Lost And Found

Chapter 11

Lorenzo's POV

Lorenzo leaned back in his chair, casually chatting with Marco as they waited for dinner to be served. The mood was light for once, no business talk or anything serious, just family hanging out.

But they paused when they heard footsteps coming closer to the door, and Angela's voice talking to someone. She entered the room with a laugh saying a goodbye to someone called 'Alex' which he hoped was short for Alexandra or something that was not a boy. The easygoing conversation halted, and every pair of eyes in the room turned toward her, the unspoken question hanging heavily in the air.

"Who's Alex?" Marco asked, trying to keep his tone light but failing to hide the edge in his voice.

Angela paused, glancing around at the faces of her brothers, clearly sensing the tension. "He's a good friend of mine from school," she said, her smile fading slightly as she moved to the empty seat at the end of the table, with Matteo and Nico on either side of her.

"A guy friend?" Antonio asked, his voice sharper than usual.

Angela raised an eyebrow, clearly picking up on the accusatory tone. "Yeah, a guy friend. Is there a problem with that?"

Antonio scoffed with a raised eyebrow, "Angela, you're not in middle school anymore. Guys don't just want to be friends with girls in high school. They always want something more."

Lorenzo felt the tension ratchet up a notch. He glanced at Antonio, silently willing him to stop, but his brother was already too far gone.

"Excuse me?" Angela demanded, her tone defensive as she glared at Antonio.

"What I'm trying to say Angela..." Antonio said, his voice hardening as he pushed on, unable to back down now. "...is that you've been on your own for a long while and maybe you don't realize it, but guys aren't usually just friends with girls. Not without wanting something in return. You should be more careful about who you trust. You might be too naive to see it, but the rest of us know how the world works."

Lorenzo winced inwardly, knowing this wasn't going to go over well, his words were harsh and uncalled for. He could see the anger in Angela's eyes, the way her hands clenched into fists in her lap.

"I am not naive," Angela said clearly pissed now.

Antonio didn't back down for some idiotic reason. "I'm just saying, you shouldn't be so trusting. Boys in high school only focus on one thing."

"Let me guess, you're a manwhore," Angela said with a roll of her eyes and Matteo snorted into his drink, the others holding their laughs in as well. She's got it spot on. "Alex is a great friend, one of my best friends in fact. He's like a brother to me."

"We're your brothers," Antonio said with a glare on his face.

"Biologically, yes. But I don't know you. I know him, because he's been there for me, not you. I've known you all existed for literally less than a day," Angela said clearly frustrated.

Antonio's face darkened further at Angela's words, but there was also a flicker of hurt. But instead of acknowledging it, he doubled down. "If you want to keep being naive, fine. Just don't come crying to us when you realize you've been played."

"Not all boys think with their dick Antonio," Angela snapped.

"Angela language," Dad snapped lightly and she flinched at his tone a flicker of something crossing her face before she looked down at her plate silently.

"Dad," Lorenzo said hoping he wouldn't say anything further but from the grimace on his face, he already regretted snapping at her. "Angela Antonio didn't mean it the way it came out. We're just concerned, that's all. You're our sister, and we want to make sure you're safe."