𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 |✔

|Chapter 18|

|Talking|

Third person POV

The Romano brothers were livid. How did their sisters manage to sneak out whilst they knew they were going to sneak out? In the meantime, their uncle, aunt and cousins were trying to calm them down so they wouldn't wake up their little sisters and brother. That would be an even greater chaos.

"Alright boys! Calm down now. I know you are angry -and we all are- but that won't help any of us now. Your sisters are in Sandros office, why don't we all go there now and talk about this", Giovanni said, successfully calming the Romano brothers down. Together they went to Alessandro's office and took a seat around the office -everyone staring at the twin sisters sitting in front of the desk and looking as calm as ever.

"So? Why did you sneak out? Where did you two go?", Alessandro started, after a moment of silence. Val looked at her sister and raised an eyebrow. Her sister shrugged in response and both looked back at Alessandro, who was patiently waiting for an answer.

"Why don't you ask the men that you sent after us?", Valentina asked back, her voice strong and cold. Alessandro sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. He looked exhausted. Whilst everybody else seemed surprised, they didn't know that there was someone following them.

"Look, I had my assumptions that you were going to leave; regardless of what I said earlier today", he said calmly.

"Are those the only assumptions that you had? Or are there other assumptions that were confirmed?", everyone was quiet. Alessandro was contemplating on what to say while he was studying his sister's face. It was like he was searching for something and couldn't find it.

"Why were you at that warehouse? And then changed and drove to a club, where only you entered and then came out with two young men who gave you something?", Alessandro asked, again everyone was silent. A smirk grew on his sister's face.

"There we go. Now it's getting interesting", she said, her voice still cold and distant. Ruby looked at her, unsure if it was the right choice to tell them about what they were. Or at least, to confirm that they were what Alessandro might think they were. Everyone else looked at Val as if she was going crazy, except for her oldest brother. He smiled and shook his head. He then reached into his drawer taking out a file, laying it on his desk and opening it. It was a big and heavy file; consisting of his younger sisters' life. He had finally figured everything out.

"You knew that we are in the mafia even before you stepped foot in here, right?", his voice had this usual low tone, it was strong and deep; fitting to his appearance.

"Of course."

"When you two were six, you were sent to the same boarding school that your step brother went to. It was one of the assassination boarding schools from The Élite. You graduated shortly after you turned fifteen and left to live with our mother, her boyfriend John and his son Derek -who graduated half a year before you", Alessandro read from the file.

"Did you know about us?", Antonio asked quietly. Why didn't they contact them? Did they hate them so much? Did he even want to know the answer to his question?

"We did."

"Then why didn't you contact us?", Leo asked just as quietly as his twin. Ruby and Val shrugged. Why didn't they contact them? That was a good question. It was silent for a moment. Everyone was waiting for the twin girls to answer the question. And the twin girls were trying to find an answer to the question.

"We didn't because we were jealous", Ruby said after a while. Jealousy. The twin sisters usually didn't get jealous. But all their mother had ever done was talk about their brothers and how much she loved them. And then she told them how much she hated them. Jealousy and pain.

"Jealous of what?", Cesco asked. "You were with mom and we were with dad who constantly hit one of us or yelled at us."

"All Amelia ever did was talk about you. We didn't see her for a few years until she came to visit us. She only came because John went to visit Derek. What was the first thing she said to us? How much of a mistake we were. And how we ruined her marriage and made her abandon her beloved sons. Every time she saw us, she insulted us and talked so good about you. I guess, we got kind of jealous overtime", Ruby said, she tried to sound nonchalant like it didn't matter. But she failed. Instead she sounded like she was in pain. Her eyes overflowing with unshed tears. She quickly caught herself; blinking the tears away, clearing her throat and putting her blank face back on. Like she wanted to hide her broken self.

"Is that true? But I thought Rocco sent Mom and you two away to protect you", Lorenzo was confused. That was exactly how his parents had explained why they were going to leave.

"And you really thought they were telling the truth? Amelia loved Rocco, that's why she agreed to marry him. Rocco never loved Amelia, he agreed to marry her so she could pop out some babies for him. Male, of course. He didn't care for Amelia. She gave him five sons; that he could use for his business. But he couldn't find a use for his daughters; that his wife popped out for him", Ruby said.

"You got it wrong again, Rubs. Did you forget that you are supposed to marry the French Mafia boss?", Val joked, making Ruby laugh. That grabbed everyone's attention. Ruby was supposed to what?

"Absolutely not! First of all, he is seven years older than you. Second of all, he is male", Alessandro said immediately, his brothers, cousins and uncle agreeing to his statement. Melissa was devastated; how could they do something like that to their children? She stood up and excused herself; this was getting too much for her. She needed some rest. Giovanni quickly followed his beloved wife to comfort her.

"Are you betrothed to someone, Valentina?", Dario asked, unsure if he even wanted to know the answer. The past hour had mentally and emotionally exhausted him. He never imagined his cousins being in something big like that. It was a whole other level to the mafia; especially being trained by The Élite.

Her hesitation was enough for everyone to answer his question. She was betrothed to someone. "My hand was promised to the Spanish Mafia boss." After that all hell broke loose. Why? Because the Spanish mafia was known for never breaking promises. And they were expecting the same from their business partners.

Fear; it was cursing through the Romano brothers. Fear of being separated from their sisters again; even if it is just one of them. What will they do now?

To be continued...