Gabriella's pov- I woke up to see all my brothers scattered around me. I observed my surroundings and saw that I was in the hospital wing of the base

Alessandro was the first one to notice that I was awake and his eyes widened in surprise

"Bambina you're awake" he said softly. His statement made the others look up at me and their eyes widened as well

"How are you?" Antonio asked with so much emotion in his voice. His eyes held a familiar softness that it always had when he looked at me

"I'm okay" I croaked out and Stephano handed me a glass of water

"You scared the shit out of us. Please don't do that ever again" Leonardo said as he caressed my head and I nodded feeling slightly bad

My eyes scanned the room to see that Domenico was missing. Why isn't he here? Is he okay? Did something happen while I was unconscious?

"Where is-"

"He's outside. He only came in once ever since you've been here, I think he feels guilty for what happened" Antonio said, cutting me off

I closed my eyes in exhaustion. He shouldn't be feeling guilty, it was my decision to go in there even when he told me not to

"I want to see him" I whispered and Antonio stared at me for some time before nodding

"Boys, come with me. She'll need some time alone with him" he said as he stood up

"Why can't we stay with her?" Xander asked in annoyance

"Dont be unreasonable, they need some time to talk about stuff. I will not repeat myself, now come with me" Antonio said sternly and Xander rolled his eyes

"Watch your attitude Xander. That's my last warning to you" Alessandro said with a slight glare seeing Xander's behavior

Xander's eyes met mine and I saw how hesitant he was. I gave him a slight nod and a smile before he agreed and left with the others

I waited for almost ten minutes before the door opened and Dom walked in slowly. His eyes met mine and he immediately looked down

Looking at his appearance made my heart hurt, he didn't look like my organized brother, he looked drained, he had eye bags, his clothes were rumbled

"Won't you even look at me?" I asked him softly and his shoulders tensed. His head slowly raised and he finally met my gaze

"Come here" I said and he hesitantly walked to my bed and sat down

"I-im really sorry bambina. I n-never meant for you to get hurt, I should have protected you better. I failed you when you needed me the most, please forgive me bambina" he said and I felt a tear drop on my hand

"Stop it Dom. Please don't blame yourself, it was all on me, I admit I should've listened to you. Whatever happened, happened because I was being stubborn

I love you and nothing could ever make me mad at you or think of you as a bad brother so you shouldn't either. You didn't fail me, you saved me Dom, I would've died in there but you got me out" I said and wiped the tears from his eyes

"But-"

"That's enough, you have nothing to feel guilty about. I'm safe, I'm fine and I'm with you. Please don't do this to yourself, stop feeling guilty" I said emotionally as tears welled in my eyes seeing the condition of my brother

This is all my fault

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happens to you bambina, I'd rather die than have you hurt" he said and I pulled him in for a hug

"I love you" I whispered in his ear and his arms tightened around me

"I love you too, so much" he said and kissed my hair

Antonio's pov- After successfully getting my brothers out of the room, I walked to Dom who hadn't left his position on the floor. I sighed and moved towards him

I placed my hand on his shoulder and he looked at me

"Is she okay?" He asked as his eyes moved to the door

"She's alright, she's awake and she wants to see you" I said and he shook his head

"I-I can't I'm not ready to see her. What if she hates me now?" He asked, his eyes held fear

"Dom that will never happen. She is our sorella, she can never hate you, she loves you alot. She was worried about you, she wouldn't ask to see you if she hates you. Just go in there and hear what she has to say" I said and he nodded after sometime

I helped him get up and he wiped his eyes before slowly going into the room. I closed my eyes tiredly, I want all this to be over soon

I want my siblings to stop hurting, I want them to be happy again.

I was drawn out of my thoughts by a doctor walking towards me

"Don" he said and bowed his head in respect, I nodded at him curious as to what he wants

"I need to talk to you" he said

"What about?" I asked

"It's about the princess" he said hesitantly

"What about my sister?" I asked. Just the mention of her was enough to get my attention

"How about we talk in my office" he said as he looked at my other siblings who now had their eyes on him

I creased my brows in suspicion, I looked at my siblings and then at him before nodding

If he doesn't want to say it Infront of my siblings then that means it's important

I followed him to his office and sat down. He seemed to be nervous

"Did you call me here to waste my time? You said it was related to my sister so start talking" I said sternly after waiting for about a minute

"When the princess was brought in here, we did a full body scan to check for other wounds aside the ones that we could see" he said

"And?" I asked not seeing why he called me here to tell me that.

