Undercover Love (Draft 1)

Chapter Nineteen

"Your sister?" I repeat, looking at Enzo with an eyebrow raised. Does he really expect me to believe that he hates me because I remind him of her? If someone reminded me of my brother, I'd adore them.

          I'd give anything to be around my brother again.

          "Yes. My sister." He sighs, moving around to sit on one of the stools around the island. "I don't like to think about her and I can't help it when you're around. So I avoid being around you when I can." He shrugs, facing ahead and looking out of the window into the garden.

          "What happened to her?" I ask, keeping my voice gentle as not to ruin the one chance I have of him opening up for once. 

          "I left her." His voice sounds remorseful as he avoids eye contact with me. "We were driving home from school when suddenly, a car came out of nowhere and hit us. I remember the sound of metal crushing against metal, the screeching of tires, and then everything went black."

          I can feel the weight of his words as he continues. "When I woke up, I was lying on the side of the road, my head throbbing with pain. I looked around and saw that our car was completely destroyed. My parents were still inside, motionless. I knew they were gone."

          Enzo's voice cracks as he speaks about his little sister. "I saw her lying on the ground next to me, barely conscious. I tried to wake her up, but she wouldn't respond. The only sign I had that she was still alive was her chest rising and falling steadily. The ambulance arrived soon after, and they took her away to the hospital."

          "I didn't go with her," Enzo says, his voice barely above a whisper. "I was too scared to face what had happened - to be without our parents. I knew she was going to make it, but I couldn't bear to see her like that. I was only a kid, I didn't know what else to do."

          Enzo looks at me with a haunted expression in his eyes. "I don't think she knows that I'm alive," he says. "I left before she was taken away, and I haven't seen her since."

          My heart aches with a mix of understanding and anger. "You just left her there? You've let her grow up believing that her big brother is fucking dead?" I grind out, unable to push aside the trauma rolling through me from the loss of my own brother.

          "I understand that must have been so fucking scary for you, Enzo. But what about her? I lost my brother in a car accident when I was a child; lost my parents too. If my older brother was still alive, I'd do anything to see him again - to know that he's ok. Do you think your sister would not want the same?" I take a deep breath, not wanting to completely lose my shit at him. "Have you even tried to find her since then?" 

          The only response I get from him is a shake of his head, his eyes lowered to the kitchen counter. 

          "Pathetic." I spit out, no longer holding in my rage. "On behalf of your sister, you're a fucking coward. You left her when she would have needed you the most. You have no idea what it is like to wake up after experiencing something so traumatising and finding out that everyone you love is gone." 

          Without waiting for him to defend himself, I throw one last hate-filled glare in his direction before storming out of the kitchen and heading back upstairs to my room.

          As soon as my bedroom door has shut behind me, I collapse onto my bed. The pain in my chest refuses to settle as memories wash over me; the sound of my brother's laughter, the colour of his eyes, the way he used to hold me through thunderstorms.

          I miss Lorenzo so fucking much...

          "Lorenzo...." I whisper to myself, processing the story that Enzo had just shared with me, trying to piece it all together.