The Ones Who Failed Us

Chapter 24

I couldn't get the image of my brother's seemingly lifeless body out of my mind or the fact that I had shot another human being. It may have been out of self-defense and fear, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to live with this if he died at my hands.

This whole situation was my fault, and no one could tell me otherwise. Maybe if I had forgiven Matteo immediately then I wouldn't be in the hospital waiting for news on my brother's surgery. I was being petty by not accepting any apology, and it could cost my brother greatly.

Why did he have to save me? I didn't deserve this. Eventually Demetri would take me, so why delay the inevitable?

Just then, the doors to the surgical waiting room burst open, revealing Alessandro and Elijah. Upon seeing me, they rushed towards me and engulfed me in a hug as they both placed kisses on the side of my head. Backing up, Elijah held my face between his hands as if he couldn't believe that I was still with him. Alessandro scanned my face and body for any sign of injury and frowned upon seeing the dried blood on my clothes that splattered on me when I shot the man.

"Does anything hurt? Are you okay?" Elijah asked.

"N-nothing hurts, and I-I will be, but Matteo is in s-surgery right now," I answered.

Satisfied with my answer, Alessandro said, "Elijah, can you find a doctor or nurse who can tell us how he's doing?

Elijah nodded his head and walked out of the waiting room to find out how Emilio was doing. Alessandro led me back to my seat as he said, "The rest of your brothers should be here soon, but I want you to tell me what happened in as much detail as you can while it's still fresh in your mind."

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. The events from earlier were stirring feelings of guilt within me, and I didn't want to tell my oldest brother what I had done. I didn't think he would judge me considering the fact that it was in self-defense, but it was hard to admit that I might have killed someone. If it was Demetri who I had killed, then it would be a different story because of all the pain he had caused me, but this man was just one of Demetri's pawn.

Noticing my hesitation, Alessandro spoke up, "Aves, you have to tell us what happened so we can protect you."

Taking a deep breath, I decided to get it over with. "When Matteo got to the m-mall, he found my friends and I. After a few minutes, he got a text from you saying that the bodyguards were outside in the parking lot."

"A text? I said I would call him, not text him," Alessandro interrupted.

"Well, he got a text," I retorted.

Rubbing his face in frustration, Alessandro said, "Okay, please continue."

"Well, we went outside before this armed man stopped us. I was able to convince him to let my friends go. When they left, there was an altercation, and Matteo and the man got shot," I answered.

I left out that Matteo was shot trying to protect me from that man. I left out that I shot the man out of self-defense because he had attempted to attack me. I left out that I watched my brother lose consciousness as I kept the gun raised at the man, waiting for help to come.

I left out how close I was to being in Demetri Mikhailov's hands once again, and the very thought was causing my body to tremble in fear. The truth was that the man who haunted every second of my life knew where I was and wouldn't stop until he captured me to quench his thirst for revenge.

"Nothing else happened?" Alessandro asked with a raised eyebrow. It was as if he knew the details I had left out, details that were causing bile to rise in my throat as I struggled to swallow it back down.