"We found suspicious wounds scattered around the young princess's body. Whip marks, burns, carvings, knife wounds, bruises. Her ribs look like they've been broken before" he said and I paused

What the hell is he saying?

"What?" I asked in disbelief

"I suspect the princess was abused where she was before you found her" he stated

Abused? My bambina, she was abused?. What sick fucker would hurt a child, she's just a child

Fuck how blind was I to not see the signs, when she arrived here she was really jumpy, the flinching at sudden loud sounds. The slight limp she had

God what kind of a brother am I?

"And I also saw some cuts that looked like they were self inflicted. I suspect that she might have also been sexually assaulted but we haven't confirmed it, we need your permission as you are her guardian" he dropped another bomb and it felt like the walls were closing in

"Thank you for telling me. Don't do anything till I get back to you" I said, trying to calm my heart

I walked out of his office feeling utterly defeated. She didn't deserve that, if I looked harder, if I found her earlier she wouldn't be hurt

My baby, my sweet angel has been through so much. God knows there's so much more she hasn't told us, how do I even face her?

If she was with us this wouldn't have happened to her, what have you done mother? I wonder if she knew what happened to my sorella

From the way Gabriella spoke about her, from how protective she is about our mother I know she wasn't the one who abused her

As much as I hate to admit it, she was a good mother. She took my sorella to protect her but she only got hurt, scarred. There's no doubt she would've been safer with us

Who did this?

Just as I asked myself that question, I remembered that Emilia had a boyfriend. One who I found out worked for the Russians before I killed him

He did this. Luke was the one who abused my sister

If he wasn't already dead, I would rip him apart slowly. He had an easy death, he shouldn't have died so easily fuck!

How do I tell my brothers? No before I tell anyone anything, I have to speak to her. Only she has the right to tell them, I won't speak a word of it to anyone until she wants to

"Fratello are you okay? You look pale. What did he tell you?" Alessandro asked me as soon as he saw me

"I'm fine. He just gave me some prescription for her" I said. I know they have a right to know but if she didn't tell us then it means she's not ready to

The door opened and Dom walked out looking much better than he did before. I smiled knowing she did it again, she has always had a way of making us happy

She is the light in our darkness. It just hurts that that very light has been through so much by herself, she deserves the world and I'll give it to her

"I'm glad to see you smile brother. I told you she can never hate you" I said and he gave me a smile before hugging me

"I want hugs too!" Matteo whined with a pout and we chuckled

I opened my other arm for him and he crashed into us. I motioned for the others to come and soon we were all wrapped in each other's arms

I would give anything to keep all of them happy. They're all I have and I love them to pieces even if I don't show it often

After our group hug, I told them I wanted to talk to Gabriella alone and thankfully no one protested

I walked in and saw her playing with her fingers, probably out of boredom

"Bambina" I called out to her and she looked at me with a small smile

"Hey Tony" she said with a bigger smile

My heart warmed at that. I'm slightly nervous because I don't know how to bring it up, I don't want to make her uncomfortable

"How are you bambina?" I asked

"I'm fine Tony, I'm sorry for worrying you guys" she said with a guilty look

"It's fine. I have a question bambina" I said and she nodded for me to continue

"How was life with Emilia and Luke?" I asked and I noticed her freeze at the mention of his name

That dick

"It was fine. Mom was great and Luke, he was okay" she said with a fake smile

She's still lying

"Don't lie to me bambina please" I said softly and held her hand

Her gaze met mine and it was almost like she was reading them. After some time she took in a shuddered breath

"You know" she stated

______________________________________ Hey guys

Hope everyone's doing alright

I hope you like this chapter. Tell me what you think about it in the comment section

Antonio finally knows! I know it took some time but I didn't want them to know about it too fast

I am also sorry for not updating sooner, I've had some stuff going on and I didn't have time to update but I'll try to update more frequently from now on

Don't forget to vote and comment. Bye, see you in the next chapter love y'all ❤️