- A m a r a W i l l i a m s -
Breakfast was awkward to say the least.
After I had woken from my little panic attack, Salvatore had not explained anything to me about the guns, and I had not asked either. I was not looking for a beating for being too curious for my own good.
"Amara, come and sit down. I'll introduce you to the family." Salvestro said, and waved me over to the seat beside him and a person I did not know.
"O-okay." I whispered, and scurried over. Sitting in between the two of them, I tried to make myself as small as possible, tucking my arms close to my body.
"So, as you know, the person sitting at the head of the table is Salvatore, your guardian." Salvestro said, and he gave me a nod as I smiled nervously.
"The person you are sitting beside right now is Sandeo, and he is currently 18. He failed his senior year of high school so he is now going to have to redo it." Salvestro said, pointing to the person beside me.
With a body that shouldn't be his with the amount of food he is eating, Sandeo had black hair and the steel blue eyes of the rest of the family. From past mirror glances, I know that mine are brown. I definitely fit in with this family. Note the sarcasm.
Furthermore, Sandeo had a tattoo on his right bicep, showcasing a beautiful bleeding rose. With a straight nose, thin lips, and high cheekbones, he was the exact replica of Salvatore if it weren't for the fact that he was physically smaller and shorter than him. Sandeo also had an aura of fun around him, nothing like Salvatore's aura of authority.
"The twins over there are Salvino and Santino. They are both 15 and are going into their junior year of high school. They are turning 16 soon." Salvestro finished, pointing to the twins who both just had annoyed looks on their faces.
Aren't twins supposed to be opposites of each other? Why the hell do they look so similar then? Their brown hair, steel blue eyes, their cheekbones, even their scowl was matching with each other! Are you kidding me? Telling them apart will be a nightmare.
Seeing my expression, one of the twins snorted.
"Trust me. You won't ever be able to tell us apart, sorella." one of them smirked, nicknaming me something in Italian. Are they Italian? They look Italian.
"Mhm," the other twin agreed. "Not even our own brothers can tell us apart. You won't be able to" and I nodded my agreement.
I can't see any difference between the two of them, and I don't think they'll like it very much if I do learn how to tell them apart.
"Okay." I whispered quietly.
"If you wanted to know, Salvatore's 24, and I am 21." Salvestro added.
When I stayed quiet, there was an awkward silence that surrounded us. Were they always this weird around each other? Or is it because of my presence that they are acting like this?
"I-I have five b-brothers?" I asked instead, trying to defuse the awkwardness.
"Yep." Sandeo said, popping the 'p'.
"Oh." I muttered, and the silence resumed as the twins started eating.
I had no idea why there were so many forks, spoons, and knives on the table. Wasn't one enough? Why were there so many? Were they all for different things? Why do I look so different from them? Why do I have curly hair then?
Seeing the questions swirling in my mind, Salvestro spoke up.
"I'm sure you have some questions." he said, clearing his throat. "I'll try to answer them the best that I can." he said, and I nodded my head.
He just gave me permission to ask questions right? Does that mean that it didn't matter if the questions were nosy?
"Um, why d-did I not know of y-you until a few hours ago?" I whispered quietly, knees bouncing up and down. My anxiety was showing, and I can only hope that no one notices.
"Because we didn't know you until a few hours ago either." Salvatore responded.
"What do you mean?" I said, looking up at him.
"It means that we didn't even know that we had a younger sister until the police called and informed me of your existence." Salvatore answered.
"Why do I look different from the rest of you?" I asked, wincing at my wording.
"Because you aren't our real sister." one of the twins replied this time.
"You're only a half. Our father probably got your mother pregnant and she didn't tell him." Salvatore said, and my eyes widened in disbelief.
Mommy cheated on father? Does that mean that I am not his true daughter?
It was as if a weight was lifted off of my chest. I wasn't his daughter! He wasn't my real dad. I didn't have any of my father's malice in me!
"So, my mom cheated with your dad?" I said, eyes wide.
"Pretty much." one of the twins responded as he shovelled food in his mouth.
