RUN

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟚: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕥

Guess what? It was, in fact, really awkward.

We sat in silence, the only sound in the room was cutleries clashing with plates.

I was seated besides Santo, which wasn't that bad.
We both had the mutual agreement that talking was simply unnecessary.

He would often glance at me, as if trying to figure me out.
Him being on the side of my scar didn't help.

He was as subtle as he could, I'll give him that. Whenever I looked back towards his direction, his eyes weren't on me.

Mostly, I kept my eyes to my food.
Their chef made this amazing spaghetti carbonara, and it's been months since I've had a home-cooked meal.
Back home, we were living on frozen food and bags of chips.
Not that bad if you ask me.

But this... This is on a whole new level. Plus, it's free, which means that seconds are a must.

Reaching out to grab the spaghetti bowl, I didn't notice Santo's hand until it was too late.

Our hands brushed against each other, and we were quick to retrieve them.
I looked at him with panic, and I could tell he was in the exact same state as me.

"I didn't--"
"Shit I'm-"
We spoke at the same time, making everything worse.

His eyes were wide open. "Take the bowl." he spluttered, gesturing to it.

"No! I mean, you take it." I responded quickly.
We were looking at each other, both equally lost.

I guess we really are siblings.

"Just take the fucking bowl, Olive. God, you two are the worst." Rivo exclaimed, looking at us with irritation.

I averted my gaze to him and resisted the urge to punch him in the face.
He looked back at me with a raised brow, challenging me to do so.

Normally, I would, and I'd enjoy every second of it.
But everyone was looking at me, and I felt really uncomfortable, so I simply clenched my jaw and grabbed the bowl.
After placing a spoon full of spaghetti on my plate, I passed it on to Santo without another word.

He took it immediately.

Alessandro shot Rivo a glare before turning his head to me.
"So, Olive." he started smoothly.

Oh, man.
If I knew taking seconds will cause a conversation, I would have chosen to starve.

"Since we brought you here without any of your belongings, I think it's best to take you to the mall as soon as possible. What do you say?"

I looked around the table.
Amadeo was smiling reassuringly at me, and the twins pretended to not listen.

I internally rolled my eyes.

"I don't think so."

My response made Rivo and Santo drop their acts.
They all furrowed their eyebrows in confusion.

"Why not?" Alessandro dropped his fork, focusing entirely on me.

"You had to bail me out, and you think I have enough money to go on a shopping spree?" I chuckled, finishing my last bite.
He wanted to say something else, so I quickly added. "I get that you people have money, but I'm not willing to be in your debt."

Alessandro's frown deepened.
What's with him?

"No, Olive... You'll never owe us anything." he responded slowly after a second.
He spoke as if he was stating the obvious.
"We are your family, buying you suff is what we do."

His eyes bore into me, and I simply raised my eyebrow.

This man wants to spend his money on me? He really is insane.
But I'm not going to argue.

"Sure." I nodded, amused.

This whole family thing they desperately want to believe is not going anywhere.
I'm here because we made a deal, nothing more.

And by the look on his face, he could tell exactly what I'm thinking.

He sighed. "You'll go tomorrow, Rivo and Santo will be there with you."

My eyes were wide open.

"What?" Rivo blurted out, looking angrily at his oldest brother. "Why punish me?"

Asshole.

"You want to try again?" Alessandro asked coldly, and I was suddenly asking myself how Rivo feels on the receiving side.

Hopefully terrible.

Exhaling angrily, he gritted out. "fine."

Alessandro seemed far from satisfied, but still dropped it.

A few dreadful minutes passed before they called it a day.
Apparently, one of the jobs of the 'household staff' is to wash the dishes, so I could just leave.
It felt wrong, but they do get paid for it, and I had the most insane day ever.

I was simply exhausted.

After bidding some forced goodnights, I began to head towards my room.
Am I actually going to repeat this... thing everyday? And I've only been here for a few hours!
I want to scream into a pillow.

Alessandro is so insisted on making us a family, and this whole mall scheme is just the beginning.
How am I supposed to spend hours with Santo and the other prick?

As if sensing my thoughts, Rivo walked right past me, deliberately shouldering me on his way.

I almost lost my balance, and it made me unbelievably pissed.

Who the fuck does he think he is?

I was ready to storm his way, land a punch after punch until he won't be able to walk and shoulder anyone else ever again, but then someone stopped besides me.

"Ignore him." Santo solemnly said, watching his brother enter his room.

"I want to fucking kill him." I muttered a second after Rivo slammed his door shut.

I swear, I saw a ghost of a smile on his face for a second. "That's a very common reaction."

I shook my head in annoyance.

As if realizing we're actually talking, he quickly averted his gaze away from me.
"Uh, goodnight." he mumbled, and a second later he disappeared into his room.

"Goodnight." I whispered to the dark hallway.

I entered my room.

Resting my back against the door, I let myself close my eyes.

I imagined I'm with Ares and Theo, smoking something Theo stole from unknown people like he always does.

I know the name of Jace's neighborhood, I even saw it on our way here today.
The houses there are really nice, and thankfully, it's really close.
But there's only one problem.

I don't know which house is his.

Chapter 12!!
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