The room was dark again.

I was back in that house, I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't see anything except him. His shadow moved across the floor, slow and heavy, and I could feel my chest tighten as he came closer. The sound of his boots thudding on the wooden floor made my whole body tense up.

I clutched Orso to my chest, wishing I could disappear, wishing I could be somewhere else, somewhere safe. But I knew it wouldn't work. It never did.

The door swung open with a loud crash, and there he was-my stepfather. His face twisted into something dark, his eyes hard, mean. My body froze. I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't work. They never worked when I needed them to. I just stood there, shaking, my fingers gripping Orso like he was the only thing keeping me from falling apart.

"You think you can hide from me?" His voice was loud, angry, and it felt like it wrapped around me, choking me. His hand reached for me, yanking me by the arm, his grip so tight it hurt. I tried to pull away, but I wasn't strong enough. I never was.

The first hit came fast. Pain shot through my face, and I fell to the floor, my legs crumpling beneath me. I could feel the sting where he'd hit me, but I didn't cry. I wasn't supposed to cry. I wasn't supposed to make a sound.

"Get up!" he shouted, his voice getting louder, angrier.

I tried. I really did. But my legs wouldn't move. They were too tired, too weak. My whole body felt heavy, like it was stuck to the floor. I knew what was coming next. I knew what he'd do when I didn't listen fast enough.

Another hit. And another.

I curled into myself, trying to make myself smaller, trying to hide, but it didn't matter. His hands kept grabbing at me, pulling, pushing, and all I could do was whisper, "Please... Please..."

But he didn't stop. He never stopped.

---

The nightmare twisted, everything going black.

---

I woke up with a jolt, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. My eyes flew open, and for a second, I didn't know where I was. Everything felt too bright, too loud. I couldn't breathe.

The nightmare was still there, clinging to me, even though I was awake. My chest hurt, and I felt cold all over. My hands were shaking, and I couldn't make them stop.

Then I felt it-someone's hand on my head.

I froze.

I didn't want to be touched. I didn't want anyone near me. I just wanted to hide.

But I couldn't move. My whole body felt stuck, like if I moved, something bad would happen. I couldn't even look up. I was too scared.

The hand in my hair moved gently, slowly, but it didn't feel good. It made me feel more scared, like he was still here, like he was still pulling me, grabbing me, hurting me. I wanted it to stop, but I couldn't say the words. I couldn't say anything.

"Luca..." A voice broke through the fog in my head.

I knew that voice. It wasn't him. It was Massimo. But my heart didn't stop racing, and the fear didn't go away. My whole body stayed tense, my hands gripping the blanket so hard they hurt.

"Luca, it's okay," Massimo said softly. His voice was calm, but I could feel the worry in it. "It was just a bad dream. You're safe now."

But I didn't feel safe. I didn't feel like I was with him. I still felt like I was there, in that dark room, with him. I still felt like I couldn't get away, like I was trapped.

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. My throat felt tight, and my chest

hurt. I just stared straight ahead, my eyes wide, my body frozen.

I didn't want to look at Massimo. I didn't want to see him, because what if it wasn't really him? What if it was still a dream? What if I looked up and saw my stepdad, the man who hurt me?

My heart pounded harder. My breathing felt wrong, there wasn't enough air. My eyes started to burn, but I didn't want to cry. I wasn't supposed to cry.

Massimo's hand stayed in my hair, gentle, soft, but I wished he would stop. I wanted him to stop. I didn't want to be touched. I didn't want to feel anything. I wanted to disappear.

But I didn't know how to say that.



"Luca, what's wrong?"

My voice was barely a whisper, but the worry grew with every second he stayed silent. His eyes were wide and unfocused, staring past me, almost as if he wasn't here at all. I could feel his whole body tense under my hand, every muscle tight and bracing.

I reached forward a little more, keeping my hand still in his hair, slow and gentle. "Hey, bud," I murmured softly, "I just came to check up on you. I some noises. " My voice caught a little, the words sitting heavier than I meant.

He blinked, like he was coming out of a fog. But his breathing was still fast and shallow, his little fists still clenched tight around the blanket. I kept my hand steady, giving him time, giving him space.

"It's okay, Luca," I continued, keeping my voice as calm as I could, hoping it might ground him. "You're safe. It was just a bad dream."

For a moment, he just stayed there, still frozen, his gaze flickering as if he was somewhere far away. But finally, he gave a small, shaky nod, and I saw his body relax just a little. His breathing started to slow, though he was still clutching the blanket like it was a lifeline.

"That's it," I said, a small, warm smile spreading over my face. "It was just a dream, bud. I'm right here with you."

After a long silence, he finally looked up at me, his eyes still wide, but softer, no longer quite as scared. I could feel the tension in him start to fade as he let out a small breath, his grip loosening.

