Trusting My Brothers

Chapter 41

The next day at school, I noticed that both Liam and Cole were not present. To be honest, that was probably a good thing. They both still need time to heal and the stress of school is not good for them. However, I can't help but worry that Cole remembers meeting my eldest brothers. I'm almost a hundred percent that before I arrived, he met them before and if he remembers meeting them yesterday, not only are they in danger, but I am too. 

Throughout the entire school day, I am anxious. I know that I am not going to be seeing them at school, but I am waiting for the damn bell to ring, letting everyone know that school is done for the day. I just needed to get home and give Cole a text or call to see if he remembers yesterday. 

I think that Val is feeling as anxious as I am because she too seems very jittery today. We both ate lunch silently, only conversing a little bit, though neither of us were really paying attention. 

Finally, the last bell rings and I immediately make my way to the car Luca drives. After about five minutes of waiting, him along with Matteo and Fabiano arrive to the car. We silently get in and I count down the minutes until we get home.

"Hey, why are you so nervous today? And before you say 'no reason,' I see your leg shaking and you playing with your hands." Matteo says and I stop what I was doing.

I completely forgot that they have no idea what happened yesterday. Since yesterday, I decided to be completely honest with my brothers so I tell them almost everything that happened this weekend. And by almost, I mean, I didn't mention anything that Liam and Cole said while on the painkillers. "So I need to call Cole when we get home to make sure he has no recollection of meeting Enzo and Nico."

"Fuck, you better hope he doesn't. That will be hard to explain if he does remember." Luca points out unhelpfully.

Rolling my eyes, I say, "Yes. I know that and that is the exact reason why I have been worrying this entire time."

They don't say anything after that and about five minutes later, we arrive home. I hurry to my room and pull my phone out of my bag before dialing Cole's number. The phone rings twice before I hear his voice.

"Hello?" He says.

"Hey, It's Liliana. I was wondering how you were doing?"

"Tesoro(Sweetheart) I was wondering when you would call. Can't handle a day without talking to me, huh?" He said in a joking manner.

I laugh at that. "Well, I just got out of school and this was the only time I could call to check up on you, so don't give yourself too much credit. And is Tesoro your new nickname for me?"

"Why yes it is. I think it is a better fit than babygirl. Plus it also means treasure and after everything this weekend, I must treasure you with all my heart."

"I hope you know that sounds cheesy but I'll take Tesoro over babygirl anyway. Now, you haven't answered my question. How are you doing? Are you in a lot of pain?" I ask.

"I'm fine and I took painkillers to help so I'm not in too much pain at the moment. You did a good job at stitching me up, by the way. To be honest, that is all that I remember from the incident. It was like a blackout and the next thing I knew, I was back home."

I let out a breath of relief. "Well, I'm glad you are feeling better. What excuse did you use to get out of going to school today? From what I know about Mr. Rivera, he doesn't seem like the type to let you have a free day."

"He never does. Last night at dinner, I moved too much and one of my stitches pulled out, so he saw the blood on my shirt. I was kind of honest with him, only instead of saying you helped me, I told him it was Val. No offense, but he doesn't like you very much."

I just snort. "I know he doesn't like me. I knew from the minute I went to your house to help you with the project."

"Yep, and that snort was not very ladylike." He joked, causing me to chuckle.

"When the hell have you ever known me to be ladylike. Oh, I just remembered, wasn't Val at your house for dinner last night?"

"Yeah, and that was another reason why I said it was her. Because since I know she was with you, she would be able to provide a decent retelling of what happened. That just made my family like her more." He said begrudgingly.

"Val told me on Saturday what your guys parents were doing. I know how she feels about it, but what about you? How are you handling it?

Cole doesn't say anything for a few moments. "Fucking terribly. My parents already control so much of my fucking life and now they are controlling who I am supposed to date and marry one day. I literally just found out yesterday and I have no idea how to cope."

"I'm sorry. Val's having a difficult time as well." I can't believe I'm about to admit this, but maybe it will give him some hope. "You know, while you and Liam were unconscious, me and Val started talking about relationships. After seeing a life and death experience, it puts things in perspective and we both thought about the risks of having a secret relationship with someone." Damn it. What am I doing?

I could almost see him perk up with a smile. "Are you saying what I think you are saying?"

"Will you let me finish? Again, we got to talking and she said she was willing to take the risk for her crush. And I got to thinking that maybe, if we were careful, we could take the risk as well."

"FaceTime." He say before hanging up. I was confused until I got a FaceTime call from him ten seconds later. Answering it, his face pops up with a huge smile on it, causing me to grin as well. Even his green eyes have this light to them that it doesn't usually have.

"So, are you being serious, or is this just some joke?" He asks.

"I'm being serious. Look, seeing you bleed out and hearing that the doctor didn't know when you would wake up changed my view."

"So are we doing this?"

I think for a moment. "Yes, but there are some conditions. First, we are going to take things slow. I don't want that cliche TV fast romance thing. Second, no one finds out except maybe Val and Liam. And third, if we go out on dates, they can't be in public areas that are popular."

"Deal." He says immediately. "So Liliana, will you do me the pleasure of going out with me?"

"I'd be happy too." I reply.

"Great. I'll text you what the plans will be. Bye." Cole says excitedly, before I disconnect the call. Though I didn't disconnect fast enough because I heard him cheering like a little kid, making me laugh.

I put my phone on the charger before going downstairs to get a snack. In the kitchen, I see Enzo, Nico, and Savio relaxing against the counter.

"How was school, Sorellina?" Savio asks.

"It was okay. I was worried the entire time about what Cole knows but I just talked to him and he doesn't remember any of you. I guess the pain meds he was on made him blackout, so he doesn't remember much after I fixed him up." I say and they all looked relieved.

"So how is he feeling?" asked Nico.

"Alright. He still in a little bit of pain, but he seems to be doing better. However, his father found out that he was shot, but luckily his father believed only Val was involved in helping so I'm good."

"Good. We don't need you to be in danger. Now, what do you want for dinner? I'm cooking today since work got done early." said Enzo.

"How about Chicken Parmigiana?" I recommend.

"Sounds good. We haven't eaten that in a while. Now go do your homework." He says and I go to my bedroom to get started, feeling a little guilty about the date with Cole that's being planned. What the hell am I getting myself into?