VENGEANCE.

ten

He glanced around the room, making sure no one else was listening.

"You gotta promise that you'll never tell anyone this," he said, extending his pinky out. Is he a kid?

I complied, wrapping my pinky around his. "I promise."

He took a deep breath before starting. "I like cats."

My brows furrowed in annoyance. "Are you joking?"

"No. Well, I've actually experienced abuse. Both mentally and physically," he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper.

"By who...?"

"My mom," he admitted. "She used to beat me up without my brothers or my dad knowing. I've always had to pretend I was clumsy."

"Ever since Mom adopted Kira, it got worse. Sometimes she would join in too." Adopted?

"It hurts, Natalia. It hurts so bad. I had to ask myself I did something wrong for my own mother to be doing this to her own child," his voice cracked.

My heart sank as I listened to him. "Ivano," I whispered as I stood in front of him.

He looked up at me, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I'm sorry you had to experience that," I murmured softly, giving him a hug.

I felt a sudden surge of confidence while sitting back down on my bed. "You know... I experienced the same thing too."

"Nat... Don't tell me...." he trailed off. "You don't have to feel obliged just because I told you mine."

"I feel like I could trust you on this."

Taking a deep breath, I started.

"I'm sure your mother already told you this, I got sent away at a young age for stabbing Antonio," I started, my voice trembling slightly. "But what no one knows is the horrors I've experienced while I was gone."

I could see him looking at me from my peripheral but I just couldn't look at him back. "I experienced... abuse too..."

The words tasting bitter on my tongue. Abuse.

I glanced at my fingers, absently peeling the skin. Ivano suddenly sat beside me, taking my hands in his. "You don't have to tell me."

"I want to."

"The stabbing... It was all planned," I whispered softly. "My mom... Estella... planned it with Antonio to get rid of me. I felt so naive to have fallen for such acts."

"You were just a kid," Ivano reassured.

"That's not all... When I was at the academy, I was subjected to more torment and cruelty."

Ivano's grip tightened on me. "It felt like a nightmare... but with no escape. It was the same thing every single day."

"I'd get whipped, burnt, you name it all."

I chuckled bitterly. "I don't even know how I'm surviving."

"I—,"

"It's okay, Ivano. You don't have to say anything," I assured him.

He reached out to me, wiping the tears that I didn't even know was falling. "You're not alone anymore. You have me and Luca. And your older brothers too,"

I nodded. "Thank you, Ivano," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

"I guess we're both f*cked up in the head, am I right?" he chuckled.

And for the first time, I finally felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

There was a sudden knock on the door before it creaked open, revealing Luca.