Trusting My Brothers

Chapter 25

We finally arrived to the third floor and my brothers took me to the main area, which was packed with their gang members. When they hear our arrival, everyone stops what they are doing and stares. The looks mostly are of awe, like they couldn't believe I exist. Maybe its because their boss is my brother, since there is nothing special about me. 

I start to get uncomfortable about the stares and say, "Excuse me? I am a person, not some object that is here to be looked at, so go back to what you were doing before."

That snapped everyone out of their trance and they went back to their conversations. Turning to my brothers, I see them smirking at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You literally called out over fifty gang members." said Savio.

"Oh. They're not going to kill me, right?"

"Don't worry. Most of the people here are jokesters. Plus, we told you that we would protect you." Nico states and I give them a smile.

They walked me around the place, showing me everything. I have to admit, everything looks really cool. There is a huge workout area in the right corner that has any equipment you may ever need. I see an armory next to the gym with guns, knives, literally any weapon you could possibly think of. Anyone other person would probably be terrified, but I am actually really interested. I used to be scared of the mafia but I'm not anymore because I know that my brothers are here. Also, the more I thought about it, I realized that the whole Mafia thing can't be worse than being abused for years.

I can tell that my brothers are curious as to why I'm not cowering in fear, but they don't really say anything. Instead, Enzo just decide to make a big introduction for me so that the gang knows not to mess with me while Nico and Savio are doing whatever.

"Hey, listen up. Obviously, you all know that we have a little sister, Liliana. But I want to make something clear, if anyone so much as harms a fucking hair on her head, you will answer to us. I expect you to treat her with respect as well and protect her. Got it?" Enzo stated clearly. 

Everyone gives some sign that they understand and I can tell they all respect him. Going back to their jobs, I turn to him.

"You do know that you have to treat me with respect too. And you are not going to turn me into your little obedient princess, even if you are nice to me." I say, trying to make a point.

He gives me a genuine smile. "Yes, I do know that. And I'm truly sorry for how I treated you. When your mom left us, I became really closed off and I guess when you came into our lives, I was just jealous and really stressed out."

"Well, I'm sorry that you had to grow up without her. It was hard growing up without a dad and my stepdad never did fill that position. Remember how I acted when I first got here. Even I will admit that I was closed off and bitchy, but in my defense, you were acting like bastards. Please excuse my language, but it's true."

"I'm not going to say anything about your bad language, but only for today. But anyways, when I saw how you were with Michael, I was upset, because you guys had the sibling bond that I was supposed to have with you. To be honest, I'm probably giving you whiplash with my mood swings, but I really want to get to know you."

I think for a moment. Everything he said was actually sincere and I don't know what to do. One part of me wants to open up and tell him all the bad things that have happened. But the other part is still afraid of getting hurt. 

Deciding to make a compromise, I say, "I would like that too, but it will take me a while to fully trust you."

"I understand that and I don't care how long it takes. Ti voglio bene sorellina.(I love you little sister) And I won't ever be able to tell you how much I regret treating you awfully."

In response to that, I give him a hug that lasted for probably a couple minutes. I was forced to let go when one of the members came over.

"Sorry Capo. We have a situation you need to take care of. It involves that guy that stole money from you, Nate." The second I hear that name, my head shoots up. It can't be my stepdad, right? He's dead. He had to have died in that accident.

Enzo notices my reaction and asks, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go do what you got to do."

He still seems apprehensive, but decides not to question it further. "Okay, but Hunter here is going to stay with you."

I agree and he leaves. Hunter makes conversation with me and I talk to him, but my mind is somewhere else. I have to know if the Nate they are talking about is the one I know. There may be a lot of people that have that name, but I have a gut feeling that it is him.

"Hey, I need to use the bathroom. I'll be right back." Hunter nods and I start to make my way to the restroom, but at last minute, I turn in the direction that Enzo went in. It wasn't too hard to find the room he went in, which actually looked like a torture room and this made my anxiety go up. 

Taking a deep breath, I enter and see exactly what I was dreading. There he was, Nate, sitting in a chair all strapped up and bloody and bruised. To be honest, the sight actually made me want to smile since I used to look like that after his beatings. That probably makes me crazy, but he put me through so much. 

My three brothers are in there, yelling at him, but I don't register the words coming out of there mouths. My focus is on Nate and him only. He turns his head slightly and catches my eye, smirking.

"Well, look at that. Is it really you? I would have thought you would be lying dead in a ditch by now." He said. My brothers stopped talking and followed his gaze straight to me.

"What the hell are you doing here? You are supposed to be with Hunter." yelled Enzo.

"Huh. So I guess you are now the gangs whore. Should have guessed that." said Nate. 

Hearing all my brothers call after me, but ignoring them, I walk right up to Nate and punched him in the jaw. He can't hurt me when he is all tied up, so might as well take advantage of that. He deserved the hit that I gave him.

"Well, last I heard, you were supposed to be dead. But I guess I can't be that lucky." I said.

He spits out blood and says, "How dare you speak to me like that, you bitch! I was fucking there when your father abandoned you."

I laugh humorlessly. "Oh, so you think that you deserve a father of the year award, you abusive motherfucker. You know, you deserve whatever hell these boys put you through."

"All you were was a dumb, scared, defenseless kid who couldn't fight back. You deserved what you got."

"I may have been scared, but I was never defenseless. I just never fought back because I was smart. You didn't think that I knew that if I hit you back, you would have just gotten me arrested. Well, let me tell you something, there is no police here."

I punch him in the face again and land a kick in his stomach before my brothers held me back. As I was trying to get them to let me go, they were whispering comforting words, trying to calm me down, and it eventually worked. When they realized I wasn't going to lunge at him, they let go. They told the other gang member in the room to handle Nate and pulled me into a corner.

"What the fuck was that? And what did he mean about him being like a father?" asked Savio.

"That was my stepdad. I thought he was dead, but when Hunter said that you had to handle something involving Nate, I was curious if it was was him. And as it turned out, it was him and I guess I just wanted revenge on him." I said honestly.

Nico asked the question that I was dreading. "You told us that your parents neglected you. So why did you use the word abusive?"