VERITY'S POV ~_______~_______~

I groaned as I rolled over on my bed. I got up and went to the bathroom, taking a quick shower. I observed my body in the mirror- the scars, the bruises. My ribs, they hurt like shit, and the bruising around my neck had become much more visible. I didn't have my painkillers with me, so everything hurt 10x worse than they usually did.

I covered up the bruises with concealer and foundation, and wore a sweater that would cover up the rest of my body.

Nobody talked to me or came into my room for most of the day. It was about 1:00pm when I was on FaceTime with my brothers.

"I miss you so much, Verity. Like, you left me alone with these idiots. And you got new brothers! You replaced us, so mean." Groaned Alexei through the phone.

I sighed, "I miss you guys too. They aren't my brothers. You guys are, none of them were there for me when I needed them most, you guys were, so therefore you are the only family I need and want."

"That was so inspirational." Andrei laughed. "Yea, brought literal tears to my eyes, sis." Maxim chortled.

"Oh, shut up and let me be soppy. Geez," I rolled my eyes.

"Uhm, by the way, we're coming to Italy. Next week." Alexei said quickly.

"What, why?"

"We can't leave our baby sis alone! What if you run into the Italian mafia?"

I rubbed my temple, "About that.." I looked to my door , where I knew somebody was listening. Probably Matteo, or my dad. "Мой биологический отец - дон гребаной итальянской мафии." I switched to Russian, in case anybody was eavesdropping. (My biological father is the don of the fucking Italian mafia.)

"No way. NO WAY. Francesco Moretti?" Maxim groaned through the phone, face-palming himself.

"Woah, leaving us for the Italians? Low blow sis, low blow." Andrei shook his head.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not leaving you guys, I had no choice. You better not be weirdos next week. I'll talk to you soon. я тебя люблю.," I hung up the phone and looked at the door expectantly, waiting for the person on the other side to open it, or knock at least. (I love you).

Since there was no knock, I simply got up and opened the door to see the twins trying to listen in on my conversation.

They looked at me, wide-eyed. "Heyyy, Verity. We just came up to, er.. ask if you wanted lunch. Well, you'd have to come anyway, it's a rule, we all have to show up for family meals. Let's go," Leonardo brushed it off, grabbing my arm as we ran downstairs.

I only nodded my head. I can tell they couldn't hear or understand anything because they were not being weird, or glancing at each other suspiciously.

I also decided I'd be silent around my family. No talking. Its not too much a "rebellious" thing, no. In all honesty, I was kind of scared to talk. I talked last night , and that ended in an awkward silence.

That's not why I'm scared, though. I was scared because of John. He would punish me when I spoke, even when I wasn't talking to him. I was scared shitless that my biological family would be the same.

I assume that they didn't say anything about it last night, because I was new and I just got here. Otherwise, I'd probably be beat black and blue- if I can even get worse bruises than what I already have.

As we entered the dining room, all eyes were on us. I shuddered at the cold gaze from Matteo, and took the empty seat next to him.

Fransesco Enzo - Emilio Matteo - Lorenzo Verity - Leonardo Unknown - Empty seat Andrea

I looked at the boy who I haven't see before. He had dark curls and green eyes, with caramel skin. I couldn't see his face too well as it was hanging low and he was looking down, playing with his hands. He was my age. He looked exactly like me. Exactly. Everybody stared at me expectantly as I sat down, as if waiting for me to say something. I just raised my eyebrow slightly and they all quickly looked away. A maid then came in, placing plates of French toast, eggs, and other yummy goods in front of us. I watched as everybody put food on their plates and I went last. I put a piece of French toast and an egg.

"That's all?" My sperm donor asked.

I nodded my head stiffly. He had a sour look on his face, but said nothing. I slowly ate my food, whilst Lorenzo was literally stuffing it down his throat. I swear, it was like they hadn't fed that kid for a year. I kept sneaking glances at the boy next to me, curious.