I wish to know what are you thinking about, piccolo.

Once he was fully calm, I gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You know," I said quietly, "since you're up, I was thinking it might be a good time to check on your leg. I thought... maybe we could head down to my clinic for a bit?"

Luca's eyes flickered with a hint of worry, but I gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay, I just want to take a look," I explained, my tone gentle and steady. "No rush. We'll go at your pace, alright?"

He looked at me for a moment, then gave a hesitant nod, his expression a mix of curiosity and a bit of lingering fear.

I stayed close, my hand coming to rest lightly on his shoulder, but he flinched. And I stopped putting my hands on the bed. I watching as he slowly adjusted to the idea. I wasn't going to push him, not after a night like this, but I knew that checking on his leg was long overdue. And maybe, just maybe, it might help him feel even a little bit better. ---





I sat up slowly, blinking as Massimo's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. His voice was gentle, almost careful, as he looked at me with that soft smile of his.

"Leonardo told me that you wanted to let me see your clothes that you bought yesterday, bud," he said.

My eyes widened, not in fear this time-but in excitement. I could feel it bubbling up, though I wasn't used to feeling like this. Excited. Safe. I glanced up at Massimo, who was watching me patiently, just waiting. No rush, no sharp words.

"Y-yeah," I whispered, a small smile tugging at my lips. I still felt a little nervous, but it was different now. Massimo was here, and he wasn't going to yell at me or brush me off.

I stretched my legs and tried to get out of the bed from my right side slowly, since massy was from my left side i got down wincing a little and leaned on the bed and went to the edge of it and took out a bag, pulling out the shirt Alessio picked out. It was soft, blue with a little bear on the front, and I smoothed my fingers over the fabric as I held it up. I glanced up at Massimo, watching his face, wondering if he'd like it.

Massimo's smile grew, warm and encouraging. "That's awesome, Luca," he said, reaching out to gently pat my shoulder. "I can already tell it's going to look great on you."

Something warm settled in my chest. I wasn't used to someone talking to me like this-like what I thought mattered. I found myself nodding, my grip on the shirt tightening a little as I looked back at him.

"T-there's... there's more," I said, glancing down as I pulled out the next shirt, a red one this time. I didn't know why I wanted to show him everything, but I did. I wanted him to see them all, to like them.

Massimo nodded, still watching me with that patient look, as if I was the only thing that mattered right now. "I'm excited to see them all, bud. Take your time "

I beamed at him and pulled out a t-shirt that Alessio wanted to match wit me

"A-and t-this o-one A-ales-sio w-wanted t-to M-match w-with me"

Massimo's eyes softened

"They are great, Lukey, And by the way we will Match together sometime, Okay?"

I grinned at him

"O-okay "

I forgot about everything, the nightmare, my stepdad, everything.

_______________

After showing Massimo half of my clothes,they really bought alot yesterday.

"How about we have breakfast now and then we willl go to my clinic?" He asked , and I was anxious for a second but nodded anyway

"And there is a friend of mine he is like a brother to me his name is Matteo He is also an orthopedic as me, he will help me to know what's wrong with your leg buddy okay?"

I was very nervous now not knowing what to say, I just nod again, Massimo is very nice so ofcourse his friend will be kind . ___________________________

Massimo went downstairs and now I am brushing my teeth, I have already changed my clothes, I wore a long sleeve baby blue shirt and a short, Massy told me I better wear those so it could be easier when we go to the ckinic. After I finished I went downstairs clutching my crutch

I should go to the kitchen right now, Right? Or what?

But my thoughts were cut by someone near me, I looked at my right and It was Massimo

Good.

"You want to sit on the couch like yesterday and eat?"

I nod he offered his hand and I took it walking to the living room my crutch making Tick noise as usual

We went to the living room and I sat on the ground wincing a little from my knee, I just want to sit on a height near to the table so that is why I am sitting on the groun , Massimo picked the remote and played Paw Patrol, He went to the kitchen and Came with 2 plates

"Here are some fruits and pancakes with chocolate syrup, for my little Sir "

He bowed and I giggled alot .

"Come on, I want you to finish so we can go to the clinic before Matteo arrives " I nod and start eating.



I just woke up and it means that it is time for my thoughts to start spinning.

Since Mama took Luca alot of things changed, Marco and our routine.

I am a person who loves routine, so when everything changed it wass quite unpleasant.

Massimo skipped years in school, So that meant he went to college early and because he was still a minor and papa went with him, All of this happend days after Luca was kidnapped. And Ricardo and the twins stayed at my grandparents house except me I stayed at our house.

Enough memories now.

