Lost Lombardi

Chapter 16

Dino felt bored in the Lombardi mansion. Only Pietro and Don lived there, and both went to work every day. They seemed to love working. Even Don, who was very old, still went to work sometimes. But most of the time, he went on vacations.

Rocco and Niko lived nearby. Dino hadn't visited their houses and didn't want to. Dino didn't even have a mobile phone. He had two friends at school. They weren't close friends. They just hung out because none of them had other friends. The other two had phones because they had parents. Dino wondered if they missed him.

Most of the time, Dino watched TV. There was a large TV in his room. When he lived in the Johnsons' house, he snuck TV time when no one was home. Now, there was no one to stop him from watching TV. He could watch anything he wanted.

Dino was watching a mystery show one evening when a kissing scene suddenly appeared. At the same time, Pietro came into the room. Dino felt like he blushed, and his whole body felt hot with embarrassment. The kissing scene was very long, and the couple was French kissing, making sounds. Dino tried to turn off the TV with the remote, but it didn't work.

"Okay, I'll come back later," Pietro said, turning away.

"No, no. Wait," Dino said, and he finally turned off the TV.

"I didn't know you liked romance dramas that much," Pietro said.

"It was a detective show," Dino said.

"You don't have to lie. It's okay to like romance stuff. It's just a kiss. It's not like you haven't kissed before," Pietro said. Dino didn't know what to say. He had kissed a girl only once. But it wasn't him who started it. It was one of Christy's friends who often came to visit Christy. One day, there was a slumber party. Dino wanted to go to the bathroom at night. When he came out, Christy's friend stood outside the bathroom, smiling. She said something and kissed Dino. Dino couldn't remember what she said before and after kissing because he was surprised and shocked by the unexpected kiss.

Luckily, Pietro couldn't read Dino's mind. There was a file in his hand.

"Here, this is about your new school. You can go to their website and find more details about the school," Pietro said.

"Can I use your laptop?" Dino asked.

"Why don't you use your phone?" Pietro asked.

"I don't have one," Dino said.

"You don't have a phone?" Pietro asked with surprise.

"You never bought me one. Oh yeah, you didn't know I existed. So how could you?" Dino said, and Pietro's face darkened with anger.

Pietro lifted Dino's chin, looking into his eyes. "Are you not done with that yet?" he barked.

"I just said it," Dino said.

"Don't make me angry, or I'll put you back there," Pietro growled. Without meaning to, tears came out of Dino's eyes. It wasn't even intentional.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was just angry because of what you said," Pietro said. "I'm not going to put you back there," he added, touching Dino's back. Dino wiped his tears and felt embarrassed. He kept looking down, not meeting Pietro's eyes.

"You can go with Luca and buy what you want. Didn't I give you a credit card?" Pietro asked.

"You gave me one," Dino said.

"Okay then, go and buy a phone and a laptop," Pietro said. Dino looked at Pietro.

"Anything I like?" Dino asked to confirm.

"Yes, anything you like," Pietro said.

Dino went shopping with Luca and bought a mobile phone and a laptop. He didn't bother to search for information about his new school. Instead, he downloaded the Facebook app and searched for his classmates and Christy. He also searched for Robert and Emily.

First, he looked for Alex Trujillo. There weren't many Alex Trujillos on Facebook. He found his friend, and Alex had a profile picture of himself. Dino didn't want to send him a message. He just checked Alex's account to see what was new. At the same time, he wondered if Alex missed him and had mentioned anything on Facebook. Dino went through Alex's profile, but there was nothing about him. However, he saw pictures of Alex and Daniel on Alex's Facebook profile. Daniel was Dino's other friend, and Dino realized they were spending more time together without him. The discovery broke Dino's heart. So, he didn't bother to check Daniel's profile.

Then, Dino checked Christy's profile. There was nothing new on Christy's Facebook page since Dino had left. Dino wondered why that was. Even Robert and Emily hadn't posted anything on their Facebook accounts after Dino had gone.

Johnsons....

"Mom, what really happened to Dino?" Christy asked Emily.

"Don't talk about that piece of shit," Robert snapped, touching his back with pain. Even Emily was in pain these days, with bruises all over her body.

"Why don't you go to the police and make a complaint? Then they will find out who did this to you," Christy, who didn't know the whole story, said.

"Christy, it's not a big deal. We don't want to go to the police. I hate the police," Emily said.

"But what if those people come back?" Christy said.

"They won't. Don't worry," Robert said.

"Can I at least post anything on my Facebook now?" Christy asked.

"No, no. Just wait at least another week until these problems settle down," Robert said.

"What problems? Are we in any kind of danger?" Christy asked. "Does this have something to do with Dino?"

"Christy, Dino was sent to his parents. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Emily said.

"Then why did you guys act like he had disappeared that day?" Christy asked.

"It's... It's..." Emily looked at Robert for help.

"It's none of your business," Robert said to Christy. It was obvious to Christy that something was happening here, and her parents weren't telling her about it.