"Well, what did your mom say?" I asked, and all movement stopped.
"Our mom is dead." the other twin said coldly, staring at me with hard eyes as he and his twin got off the table and strode out of the room together.
"Oh. I'm so sorry." I said, and Salvatore snorted.
"No need to feel sorry. We've had time to grieve." he said, face betraying nothing he was feeling.
"Yes, it's fine. It's been years." Sandeo added. "Just don't mention her in front of the twins. They never had a mother growing up." he said, implying that their mother died during childbirth.
I felt for them, having their mom dying during childbirth, just like mine.
"W-what about-t your-"
"I think that's enough questions for the morning." Salvatore interrupted, and right when I was about to protest, the look he gave, silenced me.
"Why didn't you eat?" Salvestro asked, and two other pairs of eyes turned to me and at my still full plate.
Not knowing what to say, I decided to go with the obvious one. "I'm not hungry."
"Well you didn't eat anything yesterday as you fell asleep." Salvestro countered, brows furrowing with worry.
"It's fine. I'm not that hungry." I reassured him.
"Salvestro. It's fine. She can eat during lunch." Salvatore said firmly, and his younger brother's mouth snapped shut.
"Fine," He sighed and picked up my plate, dumping the contents away. Well, that's a waste of food.
"Sandeo, why don't you show Amara around the house. I have work to attend to and Salvestro needs to come with me." Salvatore suggested, but we all knew that that was an order.
Didn't Slavestro say yesterday that he would be taking the day off?
"Sure bro. Come on, Amara. Let's show you around the house." Sandeo said, and giving me a light tap on the shoulders, he stood up and walked away, expecting me to follow him.
Scurrying after him, I gave a nod of respect to Salvatore as he was my guardian and stepped out of the dining room.
I still had no idea what to call him. Did he not like me saying 'Sir'? Should I call him something else? Just his name? My head was only getting more and more confused.
"So, I'll show you around the house alright?" he said, and I nodded my head.
"By the way, the incident this morning, with the guns and stuff..." he started, and I listened intently. "We're rich, so people have broken into our house before. That's why we usually have guns in the house. We never use them, obviously, but we have them to scare people away." he explained, and I nodded.
It was a pretty good reason to have guns in the house, I think.
"But that doesn't mean that you are allowed to handle one." he warned as he led me down corridors. "We all have training, and because you don't, you aren't allowed to handle one yet." he said, and I nodded my head.
Rules I can follow. I'm good at following rules.
"Okay." I said timidly as he brought me to room after room.
"So, what happened to your hand?" he asked, not noticing my limp but my hand.
"Oh. It was an accident." I said quietly, not ready to trust him or anyone yet with my life story.
"Accident? How?" Sandeo asked, giving me a raised brow as if he didn't believe me.
Biting my lip, I tried to find a good explanation.
"I used to cook." I started. "And we didn't have electric stove. I had a gas stove, and I burned myself trying to carry the pan. I forgot the fire was still on and burnt myself when transferring the food from the pan to the plate." I said, and gave myself a mental pat on the back for my amazing logical reason.
"Okay. Maybe you should get Salvestro to check on it later. He's in medical school." he advised, and I nodded my head even though I wasn't going to listen.
No way I was going to show him my hand. If I did, it would be too easy to tell that this wasn't a regular burn as it was too burnt to be a regular one. Maybe when I trust them a bit more.
As the tour went on, I got to learn Sandeo better, and I had to say that he was a close second to my next favourite brother.
Sandeo was actually a pretty funny person, and he was very dramatic at times. Actually, let's change that to all the time. He exaggerated every single thing he said, saying how the corridors were a mile long when they were probably only about 100 meters.
He told me that he liked to stay neutral during arguments that don't involve him. Apparently, Sandeo didn't like to take sides during a fight and would prefer to stay on the neutral side during an argument. Smart.
"And finally, this corridor is filled with our rooms." Sandeo said as he showed me a corridor on the third floor.
