A/N - I would like to start off this chapter by giving a big thank you to @iamaprettybrunette for volunteering to help me edit and proofread my chapters. Not sure if she knew the mess she was signing herself up for, but she has truly been a humongous help.





Zeke's POV

Horrified. That is the only way to describe how I'm feeling right now.

I've had Juliana's sketchbook for the better part of a week now. And no, it's not because I've "forgotten" to give it back to her.

I didn't mean to look the first time, alright? When the maid handed it over to me, letting me know it had been left in her room, I just so happened to drop it. And when it dropped, it also happened to open.

It was just a pencil sketch of someone's face. I thought it was harmless. So I looked some more. Her sketches were a little odd. At first, all I found were a bunch of random men's faces. I mean, that wasn't the odd part, we already knew that she was good at portraits because of the one she did of Elliot.

Don't tell Elliot though. He might not be too happy about that.

It was the other ones that raised suspicion. At first, it was an extremely detailed knife. The knife was laying on the ground, and while the sketch had no colour, you could just tell that it was sitting in a pool of blood.

There was another extremely disturbing one with a picture of a child in it. In this picture, the little boy was tied to a chair, dripping blood, puncture wounds all throughout his face, to the point that he was unrecognisable.

The rest of his body wasn't much better either. The best description I could give was that it was just short of mutilated.

Now it's not like I hadn't been exposed to all of these things. Though Massimo was the one to intimately take the job, being the supposed heir to the Italian mafia, I was to get used to these sorts of things from a younger age than most.

However, to see such a young child, barely five or six, in that way...

It was horrendous, to say the least.

"I need to talk to you." I demanded, slamming the door to the meeting room.

"Zeke! What do you think you're doing?" Snapped my father from his position next to my Uncle.

All eyes were on me, the screen still projecting the layout of what I can only assume to be the Irish mafia's latest shipment.

To my knowledge, they were planning an ambush. Nothing rash, just enough to get their attention. Mess with a few of their shipments, just as they did to ours. And eye for an eye if you will.

"It's about Juliana."

This gets everyone concerned.

"Is she okay?" "What happened?" "Does she need us?" "Why didn't the app go off?"

Questions were thrown at me faster than I could process them, and it isn't until Nonno slams his hand to the table that they quiet down.

"That is quite enough. Boy, you better start talking." He points at me with a deadly look on his face.

"Something about her isn't right." I say, sitting down near the end of the table. The way the set up of the room works is that there's the door, then a long white table containing touchscreens at every seat. Then there was a large T.V. positioned opposite the door.

The room was mainly used for more formal meetings that we didn't want the younger ones stumbling into, as they so often did.

This door requires a passcode, whereas the offices stayed unlocked so long as someone was occupying it.

"What's wrong with her?" Massimo asks, looking at me like I'm an idiot.

"It's not her, per say. It's... her situation. Her person, her demeanour if you will." I struggle to explain what I meant.

"Now you're talking in circles. If you're just going to waste time then do it at a later date. We have work that needs to get done." My mother hisses at me. That woman was one cranky crab sometimes.

Oh fuck you Justin. Now look what you've done to me.

"Look through those." I say, tossing my phone and the sketchbook to Elijah, who was the closest to me.

"What is this?" He questions, picking it up gingerly.

"Juliana's sketchbook." Massimo replied. "I saw her with it maybe once, the entire time she was here. She hid it from me pretty quickly."

"When you see what's inside of it I think you'll understand why." I snap. Sighing as I run my hands through my hair.

None of this makes any fucking sense.

"We are not snooping through her things, Ezekiel. I thought my brother raised you better." Uncle Stefano said, sounding disappointed that I would even suggest such a thing.

One thing about my family is that we were big on trust. It's not a common thing to go around breaking that, and it wasn't a fault taken lightly.

"I know, but hear me out. Just look. I don't think you'll like what you think but maybe you'll finally believe me." I snap.

He has to believe me. At least give me the chance. He asked for proof and here I was, giving it to him. He can't deny me that.

"Open it." Nonna says.

Eyes snap up to her and she has an impassive look to her.

"We told him we would play into his antics if he could provide us with sufficient evidence. Let's see what he's got. But I swear on my mothers grave if this doesn't warrant the reaction you're seeking, and you don't drop these insane accusations..." Nonna looks pissed enough to kill, and I nod sharply.

