SINBOUND

IV

I woke up the next morning to knocking on the door and Ares snoring slightly. I processed everything last night and went over everybody's positions in the family. Nobody is allowed to join the mafia or be involved until they turn 19 in the family, but they all have extensive training and the younger ones do some pretty illegal shit from what I had read.

But nothings more illegal than the damn Italian mafia.

I didn't care much. It's not like I'm not a famous assassin who kills people as a hobby and tortures them for the 'fun' of it.

...Yea. Totally not.

Yet, I wasn't willing to let my little brother live in a dangerous environment ever again. I would find a way out, for him.

I got up and opened the door. There stood an old lady in what looked to be a sort uniform.

"Hi, miss. I've been asked to call you and your brother for breakfast." She said in a sweet voice. I nodded with a ghost of a smile.

I shook Ares, and he let out a loud snore. No matter what I tried, he didn't wake up so I rolled him off the bed, onto the soft carpet and fallen pillows.

"AH! What the heck was that for!?" He exclaimed, rubbing his eyes groggily.

I snickered. "Breakfast is ready, idiot."

"I was dreaming about dinosaurs. You're a meanie!" He pouted. I snorted and we did personal hygiene before making our way downstairs.

Thankfully, I remembered the way to the dining room.

Everybody was already sat there and there was tension in the air, heads snapping to us as we walked in. We sat down in the same place as yesterday.

Alessandro cleared his throat after a few painfully long minutes of silence. "I think we should do introductions, yes? As your father, I'll go first. I am Alessandro Lombardi. 49 years old. I enjoy reading."

Amari smiled at us. "I am Amari Lombardi. I'm 26, your eldest brother. I quite enjoy...hm, bowling?" he was uncertain of his random answer, and I could tell he was trying to ease tension in the room.

The next boy looked at us, a bit hesitant but plastered a smile on his face. You could tell it was fake, but the intention in his eyes was genuine and I silently thanked him for the effort. "I'm Carlo. Your second eldest brother, I'm 24 and I like studying. I'm a doctor." He was one of the boys in 'my room' yesterday.

The next one was a real grumpy pants. He was the one who came to dinner late and left early. He clearly had a temper. Carlo elbowed him in the side, causing him to let out a grunt. He looked at us, rolled his eyes, but didn't glare or anything. Just kept a snarky expression. "Riccardo. I'm 18, your...the third eldest brother. I like to do stuff." He grumbled, his eyes running over us once before he looked away again.

Riccardo had black messy hair and green eyes with faint freckles on his face. His neck tattoos went down his shirt and his right arm was sleeved with different tattoos. He had many chains and rings on and clearly was forced to come down and sit through this breakfast. The same probably went for all of the men who sat here at this table.

Alessandro sighed disappointedly and Amari rolled his eyes. Carlo jabbed him in the side and he yelped, glaring at him.

"Okay then! I'm Elio, your youngest older brother if that makes sense. And this is my twin, this is Enzo. He's older by 3 minutes. He doesn't talk much. Or talk at all. In fact, he's only talked like...zero times the past...three months...? Wait, no he told me to shut my trap yesterday. Scratch that. Anyways I like food and he likes reading. He's a total bore. Also, he usually uses sign language. Doesn't really like to speak, selective mutism, if you will." Elio said, his voice feigning excitement but his eyes tell me otherwise — he clearly didn't want us here. He looked like he was fighting off a scowl but was trying to be welcoming.