"That's a lot of rooms." I said in awe as I made sure to cover my limp. I've never really bothered to look at where I was running in the morning, and now that I was wide awake, I can see that this house -if it is even called a house as it had two freaking pools- was huge.
"U-huh." Sandeo agreed.
"This room over here is Santino's room and the one right beside that is Salvino's. They share a bathroom." Sandeo started, pointing to two different doors right beside each other.
"Across from them is my room." he said, pointing to another door as he led me even farther back.
"That room over there is Salvestro's room, and the one across from him is your room." he said, pointing to my door.
"Why are there three doors left?" I asked him, confidence growing with only him here.
"Well over there is Salvatore's room, and across from him is someone else's room. The room at the very end is the master bedroom, and nobody, I mean nobody is allowed there." he warned me, and I furiously nodded my head.
If I wasn't allowed, I wouldn't go. I would respect the privacy of their mom and our dad's room.
"Why can't I go into that one?" I said, pointing to that other room.
"Because it belongs to someone else. They aren't here today, but when they comes over, that room belongs to them. Respect their privacy, Amara." Sandeo advised, and my body filled with fear.
Were these people scarier than Salvatore? If that was true, then I really didn't want to go in there. Oh my goodness.
"Can I ask a question?" I asked shyly.
"Of course." he replied, waving a hand in a 'go ahead' gesture.
"Why isn't my dad my guardian?"
"Because he is dead as well." Sandeo replied with no hesitation and no emotion in his voice.
"Are you... Fine with his death?" I inquired.
Sandeo didn't answer my question, giving me a warning look, silently telling me that I was crossing the line here.
Snapping my mouth shut, I stopped myself from saying the last few words.
"Sorry." I whispered, looking down at my feet.
"It's fine. Just don't talk about him. He's a very sore topic for all of us." Sandeo replied through gritted teeth, muscles bulging in his arms as he clenched and unclenched his hands.
Letting out a breath of air, Sandeo calmed himself down and acted as if nothing happened.
"Let's go back down now. I'm sure that the twins will want to spend some time with us." he smirked, and I gulped.
The twins didn't even like me to say the least. What's to say that they will want to spend time with me?
~
This...
The only thing I can say is that this is extremely awkward.
"So..." Sandeo said, mouth forming into an 'o' as he prolonged the word.
"Why the fuck did you bring her here?" one of the twins asked, raising a brow.
Was I that disgusting that they don't even like my presence?
"Oh come on. She's still related to us. And no swearing." Sandeo said exasperated.
"Mhm, half-sister." the other twin hummed.
If they continued like this, I'm afraid I might explode. Their cocky tone and arrogant attitude was getting to me.
"Well, she's still related to us." Sandeo protested as he pushed me to sit down at one of the couches.
"We know." the twins dead panned in sync.
"What are you going to do here then?" the first twin asked me, looking at me with no emotion in his eyes.
"I-I don't know." I muttered quietly, and he scoffed.
"Right. You don't know." he laughed humorlessly.
"So... Let's talk!" Sandeo exclaimed, chuckling awkwardly.
"Talk about what?" the first twin droned as he took out his phone.
Why are they so dry? Like seriously?
Obviously, I couldn't get out my feelings so I kept my mouth shut like always.
"Um, what's your favourite colour guys?" Sandeo asked quickly.
"Red."
"Blue." they both said simultaneously.
"Salvino likes red and Santino likes blue by the way." Sandeo whispered into my ear, and I nodded.
"My favourite colour is green. What's yours Amara?" he asked.
"Pink." I whispered, expecting laughs.
When I received none however, I lifted up my head.
"M'kay. Who's your favourite celebrity?" Salvino asked. He was the one that said red, so I mean... Until I lose sight of them, I'll be able to tell them apart.
"Kim Kardashian." Sandeo said instantly.
"Pfft. You only like her for her plastic boobs and ass." Santino scoffed, and Sandeo shrugged.
"You can't blame me though! Those things are-"
"Shut up. Just shut up, Sandeo. No one wants to know about their... Things." Salvino scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Mine is Arianna Grande. Love her voice." he said.
