DRAMA IS STARTING!!

ALINA'S POV

I woke up to the sun shining in my eyes.

I checked the time and got straight up, wanting to catch my whole family before some of them left.

I had questions that needed answers.

I got my dollar from my little stash inside my bedside table, whilst taking my pain tablets.

I hobbled downstairs as quickly and carefully as i could, not caring about making noise like last night.

I sighed in relief as i saw my parents, and everyone except Adrian. Of course he's still sleeping.

Everyone except Rocco had their backs to me. I went up to Rocco and handed him my dollar.

He knew what i wanted but he still looked at me weirdly.

I smiled and went to go sit at the table.

Everyone's heads turned to me as they heard my chair scraping against the floor.

I chuckled awkwardly and sat down.

"Alina! What are you doing down here? Why did you not call us for help?" My mom asked

Oh shoot.

"I'm feeling ok. Plus i took the elevator" i lied.

My dad nodded, but told me that if i need anything, i just need to call them. I could see that my dad was not happy with this and if given the opportunity he would carry me everywhere.

"I have a question for you guys though" i said.

That got everyone who was on the table's attention.

"If i wanted to join your business, would there be any sort of initiation?"

"What do you mean?" Marco asked.

"Would there be some type of test for loyalty to prove myself or something?" I asked trying to act as least suspicious as possible.

Everyone was silent.

"Why do you ask?" Romeo asked me.

"Because I want to join your company when I'm older. You're a big company so it must be competitive but I want to do what you guys do"

"NO!" Matheo screamed at me.

Of course he would have the problem.

I stared at him after his little outburst, but he had his head down and refused to make eye contact with anyone. I felt a tug in my heart but i ignored it.

"Why not? Why can i not work for you guys?" I asked them curiously.

"We just don't want you to have to work at all when your older bambina" my mom told me

"But if i did want to work, which i do why wouldn't i work with my family?" I argued back.

Everyone was silent and just staring at me.

"I'm sure you'd get sick of us Alina, you wouldn't want to be with us 24/7. You know how annoying some of our brothers are" Luca said with what sounded like a forced chuckle.

"You know I don't think i would. I'm happy to try it though"

I did not miss the looks they all gave each other.

"Maybe when you're older Alina" my dad told me with a look in his eye.

I just nodded in reply.

I've got a little bit of what I needed.

I luckily didn't have to stay in this tense environment for long as Adrian scrambled downstairs. Apparently that was their natural alarm to leave for school.

I sent them off with a wave and a smile, as they all rushed and sighed as the house became 10x more quieter.

I don't know if I liked the silence.

"Right, up we go bambina. The doctor ordered bed rest. I don't want to see you take another step for at least a week in this house. If you need me or anyone else just call us and we'll be straight there, capiche?" My dad said as he carried me, whilst I carried my smoothie.

"But dad, I'm fine, really!" I whined.

He gave me a fake glare in return.

"I need you to be ok Alina, and that means bed rest, you will not win those argument" he chuckled.

I sighed as he lightly placed me down in my bed.

He stared down at me before reminding me of the rules giving my forehead a kiss and leaving.

I waited until i heard his footsteps in the hall before getting my old phone out.

I didnt want to google all of this stuff on my new phone just in case they wanted to check it.

I decided to google my family, to see if there was anything that could give some insight as to what they actually do.

I clicked on the first link which was no help at all. All it said was how well their software business does.

There's more to it than software, i just don't know what.

I continued to search the web not finding anything useful on the business.

I even searched up for a secret business. Nothing

I mean i did see some tabloids about me, but only as the missing daughters the Giovanni's.

I don't think I have been publicly announced found yet.

No one in school knows my second name and I've only been to the mall with my family where even then I don't think people thought i was meant to be with them.

I was about to flick off of google, annoyed that it couldn't give me any answers, when i saw a reddit post.

It was pure luck i found it, as i had been scrolling for around 2 hours. All of the top posts were big companies and newspapers.

I clicked on it.

The first thing that popped up was a photo of my dad and Marco. It was blurry but i could tell it was them. It looked as if their hands were covered in something.

I squinted trying to see it clearer but couldn't.

I scrolled down to see what this person had written.

"Marco and Salvatore Giovanni caught coming out of the back door of their building. I mean come on, I'm pretty sure they're in some shady stuff. No way do they control basically all of Italy just through their software company, I'm pretty sure they're in the mafia. I've seen many other sources on here basically showing and proving the whole thing. That family is not to be messed with"

Other people had replied about the stuff they've seen.

People had been going missing after having an argument or a bad business deal with my family.

Coincidences maybe?

