugged him tightly and I felt him tense up before he wrapped his arms around me tightly, and I felt something wet on my neck. He's crying
"I'm sorry bambina. Please forgive me" he mumbled hugging me tighter
"It's okay, it's not your fault. I forgive you" I said patting his head
"Really?" He asked and I nodded with a small reassuring smile
"Thank you for protecting me" I said softly
"I'll always protect you bambina. Even if I have to die while doing it" he said and kissed my forehead tenderly
"Go to bed now it's late" he said
"Can I sleep with you?" I asked and his eyes softened
"Of course, go and take a shower and meet me in my room" he said and I nodded
I went back to my room feeling light and heavy at the same time. I felt light because we finally cleared the issue and I felt heavy because of the realization of what he had been doing for me without my knowledge
I took a shower quickly and got dressed in my PJs
I walked out of my room and went back into his room. I saw him laying on his bed with a far-off look on his face. When he noticed me, he smiles lightly at me
I got in his bed and he wrapped his arms around me. I placed my head on his chest as I listened to his heartbeat
"Go to sleep bambina. I'm here, I'm not leaving you" he said and I slowly closed my eyes with a smile on my face.
"I'm sorry for hurting you bambina, it won't ever happen again. I promise" he whispered, probably thinking that I'm asleep, I smiled and slowly dozed off
______________________________________hey guys here's another chapter. Finally you know why Antonio did what he did. Please comment, vote and follow. Thanks bye❤️