"Adele. Like the old school." Santino said, and then three pairs of eyes turned to me.
"I don't know." I shrugged.
You see, I've been living under a rock my entire life, and the school I went to was an extremely poor school. I didn't know much about the real world except a few bits here and there of the new.
"Okay." Sandeo shrugged. "Favourite hobby?"
"Basketball." Salvino answered.
"Football." Santino said.
"Mine is eating." Sandeo said brightly, and Santino groaned.
"I swear to God. It's a wonder you're not fat." he said, but there was a slight tilt to his mouth now.
"No! Look at this!" he said, and brought his arm up and started flexing. "It's pure muscle!" he added, looking at it proudly.
I had to say, it was true. That was pure muscle.
"Never said that it wasn't. Just said that it's a miracle that you aren't obese yet." Santino shrugged, and Sandeo made an offended look.
"I don't eat that much." he huffed, crossing his arms and pouting like a child.
"Sure." Savlino drawled out. "Eating five plates of pasta plus another two plates of salad with three bowls of soup and an entire nine-inch ice cream cake is not a lot." He said sarcastically.
"It's not!" Sandeo defended, and I had to give it to him. He was stubborn.
"Yes it is. I only eat three plates of pasta compared to your five." Santino smirked, and I really wanted to tell them that they all eat a lot.
I can't even eat one plate of pasta, nevertheless five.
"I'm a growing man, alright?" Sandeo said.
"You're not going to be growing anymore, bro. You're already 18." Salvino chuckled.
"So? Just because I am 18 doesn't mean that I still can't grow." he insisted.
"It does." they both said simultaneously.
"No it doesn't." Sandeo huffed.
"Right." Santino said, rolling his eyes.
"Wanna bet?" Sandeo smirked.
"Sure. Five grand you won't grow another inch." Salvino said, and Santino nodded his agreement.
Five grand? Are they crazy?
"Deal."
How the hell do they have this type of money? It's not like they're the Russo's, or the Romano's!
Deciding to voice my opinion, I opened my mouth.
"How do you guys have that much money?" I asked quietly, and they all snapped their eyes to me.
"What do you mean?" Sandeo asked.
"Like, why do you guys have that much money?" I clarified, fingers playing with my nails.
"Amara... Do you know who we are?" Santino asked, giving me a raised brow.
"No?"
"Our last name. Our last name is Russo." Salvino said, and my eyes widened in shock.
"R-Russo?" I stuttered, looking at them.
"Yep." Sandeo said, popping the 'p'. "It's why we live in this mansion. Salvatore is the CEO of the business you can say, and Salvestro helps out from time to time."
The Russo's were famous for their business around the world, especially America. They were literally second to the Romano's.
Romano's invested in many things. Their main focus is technology, but they also have a large variety of brands across the world, including clothes for both men and women, and make up products.
I'm not sure what the Russo's did, but they were also a successful business company, it being handed down from Angelo Russo to Salvatore apparently.
I said that I don't know much about them, especially their family members. I didn't even know that the Russo's had five sons until today. The only thing I knew was that they had connections and that they were successful.
"Oh." was all I could get out of my mouth at the new revelation. No wonder why they lived in a huge ass mansion with so many rooms, you get lost.
"Mhm. Anyways... next question. What's your favourite animal?" Sandeo asked.
~
"Salvatore messaged me. He says that he'll be coming to eat dinner with us today." Sandeo said, turning off his phone. Was I supposed to make dinner?
It's been a few hours since our conversation together, and the twins have now gone back to ignoring me. I didn't mind, though I have to admit that I was a bit hurt by it. I didn't even know why I was hurt though. They didn't owe me anything and neither did I.
"He is? So Amara comes, and he finally has time to eat dinner with us, huh." Santino smirked lightly, but there was a hint of pain in his eyes.
"Hey, Salvatore loves us and you know that. He just doesn't have much time as he needs to take care of us and make money." Sandeo comforted, but Santino shrugged it off.
"Yea, sure." he muttered.