Elijah sighs, opening the album on my phone that holds the pictures. He starts to connect them to the big screen when he pauses.

He stares blankly, before slowly looking up at me.

'What the fuck?' Is all I see written over his features.

I nod knowingly. Maybe try believing me the first time. Damn, it's like they forget I'm the oldest sometimes.

Elijah casts the pictures to the screen with shaky hands.

The picture he first pulled up was a portrait of Devon's face.

Juliana's POV

I straighten my leg, pulling it tighter to my body. We're at the bar right now. My ballet instructor is busy yelling some nonsense at two of the girls in the back who won't shut up.

Like, I get it, you're here because you're forced to be. So am I, but you don't see me putting the teacher in a bad mood and leaving everyone else to suffer.

"And release slowly, making sure to keep your hips level, your leg nice and extended at the knee. Point your feet through the ankle. No plopping." She chides as she hears feet hitting the ground.

Please tell me this is over soon. I glance up at the clock above Mrs. L's head. I'm not sure if Mrs. L has an actual name. That's literally all I hear her addressed as.

I'm more than glad to see that the clock says 4:28.

Two minutes until we can leave.

This week has been exhausting. Trying to get back into shape, and adjust to having so many demanding activities isn't the easiest in the world.

When we are finally let go, I check my phone and see that I have a few mixed texts. Nothing major. Just a bunch of spammed crap from one of the many group chats Justin had added me into.

While he did seem to be a little salty with me at times, for what, I'm still not sure. He'd definitely admitted to missing me. He texted me just about everyday, filling me in on random, majorly insignificant things that have happened since I've left.

Zeke and I have also kept in pretty close contact. While he may not text me everyday, he still checks in every once and while. And vice versa.

"Hey Ana, you wanna get a bite with Chris and I later?" Posie, one of my friends asked, leaning against the wall of the observatory with me. Honestly, I didn't really like them.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that they were bad people or anything, they just weren't my type of people. They were still considerate, but I always felt like I was intruding when I hung out with them.

"Sorry Pose, I got classes all day today. Maybe next time."

"I get it. We really need to catch up though. You've been gone for ages." She comments before Chris calls her away.

Looking down at my phone, I notice a text asking if I have time to chat. It was sent from Hunter through the group chat, so I'm assuming they all wanted to catch up before it was time for bed.

I make my way to one of the empty studio's. This studio never got used. The floors were pretty messed up and the mirror was shattered. No idea what actually happened to this room, but from the rumours I'd heard, it wasn't pretty.

It was musty but bright. It was one of the outer studio's, meaning it had plenty of sunlight from the windows. I honestly loved coming in here. Whether to just decompress or to dance away from prying eyes.

Dancing on floors like these wasn't the safest, but I'd learnt which parts of the room didn't pose as much of a threat.

I texted that I was okay to chat, waiting for someone to start the call. I propped my phone up against one of the many abandoned boxes they stored in here. Might as well make use of the space I guess.

It took a good five minutes before anybody called. And Zeke is our lucky winner. The brave finalist to start the call.

"Hey Jules. How are ya?" He asked. He was walking through the house, so his phone was bouncing around and showed his double chin as he smiled.

"I'm alright, how are you?" I asked, hugging one of my legs to my chest. I rested my chin on top of my knee, waiting for him to respond.

"I'm good. Boring without you almost dying every three seconds."

"Are you guys ever going to let that go!" I whined, hiding my face. Zeke just laughed.

"So what have you been up to?" He asked, starting down a flight of stairs. By the looks of it, he was making his way down to the second floor.

"Oh, nothing much. Just a few classes." I answered, playing with the string to my dance bag.

"A few? Girl you've been going all day." He remarked, and I shrugged.

"Oh, actually I have been meaning to talk to you." I started hesitantly. Zeke looked at me expectantly and I hesitated, nervous.

Don't make a big deal about it dumbass.

"So, I think I left something at the house. A sketchbook? It was pretty big, solid black, and had a purple ribbon connecting a tiny pouch with a bunch of pencils and erasers to it." I described, and he nodded.

"Yeah, we figured that was yours." He said nonchalantly, turning a corner.

Oh fuck, they found it. Shit, did any of them look inside? Surely not, I mean he's not asking any questions. Besides, they value privacy.

I think.

