The Ones Who Failed Us

Chapter 5

Thirty minutes. Thirty minutes before nightmares of the abuse woke me up, and I felt nothing but anger. Anger at my father for sending us away for our supposed protection. Anger at my brothers for not taking us after Mom died. Anger at the world for leaving me in his hands for the past year.

More than anything, I was angry at Mom for dying. None of this would have happened if she was still alive. I would still be safe, I wouldn't have to deal with the responsibility of protecting Teddy, I would still have my innocence, and I definitely wouldn't be wanted by one of the most dangerous men in the world. He would never rest until he found me. Too much was at stake, and in this game of chess, I was much more than a pawn. I was a queen, a piece that the king would protect at all costs to protect his reputation as a ruthless leader.

I'm anything but safe in this household with my brothers hiding what seem like dangerous secrets as well as two brothers who show nothing but hatred towards Teddy and I. Before last night's confrontation, I was already on guard, but now I needed to be extra vigilant. Who knows when this "nice guy" façade would end, and my brothers would show their true colors. If it wasn't for the fact that my brothers seemed like powerful men, I would have run away with Teddy, but that wasn't an option. I guess I'll have to see how shopping goes today.

It was 6 AM, and I hadn't tried going back to sleep after the nightmare. Part of it was because of those horrible memories, but it was mostly due to my lack of trust of my brothers. I needed to be on guard, especially if any of my brothers, mainly Emilio, came into my room. My one job is to keep Teddy safe, and I'll be damned if I fail. I've already failed too many times.

I was currently lying on my bed next to a sleeping Teddy, trying to figure out what to do about him. It was inevitable that I would be caught, especially after he paid good money for me, but I needed a plan of what to do with Teddy. My brothers seem to be kinder towards my little brother, so hopefully they'll take care of him when I no longer can. Either way, I needed to find a way to keep track of his movements, and I would need a computer for that. Maybe I can convince my brothers to buy me one.

"Ava? What are you doing up?"

I looked over to my side and noticed Teddy rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He's never been a good sleeper, and with all of the stress from yesterday, I doubt he slept much. "I could say the same thing about you, Teds. Sleep well?" He nodded his head while stifling a yawn. "Well, I'm going to shower. Why don't you go over to your room and shower and then we can talk?" With a quick nod, he sauntered out of bed and walked out of my room to his.

I grabbed my clothes for the day and started getting ready. After removing the bandages from my back, I took a quick shower, got dressed, and walked over to my bed to find Teddy with the first aid kit in his hands. "I figured you'd need me to put some new bandages on," he said. I nodded my head and sat in front of Teddy, letting him do his work. "Your back looks better than yesterday, but I'm not sure if you're ready for any strenuous exercises. Keep it easy for a few more days, and we'll see what happens from thereNow, what did you want to talk about?"

Taking a deep breath, I responded, "What do you think of our brothers? I just want you to be happy, and if you're not, I'll try to figure something out. Some way for us two to be together, safe from him."

"Ava, I'm happy as long as I'm with you. And as for our brothers, Alessandro, Elijah, and Leonardo seem alright. Emilio and Matteo scare me, though, but even Alessandro said that they might act out a bit and that he would help us if we had any issues. Maybe we should tell Alessandro what happened last night?"

I didn't know what to tell him. They, specifically Alessandro, were keeping secrets from us, and Teddy thinks we can trust them? Hell, no. "Buddy, I know you trust Alessandro, but I don't, so I'd appreciate it if we kept this matter between us. Okay?" Teddy gave a quick nod before I continued, "It's already 7. Why don't we go downstairs and eat some breakfast?"