Twice Shy [ON GOING]

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

Gia

I walked into an empty restaurant, there was not a single person in sight so, I lightly frowned to myself.

"Where is everyone?" I asked under my breath as I continued walking through the tables.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw Aurellio sitting at a table at the back of the restaurant. I sucked in a deep breath before I made my way over to him. I sat down across from him and he immediately sat upright in his chair.

"Gia, welcome." He uttered so I smiled at him.

"This is a beautiful restaurant." I told him and he chuckled lightly while nodding his head at me.

"That's the reason why I wanted to meet you here, sister. Because this restaurant used to belong to our grandfather. Giuseppe Giordano. Mom used to love it here." Aurellio uttered so I curiously looked around me.

"How does that work?" I questioned him with a frown on my forehead.

"Well he gave it to me." Aurellio explained.

"No, not that. How do you know so much about them and I can barely remember what they looked like. And why don't I remember you? I mean I was eight when it happened so why don't I remember having a brother?" I asked Aurellio in confusion and he slowly sat back in his chair while he looked at me through narrowed eyes.

"It's simple, Kemal brainwashed you. You were a kid, it's easy to brainwash a kid. And grief is a strange thing-- trauma is even stranger. So, I don't blame you, little one." He assured me so I slowly looked back up at him. "The first thing you should probably know is that you had more than one birthright." Aurellio told me.

"Our mom's dad was the head of the Italian mafia, right?"

"He was. You were named after him, you know? Our grandfather." Aurellio told me as I was looking at him in confusion.

"I was?" I curiously questioned and he nodded at me as confirmation.

"What was he like?" I smiled at him and he sighed heavily.

"Giuseppe Giordano was a good man. He was wise, and feared. Everyone in Sicily respected him, they called him the 'Godfather' because of his caring nature. You would've liked him." Aurellio reckoned.

I wish I knew them. My family.

"I hate to ask this but- how did Kemal- do it? How did he kill them? I need to know in order for me to move on." I uttered as a painful knot started to form in my throat.

"Where do I even start?" Aurellio half heartedly uttered. "Our dad was the head of the Turkish mafia and I would've inherited that title if Kemal didn't kill dad."

"But what did mom ever do to him though? I mean why did he kill her if his problem was with our dad?" I asked in confusion.

"Mom and I would've been loose ends that's why he killed her."

"And how did you survive?" I asked him.

"Mom had a bodyguard, he was one of our grandfather's men. Kemal ordered his men to kill me and lucky for me Alessandro got to me before they did. He took me to Sicily, back to our grandfather." Aurellio explained so, I slowly nodded in understanding.

"And where is this Alessandro now?"

"He died years ago. He was a good man, he had a wife and a family. He never broke the laws of the mafia and he was cruel yet he's never killed a man before." Aurellio told me. 

"And you? Have you killed a man before?" I carefully asked him.

"I have, probably more men than I can count. I've fought many wars in the mafia alongside men that I barely talk to now." He uttered as he emptied half a glass of whiskey.

"About that, Viktor told me about Emily." I softly told Aurellio and he shot me a bitter smile.

"I didn't think he had it in him to tell you about the monster that he used to be." Aurellio bitterly laughed before he looked into my eyes. "I mean he wiped out an entire mafia family because of a woman who did not love him."

"What?" I uttered in confusion.

First it was the thing with Kemal and now this. Was Kemal right about Viktor?

Hayir (no).
I shouldn't believe the worst about the man that I love. It's not right.

"You heard correctly. Emily had both Viktor and I wrapped around her little finger. She lied to us to get what she wanted and she told both of us how much she loved us. And who wouldn't believe such a beautiful lie?" Aurellio smiled at me.

"I'm confused." I frowned at Aurellio and he sighed lightly.

"Let me guess, he painted me out to be the bad guy. Happens." Aurellio shrugged and I frowned at him.

"Anyway, after Emily- I stopped believing in love, romance or whatever they call it these days. It's hard to believe that Viktor gave it another shot. No disrepect to you but Emily has left some real nasty scars behind. She might be dead but it's like she's still hanging in the air like cheap perfume." Aurellio bitterly told me.

"You still love her, don't you?" I softly asked him.

"Loving somebody is a choice and being in love is an illusion. It does not exist. It's not real."

"I think anything is real if you've felt it before. And you cannot choose who you fall in love with, love chooses you." I calmly argued before placing my hand on his and he just silently looked at me.

"You're wise beyond your years, sister. I mean you're barely twenty and you're already giving me lessons about life. The audacity." He jokingly uttered and I smiled at him before I started asking him questions about our childhood and we fell into a deep conversation.

Usually, I'm not the best judge of character but I like Aurellio. I'm happy that I have a brother and I'm even happier that it's Aurellio.

I see a bright future for our family. I mean just look at how far we've come.