Lissy Romano

36| Please.

Vincenzo Romano

I did what I had to do... I threatened Lissy's coach. If he ever raised his voice at her again, he's a dead man. She deserves to be happy, and I'll make sure of it.

I walked out of the school with my brothers, standing next to our cars, waiting for Lissy. Time passed, and she still wasn't in sight. My worry began to grow.

"Where is she?" Matteo asked, clearly tired from school and wanting nothing more than to eat and rest.

"I don't know... I'll call her," Domenico said, pulling his phone from his pocket.

"She's probably just changing," Enzo added, eyes glued to his phone.

"She's not answering," Domenico said, his voice filled with concern.

A weird feeling crept in. That gut feeling you get when you know something's wrong.

"We need to look for her. Check every corner of the school. Something's off," I said, glancing at my brothers.

We split up to search. I walked around the school, thinking maybe she was just taking a moment outside after tryouts, but she wasn't there. The worry turned into dread.

I walked back to the car, thinking maybe she had already arrived, but she wasn't there either.

That's when I saw Dante. He was holding Lissy up, her legs barely able to support her weight. Her hair was a mess, and she was crying.

My heart raced as I rushed toward her. Dante gave me that look, the one that said everything I needed to know.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice shaking with confusion.

"Take her to the car. I need to finish them off," Dante said, practically shoving Lissy into my arms along with her backpack before turning to head back into the school. His gun was already out. What the hell had happened?

Lissy's body was stiff, her eyes puffy from crying. I had never seen her like this.

"Lissy, come here," I said, trying to guide her to the car, but she flinched, slapping me across the face.

What the hell? This wasn't her. She would never do that, especially not to me.

"Lissy. Stop. What happened to you?" I asked, my voice shaking as I stared at her, but when she met my eyes, the tears flowed harder.

"Lissy, please. Tell me what happened," I urged, noticing the bruise on her face and then the handprints on her neck. Someone had choked her.

"Who did this to you?" I asked, gently lifting her chin to get a better look at the marks.

She didn't answer, only stared blankly at me, tears falling down her cheeks. My heart ached for her. What happened to my little sister?

"Baby, it's okay... It's fine. Let's get you in the car. Come with me now," I said, softly taking her arm.

To my surprise, she didn't flinch. Instead, she hugged me tightly, sobbing into my chest.

"Baby, it's okay now, I'm here," I whispered, placing a hand on her head. She didn't speak, but at least she held on to me. I didn't know what had happened, but Dante would make sure those responsible paid. I had a feeling it was worse than I could imagine.