The Lost Twins

Chapter Seven

Pietro's pov

Focusing on my work after learning what I had earlier was more than difficult. I just kept seeing those pictures of the twins and every emotion filled my chest until it felt tight. I kept glancing at Ali from time to time, I realized that she had fallen asleep about an hour ago and that was another distraction. Whenever I looked at her, I saw the pictures again. There was a picture of Ali from 2008, when the twins were eight. Ali was laying in a hospital bed, there was dried blood in her hair, she had an oxygen mask around her nose and mouth, her right arm was in a cast, there were bandages wrapped around her head and left leg, and bruises covered most of her body. Her foster parents at the time said that she'd been hit by a car and Gio tried to tell anyone who would listen that it wasn't true. Gio kept trying to say that it was their foster father who had hurt Ali like that. It was later revealed that it was the foster father and he was arrested for child abuse, the foster mother was also arrested and the twins were removed from their care. Seeing Ali like that, her little body broken and bruised, I nearly lost it. 

I have always prided myself on being a strong person both physically and mentally. I have always been told that I have to be strong for the mafia and for my brothers, I have been an example for them my entire life. I learned early on in life that I would have my younger siblings look up to me so I created my façade of cold, aloof, and unfeeling, but also confident, strong, and brave. I pride myself on control and being able to keep my emotions in check, I've never allowed my emotions to get the better of me when I make decisions. However, seeing those pictures of Gio and Ali, injured and in the hospital, hearing what they went through, I almost lost my grip on my control. I was so close to losing it for the first time in my life. I couldn't stand seeing the twins in that condition and the fact that I couldn't protect them makes me feel even worse. I feel like I failed them and I don't know what I can do about it now. 

I was brought out of my thoughts by yelling in the hallway. I could hear Giovanni yelling. I stood up and walked into the hallway, I followed the yelling to the bottom of the stairs. I found Giovanni, Matteo, and Lorenzo. Giovanni was yelling at Matteo and Lorenzo, he was clearly angry.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SISTER!?!?" Giovanni yelled,

"We told you, we didn't do anything with Ali," Matteo said,

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME YOU DIDN'T DO SOMETHING! She's not in her room so I know you did something with her!" Giovanni exclaimed,

"What is all this yelling about?" I asked,

"YOU! You need to tell me what you've done with my sister," Giovanni demanded,

"Like Matteo said, we didn't do anything to Ali," Lorenzo said, 

"Matteo and Lorenzo are right, we didn't do anything with Alessandra. She's asleep in my office right now," I said,

"Gio?" A small voice asked.

I turned around and Ali was standing behind me with the blanket I gave her wrapped around her small frame. Gio froze, looked at the three of us before he marched over to Alessandra. Alessandra signed something to Gio and Gio signed back with her. We watched the two of them until Gio took Ali's hand and the two went back upstairs.

"Che cos 'era questo?" Matteo asked, (What was that?),

"Alessandra ha fatto un brutto sogno e mi ha trovato nel mio ufficio. L'ho lasciata dormire sul divanco," I said, (Alessandra had a bad dream and she found me in my office. I let her sleep on the couch,)

"Giovanni si sveglio e scopri che Alessandra era scomparse e ando fuori di testa. Correva in girl a cercarla e pretendeva di sapere cosa le avessimo fatto," Lorenzo said, (Giovanni woke up and found Alessandra was missing and he freaked out. He was running around looking for her and demanding to know what we did with her,)