Katerina Dale

Warmth.

It spread across my whole body, making me crave for more of it. I snuggled into it further and a satisfied sigh escaped my lips. I've never felt so comfortable and so safe before. My arms tightened around the warmth, not wanting to let it escape from my hold.

"Hai ricevuto la foto, fratello?" I heard someone whisper yelling excitedly in Italian and began to stir awake. I could hear the familiar mischievousness of Alanzo's voice. (Did you get the picture, brother?)

"Sì, non preoccuparti. Puoi usarlo per fare in modo che tuo fratello ti acquisti la nuova Lamborghini in cambio di questa foto," a calm voice replied and I recognized it as Adriano's voice. I slowly opened my eyes and tried to adjust to the sudden brightness. (Yes, don't worry. You can use this to make brother buy you the newest lamborghini in exchange for this photo.)

"Huh? What the--" a frustrated sigh left my mouth when I tried to get up but was held down by a strong grip around my waist.

Turning to the left, I saw Arosio sleeping peacefully beside me with his arm wrapped around my waist as his leg rested over mine. My mouth fell open in shock and I looked at the other side to see it empty.

Where was Elijah? Wasn't I sleeping in his room? Where the hell did this devil come from?

"Elijah is taking a bath, the maids are helping him. Everyone is to be present downstairs for breakfast in half an hour. Unless you want to spend some more time with your husband," Alanzo teased with a smirk, making me want to throw the lamp on the nightstand at his handsome face.

The more I thought about it, the more anger I began to feel. I could hear the two men chuckling and my gaze snapped up to meet Alanzo and Adriano's amused glances with a fierce glare. Alanzo remained unfazed and even began to wriggle his eyebrow suggestively at me and I blinked at him in confusion before my eyes widened in shock.

"NO! I didn't sleep with your brother, I swear!" I screamed so loud that I could hear birds flying away outside before I turned around and kicked...yes KICKED... a sleeping Arosio off of the bed.

Arosio's body flew onto the ground and a loud crash could be heard before his wild eyes flew open and began to look around the room to search for any sign of danger. Upon only seeing his laughing brothers and my furious glare, his eyes seemed to widen in realization.

"Tesoro, listen..." Arosio began in a hesitant voice which took me by surprise since I had never seen him flustered before. His brothers looked surprised as well but I simply glared at him and pointed towards the door.

"Get out! All of you!" I yelled before running into the connecting bathroom to shower.

Staring into the huge mirror, a small gasp escaped me as I saw a bit of drool on the corner of my mouth and my hair was so wild, it probably looked like I was a zombie who crawled out of her grave.

"My hair!" a loud scream escaped me as I cursed the Gods for allowing those handsome and dangerous men to see my ugly morning appearance.

I could hear the three of them chuckling when I screamed, making my face instantly flush red. Ignoring them, I tore off Arosio's clothes and stepped into the shower. I had no idea what I would wear afterwards since I did not have any clothes at Arosio's personal mansion to pack. There wasn't even a trace of my sister's belongings either, she didn't even have a bedroom in his house.

Shrugging my shoulders, I focused on washing up for now and to worry about my clothing afterwards.

***

When I had stepped out of the shower with my hair hidden behind in two fishtail braids, I let out a sigh of relief because a maid was standing there with several outfits. She said that Arosio had purchased them for me. Each piece of clothing was fancy and costed almost as much as my tuition for school, making my eyes bulge out as soon as I saw the price tags.

Sure, grandpapa had a tailor make my clothes and we lived in mild luxury as well but it was nothing compared to the prices on these designer clothes. I didn't want to owe Arosio and his family anything so I refused the maid, whose name I learnt is Helena, and asked her to see if Eliana could possibly lend me some clothes.

In response, Helena stated that today was not a good day for the De Luca family and that Eliana would be in her room for the whole day, making me surprised. She refused to elaborate why so I asked her if she could find anything else in this house for me to wear.

Within ten minutes, she returned with a mint green, short-sleeved summer dress and handed it over to me. It was absolutely breathtaking, yet it had a simple design. It was exactly my type of dress, I love this style! I happily took it and skipped over to the bathroom to change into it before Helena escorted me to the main quarters for breakfast.

Entering the breakfast room, my footsteps faltered as I felt the tense and solemn atmosphere of the room. I saw Arsenio seated at the head of the table but this time, his wife was not seated beside him. There was an empty seat and Adriano and Alanzo sat beside it. Arosio sat on the right side with Elijah seated beside him.

They all looked towards me and their eyes widened slightly when they saw what I was wearing. I looked down at my dress and then towards them. A ghost of a smile made its way onto Arsenio's face as he nodded at me and gestured for me to sit down.

"Let's begin," Arsenio stated as I sat down beside Elijah and began to eat the delicious breakfast. I could feel Arosio's intense gaze on me and I looked towards him in confusion. A few moments passed by before he finally opened his mouth.

"Where did you get that dress, cucciola?" he questioned and I could feel the other men looking towards me as well.

"Erhm...the things you bought were too expensive...so I asked Helena to help me find something else to wear... you can return those other things, I do not need them," I explained while averting Arosio's eyes and continuing to eat my food. I could tell that he was not happy with me rejecting the clothes he purchased.

