Lissy Romano

94| Never say never.

Lissy Romano

Our friends had just left after our pool party, and I was in a good mood. It was one of those carefree days that I wished could last longer. After saying goodbye to them, I walked back into the house.

I was on my way upstairs to my room when, all of a sudden, someone grabbed my arm. I whipped around, and there he was—my brother, Dante, the traitor.

"Lissy, can we talk?" Dante asked, looking straight into my eyes. I immediately pulled my arm out of his grip.

I stared at him for a moment, debating whether I even wanted to talk. After a long pause, I shook my head. His face fell, and I could see the disappointment in his eyes. I quickly looked away from him.

"Lissy, please. I want to apologize," he said, and my frown deepened. Dante apologizing? Those two words just didn't fit together.

I wanted to tell him, I don't want your apology. It wouldn't change anything. But I didn't. I wasn't ready to talk to him, not yet.

"Okay, fine," Dante said. "Vincenzo wants to talk to you in his office." Without waiting for a response, he turned and started walking behind me.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking, getting more irritated by his presence. What's he following me for?

I knocked on the door, and Vincenzo's voice boomed from the other side, "Come inside." I opened the door and stepped in.

"Hi," I said, forcing a small smile.

"Hey, sweetheart. Can you sit down?" Vincenzo asked. I quickly nodded and took a seat in front of him.

"So, I have some things I need to discuss with you," Vincenzo started. I glanced toward Dante, who was sitting on the couch.

Vincenzo must have noticed the look on my face because he immediately added, "Dante will sit here with us."

"Why?" I asked, giving him a pointed look. Dante's eyes softened, but I didn't care.

"Because it's important," Vincenzo replied. I slumped back into the chair, getting comfortable. If this was going to take a while, I might as well relax while I listened.

Maybe I'd done something wrong. Maybe I was in trouble for something—like volleyball. Please, don't take volleyball away.

"I want to keep doing volleyball," I blurted out before Vincenzo could say anything.

"What...?" he started, clearly confused, but I cut him off.

"Enzo's always dramatic. He overreacted. I'm fine. The coach didn't do anything bad, nothing worth getting upset over," I said in one breath, trying to brush it off.

"Enzo?" Vincenzo said, clearly not following me. "Enzo didn't say anything."

"What did the coach do?" Dante interrupted, his face twisting into a jealous expression.

I ignored him and turned back to Vincenzo.

"What did the coach do?" Vincenzo asked, sounding more serious now.

"Nothing. The same ten laps around the track like I said. It's fine," I reassured them, not wanting to waste any more time on this.