THIRD PERSON

Matteo rubbed his hands through his face, trying to expel the last traces of alcohol. Fuck they really took it a bit too far this time. He nervously looked at his cell phone again, but Vito hadn't written to him again. In fact, no one had written to him. "What do you think will happen?"

"What's going to happen? Vito will be pissed, tell us we can't do something like that and we'll say with deep regret it will never happen again," Riccardo replied without opening his eyes. As soon as the plane took off, he was already asleep. How he could sleep in such a situation remained a mystery to Matteo.

"You think so? We've really screwed up."

"Sit back and wait. The main thing is that you stick with our story! Do you understand?" Matteo mumbled a half-hearted agreement, feeling even worse than before. "Good, so relax, get some sleep and look forward to seeing Vito's disappointed face when he picks us up at the airport."

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A

s it turned out, they were both picked up by a driver who drove them home without any further detours. Inwardly, Riccardo began to think furiously again. It was so typical. Instead of taking care of something himself, his brother sent some unimportant person to take care of the two of them. He didn't care that it was the middle of the night and he didn't care that Vito must have been awake since morning. This was a family affair and His Majesty didn't even have the muse to move down from his throne. It was ridiculous. Vito was ridiculous. His whole family was ridiculous. At least he was able to fall straight into bed and sleep.

"We're here," the driver informed them monotonously and the two brothers got out. The house, their home, lay almost completely dark before them. Only in one of the office rooms was there a faint light. So either Domenico or Vito was still awake. Probably Domenico, he never seemed to sleep anyway.

"Did you see it?" Matteo asked, pointing with his chin at the small light while the driver behind him was clearing out the luggage.

"Fuck," Riccardo cursed as he followed Matteo's gaze. "Maybe it's Vito after all."

'There's only one way to find out.', Matteo thought, picked up his bag and went to the side entrance. Riccardo followed him silently. "Is Maria still there?"

The two of them listened irritably to the noises from the kitchen. "That can't actually be the case," replied Riccardo, but still walked towards the door in quick steps, a little more hopeful. The prospect of still seeing Maria made him forget his anger for a short time. He kicked the door a little harder than he intended, but instead of Maria there was only a boy with short blonde hair and blue eyes, looking frightened into Riccardo's. "What the hell- Who are you? And what are you doing in our kitchen?"

Matteo took a step around Riccardo and could now see what, or more specifically who, he meant. The boy could only be a few years younger than him and when he looked closer he realized he was wearing his sweater. What was that supposed to mean? It didn't suit him at all! The sleeves were rolled up several times. "And who gave you permission to wear my clothes?"

"I-I-" the boy began to stammer, but Riccardo didn't give him time to answer. Instead he came to him in long strides and grabbed his collar.

"My brother asked you a question or can't you speak in complete sentences?" He pulled him threateningly closer to his face and the boy seemed to collapse. Pathetic, said Riccardo. The boy didn't even try to defend himself.

"Let go of her now," a new voice chimed in. Domenico took Riccardo's hands and slowly began to squeeze them more and more together. It didn't take long for Riccardo to give in under the pressure and let go. Josephine backed away until her back hit the refrigerator. "Are you okay?" Domenico asked without taking his eyes off his brother. Josephine nodded silently.

"Her?" Matteo looked between the three in surprise. Then he looked at the girl. "You're our new sister? Josephine?"

"As if, the guy doesn't look like a girl at all." Riccardo rubbed his sore hands. He had seemingly forgotten how strong his brother was, but now he knew it again. "So who are you?"

Josephine looked briefly at Domenico, who continued to stare at his brothers. "I'm Josephine," she answered cautiously, giving up her protective stance. Both brothers took a step back in surprise as they saw the changes.

"Crazy," Matteo murmured quietly and Josephine took the moment to look at the two of them. This on was definitely Matteo. He was from the five of them were the thinnest, had blue eyes and seemed to be the one who took after her mother the most. So the other one had to be Riccardo. He was wider, but also narrow compared to Domenico. Like all Marinis, he had black hair and Josephine would have bet that in a few years he would look like Valentino and Vito. She couldn't see the color of his eyes, but she could see the anger that smoldered behind them. Neither of them seemed like they wanted to introduce themselves and so there was an awkward silence. Josephine shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

"What are you doing here?" Domenico asked her and his tone still didn't suggest that he was in a good mood.