"Vorrei che la mamma potesse vederla indossare l'abito della sorella," Adriano suddenly broke through the silence and his words made his father stop eating. (I wish mom could see her wearing sister's dress)

I felt the room stiffen again and wanted to break the silence so I asked a question that had been on my mind since the moment I left Elijah's bedroom.

"Um Helena had mentioned that uh...mama?...would not be here for breakfast. Is she alright? Is she feeling ill?" I questioned carefully while placing more eggs onto Elijah's plate. He thanked me, making me ruffle his soft black curls and smile at him. I hesitated over how to address Eliana since I accidentally called her mama yesterday due to the fear I was feeling in that moment and wasn't sure whether to continue calling her that. I'm sure my sister wouldn't call her that if she was here.

The air seemed to stiffen even more as all four men fell silent and stopped eating. I silently cursed myself for making things even more awkward and prayed for one of them to break the silence. Arosio must have caught onto my nervousness since he reached towards me and gently took my hand into his warm palm under the table.

"She is alright. Today is her birthday," Arosio began in a grief stricken voice that I failed to catch onto it. I yanked my hand out of his and clapped my hands in excitement.

"That's great! We should be celebrating! Oh wait, I don't have a present to give her," I pouted thinking of what I could get for the woman who has been nothing but kind to me since I got here. I looked up at the four men and finally noticed the grief on their faces.

"What's wrong?" I tilted my head to the side and looked at Arosio who averted my gaze for the first time.

Adriano had his fist clenched around his fork while Alanzo was looking out the window in a daze. My gaze landed on Arsenio who let out a sigh and began to speak to me, although his voice was distant and filled with grief as well.

"Today is my wife's birthday but it is also the day that we lost our precious daughter, Alana. During childbirth, Alana lost a lot of blood and was taken into emergency surgery before she fell into a coma. Two weeks later, she took her last breath which happens to be exactly three years ago today. My wife has not celebrated her birthday in three years, instead she chooses to lock herself in our bedroom for the whole day and does not speak to anyone for the whole day," Arsenio explained in a helpless and tired voice as a silent gasp escaped me and tears brimmed my eyes.

"Lana was a passionate baker. She would always bake mom's birthday cakes with a new design every year. Ever since she passed away, mom stopped--" Adriano trailed off and dropped his fork onto the table before excusing himself. Alanzo soon followed him out as well with tears brimming his eyes.

"I'm so sorry," was all I could whisper as Arsenio shook his head towards me with a gentle look before leaving as well.

I looked down at my lap and noticed that Elijah had climbed onto it at some point and buried his small head into the side of my neck for comfort. Wrapping my arms around him tightly, I let the tears flow down my face.

How could I be so stupid? It was none of my business and yet I just had to remind them about their pain!

"Don't blame yourself. You did nothing wrong, tesoro. I have work to do but I will be back before dinner. Call me with the house phone if you need anything," Arosio's clear voice rang through the silent breakfast room before he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead and on top of Elijah's head. I was too caught up in my own feelings and failed to push him away from kissing me.

As soon as he left, Elijah lifted his head and I could see tears flowing down his beautiful emerald eyes as well. My heart clenched in pain when I saw his tears and I wiped them away gently.

"Will mommy leave me too? I don't want to lose my mommy again. I know you don't want me," Elijah's small voice spoke in between his soft sobs as I froze in pure shock.

"No, of course not! Why would you say that mommy doesn't want you?" I questioned him but already knew that my sister and her hired maids had probably scarred this poor little boy somehow.

"The maid that mommy paid said that I am not yours. And, that you and daddy will leave me just like my mommy left me when I was born. She said you hate me because my green eyes are proof that I am not yours and daddys. You have blue eyes and daddy has dark eyes unlike me," Elijah wailed loudly and his small body began to shake as my mouth fell open in shock.

Those disgusting, pathetic human beings! How could they say such a thing to such a small baby?

"No, that is not true my little Eli! I promise you that daddy and mommy will never leave you. You are our son, no matter what anyone says. Do you understand?" I whispered through tears and held his chin up to make sure that he saw the sincerity in my eyes.

"But...our eyes..." Elijah mumbled sadly and my heart felt like it was about to be torn into pieces.

Without further hesitation, I reached up to my eyes and removed the colored contact lenses. I looked down at Elijah who stared at me in wonder when my light green eyes met his beautiful emerald eyes.

"Mommy, your eyes!" Elijah exclaimed with a bright smile as I laughed softly.

"See, mommy also has green eyes! I was wearing contacts before because...because...well my father doesn't like my green eyes so I wore contacts instead!" I explained after struggling to come up with a lie. It wasn't a complete lie, my father wanted me to wear contacts since I had to pretend to be Isabella but he also probably hated my green eyes that remind him of my late mother.

"Hmph. I don't like grandpa Dale! He's a big meanie! Mommy, never hide your eyes, they are very pretty," Elijah demanded as I ruffled his soft curls and wiped his tears away while nodding my head.

"Thank you. But more importantly, these eyes are proof that you are mine and daddy's, alright? If anyone ever questions you, make sure you remember to tell them that your mommy also has the same beautiful green eyes as you, okay my little prince?" I tapped his nose and he giggled happily while nodding his head.

"Good! Now, let's go. We need to make a surprise for your grandma," I stated before retreating with a curious Elijah in my arms and heading towards the kitchen in the main quarters of the De Luca mansion.

***

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