THIRD PERSON

Domenico looked down at the blissfully sleeping Valentino. His brother's features were peaceful, his breathing relaxed, and the only sound was a light snore. Outside, the snow glittered under the bright sun. If it hadn't been the middle of winter, one might have even heard the birds chirping. Domenico raised the air horn and pressed the trigger.

Valentino jumped in shock, pressing his hands to his ears to muffle the noise. "What the hell was that?" he snapped at Domenico. "Are you trying to wake up the whole house?" He blinked sleepily at his brother, who seemed angry. "What's going on? Is something—" Then the realization hit him, and he frantically turned to look for Josephine. Apart from the two of them, the room was empty. "Fuck! Fuck, I'm sorry, Dom, fuck! Did you find her?"

"She's here, not thanks to you." Domenico answered so calmly that it worried Valentino even more. "Get ready; Vito wants to talk to you."

Valentino swallowed and hurried to get up, but Domenico grabbed his arm. "One more thing." He held out his real watch. "Maybe make it easier for her next time." With that, he left his brother behind to make his way to the living room. Their people would secure the rest of the property today and install alarm systems on the windows and glass door. Vito had found that a bit drastic at first, but once he saw the footprints in the snow that led to the other side of the fence, he had to admit it made sense. Domenico wasn't just trying to stop Josephine from running away; it also showed how easily other people could get in, and the risk was too great, period. God, he could use a cigarette.

Josephine was still lying on the floor, the blanket covering most of her small body. The dogs raised their heads briefly when he entered the room, but they were all lying exactly as he had left them. To most people, it must have looked like she was still sleeping peacefully, but he knew her and therefore knew better. 'Isn't it nice how everyone has such a peaceful morning?' he thought. "I know you're awake, Josephine. Get up; we have a few things to discuss."

She reluctantly followed his instructions. He called her Josephine, not Tiny. If only she hadn't fallen asleep. How long had she slept? It was already light outside again, but the house was still quiet except for the loud honking earlier, so it couldn't be that late. Oh dear, this would mean trouble, that was for sure.

"We have given the staff the day off, although Maria will be coming by briefly today. The others are busy right now, which brings me to the first point: if you want to avoid them, you should go upstairs right away. Second: people will be coming today who will increase the security measures here a bit. After that, feel free to test them. Third: you don't have to talk about it, but as far as Vito and I are concerned, you will hear us out whether you want to or not. Fourth: until Dr. Bradford and we have the impression that you are stable enough not to come up with such brilliant ideas as last night, you will be under permanent surveillance. Matteo, Riccardo, or I will keep you company in approximately twenty minutes. This is non-negotiable; Valentino will be busy with other things for the time being. Fifth: he is certainly partly to blame. He should have known better. So you don't need to feel guilty about him. Do you understand everything so far?" Josephine nodded silently. "Good, then go."

She quickly stood up and ran off. "Oh, one more thing: the situation with the dogs is just an exception today, am I clear?" Domenico pointed to the three dogs, who had also stood up to follow her. She nodded again and continued walking, closely followed by them. 'Good,' he thought as he watched them running off. 'Two done, two to go.'

He was not surprised to find his two youngest brothers together. Their sudden silence upon seeing him was expected. This reaction was precisely why Vito didn't want to tell them, but Domenico believed it would only postpone the problem rather than solve it. They would have to face it eventually, but there were certainly better times than this, and he had to agree with his brother.

"The school knows that you two will not be attending for the next few days. Vito asked me to inform you that we are having breakfast soon, and you are cordially invited to join us." His tone made it clear that the invitation really only came from Vito. "Additionally, employees are coming today to adjust the security measures here. If you show any disrespect to them, the three of us will have the pleasure of dealing with you again, understand?"

"We're not stupid," Riccardo replied, rolling his eyes.

"Debatable." Domenico's watch vibrated, and he saw that J was calling him. "Anyway, if you're not interested in breakfast, you can go look after Josephine. If you're not downstairs in twenty minutes, I'll assume I'll find you with her. Please be smarter than Valentino was last night and don't let her out of your sight. Any more questions or comments?" None of his brothers said anything; they simply stared at him. "Good."

Domenico left the room, wondering if there was anything else that could have upset Vito. He was just getting into the swing of things.

____________

"Can you believe they've lied to us our whole lives?" whispered Matteo, though he doubted Josephine was even aware of her surroundings. The dogs worried him more than anything; he wouldn't have been surprised if they were there just to ensure no one did anything stupid. Josephine, on the other hand, hadn't moved or spoken since they joined her. Next to her sat the untouched breakfast that Domenico had placed in front of the three of them without a word.

Riccardo seemed to have been waiting for Matteo to bring up the topic. He leaned his forearms on his thighs, trying to keep his voice low. "As if they did it to protect us. Everyone else in the family found out as children!"

"Exactly!" Matteo looked at Josephine again. "Do you think she knows?" He gestured toward her with his chin. Riccardo followed his gaze, nearly startled by the vacant expression in her eyes.

"Yes," she replied simply before looking out the window again.

"What?!" "Since when do you know?" "It's unbelievable! Even she knew before we did!" "How much do they actually not care about us?" "I wish we lived in a normal family." "It was all a lie!" "Why do they always treat us like little children?" "And they can't even admit that they messed up!"

Their whispers faded, replaced by rising frustration, and it felt as if they might tear the tidied room to pieces, just as Josephine had done before.

"Stop it," Josephine said quietly at first. "Stop it, both of you!" She repeated it loudly, causing both brothers to turn and look at her in surprise. Anger etched her features, her frustration palpable. Hades had settled beside her, while the other two looked on attentively. "Get off your high horse." Matteo opened his mouth to respond, but she raised her index finger to silence him. "No, Matteo. You have no idea how lucky you are to live in this family. Yes, they lied to you, yes, it sucks that you found out like this, and yes, it's not easy to understand or accept. But is it really your problem that they want to protect you? Do you really think your life would have been carefree if you'd known from the beginning? Because if you believe that, you're not just incredibly naive, you're also incredibly foolish." She then turned her gaze to Riccardo. "And if you truly want to be treated like adults, then pull yourselves together for once and stop acting like spoiled children!"

Speechless, with their mouths agape, the two brothers stared at Josephine, who had hugged her knees and resumed gazing out the window. Where did that come from? "Excuse me?" Matteo couldn't believe what he had heard. His Josie would never say something like that! It was completely unexpected. Why wasn't she on their side? She had to understand the injustice! "When did we act like spoiled children?"

With a steady gaze, she turned back to them. "Really? What about the church, the car, and everything else? Do you think that's grown-up?"

"That's rich coming from you. Wasn't it you who went all psycho and destroyed her room?" Riccardo snapped at her angrily. Josephine crossed her arms and fixed her gaze on him. "Well at least I'm psycho, what's your excuse for being an asshole?"

"What did you just—?"

"Okay! Let's all calm down for a second before we say things we might regret," Matteo interjected loudly. "Rico, I'm sure Josie didn't mean it like that—"

"Indeed I did," Josephine interrupted, watching as Riccardo leaped up in anger. She didn't care; in fact, she relished it. Why should she be afraid of him? There was nothing he could do that others hadn't already done to her. Why bother trying to build a relationship? Everything was ruined anyway. "Since you're already standing, feel free to leave, too."

Her cool tone cut through the tension as she observed Matteo attempt to usher Riccardo out of the room. Riccardo's face turned an alarming shade of red. Had she been too harsh? But someone had to give both of them a reality check, she thought. Once they left, she turned back to the window, absently scratching Hades' head.



Finally, the Wrecked chapters are now complete :-)

Lets move on, shall we? How are you all?