"Oh really?" I asked, my voice coming out a little strained. "When?"

"Not too long ago, actually. One of the maids found it a day or two after you left. Kind of slipped my mind, to be honest." He was on another set of stairs, this time to the first floor.

"Well that's awesome. Could you guys ship it back?" I picked at the skin around my ankle. Swiping at the blood when I picked the skin clean off.

"Nah, I think we'll keep it."

"Excuse me?" I just about choked. That was my sketchbook. Why wouldn't they give it back?

"You're excused." He said. My mouth popped open, but by this time he was downstairs.

"Juliana's on the phone!" He called out, and I heard shouts of hello.

Within the next few minutes almost everyone had joined that call, either on their own device or with someone else.

I relaxed as I listened to Justin rant while others fought to get a word in. Micelio tackled Justin at one point, not an actual tackle as Justin was in little space, to get him to shut up.

Obviously this caused him to run to Aunt Stephanie, who wasn't having it. Micelio also started getting chewed out by his mother, which made Justin feel better.

Even though the chat didn't last long as I had another class to get to, and it was getting late over there, I was definitely glad to get to see them again. They always make me feel better.

And right as I was about to leave, I received a text from Zeke.

Message from: Idiot #1

Idiot #1 - Your book will arrive by Monday.

I glare at Gino when he steals some of the chocolate off of my plate.

"If I wasn't so sore I would beat your ass." I grumble and Jamie gasps.

"Juliana! You shouldn't speak like that. What if Jameson heard?" She asks, looking at me with wide eyes.

Jamie, the lovely child that she was, loved to follow every single rule our precious brother gave us, to a T. And make sure that everyone else was following them as well.

Guess why she's the golden child.

"Jamie, I really don't give a fuck about Jameson's rules." Her eyes widened even more comically, her mouth opened to say something when a voice from behind me beat her to it.

"Oh really? And would you like me to relay that to Jameson?" Jenson, who happened to walk into the living room at the perfect time, asked.

I turn to look up at him, smiling innocently.

"No. But come on Jenson, you gotta admit that some of 'em are pretty far stretched." I joke, knowing he won't do anything.

"Alright. You can go tell him then." He says, motioning for me to walk over to him.

Both Gino and I both chuckle, suprised he's playing into the joke. I see Gino reach for another piece of chocolate and I just swat his hand away.

The entire time Jamie stays silent, something unheard of for her.

"I don't know what you think is so funny. Get. over. Here." He grits out, again pointing for me to stand in front of him.

My smile freezes, and Gino goes quiet. I look over at him, and he looks just as shocked as I do.

I see Jamie looking at me with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"I'm not going to tell you again." That has me standing up and walking over to Jensen, who is still standing in the doorway, hesitantly.

I stand in front of him, part of me nervous, but the logistical part of my brain telling me that this is Jensen.

He's not like that.

He would never purposely get me in trouble. He's covered for me countless times over the years.

He's not like that.

"Well?" He asks, tilting to the side to create room for me to walk past him. "Get to it."

I start walking down the hallway to the stairs, my stomach sinking with every step. My heart rate spikes, my breathing becomes shallower and I can't seem to stop my hands from shaking.

But I'm still waiting for him to call the bluff.

I don't break until I get to the top of the stairs.

"You're not actually going to make me do this?" I ask, turning around to look him in the eye.

Even though Jensen's two steps behind me, he's still at eye level.

"I've had it with your shit, Juliana." He says, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"But you literally just cursed. Multiple times!" I exclaimed. That's not fair. How come he gets to do it but I get in trouble? He's not that much older than me after all.

"It's not about the cussing. I don't get why you can't understand that." He grabs my arm, angrily pulling me with him as we continue our journey to Jamison's room.

"Then help me understand. I don't see what I did to deserve this type of reaction." I whine, trying to pull away, but finding it too difficult at this pace.

"You don't know how to listen. You aren't respectful, you don't understand structure. Any basic subordinate skills you need in life to survive, you don't have it." He griped.

"Okay. Alright, I've got a lot to work on." My voice was coming out pitchy and breathless. "And I do understand that it needs work. I don't think we need to involve Jameson."

"I do." He snaps. "You won't get anywhere in life if you don't shape up, and do it fast. Otherwise you're going to end up down the same path as certain parts of our family."

