"I wasn't born to be soft and quiet. I was born to make the world shatter and shake at my fingertips." -Unknown

~Recap~ (Giovanni's POV)

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."

~Now~ (Lila's POV)

It's been another three days.

I've been trying to sneak out through the window but it seems that Alessandro has tripled the security around the house.

Probably to stop me sneaking off again...

I've been camping out in my room in defiance of their stupid comments.

And because I've been waaaaaay to embarrassed about my outburst to see their glaring faces again.

But alas... as I hear knocking on my door, I realise luck is not on my side today.

Or any day in matter of fact.

"Come on, Lila. You can't hide in here forever! It's been three days! Have you even eaten?" Giovanni shouts through the door.

No. No I fucking haven't.

I hear him sigh through the door.

"She's not answering, Sandro. It's been three days! It's not healthy! What if- I mean- what if she's dead?" He whispers.

Ah interesting. Gio's been the only one knocking on my door so far. Alessandro's not come by once, nor has any of the others. Which I'm so grateful for to be honest.

"Calm down. She is not dead. If she doesn't open the door and come have food by the end of the day, I'll break down this fucking door myself. So calm yourself, Gio." Alessandro states in a cold voice.

He then knocks on the door.

I know it's him knocking cause Gio always knocked with a tune and a lot gentler.

He knocks with purpose and more force.

"Delilah, open this door now." He coldly states.

I'm silent. The whole world is silent.

"I'm not kidding, Delilah. If you don't come out right now I'm knocking down this door and dragging you down for dinner myself." He shouts coldly.

"What's going on?" I hear the tired and confused voice of Rocco appear.

I'm distracted from listening to the explanation by the firm knock again.

"This is your last chance. Delilah Hale Russo open this fucking door now or so help me God." He shouts, voice icy cold.

I'd rather my door not knocked down that you very much.

That would mean no privacy at all.

Before they do, I jump off my bed and open the door, craning my neck up to meet their gazes.

"What?" I mutter, annoyed.

"First of all, lose the attitude." Alessandro says sharply.

He may be my brother but he's still a mafia leader and knows how to be scary...

"And secondly, you're coming down for dinner and I'm not going to ask you again."

I sigh. "Fine." I manage to grumble out.

"I was expecting more more resistance." Whispers Giovanni to Alessandro when I move past them to walk downstairs, not meaning for me to hear.

I would've not gone but I'm so tired and can't put up a fight. I've not got the energy for it.

I haven't slept in so long I could literally drop down and fall asleep right now.

But alas my mind won't allow me to.

As I slowly make my way to the kitchen, I see Alessandro and Giovanni making their way behind me too.

Eventually we all make it to the kitchen and take our seats.

Everyone immediately puts away their things as soon as we sit down, presumably due to Alessandro's authority being here.

As soon as they see me there, I expect glares from all of them, however I see none.

All I see are looks of...

...regret?

I don't want to do this.

I can't do this.

I'm about to back away from the table and go upstairs when Alessandro suddenly meets my eyes.

It's as if he's sending my thoughts and hesitation, immediately starting to speak to get the attention off of me. "Let's have dinner now, shall we?"

As soon as he says that, we all start digging in to the plates of mushroom risotto in front of us.

I eat slow bites, but eat none the less.

Half way through my plate I feel stuffed. If I eat anymore, I'll be sick.

I just play with my food on my plate and wait for my brothers to finish their dinner.

I see some of them glance towards my plate, but one look at the scowl on my face makes them look away quickly.

After I've glared at all of my brothers a few times, Alessandro clears his throat and begins speaking. "I know things have been... tense around here lately," some of my brothers cough at this, "But things are going to change. You can't keep ignoring each other and fighting each other forever."

"You must be fucking kidding." Rocco laughs.

"Watch your fucking language. A new rule is being implemented in this house now that we're back. No swearing will be said under this roof. Do I make myself clear?" Alessandro says in a threatening tone.

"You're fucking joking! You're such a fucking hypocrite! You can't just come back here and change everything and expect us to act as if everything's okay!" Rocco shouts, standing up in anger.

At this, Alessandro storms up, his chair getting pushed back in the process. "I AM NOT FUCKING JOKING! Let me make myself clear to you all now. Now that I'm back, things are going to be different. And if not, then you're going to be in a lot of shit. Do I make myself clear?" He said in the most scary voice I had ever heard.

Chills ran down my spine.

No matter how skilled I am in fighting, my size is like comparing an ant to an elephant when standing next to him.

If he were to fight me, I would be done for.

He would never hurt me though. He would never hurt any of us.

But that doesn't make him any less scary.

Before Alessandro can say anything else, Rocco storms out of the kitchen.

Why can't we just have one dinner in peace?

Hi!

So sorry for the long wait!

Been really busy with school but am going to try update once a week!

Hope you enjoy!