Silent love

Chapter 33

On the previous chapter...

Federico dragged a hand down his face, exhaling through his nose. He remains silent. His breathing was steady, but his shoulders held tension, wound tight, like he was forcing himself to keep it together. He doesn't say a word.

So, I sat beside him.

He didn't look at me as I lowered myself beside him. I didn't speak. Didn't try to fix what couldn't be fixed. I just stayed there. 

The silence between us wasn't uncomfortable. If anything, it felt like the only thing holding him together. 

Minutes passed.

Maybe more. 

Then, slowly, almost hesitantly, Federico shifted. His head dipped slightly, leaning against mine. Not fully, but enough, enough for me to feel it. To feel the weight of him.

I didn't say anything.

A silent truce. A moment of shared exhaustion neither of us voiced. 

And then

A shotgun blast.

Loud. Sharp.

From behind the door.

      
                      ʚ FEDERICO'S POV ɞ

I could hear him before I saw him. His voice slurred, thick with rage.

Always yelling and cursing.

My fingers curled into fists as I moved down the hallway, each step controlled, calculated, but the fury inside me was anything but. I could hear it. His voice echoing from the study.

"You think you can fucking talk back to me?" His voice boomed through the kitchen, shaking the walls. "After everything I've done for you?"

Fiorenzo was backed against the counter, his jaw clenched, his eyes burning with defiance. He wasn't afraid.

He should have been.

But Fiorenzo never knew when to back down.

"You haven't done shit for us". He spat. "You've ruined everything. You've ruined all of us".

The slap came fast. Sharp. Loud.

Seraphina flinched where she stood near the doorway, her arms wrapped around herself, her entire body tense. I saw the moment Fiorenzo's cheek turned red from the impact, but he didn't waver. He just stood there, breathing hard, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white.

His voice was lower now, dangerous. "You need to learn when to shut the fuck up".

And then he grabbed him.

"You fucking little shit!"

A crash.

Something shattering.

I quickened my pace.

"No! Stop, please!" Seraphina's voice. Desperate. Pleading.

It's always the same story. He is mad and starts to throw everything around him and hit us. Seraphina will be pleading to stop it, but no one listens to her. Our mother is always upstairs high. And it ends up with me getting all the punches.