Unraveling Secrets

Chapter 31

Nova

I think Lorenzo is calling for me because he is excited to see me after a day away. It seems my oldest brother has some attachment issues. It is totally not dog related.

As I walk over to where all my brothers are, I see bullet sitting in-front of them staring with his tail wagging.

"Oh hey guys. Back so soon?" I say with a fake sweet voice. 

"Seems like we are a little too late.. Care to explain why there is a dog sitting in front of me?" Lorenzo says.

I look from him to bullet and back to him. "Omg how did he get here? Wait you guys went to get a dog and didn't inform me?" I say putting a hand over my heart as if I was hurt.

Lorenzo and the rest of my brothers send a glare my way, well minus Elio. He bends down and calls Bullet to him and starts petting him.

"Nova, no more jokes. You know we didn't bring the fucking dog here." Lorenzo says.

"Oh.. Wait but if you didn't go and get a dog then where were you?" I say. I saw an opportunity and went with it.

Lorenzo opens his mouth to speak but closes it for a second. The rest of my brothers look from me to Lorenzo. "We had a meeting, we told you this last night did we not?" He says.

"No no you did. But what was it for?" I say pushing.

"It is for the family business sorellina." Matteo responds. 

"Oh. What would that be?" I ask.

"Well-" Lorenzo starts but gets cut off by Bullet when he barks. "I think we have gotten a little off topic. Nova, where did this.. animal come from." 

"Hey! This animal has a name and that name is Bullet!" I say defending my dog.

"Bullet?" Elio asks.

"Yes, he is super fast." I say.

"Whose dog is it?" Antonio asks.

"Mine."

"YOURS?!?" All my brothers say.

"Nova. When did we talk about you getting a dog?" Lorenzo asks

"We didn't-" He cut me off.

"Exactly, we didn't so-"

"Hey you cut me off-" 

"Did you just cut me off?" 

"Uhh you cut me off first? You should consider yourself lucky right now." I say the last part in more of a mumble.

"Yeah and why is that." He says, his eyes challenging.

"Cause not many would get away with that. Your getting sidetracked. AS I WAS SAYING... before you cut me the fuck off, I was going to explain to you how I got Bullet."

"Continue." Matteo says, Lorenzo's jaw is a tad bit clenched but at least his mouth is staying closed.

"While I was out and about, looking around at everything.. I saw that we were going to get some bad weather, and since I walked I decided to head back. On my way back I heard a noise in the Ally, so I started walking down there-"

"Hold on. Your telling me you heard some shit going on in the fucking Ally... and you walked down there?!" Antonio says. "What the hell were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed! Or beaten up, or anything else that could go wrong could have happened." He says.

"I can defend myself thank you very much." I say.

"Yeah right. You might know how to throw a few punches but that won't do you any good in the long run." He says.

"Aright then why don't you get in the ring with me and we test that out." I say challenging him. I would love to see if I could fight Cage now anyway, and if he said yes I would defiantly take the opportunity. 

"I am not fighting you." He says.

"Why? You know you wouldn't win and are to afraid to admit defeat?" I say trying to push his buttons.

"No, because-"

Lorenzo cut him off. "Hey! Enough! You guys are the ones getting sidetracked now. We can circle back to the ally part in a minute. Continue with how you met the dog."

"Again, the dog has a name. And it is Bullet. Anways... when I got to where the noise was, it turns out it was Bullet eating things that had fallen out of a dumpster. He was all alone, hungry and had no roof over his poor little head. And like I said some bad weather was heading this way. Soooo I took him here and was going to figure out where he could go after he was properly fed and inside away from the weather. But when I was playing with him..."

"That was your first mistake there. Playing with him." Lorenzo says. Then clears his throat when he sees Elio playing with him. Elio looks up and stops playing with him.

"But he has never had anyone to play with, he was all alone." Time to pull out the sob story to really sell it. "And I know what that feels like, to be all alone and I couldn't do that to him." I say. I am really trying not to laugh at the way all of their eyes soften. "And when I was playing with him he was super fast and then next thing I know I gave him a name. And you know what they say about names. I can't just go give him away now." 

"She is right." Elio says. "She named him, it would be cruel to give him away after that. Plus he was all alone, its not like this house isn't big enough for another." He says. And as of right now he is my favorite.

Bullet must have gotten the hint Lorenzo needed convincing, because with his toy he goes in sits right in front of him tilting his head. 

Lorenzo just stares at him for a long moment, and when it looks like he is about to tell me to get rid of him he sighs. "Fine." He says. "But he is your responsibility. I will not be cleaning up after him or taking him outside. That is your job. And I don't want him to chew anything up or else he is out." He says with a final tone. 

I nod my head. "Got it." I say.

He sighs and nods his head. "I need some caffeine." is all he says before walking off.

"There is no way you convinced him." Elio says. "We use to try to get him to let us have a dog for years and he never budged!" 

"Well maybe you should have just taken one home and told the sob story of the century." I say with a shrug.

"He is a cute dog." Matteo says rubbing behind Bullets ear. He walks over towards me and places a kiss on the top of my head before following in Lorenzo's direction.

"Is he a pitbull?" Antonio asks me. It is surprising he is actually speaking to me.

"Yeah I think so. I am planning on taking him to the vet soon to check on everything. I don't know if hes ever even been to one." I say bending down and Bullet comes running over.

"Yeah that's probably a good idea." He says. He walks over and pats Bullet on the head before walking off towards his room. 

"Wow no sassy remark?" I say to Elio once Toni was out of sight.

"Maybe he is trying to be better." He says with a shrug.

Hm.

Word Count: 1206