Brother's Girl✔️

Cartorce

Gabriel's POV

I stood next to the door waiting for Dominique to come down. Today was her day off so she was available. I checked the time, it was a few minutes after eleven. Just when I was about to go get her, I see her walking up to me. She smiled at me standing in front of the door.

I was making a mistake telling her about this. Matteo didn't even let her know about foster care which meant he certainly did not want her to know about this. Why was I okay with ruining their relationship?

I knew telling her this would only cause more problems in their relationship, but I didn't mind. I didn't mind that I was tearing up my brother's relationship one day after the other. I sighed and took out my keys, I put it in the keyhole, "you have a key to your dad's room?" She asked.

"Yeah, he likes to lock himself here and get lost. I just have the key so I can check up on him," I told her. She nodded her head. My dad wouldn't allow anyone in here. I don't even think my mom has seen it. I twisted the key and pushed in the door.

The room smelt a mixture of paint and dust just like my dad likes it. The place seems so isolated that the door creaks. Dominique walks inside her jaw dropped staring at the place. The sunlight beamed inside through the window. The place was packed with paintings, but only one type, Ella. It was her in every situation possible, one with her favorite yellow dress my mom got her for our fifth birthday. She loved that dress so much that she didn't take it out for a week. One of them in her blue dress that matched her eyes.

That's all he spent his time painting, it was her the last time he saw her. Her innocent face, her missing teeth, she was just a kid. My dad's mind seemed to freeze on her at the tender age of six, the last time she was in here. The age of six, before they ripped us away. "They're so beautiful," Dominique said touching the edges. "Who is she?" She asked me turning around.

"Ella," I replied.

"Who's Ella?" She asked me. At this point, I wasn't surprised that she didn't know about her. Matteo wouldn't even speak to me about her, can't imagine he would with a stranger. She continued to examine the painting waiting for my answer. He would with Erika though, I shake my head. Erika is not a stranger, she's like the older sister I never had. Why couldn't I feel the same way about Dominique? Why couldn't I just consider her as a sister? 

"My sister," I answered her. She looked surprised.

"You guys have a sister?" She asked me.

"Had," I replied. "It's been years, but old stuff has been coming up," I said. For years, my family has been looking for the man who framed my parents and caused us to be taken away with no results. Five years ago, we agreed that we would stop except my mom didn't and she found him.

Matteo checked it and it's really him. They're all just so angry at this one man, not thinking it might be our faults too. "What happened?" She asked me. I shook my head no telling her I didn't want to talk about it. "Why didn't Matteo tell me about this?" She asked. I didn't know the exact answer to her question. I know Matteo loves her, he cares about her very much, I can see it in the way he talks about her and in the way he smiles when he mentions her.

I know he wouldn't want anything, but to be a family with her. However, it was more complicated than that. He didn't want to open up to her about the past, he didn't want her to know about the parts he tried so hard to bury deep. 

"I don't know," I replied, I decided to go with the simple answer. I heard a car door close, I looked out the window to see my dad. I sighed, "my dad's here, we got to go," I told her. She nodded her head, we make our way out of the room making sure I close it. As we were about to leave, I heard my dad coming at the bottom of the hallway. He didn't mind me coming to his room, but he would kill if he found out I was snooping around when he wasn't there.

I grabbed Dominique's hand and pulled her towards the hallway closet that is across the room. I closed the door, our bodies were smacked against each other. The closet was way too small, Matteo, Ella, and I used to hide in here all the time. Back then we were simply little kids, but I guess I should have realized to grown people couldn't fit inside the closet. "I thought you said he was going to be gone for an hour?" Dominique asked me.

"Maybe he forgot something," I told her shrugging my shoulders. She raised her head up staring into my eyes. She chuckled and nodded her head. We were once again stuck in an awkward position, our bodies were not even inches apart. They were now touching each other, I could hear her heartbeat, I could feel her chest rise and fall, I could feel every breath she took. "I'm sorry," I told her.

"It's fine," she said. "Kind of fun being stuck in a closet. It makes it seem like we're being sneaky, like a secret mission or something?" She asked making sure I understood her. I nodded my head telling her I got it. She licked her lips bringing] my attention to them. I'm sure she didn't mean to do that intentionally, I sighed and tried to stop myself from staring at her. 

We were stuck together, I could no longer run away from her if I felt myself losing control. I had to stay in control because I felt myself losing it every second we spent in there. Control, control, I closed my eyes telling myself. "I'm sorry about your sister," she told me causing me to open my eyes. 

"Yeah," I said, "I'm sorry too," I murmured under my breath. Something moved behind her making her to almost fall hitting my chest. Her hands were on my chest, "it's probably a rat, I don't think anyone has been here," I whispered to her telling her to calm down.

"You guys have rats?" She asked me surprised.

"Maybe," I replied. She chuckled shaking her head, I joined her. We stopped dead silent loss in each other's eyes. "You know Dominique, we can't hide this forever," I told her.

"I know," she simply said. We leaned in staring at each other. Deep down, we both knew what we were doing was wrong. I was hurting my brother, but I wanted this girl and I was losing control every minute I spent with her. I closed my eyes, our lips were almost touching, the door opened. We both pulled away awkwardly, I turned and saw our maid, Amy. 

"Sorry to disturb you," she told us, "but Matteo says he's been calling you and he couldn't reach your cell," she handed Dominique her phone. Dominique got out of the closet, she sighed and put the phone in her ear.

"Hey babe, what's up?" She asked as she walked down the hallway. Amy looked at me with a smile.

"How did you know we were in here?" I asked her.

"I saw you guys enter," she said. I sighed and got out of the closet, I sighed, "you know," she said as I tried to go to my room and take a shower or something to wake myself the hell up before I have to see my brother later. I turned and looked at Amy, "Mr. Russo wouldn't enjoy you guys snooping around in his room," I nodded my head. I thought she was about to say something about Dominique and I. I smiled and made my way upstairs to my room to cool off.