There were some other questionable photos of my whole family, including my grandparents.

There's even some photos of them with what look to be guns.

That couldn't be true though.

Photoshop is a widely used app.

Some others explained how they've seen my family's fancy cars speed dangerously on highways, and that they apparently have many different weapons.

A lot of the comments on the posts were basically people trying to prove their connections to mafia's

I was shaking as i turned off my phone.

The mafia?

No way have i just escaped a house of abuse, just to come to another house filled with violence.

No, no way.

They're my family. They're not violent.

I'm jumping the gun, I don't even know that it's true.

I was thinking maybe some shady business, a harsh business perhaps but not the mafia.

Never the mafia, that thought didn't even cross my mind.

I need to talk to Elias, soon.

But first I need food.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

It's now 1am. I can't hear anyone, so I start making my way down.

I hold the slice of cake in my pocket, wrapped, all safe for him.

It was the sweetest thing I could find.

I make my way to him, feeling more confident this time, not scared of the unknown.

The guy in the walls is actually just a cute guy, stuck in a bad situation.

I stay quiet as I walk though, just as a precaution.

As I'm about to turn the corner to come face to face with Elias, I freeze.

Voices suddenly start talking out of nowhere.

I could have sworn there was no one here when I first started my journey.

I peak behind the corner of the room scared out of my wits.

What I saw made my heart drop.

My father and my brothers beating Elias.

No.

I stumble back as I watch what they do.

They're now shouting at him in Italian.

My heart breaks as I see Elias' scared face writhing in pain, all brought upon him by my family's hands.

They were supposed to be the good guy's.

They were my saviours.

Where are the people who all jumped on my bed in excitement after school because they apparently had been kept away from me for too long?

Where was my brother, Romeo who made us all food, whilst giving mine a special twist because I deserved princess treatment?

Where's my dad who checked in on me every couple of hours just as a precaution.

Where's my brother who made sure I felt loved in this house?

Who wouldn't let me cut up my own food?

Who decided to spend their afternoon in my room today because they missed me?

Where is my family? The ones who showed me love, and not an ounce of aggression?

These people are not my family.

They're nothing but a bunch of criminals hurting innocent people.

Were they even capable of love, or was that just an act?

My eyes widen as I see Marco take out a knife.

I can't watch anymore.

Images of my own past surface in my mind.

I have to get out of here.

I turn around and hobble as quick as I can trying to escape whilst making the littlest amount of noise possible.

I'm breathing heavily as I reach the door, and in my excitement of seeing the exit I accidentally close it with a slam.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

I look around for an escape route.

I can't go into the kitchen because the guards are in there again.

Do they even work in the nights or just gamble with each other?

Focus!

I can't go into the living room, I'm supposed to be in bed, asleep.

I do not want to be caught.

I turn in every direction trying to find a hiding spot.

I sigh annoyingly, there's nowhere for me to hide.

I can hear the voices getting closer.

I hobbled to the stupidest place ever.

The elevator.

There was nowhere else.

I jumped in and pushed the close door button repeatedly, praying the doors would close in time.

"Close, you stupid thing" I whispered as I hit the button repeatedly.

I could hear the voices of my family getting closer.

Please close, please.

I don't want to die.

Just as I hear footsteps come near me, the door closes.

I sigh as I lean against the wall trying to stop my racing heart.

I felt as thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest then and there.

My eyes tear up.

I take the slice of cake out of my pocket and stare at it.

Elias seemed like a nice guy. He wasn't nasty, or scary. He was skeptical but that was all.

Why is he here? Why is my family hurting him?

Why are they hurting someone??

The elevator doors open, and I hobble to my room.

I jump into my bed, praying to not get caught.

I pull my covers over me hearing feet trample up the stairs.

I freeze and shut my eyes.

A few moments later my door is opened and light from the hallway bursts in.

I don't dare turn around or move to see who it is.

Please leave.

Luckily after a few moments my door is closed again.

I shut my eyes again just in case they come back.

When I know I'm in the clear I get my old phone out once again.

I type in Elias Karlsson.

Apparently he has 2 younger sibling and an older one.

He is the son of one of the most successful Swedish families.

They seem like a nice family, but I can't trust anything right now.

They could be just as bad as my family, just secretly.

I need to talk to Elias.

I need to figure out the truth.

To find out who my family truly are.

I decide it can't wait another day and that I'm prepared to risk the journey again in a couple of hours.

A/N -PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS CHAPTER. I feel as though people aren't actually enjoying my story.

She will be back to school in a couple of chapters and that's where the love interest will be met!

Alina will continue with gymnastics just later on.