Trusting My Brothers

Chapter 23

The rest of the week went by as smooth as possible. And by possible, I mean I got into yet another argument with Matteo since apparently his girlfriend told him that I hit her, which led to me actually punching her because she pissed me off. On Thursday, Cole, Liam, and I went to Starbucks again to work on the project and we finished all of the questions. He lied on a couple of the questions since they could be related back to the Mafia, but other than that, the meeting wasn't that bad. I did learn a little about him and when I got home, my brothers asked if I learnt anything valuable that they could use.

It is now Friday and I have a fight tonight, so Michael trained me yesterday . Talking a little with my brothers at dinner, they told me that they were going to be out tonight and that they should be home late. That is a good thing since I don't have to worry about them catching me sneaking out. But I think that they are going to il Sangue Incontra il Sangue so I have to be careful there.

After dinner, I start getting ready for the fight. Michael told me that the person I would be fighting is actually putting money down on them winning, which is 20 grand. I have won about 2 grand in a fight before, but no one has ever bet that much. I start to worry a little since if the guy is betting a lot, that must mean that the guy is pretty good. But then I remember that Luca was almost undefeated and I had beat him.

I wear a red long sleeved gym crop top with leggings and a masquerade mask. Leaving my phone home in case that my brothers decide to check my location, I go through my window and meet up with Michael. We then go to pick Liam up and make our way to the underground fighting club.

Once we get there, Michael and I sign in and go to the back area. Seeing my brothers there as well as Cole, I sneak into a back corner with Michael and stretch a little. While stretching, I hear Nico's name get called and watch him make his way to the cage. The fight goes on for about ten minutes before he is deemed the winner. Michael is the next one to fight, only his goes on a little longer, but he still wins, only coming back with a couple bruises here and there.

I start to get a little anxious once I hear my name called. "Good luck." said Michael and I start to get up.

Getting in my corner of the ring, I look up to see Cole on the other side. Shit. Of course it is him. Who else would waste 20 thousand dollars on a fight.

The guy starts the fight and Cole immediately throws the first punch. I block it easily and swipe his legs from under him. He quickly recovers and attempts a kick, which I knew he was going to do, so I side step him and punch him in the stomach, making him lose his breath.

We continue to fight until I land a punch in his face and knock him down. He had a lot of tells that helped me win like with Luca. The referee announces that I am the winner and I quickly make my way to the back area. Once I collect my money, Michael and I go to meet Liam and we leave to go to my house.

When I get home, I see one car in the driveway that I recognize as Nico's and start to panic. Hopefully he hasn't been up to my room.

Hurrying up, I climb in to my bedroom window and see Nico sitting on my bed with a angry look on his face.

"Where the hell have you been?" He yelled.

"I went to Val's house." I said lying. I could tell he knew.

"Really? Then why did I see you at il Sangue Incontra il Sangue? And don't you dare try to lie to me." I knew he would find out. Maybe I could trust him not to tell anyone. Do I actually trust him?

After having a debate in my mind, I say, "Okay fine. I fight, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Obviously I know you fight, I literally saw you. What I want to know is why would you fucking do that? You could get seriously injured." He said.

"Because it helps with everything. It is a way to cope with everything and be an outlet to get all my frustration out, like what music does."

His eyes soften a little and he calms down. "Look Lil, I do understand. I have been fighting since a young age too and for the same reasons as well. I know what it is like, but I am terrified that you could get badly hurt. Do you think that I want to see you on a hospital bed? I wouldn't know what to fucking do. I know that I treated you like shit when you first got here, but I was afraid that you would reject me like how you did with our other brothers. I'm sorry that I yelled at you; I should have handled this more maturely. I truly care about you. You are my Sorellina."

I start to feel bad. I know where he is coming from and looking into his eyes, I can see that he loves me. In the beginning, he acted like he hated me, but now, his face shows me that he does love me and missed me when I was gone. Maybe I am starting to open up to the possibility of loving and trusting him. He may had not been the best, but all he is doing is making sure that I am safe.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I have never really had anybody worry about me other than Michael and Liam. Nic, can you please let me continue to fight and please not tell our brothers? I've been fighting for over a year and I don't know how to cope with the frustration without it. I promise to try to get as unharmed as possible and come to you if I need anything or if something happens." I say softly.

He thinks for a moment before replying, "I have to think about it. But if I do agree, it is only if you start training with me. I want to give you your best chance at winning. Also, if anything does happen, our brothers find out immediately."

I immediately agree to his terms. "And Michael usually trains me, but I think he would be okay with you training me as long as he is there. By the way, how did you know it was me?"

"I saw the birthmark on your collarbone and immediately recognized it. You are lucky that our brothers are not very observant. And by the way, you are a really good fighter. I can't believe you beat both Luca and Cole." We both have a small smile on our faces. 

"Well, it wasn't too hard. They both had tells that helped me know what their next move was going to be. Also, I had motivation for beating Cole since he bet 20 grand on himself and I didn't have that kind of money." 

"Seriously, 20 thousand dollars? He is an arrogant prick, isn't he? He sounds like one and i don't know him except for the fact that he is a part of our rival gang."

I smirk. "He is definitely an arrogant, irritating asshole." Instead of getting mad that I cussed, he just laughed, causing me to join in.

Both of us crawling into my bed, we talked for a while about random things until we both fell asleep. All I think about before drifting into a dreamless sleep was that I hope he doesn't break the small trust that he just earned.