Survivor

4 > "You are an Accardi." ~Giovanni

Overtime doing illegal stuff, it teaches you many things. Street laws if you will. Such as take or be taken. I've had to do that once before. Not one of my finest moments and I hope I won't have to again.

But the other thing it teaches you, is to trust your gut. Your survival depends on your instincts. You cannot afford to wait it out. Always be vigilant, always stay alert and never rule out any possibilities. Looks like I forgot that last one.

Ruling out that 'the Accardi's' were my family, was one hell of a mistake. I figured that out when I had received a text, asking us to meet them at a book store that is situated near the exit.

On our arrival there, I sure as hell didn't expect the 6'2ft Armani clad person to be waiting for us. No, I was leaning towards the 5'9 guy standing further in the store, or even the blond haired dude behind the desk. Just not the brown haired, brown eyed guy.

Not sure what to do, I stood awkwardly off to the side hoping he'd notice us first. The sound of something falling broke me out of my stupor and I turned around just in time to see Mia picking up her copy of 'Nancy Drew' off the ground. She looked at me sheepishly, probably sensing my uneasiness, and knew well enough that I was trying to prolong meeting our new keepers.

The sound unfortunately had attracted the attention of the man who was leaning comfortably against the wall just outside the store. He approached us and I tired to decipher the look in his eyes. Joy. Something else I hadn't expected. The rug just seemed to keep getting pulled from underneath me today.

"Giovanna?" The stranger questioned. His voice was soft and had a hint of disbelief behind it. He seemed to be far away, lost in a memory for a moment before shaking his head lightly and focusing his gaze on us. "Umm, yeah. I'm Giovanna." I stated awkwardly. Don't blame me ok. I had socialised more today than I probably did in the last 14 years of my life. And that's saying something.

He turned his gaze to Mia. "And you must be Eleonora little one." He gave her a smile and by the loosened grip on my arm, I knew Mia was comfortable.

"You can call me Ellie or El. Eleonora is too long." She replied and he chuckled lightly.

"But it is a beautiful name. Speaking of which, I'm Alessio. You can call me Ales. I'm your second oldest brother." He introduced himself.

I sized him up, a habit I had developed over the years. Trying to locate people's weaknesses and figuring out their intentions. Trying to figure out if they were a threat or not. I came to the conclusion that he wasn't a threat.

His warm eyes and kind smile said otherwise. But I had learnt my lesson about ruling out possibilities. And this man's build told a different story. If he wanted to kill us, he sure as hell could. And get away with it too.

"Come on, let's get going." He swung Mia's backpack over his shoulder and grabbed both suitcases from my hold. I was a bit hesitant at first since it could be a stranger but went with him anyway. I'd seen his picture when I risked a look in Miss Morrison's file. Plus he knew both of our names, so it seemed like a safe bet. Just to be sure though...

"Can you call miss Morrison?" I questioned, causing his actions to come to an abrupt stop. His eyebrows were raised in a questioning manner as he turned to look at me.

"Umm sure," he replied, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion before removing his phone from his pocket. "May I ask why?" He questioned, his gaze focused on the phone in his hand as he searched for her number.

"You could be a serial killer for all I know," I stated, my arms folded over my chest as I leaned towards one side.

"Right, serial killer," he pointed his finger at me. "You make a good point." He dialled the number and raised the phone to his ear. I assumed she had picked up, based on the fact that he began speaking.