"Um, am I allowed to use the kitchen?" I asked quietly, making sure that I am not interrupting them.
"Yes, of course." Sandeo said absentmindedly.
"Ok." I whispered, and went to the kitchen, starting to make food.
As I started cutting the garlic, I started to panic.
What did they like? Were they allergic to anything? What if they didn't like the food? What would they do if they didn't like the food? Will they hurt me if I accidentally burn something?
The thoughts kept on swirling on my head as I looked through the multiple cupboards for salt.
Am I even allowed to go through these cupboards? Oh no. What if I break these things?
As my anxiety started, I tried to hide it as I started on washing the vegetables.
What should I make? What do they like? Do they want dessert or something?
Deciding to do egg fried rice, I got the ingredients I needed and put away the garlic and got out the green onions instead.
Starting on the rice, I put it in the rice cooker and put in the right amount of water before letting it steam.
When it was doing that, I went through the fridge, finding a few sausages and bacon. Thinking that they might want me to add meat into this, I started to cut the meat into smaller pieces and put it to the side when it was fully cooked.
When the rice was ready, I brought it out and put it to the side as I cracked a few eggs, putting it into the bowl and starting to whisk it. Adding in the chopped onions, I continued whisking until it was mixed evenly.
Pouring the eggs into the pan, I added a bit of msg and pepper into it to add a bit of taste. When the eggs were also nearly cooked, I dumped the meat in, starting to scramble the eggs with the meat.
The moment I was sure about it, I added in the rice and started flipping it over, trying to get the meat and eggs mixed evenly with the rice.
Honestly, this was the hardest process as I had no arm muscle. Including a literally useless right hand... The process was harder than ever. Managing to find a way though, I put it to the side so that it doesn't get cold as I started on a few side dishes.
By the time I was done, there was a salad ready, pre-made chicken air fried, and a pre-made pizza on the table, not even including the brownies still in the oven.
The opening of doors were heard, and I scrambled to wash everything before they entered the kitchen.
"It smells amazing in here! Who's cooking?" a voice exclaimed, and I immediately knew that it was Salvestro. From what I have observed, only that guy would shout in the house, and from the smack I just heard, I knew that Salvatore had just slapped him, lightly may I add.
"Amara." Sandeo answered as he plopped into the kitchen to see me washing the dishes."Amara! You don't need to wash those. We have people for that." He said, pulling me to the dining room.
"Did you make all this?" Salvatore asked, giving me a raised brow as he looked at the food.
"Yes. Do you not like it? I can start over if you want, Sir." I said hurriedly. Honestly, I did not want to start over, but if he wanted me to, I would.
At my words, he glared and I put my head down, suddenly finding the floor extremely fascinating.
"First of all, do not ever call me 'Sir'. You are to call me by my name, as you are family." he stated harshly, and I nodded my head furiously. "Second, I never said to start it over. You did an amazing job."
At his words, my heart swelled. At least someone liked my cooking.
"But," My heart dropped to my stomach. "You didn't have to. We have a maid for all the cooking. Her name is Stella but she is taking the week off. I was planning to order take out, but it seems as if you have everything planned already." he smiled... For the first time.
"Thank you, Si- Salvatore." I amended quickly at his scowl.
"No need to thank me. Sit down, let's eat." he said as he sat down.
Still standing however, Salvatore looked at me as the twins whispered to each other at the table.
"What are you doing? Sit down and let's eat." he ordered, and I stared at him confused.
"I'm allowed to eat?" I asked, and five pairs of eyes twisted to me so quickly, I felt myself shrink under their gaze.
"What do you mean, 'You're allowed to eat?'" one of the twins growled.
***
Thank you so much for more than 200 views and 14 votes! I love y'all so much! Anyways, this is a faster update because I wasn't busy at all this week, so please tell me if there are any mistakes!
I usually have a really busy week thanks to school and stuff, but I was so happy about the view and votes. For a faster update, six more votes and up to 300 reads.
~ CRAZY40429 💋
QotC: What's your favourite food, not counting dessert?
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