Trusting My Brothers

Chapter 11

We take our seats at the dining table and I sit next to Michael, seeing as that was the only other seat available besides the one next to his mom. I notice that everyone is looking at me in a weird way, which is making my anxiety go up. I squeeze my hand into a fist, making nail marks in my skin. Michael sees what I am doing and puts his hand and mine. 

He leans in and whispers, "Stop it. I promise that you will be fine." I give him a nod in thanks and divert my attention back to everyone else. No one says anything and eventually, the dinner is served.

Dinner was a lasagna with a side of garlic bread. I knew for a fact that I would be able to finish it, but I also knew that my brothers would be mad. 

Once we start to dig in, Mrs. Russo says something. "Allora, Liliana, come conosci mio figlio?(So, Liliana, how do you know my son?)" Crap. 

"Umm. I'm sorry. I don't understand Italian." I see Michael looking at me weirdly but I just grab his hand as a way to say later. 

He responds to his mothers question for me. "We became best friends after Liam moved away."

 Matteo says annoyingly, "Wow, did you have any friends that were not boys?" 

I laugh and say, "Well, they were like my big brothers and protected me unlike you." So I am afraid of my older brothers, but I also will stand up to them and let me tell you, their faces were priceless. 

Michael just laughed at my comment and everyone else look shocked and angry. Mr. Russo is the one to say something. "You need to learn to respect others, especially your brothers. Do you understand?" 

Michael says smugly, "Oh, I can answer that for her. No. To her, you have to earn respect and in order for her to give it, you have to respect her as well." I give him a small smile because I couldn't have said it better. 

"Women in our line of work can't have a sharp tongue nor be outspoken. You need to keep your thoughts to yourself and learn to be respectful." said Mrs. Russo. 

"What do you mean in our line of work?" I ask. 

"She meant nothing." said Lorenzo, glaring at her. 

Wait, they talked about hurting a guy a couple of days ago and women need to learn to be respectful to men in their business. They have a cold look and I am not allowed on the third floor. Sometimes I even notice that their knuckles are bruised, which they usually brush off when I ask about it. If what I read in books is accurate, then they are in the...

"Мафия.(Mafia)" I say and from the look on Michael's face, I am right. 

"What did you say, Liliana?" asked Savio. I just respond with nothing and quietly continue to eat my dinner.

My older brothers and Michael's parents started to talk in Italian. 

"Quindi iniziamo a parlare dell'alleanza.(So let's start talking about the alliance.)" said Savio.

 "Ok, quindi è in arrivo una guerra e abbiamo bisogno di un alleato. Sei molto potente e influente nel mondo e potremmo usarlo.(Okay, so there is a war coming and we need an ally. You are very powerful and influential in the world and we could use that.)" said Mr. Russo.

 "Capiamo. E poiché siete nostri buoni amici, vi aiuteremo. Inoltre, non parlarne in inglese davanti a mia sorella. Non lo sa e finché non impara le buone maniere, non lo scoprirà.(We understand. And since you are good friends of ours, we will help you. Also, don't speak of this in English in front of my sister. She doesn't know and until she learns manners, she won't find out.)" Lorenzo says. Well sorry to ruin your plan, but I already know. 

Mr. Russo responds with, "Deve essere la perfetta piccola principessa mafiosa. È l'unica ragazza della tua famiglia, quindi è importante.(She needs to be the perfect little Mafia Princess. She is the only girl in your family so it is important.)" 

I look at Michael with a blank face, but my eyes show my fear. It is getting harder and harder to breathe and he can tell. 

Turning back to my family, I say, "I'm done. May I go to my room? I'm not feeling well." My brothers look at my plate, which still has half the food, and turn back to me. 

"You've barely ate, but go ahead. I already know you won't eat anymore." I murmur a quick thank you before rushing back to my room, noticing that Michael was following me. I get to my bedroom and start freaking out. Michael sits both of us on the bed and holds me. He puts my hand on his chest and starts telling me to listen to his heartbeat. This was not the first time I had a panic attack in front of him, so he knew what to do.

 Eventually, I calm down and give him a hug in thanks. 

"Are you okay?" he asked. 

"You should know not to ask me that. Especially after what I just heard. They are in the Mafia and want to turn me into their little obedient princess. You know how hard it is for me to respect people, especially them, knowing that the respect won't be reciprocated." I say, while tears are falling. 

"I will help you, I promise. But your brothers are dangerous, though they will never physically hurt you." I get up and start pacing, accidentally hit my ribs on the corner of the desk and letting out a small cry of pain. Michael notices and makes me lay on the bed. He used to help me with my injuries from either my parents or fighting, usually my parents. 

I knew that he was going to make me show him where I was hurt, which was technically my entire body. 

"Let me see where you are hurt." I shook my head. 

"Please. You know I hate it when you pretend you are okay." Since I had a sports bra on, which is usually what I train in, I take off my blouse. My stomach is covered with purple and green bruises, as is my arm and shoulders. 

I hear him suck in a breathe and say, "I'm going to check to see if your ribs are broken or just bruised." I nod and then he starts pressing on them, making my hiss in pain. 

He finally finishes his check up about five minutes later. 

"I think that they are only bruised. And you did a good job disinfecting that cut, but why is your arms and wrist bandaged?" He knew why once I started crying and he held me again as tears of his own fell. 

"Please stop. I know that you are strong. Tell me, why you are doing this?" 

"Because you and Liam were gone. Because I wasn't allowed to play music anymore. Because it became too much. Because fighting wasn't working as much without you in my corner." 

He hugged me tighter and said, "Well there is an underground fighting club here I am apart of, but so are your younger older brothers. If you want, you can start training with me again and get back in the ring once you fully heal? What do you say, Spitfire?" I smiled at my fighting name. 

"Well I say, Hell yeah."

A/N: So I decided to add a new main character, Michael Russo. I didn't give any physical characteristics of him but imagine that he has black hair with blue eyes and has a tattoo of a serpent on his arm. In the next chapter, I will describe his personality in more detail, since it will focus on them training. Also thank you guys so much for helping me hit 1K views! It means so much! Keep an eye out on the next update :)