"I couldn't sleep. But I was on my way to bed anyway. Can I go?" She looked hopefully at Domenico. She had every right just to escape this room. Domenico stepped aside, revealing the door. Josephine quickly set off, but was stopped just before the door because Domenico was holding her by the sweater.

"But they're going straight to bed. No little night walks, understand?" Josephine's cheeks turned red and she nodded quickly, so Domenico let her go. She silently closed the door behind her. "Now to you two. You're coming with me."

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"What were you thinking? Don't say it, I can already imagine it. Nothing. You weren't thinking anything! How could you be so short-sighted? Do you have any idea how much work it was for me to have no charges will be filed against you? You shame me. You have shamed your entire family! I am extremely disappointed in you." Vito looked down angrily at his youngest brothers sitting on the sofa in front of him. Domenico leaned against the desk and watched the scenario impassively. For the last ten minutes, Vito had basically expressed his displeasure towards the two of them and Domenico was surprised that Vito didn't hold back this time. It had only started as every lecture had started. Both told what had happened, Vito had asked questions and it seemed as if, as always, there would be just one word of disapproval. But then they started talking about her behavior towards Josephine and that was the last straw.

Matteo played with the ring on his finger while Riccardo stared at his eldest brother with his arms crossed. Domenico knew that he only wanted to provoke, like with all the things he did. Riccardo was so similar to him in so many ways, he realized once again. But he had learned to deal with and control this anger much earlier. Something Riccardo couldn't seem to do.

"We are in the middle of the process of getting custody of Josephine and what do you think it will be like when my other two protégés suddenly put on such a show? Can you just think beforehand about the consequences of your actions?" continued Vito undeterred. Riccardo snorted contemptuously. "Do you have anything to say?"

"Can I speak? Or do I have to wait for permission?" Riccardo mocked and Domenico knew he was referring to Josephine's question. "Because honestly, I have a lot to say! I don't give a shit what happens to your charity case or not. And while we're at it, big brother, you don't give a shit about us either. But you know what? You us too! And if you really expect us to sit here and act like a whole family so that some social worker can make a good impression, you're wrong. I'm tired of everything always being done according to your rules!"

Breathing heavily, Riccardo stood in front of Vito, who looked at his brother completely unimpressed. "Are you done?"

"For now, yes." Riccardo replied, suddenly unsure.

"Fantastic. I will temporarily freeze your accounts and you will be grounded for two months. This also means you will no longer be allowed to play soccer. Any further missteps on your part will extend your grounding by another month. The school will require you to do social hours. I don't want to hear any complaints about it, have I made myself clear?"

Matteo sat up. "And if we don't do that?" he asked.

"Then I'll think of something." Domenico smiled darkly at his brothers. Matteo swallowed and even Riccardo's eyes widened a little. "And Riccardo? You can go to bed now," he added, just to tease him.

Neither Riccardo nor Matteo said anything. They left the office in silence, forcefully throwing the door back into the lock. Vito looked at his brother, but he just shrugged his shoulders. What he wouldn't give for a cigarette.

"Do you believe their story?" Domenico asked and sat down on the sofa where Matteo was previously sitting.

Vito raised his eyebrow. "That it was Riccardo's idea? Not a word. He has always taken responsibility for everything Matteo has done before."

"Me neither, but why did he do that?"

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Matteo wished Riccardo goodnight and went into his room. The darkness surrounded him like a prodigal son. He didn't even bother to turn on the light. He lazily walked to his bed and looked confused at a neatly folded sweater. It was the sweater Josephine had worn before with a little note on top.

I am sorry.

He frowned before taking him back to the dressing room. What should he think about her? There were so many questions about her that he couldn't answer. But he remembered her look in the kitchen. Of the demons in her eyes. Were they like his?



Hello there!

so much for I try to update weekly, sorry! But at least I have a good explanation for it.But first I would like to thank all of you who read this story, commented, added it to your reading list and voted :-) You are wonderful!And thank you for the many private messages about how I'm doing, I really appreciate it.



A few people already know this, but I'm pregnant and like the first pregnancy, the second one isn't going very well in terms of consistent food intake on my part. Unfortunately, this means that I'm in the hospital at times and taking medication that makes me really tired. So I can't promise regular updates until things get better, but I'll try.

So hopefully see you soon, at least until someday!