"Well it didn't seem to work out too bad for them." I grumble, obviously not low enough because he still heard me.

I heard the slap before I processed it. It was sharp, and loud like a rocket. The sound ricochet through the otherwise silent hallway.

The sting wasn't even bad, but I still cradled my right cheek in shock.

Jensen stared at me fuming.

"You don't ever say something like that again, you hear me?" He threatens, grabbing my wrist.

I can do nothing but nod my head, still staring in shock.

Jensen hit me.

He actually laid a hand on me. He's never done that before. Jensen has never hurt me before.

He's not like that.

My mind was oddly silent the rest of the way to Jameson's room. Like my brain just turned the off switch.

In the next moments that unfolded I was a mere observer. Someone to watch quietly, instead of participating.

I observed Jensen and I finally made it to Jameson's bedroom. I'm not sure if Jensen knocked or not, I don't think he did. That's quite rude, if you ask me. I think he needs lessons in manners.

Jameson was sitting on his bed stiffly, watching something on his computer. It's almost like he didn't notice us entering the room.

That, or he just didn't care.

He waited until Jensen shut the door behind him to finally look up at us. He glanced at me for a moment, but quickly turned his attention to Jensen. The two of them had a small staring contest before Jameson turned his attention back to me.

So, silent treatment then? Honestly, I'm good with that.

He slowly shuts his computer screen, then swings his legs over the side of the bed. All while looking directly into my eyes.

Then he just smiles. A slow, sinister, bone chilling, psychopathic smile.

And people wonder why I call my family weird.

"Juliana." Is all he said, tilting his head to the side like a dog.

'Woof woof. Go fetch buddy.' I think sarcastically, snickering to myself before I realise that alone would be enough incentive for Jameson to beat my ass.

My face sobers up real quick, and I pray that Jameson was none the wiser.

"Have a seat." Jameson says, motioning to the desk chair already placed very conveniently next to his bed.

I go to sit down in the chair, shifting uncomfortably at the attention I'm receiving.

"Not there." He comments.

I glance at him, confused. If not the chair, where else am I supposed to sit?

I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn't. Instead, he chooses to grab his phone. He directs his full attention to it, completely forgetting that Jensen and I are even in the room.

Dude, rude much? Like, first I get dragged in here, then you're off making demands, and now you won't even let me get this over with? Like, at this point, just beat me and call it even.

He then looks up at me and raises an eyebrow. As though to ask, 'why are you still sitting there?'

I stare blankly, still not sure what the fuck he wants.

Then drops his gaze from me, to the ground, then back up at me.

Oh.

This causes me to freeze for a second. I'm not sure why, but it's like a warning flashed through my mind and body. It shouldn't faze me, he's done much worse than make me sit on the floor.

I slip from the chair to sit on the ground, exhaling a breath. I shuffle around for a second, sitting criss-crossed on the ground. Looking up, I glance at my oldest brother hoping now we can finally get this over with.

Jameson still doesn't look content, he just turns his attention over my head to Jensen. I can see the look he's giving him. It's like he's asking 'where did this girl get the nerve?'

When he finally turns his attention back at me, he raises an eyebrow, and it clicks.

I glance down at the ground nervously, shifting to sit on my knees. Now it's finally hitting me. The nerves are peeking through the cracks of the wall I had unknowingly placed between it and I.

"You know," Jameson spoke, grabbing my chin harshly in his hand. He yanks my head up awkwardly. "I suppose this is my fault. I should have dealt with this behaviour when you first got back. I've been lenient on you. It's getting to your head."

He clicks his tongue in fake sadness, standing and walking out of view.

That's when it happens.

I crashed. Whatever fake bravado had been clouding my judgement finally cleared, and the fear froze me in place.

The stupidity of my actions thus far finally resonated with me.

The panic returned. My heart tried beating out of my chest, my head swum. I squeezed my eyelids shut, hiding my face in my hands. As if that can protect me from what's about to happen.

I am such an idiot.

At least now I can rest assured in the fact that whatever happens tonight is one hundred and ten percent my own fault.

"It's alright though." Jameson soothed, coming up from behind me, pulling my hair back to get me to look up at him.

"We're going to fix that."





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Sorry about the late chapter. I've been trying to do better about updating sooner, but life loves getting in the way.

Question: Do you like it better with multiple POV's in a chapter, or strictly sticking to one person?