By the time everybody was done, I still had a bit of egg on my plate. John hadn't let me eat food much, so it was rather hard for me to do so. I had a small appetite, resulting me in being horribly skinny but bloating easily. The bloating went away fast though, thank god for my fast metabolism.

"Eat the rest of your food, dear. What's wrong, did you not like it?" Andrea asked.

I looked at her and back at my food, and stuffed the rest of the egg in my mouth. What? I didn't want to be disrespectful, even though I'd 100% be throwing this up later.

She looked relieved and the maid took our plates to wash them. I got up to help but Matteo pulled me back down, not even looking at me. Fucking weirdo.

"Verity, we'd like to get to know you." Francesco said. "I know we haven't been there the majority of your life, but we'd like to be here now,"

"Speak for yourself." Spat Matteo, causing him to receive a glare from Andrea. He rolled his eyes and slouched in his chair.

Francesco cleared his throat before continuing, "Also, I'd like to go over the rules with you. Rule 1: You look at me when I speak to you."

"If you don't, you'll get an hour lecture."

"Rule 2: No boys or girls in a romantic way, not under my roof."

"He'll literally chase them out with a broom and a firework rocket. He's done it before, I'm not joking."

"Rule 3: Focus on studies. If you slack off, you'll be grounded."

"He threw my phone into the pool once for having a D+."

"Rule 4: You are to get permission from me or your mother if you are going out anywhere, even if it's a stroll around the neighborhood."

"He sent out a S.W.A.T. Team to find me once. I was in the garden, dude,"

"And rule 5: be respectful to your brothers and me and your mother."

Lorenzo seemed to have a comment to make on every rule Francesco stated. I was about to laugh but I bit my lip and remembered the abandonment.

"Got it?" I nodded my head. "Good. You all can go now."

I stood up from my seat and was entering the living room when Lorenzo called after me.

"Wait, Verity! Shit, you walk fast."

"RULE 6: WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!!" Enzo yelled from the other room, causing Lorenzo to roll his eyes.

"Anyways, dad forgot to mention, you'll start school with us next week. So, in 4 days. He would've made you start earlier, but with the circumstances, he didn't want to rush you."

I just nodded my head at this. I hated school, but whatever.

"And, uh, would you like to hang out?" Lorenzo asked, hopeful.

I shook my head. There was hurt in his eyes but he just smiled weakly and said, "That's okay. Next time, then. I understand."

I turned around and walked to my bedroom. I had memorized the way when we left to go to lunch, so I wouldn't get lost.

I sat on my bed and got lost in my thoughts for a good hour before my door was opened. The unknown boy came in, and sat on my bed. I didn't look at him, just looked at the wall.

"I'm..im Valentino. I'm your brother.. twin, brother." He said, his voice rather raspy.

I looked up at him, my face surprised. Twin? What the fuck? So they kept him, and left me. Alright. Cool. Whatever. It's not like I cared anyways.

"I'm sorry I haven't been here since you got here. I was just, scared. I guess. I dunno." He muttered. I looked at him. He was fiddling with his fingers, something I did when I was nervous. He looked scared, almost like I was going to yell at him.

He looked at me, right in the eye. And that's when my heart dropped. He had a scar going along his left eye. That eye was now white. My heart ached for the twin that I tried to hate, even though it wasn't his fault. What happened to him?

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He ruffled some of his hair in front of his eye, but I pushed it away and shook my head.

He looked surprised, and looked back at his hands, still fiddling with them. We sat in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, it was a nice kind of silence. I didn't want to blame Valentino the same way I blamed my other family members for what happened to me. I don't know why, but I felt comfortable when I was around him. I felt content. But I wasn't letting my guard down so easy. _______________________________ Word count: 1665

So, this wasn't planned. I realized I put in she had 6 brothers but only introduced 5, so I decided to make some drama up and add a twin. Fun!! 😊

ANYWAYS lovelies please comment and vote, love u all, hope you enjoy this so far<3