Lonely Together

10

VALENTINO

I watched as Mariah stormed into her room, her eyes expressing the anger that she was very clearly feeling. Without any warning, she slammed her bedroom door shut behind her, leaving Myles and I standing in the living room with shocked expressions.

She had been fine just seconds ago; we were laughing and joking together, yet whatever Myles had done clearly set her off.

"I-I think you should leave," he told me quietly, moving to open her bedroom door that wouldn't budge.

I gave him a tight lipped smile and stepped out of their apartment, closing the door softly behind me. In the elevator, I leaned against the wall and couldn't help but to hope that she was okay. We had only gotten to just know each other, yet I somehow already felt a connection to her. I didn't want her to feel any sort of pain.

At my motorcycle, I grabbed the helmet she had been wearing and opened up the compartment under the seat she sat on where I could store the helmet. I picked up the lip gloss she had left in there and almost considered taking it upstairs to her, but decided against it.

I figured it wouldn't be smart of me to go all the way home just to get my car, so I rode off down the street towards my parents' home, bracing myself for the disastrous night I would most likely have.

"Valentino!" My mother exclaimed as soon as I walked into the kitchen where she was standing over the stove and stirring something. "I missed you, cariño."

"I missed you too, ma,"I told her as I pressed a kiss to her cheek, my mind still stuck on Mariah and her reaction.

"What's wrong? What's on your mind."

"Nothing," I told her, shaking my head and directing my attention towards her completely. "What are you making."

My mother was a beautiful woman with deep brown hair, doe brown eyes, and a stunning personality. It was no surprise that she had once been one of the most famous models in the world, Ximena Gonzalez, before she married my father and had Adriano. Still, her eyes held a sadness that broke my heart every time I looked into them.

"Hey, Val," my brother Emilio greeted me as he walked into the kitchen, standing on the other side of my mother as she cooked.

Emilio was three years older than me and didn't resemble any of us. He was the anomaly of the family, with bright blonde hair and blue eyes that no one else shared with him. He and I used to get along when we were younger, but only when Adriano wasn't around. Emilio was a follower; he never made his own choices and went along with everything Adriano told him. He was fine when Adriano wasn't around, but even then I couldn't stand how much he was becoming like the guy.

I had to hold back a scoff when Adriano and my father walked into the kitchen together, cigars in their mouths as they laughed at something. Adriano was five years older than me and had terrorized me since the day I was born. I had watched him become a devil in front of my eyes, transforming into everything I hated—into my father. As far as I knew, he wasn't an abuser like him but I wouldn't put it past him.

"Look who decided to show up," my father spoke in his raspy voice, his eyes narrowing as he looked at me.

Out of all of us, I looked the most like my father since we shared the exact same emerald eyes, complexion, hair, and even facial structure. It made me sick to my stomach.

"The food is almost done. You four go outside," my mother spoke, releasing a bit of the tension in the room.

"I'll help you, ma," I told her, immediately garnering a snicker from my father, followed by my brothers.