𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 ✍︎

50| 𝙰𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝

Sorry not sorry for what is about to happen.

Ayla/Dove's POV
Age: 10
Location: Ricci's Mansion, New York

I bite back the urge to apologize as I sit in front of my parents in Dad's office.

Alessandro, being the tattletale he is, snitched on me the moment my parents exited the basement.

Now everyone, meaning my aunt, uncle, Alessandro, Marcus, Luca, and Lorenzo, is in his office, waiting to see how this will play out.

I want to yell at all of them and tell them to get lost, but I know that won't end well for me. I'm already in trouble. Adding more onto my sentence is probably a bad idea.

"Ayla, we made it very clear that we do not want you involved in all of this," Dad starts.

"Did you?" I mutter under my breath. Lorenzo, who happens to be closest to me, hears and smirks a little.

"Shut it," he mutters back to me, gently kicking the leg of my seat in warning.

"We just don't want you to worry about this," Mama says gently.

"But I want to. I want to know what's happening," I respond.

"You don't need to. You can focus on other things now. We can handle this," Dad tells me. His face is earnest.

"But this is about me. I have a right to know."

"Ayla, you're not with him anymore-"

"It's still my business!" I exclaim loudly, slightly annoyed. "Vincent still has a friend of mine, and maybe more friends. And you heard what Angelo said. It's clear that he's trying to get me back."

"So, we will handle it and we will protect you," Dad says calmly. "You can trust us with this."

"I can help," I insist. "Vincent could be tricking you guys or using you and you wouldn't even know it."

"We can handle it on our own, Ayla," Dad says firmly. I can tell he's getting annoyed with me, but I am too.

"Don't you care that this matters to me?" I ask him, exasperated.

"Of course, I do. But I need you safe."

"I am safe! I'm constantly being watched by someone. I'm in a house that's filled with cameras."

"Ayla," Marcus warns lowly.

That one word ignites something inside of me and I feel my chest tighten in anger.

I raise my eyes meet his, and I don't hesitate to glare at him. The surprise in his eyes make me want to smile. But the hurt I see behind it makes me stop.

I'm vaguely aware that I'm kind of being a brat right now, but I'm too angry to care.

Between the time when Alessandro found me, to the time my parents finished in the basement and came up here, my anger has slowly brewed and increased.

"You can't protect me from everything," I say.

"We couldn't protect you from everything," Mama corrects. Her eyes are glassy but determined. "We can now, and we will."