~ongoing~ ~unedited~
After eleven year old Parker is faced with her stepfather's death, she has to move in with her five older brothers. Her newly discovered family has secrets they are hiding from Parker, but Parker is keeping secrets of her own...
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Thankfully, my second day of school was better than my first. I find myself becoming very close friends with Braelyn. In fact, I've already made two more friends, Reid and Haven. Our table sits four, Braelyn next to me, with Haven across from her and Reid across from me. Haven is a total chatterbox and Reid is a bit more reserved, but both are super kind!
At lunchtime, after I took down my new friends contacts, I received a text from Ares informing me he'd be picking me up from school today. I also learned that unfortunately, the high schoolers have a later lunch period than ours, so I don't get to say hi to Luca.
I wave goodbye to my friends as I make my way to Ares. He leans against what I'm assuming to be his car. I'm not too familiar with cars but, his looks super fancy with some kind of horse logo.
"Where are we going?" I ask, now sitting in the back seat as Ares drives.
"I've got some stuff to take care of at work." Ares responds with a sigh.
He seems to be in a sour mood, but when is he not?
"..erm okay." I respond.
I nervously fidgeting with my fingers, silently hoping I haven't made Ares angry for some reason.
"How was your day at school?" He finally asks.
My face breaks into a smile and I happily fill him in on today's events. I get not a single reaction out of him as I explain everything from not being able to have lunch with Luca to talking about the new friends I've made. Only when he hears one of them is a boy does he raise a questioning eyebrow at me.
"Name?" He asks, interrupting my ramble.
"Name? Name of who?" I press.
"Of the boy." Ares repeats in a duh tone.
"Reid!" I exclaim, proud that I am remembering all my new friend's names.
"Last name?" Ares all but scoffs out.
"..umm... I think it was like Martin... no Mary-"
"Is it Martinez?" Ares asks, interrupting me again.
"Yes! Now that I think of it, it is. How'd you know?" I respond.
"Oh, you could say the Martinez's and Moretti's go way back." Ares replies.
I glance at him through the rearview mirrors to see him smirking.
"Okay?" I add uncertainly. Why so cryptic?
"If he's one of the Martinez brothers, than I approve." Ares declares.
"Anyway, I'm super excited for Friday. Like, I cannot wait!" I exclaim, changing the subject from what boys my brother approves or disapproves of.
Ares still looks to be a little annoyed from what ever happened before picking me up, but he decides to bite.
"Why are you excited for Friday, Parker?" He asks.
"It's a special someone's birthday..." I say with a mischievous smile.
"I know I almost forgot too, with everything that's been going on recently" I reply with a laugh.
"Merda, Lorenzo is going to be so-" Ares starts.
"Happy? Excited?" I try finishing his sentence.
"No, anything but that. Lorenzo hates.... actually he despises his birthday." Ares claims.
"Oh...." I mutter dejectivily. That was not what I was expecting.
"Don't worry about to much, piccola. As long as we don't mention it, we'll be fine." Ares tries to reassure me.
"Why..W-why does Enzo hate his birthday?" I meekly ask, feeling all my energy deflate.
"I honestly don't know... something about him thinking it is incredibly immature and childish. He thinks its a waste of time and we should be focusing more our business." Ares explains.
"Oh... okay." I find myself once again muttering.
"Now that I'm thinking about it, who told you about his birthday?" Ares ponders.
I simply shrug my shoulders, no longer in the mood for talking.
Ares seems to take the hint.
---
As we pull up to Ares' gym, my mouth widens in awe. The building looks to be a huge old warehouse, but it gives off a rustic modern feel.
The parking lot is full however, Ares reverses into a spot in the front row. There must be an unspoken rule that this is his spot.
I quickly scamper after Ares with his long strides. Entering the building, my admiration for his business grows as I take in the lively atmosphere.
I don't have too much time to dwell because I am quickly shown towards an staircase leading to the second floor. Eventually, we enter what looks to be an office. To my pleasure, it is much quieter in here. What captures my attention though is the entire wall opposite the door. It looks to be a window, looking out at the gym.
"The window is one-sided, we can see them, but no one can see us." Ares explains as I must have unknowingly stared too long.
I am once again at a loss for words when movement in my peripheral vision catches my attention.
A large brown mop moves around on the ground. With my curiosity peaked, I inch closer to the thing.
Ares whistles loudly causing the brown thing to flip and snap its attention to my brother.
I realize now that it's a dog, a huge one at that!
A gasp escaped my lips as I run towards it. The dog's tail wags wildly. It seems just as excited to meet me as I am to meet it.
As I energetically pet its head, the dog drops to its back, asking for a belly rub. I happily oblige.
"His name is Ravioli." Ares points out, now seated at his desk.
I open my mouth to question the weird name but Ares beats me to it.
"Don't ask, Luca named him." He continues, typing on his desktop.
"Ravi hangs here at the gym. He just showed up one day and he must of decided he liked it because he stayed."
A stupid grin breaks across my face at the thought of a runaway dog stealing my big bad brother's heart.
"He's a stubborn motherfu- he's a stubborn animal. I tired to get rid of 'em but the damn thing is persistent." Ares states.
I momentarily take my attention away from Ravi to glare at Ares. How could he try to get rid of this adorable dog?
"Well, I'm happy he stayed, I've always wanted a dog." I finally announce, leaning down to kiss Ravi's forehead, just like my brothers do to me.