I sighed getting up making my morning routine. Then went to the kitchen where I found papa sipping on his coffee, on the stool counter, scrolling through his phone, I went to thee coffee machine and made coffee .

"Leonardo wake the twins up before we get late today" papa said and I nod I poured the coffee and went to the stairs climbing it and went to the twins room

Our routine is pretty simple waking up the twins driving them to school then me and papa will go our mafia base the I will stay there while papa go to his company to train Ricardo on working in the company since he is the heir the company

__________

The drive to school always felt longer than it really was. Marco and Alessio sat in the backseat, going back and forth about something-probably a game or some competition they'd cooked up between the two of them. Papa was focused on the road, his hands steady on the wheel, his expression calm but sharp as always.

I was in the passenger seat, half-listening to the twins but mostly lost in my own thoughts. Their bickering was routine, almost comforting in its normalcy. Alessio was trying to convince Marco that he could beat him in whatever nonsense they'd started this time, but Marco just rolled his eyes and fired back with a quick, sarcastic response.

It reminded me of the old days, before everything went sideways. Before Luca was taken. Back when the house was filled with the sounds of all of us-smaller, messier, louder.

And just like that, my mind slipped back to one of those mornings.

___________

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the faint sound of something rolling across the floor. It wasn't loud, just a soft clink-clink-clink and some giggling that shouldn't have been there. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming. But as I blinked against the morning light filtering through my window, I realized the sound wasn't going away.

Groggily, I pushed myself up, glancing around my room. Nothing looked out of place-my desk was still cluttered with papers and notebooks from the night before, and my chair was still half-covered in yesterday's clothes. But the noise was still there, faint and persistent.

"Clink. Clink."

I rubbed my eyes, sitting up fully now. That was definitely coming from the living room.

Dragging myself out of bed, I shuffled toward the door, yawning as I pushed it open. The house was quiet-too quiet, except for that mysterious noise. Everyone else was still asleep, which made sense. It was early, way earlier than I usually got up, and I was already regretting it.

I followed the sound down the hall, my bare feet padding softly against the cool floor. The living room came into view, and what I saw stopped me in my tracks.

There, in the middle of the room, was Luca.

He was sitting on the carpet, his tiny legs splayed out in front of him, with one of my pens in his hand. He'd somehow managed to get out of his crib, sneak into the living room, and make a game out of rolling the pen across the floor. He didn't even notice me at first, too focused on his "game," giggling softly to himself every time the pen rolled back toward him.

"Luca?" I finally said, my voice still scratchy with sleep.

His head shot up, his big brown eyes meeting mine. For a second, he looked startled, like he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. But then his face broke into a wide, toothy grin, and he held up the pen like it was some kind of trophy. "Pway!"

I blinked, trying to process what I was seeing. "Wait, how did you even get out of your crib?"

"Pway," he repeated, as if that answered everything.

I stepped closer, crouching down in front of him. "Did you climb out?"

He nodded enthusiastically, still clutching the pen. "No sweep," he added, like that explained why he was up so early.

I stared at him, half-impressed, half-worried.

"You're going to give Papa a heart attack if you keep pulling stunts like this, you know that?" I said, shaking my head with a grin.

He just tilted his head at me, not understanding a word but clearly pleased with himself.

"Alright, bud," I sighed, picking him up and balancing him on my hip. He squirmed a little, still holding onto the pen. "If you're not going to sleep, at least let's make sure you're not wrecking the house, okay?"

---

I carried him to the kitchen, setting him down in his high chair. He banged the pen on the tray a few times, babbling nonsense that I pretended to understand.

"You hungry?" I asked, pulling open the fridge.

"Bana!" he exclaimed, pointing at the fruit bowl on the counter.

"Banana, huh?" I grabbed one, peeling it halfway before handing it to him. He took a big bite, his cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"You've got the life, kid. Breaking out of cribs, playing with pens, eating bananas first thing in the morning. Must be nice."

"Buh-na," he mumbled through a mouthful of banana, holding up the peel like it was the best thing he'd ever had.

I sat down across from him with my own breakfast-just a bowl of cereal-and watched as he happily munched away, his little feet kicking against the high chair. He kept babbling, pointing at random things around the kitchen and naming them in his toddler way.

"Cup!" he said, pointing at my mug.

"Yep, that's a cup," I said, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Wawa!" he added, pointing at the sink.

"Water," I corrected with a nod.

This went on for a while, him pointing and naming things while I either agreed or gently corrected him. It was simple, but it felt good. Peaceful, even.

After breakfast, I figured we'd make the most of the morning. I wasn't ready to go back to bed, and Luca clearly wasn't either. "What do you think, bud?" I asked, wiping banana off his face with a napkin. "Want to go grocery shopping with me?"

His eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands together. "Go!"

"Alright, let's get you dressed first," I said, pulling him out of the high chair and carrying him to his room.

________________

The grocery store wasn't far, but it felt like an adventure with Luca. I strapped him into his car seat, which he didn't seem too happy about. He squirmed and babbled, his little hands gripping the straps as if he thought he could escape.

"Bud, you can't Houdini your way out of this," I told him, smirking as I clicked the last buckle.

"Who-dee-nee?" he repeated, scrunching up his tiny nose.

"Never mind. Let's just get there, yeah?"

By the time we reached the store, Luca had calmed down, though his eyes were already darting around as I lifted him into the cart seat. The moment we rolled into the produce section, he lit up like I'd taken him to a candy store.

"App-pul!" he exclaimed, pointing at a display of apples stacked so perfectly it could've been art.

"That's right, apples," I said, grabbing a few. "But don't go pointing at every single thing, alright? We've got a lot to get through."

He ignored me, of course.

As we moved through the aisles, he started pointing at everything in sight. "Nana!" he said, his little finger aimed at a bunch of bananas.

"Yep, bananas," I said, grabbing a bundle and handing him one to hold. He hugged it to his chest like it was some kind of treasure.

We turned into the cereal aisle next, and that's where the real chaos began.

"Too many options, huh?" I muttered, staring at the shelves lined with brightly colored boxes. Luca, of course, had already spotted the most obnoxious one-a box with a cartoon tiger and more sugar than actual cereal.

"Tigha!" he squealed, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Tiger?" I asked, following his gaze to the box he was pointing at. "No way, bud. That'll have you bouncing off the walls, and I'll never hear the end of it from Papa."

His face scrunched up in disappointment, but I reached for another box with a cartoon animal on it-a bunny this time-and handed it to him instead.

"Bun-bun!" he said happily, clutching it like a trophy.

"See? Compromise," I said, grinning as I tossed the box into the cart.

We kept going, with Luca pointing and babbling at every little thing that caught his eye. He was fascinated by the bright packaging, the shiny produce, even the freezer doors. At one point, he pressed his little hand against the cold glass, giggling as it fogged up under his breath.

"Cold!" he declared, pulling his hand back and holding it up to me like he'd discovered something amazing.

"Yep, that's how freezers work," I said, chuckling as I steered us toward the dairy section.

By the time we reached the checkout, the cart was filled with way more than I'd planned to buy. Half the stuff was because of Luca-random things he'd pointed at with his wide, curious eyes, and I didn't have the heart to say no.

The cashier smiled as she scanned the items, her eyes landing on Luca, who was still holding the banana and the bunny cereal. "He's a little helper, huh?" she said.

"Helper's a stretch," I replied with a grin, glancing at Luca, who was now trying to open the banana with his tiny hands.

"Banaaa!" he said, frustrated when the peel didn't budge.

"Here, let me help you, bud," I said, taking it from him and peeling it halfway before handing it back. He took a bite, his face lighting up as if it was the best thing he'd ever tasted.

Once we'd loaded everything into the car, I strapped him back into his seat, handing him the cereal box to keep him entertained. He stared at the bunny on the front, babbling quietly to himself as I drove us home.

________________

"Leo?" Marco's voice snapped me out of the memory.

"Hm?" I glanced back at him, realizing I'd zoned out.

"We're here," he said, nodding toward the school gates.

I turned to look out the window. Sure enough, we'd arrived. Marco and Alessio were already grabbing their bags, their earlier bickering forgotten as they prepared to face another day.

Papa turned to me as they got out, his expression unreadable. "You good?"

"Yeah," I said quickly, forcing a small smile. "I'm fine."

He didn't press, but I could tell he wasn't convinced. He waited until the twins disappeared into the school before starting the car again, heading toward the base.

I leaned back in my seat, staring out the window as the city blurred past us. The memory of that morning with Luca lingered in my mind, bittersweet.

I didn't know why it had hit me so hard today, but I couldn't shake it. Maybe it was just the way Marco and Alessio had been bickering, or the quiet routine of the morning, or the fact that Luca wasn't home and with Massimo right now.

All I knew was that things were different now. The house wasn't the same without him. And no matter how far we'd come, there was still a part of me that missed those mornings-when everything was simple, and the only thing I had to worry about was keeping Luca out of trouble.

______________

I am so so so sorry Really I was very busy like veryyyyy I am so sorry for the delay guys I tried my best in this chapter and I hope you like it and I was very happy when you guys where asking about a new chapter thank you for all the comments Pls Tell me if you have anymore ideas and thanks for reading and by the way I edited chaper 7, a little thing in it their cousin peter I made him autistic and that he is 10 years old but I edited it where he is 7 and not autistic