"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." -Oscar Wilde

~Recap~

"You listen to me, okay? You did not a single fucking thing wrong, you hear me? Nothing. I don't blame you, Sandro doesn't blame you, mum and dad sure as hell didn't blame you, because you did nothing wrong. And the rest of your brothers can rot in hell after Sandro finishes his lecture to them. Because you did not a single thing wrong, you hear me? Nothing." He says lovingly, kissing my head once again.

I need to get out. Now.

In a flash, my chair is being pushed back, a loud scrapping noise following.

I look around, the attention now on me once again. Not knowing what to do, I say "I'm going upstairs." And then I turn away, slowly walking to my room.

But just before I leave the kitchen, I turn and say "And for you're fucking information, I didn't kill them. I was a child. A fucking child. So grow the fuck up and pull whatever the hell is stuck up your ass out because you're all fucking pricks." And with that, I stormed out.

Oh what joys this fucking house brings.

~Now~

(Giovanni's POV)

There are a million reasons of why someone might choose to leave their life.

Sometimes we leave when things get to hard.

Or sometimes we leave to protect others.

Or sometimes we leave for completely different reasons.

But the fact remains the same, if you leave and come back, things will never be the same as when you left.

No matter how hard you try.

No matter how hard you have fallen.

Things will never be the same.

And you need to be ready to expect that, no matter the reason of your leave.

People will have aged, matured, become different people.

They will have different lives, lives without you in it.

That's not to say they don't need you, no. Sometimes the people absent in your life are the people that you need the most.

But it just means that sometimes, you have to work just a little bit harder to fit back into place.

A new place.

A new place that you've carved on your own.

Things might be broken for a while, but you will get through it.

"What the hell has gone on whilst we've been away." I whisper in surprise, thinking out loud to myself.

Leaving might've been the worst mistake of our lives.

And I regret every single day of it.

I swear it's not even been that long.

It felt like ages, but after a while, the business of work made the time fly by.

But coming back, they all looked pretty much the same. Slightly older and more mature, slightly more facial hair, but other than that, the same as the day we left.

All but one.

All but Lila.

Seeing her made me realise what we'd lost by leaving. She had been the one to change the most. Considering she was 11 when we had to leave, returning and seeing her as a 15 year old young woman was shocking. She had grown and matured, her checks less chubby and her face more matured. She was almost unrecognisable. Her hair colour had changed from the dark black to being a chestnut brown, her eyes had changed from having heterochromia to being the same golden brown in both eyes, she looked almost unrecognisable. It was only the shape of her face and small frame that made me recognise her, the freckles speckled across her face helping. She was no longer the tiny baby I could fit on my arm.

She was still tiny, yes, but she looked as if she'd lived a thousand lifetimes.

Even my fratellino Angelo had aged, considering he was 16 when we left, he had grown so much more handsome and adult-like. But other than that, the rest of my fratelli looked similar to when I'd left them. (baby brother) (brothers)

I missed a lot.

I've missed too much.

And leaving was a mistake.

I regret it.

I regret it all.

But I have to remind myself, I was protecting her, I was protecting them all.

"What the fuck has happened." I whisper again, breathlessly, in shock of all that has occurred.

You see, our family is part of the Italian Mafia.

Hold on, let me correct myself.

Our family is the Italian Mafia.

And after our father died four years ago, the title of Capo (boss) automatically fell onto Alessandro's shoulders.

But, when there's a weakness, there is time for an uprise.

An old-Italian Mafia family wanted to take over. They had been expelled decades ago due to aggressiveness and conflicting attitudes.

Aka they were misogynists and sexual harassers.

They needed to leave.

However, years later, they still held a grudge.

And they had power.

They had built up a gang in Italy that had grown huge numbers quickly. That along with their sexual trafficking which brought in piles of cash meant that they were quickly becoming an increasing threat.

And of course we could've just stopped them easily.

That was until we realised something.

They had spied inside our Mafia.

And they were blackmailing us with Lila.

Our own baby sister.

They had pictures of her in her bedroom sleeping, watching tv, eating breakfast, even playing with her brothers outside.

And they had eyes everywhere.

We realised that the only way to keep her and our other brothers safe was to go directly to the source of our problems.

Go directly to Italy and destroy the Gang.

Destroy their sex trafficking and save all those innocent people.

Destroy it all.

And so we did.

And it took longer than expected.

Day by day, we wished it would hurry up.

But alas, it never did.

Until a few days ago, when we managed to get a mole into their base and find their main base, allowing us to blow their shit up from the inside, destroying all of their work and saving all of those people.

And finally allowing us to come home.

To our family.

And we rushed home as soon as we did.

Expecting for things to be like we never left. I mean of course things would have changed, they're older now, more mature, but I would've thought it would be similar.

I missed them so much. So so much.

I would've stayed in a heartbeat.

Because I've missed too much.

We've missed too much.

And nothing will be the same...

If only we could tell Lila the true reason why we left. Maybe she would let us in more. Maybe she would understand.

~Later that day~

"Hey Sandro, where did you go this morning? I was looking for you to sign the Morianno reports and you were no where to be seen." I ask.

He looks at me, emotions masked on his face.

But I know him better than that.

He's hiding something.

"Just for a drive." He says in a voice. A 'fucking drop it' voice.

Interesting.

He's protecting something.

Protecting... someone?

He sighs in sadness and annoyance. "I don't even know what to do anymore, Gio. We missed so much. So fucking much. They're different and our family is broken and I don't know what to do! I promised our parents I'd look out for them and I haven't even managed to do that!" He says in frustration.

I look at him shocked.

He may be my brother but he's not talked this emotionally in years.

"I don't know." I reply.

I really don't know.

"We never should have left." He says

"I know."

Another chapter!

Sorry for the long wait! It's been a hectic week!

Hope you enjoyed the new POV and the chapter and hopefully see you soon!