Gabriella's pov- "Do you think he's alive?" I asked as I continued to stare at the picture of my newly discovered grandfather

"All traces of him were erased from the mafia world. The last I heard about him was that he killed his father but after that he disappeared. Like he never existed and Maxim was declared the new don of the Russian mafia" Antonio answered

"So there's a chance he's alive somewhere?" I asked again

"Why do you care?. Are you seriously accepting this bullshit? They are not family!" Stephano yelled at me and I turned to him

"Don't raise your voice at me. I am equally surprised here so you have no right to question me. I just want to know if he's alive" I shot back and he scoffed before turning away from me

"I don't know about that bambina. But why does that bitch want the heirloom in the first place? Of what use is it gonna be for her?" Alessandro asked

"We should keep it safe. If Viktoria wants it then It's probably because it's important, she shouldn't get her hands on it" Leonardo said

"Do you think we should tell the others?" Xavier asked timidly

"No. Not yet" Tony answered

"Are you sure Emilia never mentioned her family sorella?" Dom asked and all their gazes turned to me

"I'm positive, she never once talked about them. Heck I thought she didn't have a family" I stated firmly

"So what the fuck do we do about this?!" Xander yelled

Why is he so angry? I know it's unexpected but why is he being like this

"Calm down Xan" Xavier said softly as he held his twin's hand

"No! That fuckin family ruined our lives and we're supposed to accept the fact that we're related to them? How can we be related to those monsters" he yelled somewhat emotional

"Please stop" I heard a whimper and turned to see Matteo crouching down with his hands on his ears, tears streaming freely down his eyes

"Matteo" Xander whispered, tears in his eyes as he moved towards Matteo

"Stay away from me!" Matteo yelled, shocking everyone

"Please just stop. I can't take it anymore" he sobbed

I tried to go to him but Antonio held my hand and shook his head. Why is he stopping me? Someone should help him!

"When he gets like this no one can pull him out. He's reliving past memories, going to him will only make it worse" he explained

"Do we just leave him like this?" I asked as I continued to stare at Matteo who was crying hysterically on the floor and telling someone to let go of him

"Is it because of Maxim?" I asked as tears pricked at the corners of my eyes looking at him

He reminded me of myself. Why Matteo? He's the sweetest person in the world, he doesn't deserve this

"Yes. I never knew to what extent he hurt them because none of them told us exactly what happened in that place" he said with pain in his eyes

From the look on his face I could tell he was feeling guilty

"It's not your fault. If Maxim wasn't already dead, I would kill him myself, uncle or not" I said, feeling anger boiling in my veins

Matteo wasn't getting any better, he was getting worse. What did that fucker do to my brother?

I released my hand from Antonio's and moved towards Matteo

"Don't Gabriella. Stay away from him" Alessandro warned me

"Are you fuckin serious? He needs help and you guys are just staring at him doing nothing. Can't you see that he's in pain?!" I snapped at him in anger

"Lower your tone"

I ignored him and crouched down next to Matteo, I placed my hand on his shoulder and he flinched and cried more

"Leave him alone Gabriella" Xander growled at me

"Shut the fuck up" I growled back

I turned my focus to Matteo and held his face, forcing him to look at me. He was staring at me but it was like he wasn't here

"Matteo, it's not real. Come back" I said softly as I wiped his tears away

"It's all in your head, you need to calm down. It's not real" I said, looking deeply into his eyes

"It's gonna get better, I promise. But I need you to come back now, fight it" I caressed his hair and I saw his eyes start to get live in them

"I-it's n-not r-real?" He stuttered

"No it's not. No one can hurt you anymore"

"No one will hurt me" he said and looked around, when he saw that it was just us, he sighed in relief

He turned his gaze back to me and his eyes watered again. He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight

"Thank you for helping me sorella"he whispered in my ear

"Are you okay bud?" Antonio asked

"I'm okay" Matteo answered softly

"Are you sure?" Xavier asked him and he just nodded

"How did you do that?" Stephano asked

"I just knew that he shouldn't be left alone" I answered vaguely

I knew what to do because that's what I wished others would do for me when I was like that. Yet no one did it, exactly what they were doing to Matteo without realizing, he needed assurance not being left alone to fight by himself

"And how did you know that?" Xander asked

"That's enough. Thank you sorella, I'm sorry for not listening to you earlier" Antonio interrupted

I smiled at him knowing he did that to avoid them questioning me further. I felt a tug on my shirt and I turned and saw Matteo looking at me

"Can I talk to you in private?" He asked

"Yes of course. Let's go" I replied and helped him get up

"We'll be in my room. I'd appreciate it if none of you disturb us thank you" I said and they all nodded

I took Matteo to my room and sat down. I could see he was hesitant to say something

"You can tell me anything you want Matteo. I'd never judge you" I reassured him

"Maxim kidnapped the twins and I when we were younger" he said while looking at me with an emotion I can't read

"He was nice at first. He didn't touch us, he said he was just keeping us till he got what he wanted and that he wouldn't lay a hand on us so we didn't have to be scared" he said and I frowned

Why would Maxim kidnap them and be nice? Something isn't right

"Everything changed when a man who he addressed as grandfather came. They talked for hours in a room and when he came out he turned into a monster

He tortured us, separated us from each other. One day he brought a man into my cell, he told him to do whatever he wanted but that he shouldn't kill me" he mumbled and I gasped

I could already tell where this was going. I stared at him and saw his eyes welling up

"H-he made me touch him, he made me do weird stuff and he would moan. If I didn't do it right he would give me a beating

One day he said he couldn't wait to claim me, he zipped down his pants and forced me to suck on him-"

He couldn't finish his sentence as he started crying, I couldn't fight back my tears seeing him like that

"H-he-"

"You don't have to say anything else. It's okay" I cut him off and he shook his head

"No I want to. I've kept it to myself for years, even the twins don't know this. He took advantage of me that day, he made sure to do it everyday he came to my cell. Almost like he was addicted to hurting me" he said as more tears pooled down his eyes

A sob left my mouth and I pulled him into a hug. He clutched onto me like I was his lifeline, never in my life would I think that something so bad could've happened to him. He's always so happy, how did he have the strength to smile and be happy after so much happened to him?

"I couldn't fight him. He always told me I was weak and he was right, I couldn't do anything to stop him" he whimpered in my neck

"You are not weak, you're the strongest person I have ever met. To endure all that with a smile on your face, don't put yourself down" I said and placed a kiss on his forehead

"Thank you for not judging me bambina. Thank you for being here for me, for listening to me. Thank you for everything" he said with teary eyes and I wiped the tears away

"I will always be here for you Matteo, you're my brother and I love you alot. You don't need to thank me for that" I said and placed a kiss on his forehead

"I love you sorella"

"I love you too Matteo" I said and he closed his eyes from exhaustion

______________________________________ Hey guys

How do you like this chapter? Let me know your thoughts about it in the comment section

It's not an action filled chapter, I'm saving that for later, this is more of an emotional chapter so I hope y'all like it

Feel free to tell me what you wanna see next in the comment section and I'll try to add it into the next chapter

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That'll be all for now, see y'all in the next chapter. Have a good day/night love y'all ❤️