The Missing Princess

21: Coward

Chapter 21

-Niccolo Di Luca-

For the first time in my life, I felt like a coward. A good-for-nothing helpless, fucking coward who ran away and completely left my poor, defenseless little sister all alone with our sadistic brother.

I'm such a fucking idiot who always acts so high and mighty, but the truth is, I'm nothing but a cowardly idiot who doesn't really have the fucking spine stand up to myself or to the one person who has shown me so much care and love. No wonder Enzo and Gio hate me.

Sandro was hurting Isabella. I saw him hurting her, but I fucking did nothing to stop him. I did nothing to save her from him. What did I do instead? I fucking ran away!

It's no secret that I fear my second-eldest brother. The guy has scared the living shit out of me since I was a kid. I mean, who wouldn't be fucking scared of Alessandro Di Luca? (Well, I guess not Enzo and Gio.) Honestly, I just fear my brothers altogether, all of what they're capable of, especially Enzo. But it's a different kind of fear when it comes to Sandro.

The two of us weren't really that close, especially given our age gap. Growing up, I remember that whenever Sandro would talk to me, he would never fail to tell me about our parents. But he doesn't exactly tell me stories about them or what they were like, no. Instead, he'd always tell me the reason why they were both gone, why I never met them, and why our family was so broken; according to him, it was all because of the birth of our sister.

Sandro was the one who made me hate our little sister.

"You should hate her, Nicco."

"But how can I? I don't even remember her. She didn't do anything to me."

"That fucking sister of ours is the reason we don't have a Mamma and Papa. She's the reason you haven't met them. She killed them, Nicco. Remember that."

And I just fucking believed him.

I want Enzo to break my neck next time for being so fucking stupid.

It's not Isabella's fault. She was a baby! How could it be her fault?

My sorellina is the purest, gentlest soul I've ever met. Since she came to live with us, I showed her nothing but hate and disgust, but when I was at my absolute worst, she still came to me and offered me nothing but kindness, care, and love. I had been a shitty brother to her, but she still cared about me. Isabella is the only one in this fucked-up family of ours who has truly shown me care and love. The kind of care and love I've never felt all my fucking life—the one that I've been craving. But what did I do to her when she needed me the most? I left her.

I really am the fucking worst.

It's been five hours.

Sandro already left four hours ago because I heard a harsh slamming of the front doors, indicating that he'd gone and left once again. I've locked myself here in my bedroom, pacing back and forth all over my spacious room and hating myself more and more because of my cowardice and stupidity.

Isabella must be in her bedroom, scared sh*tless, because of what happened.

What happened.

"Merda del cazzo. Lorenzo sarà balistico." (Fucking shit. Lorenzo is going to be ballistic.)

The realisation of what actually happened back then finally hit me like a tonne of bricks falling in my head.

Sandro revealed to our little sister what really happened to our parents!

Isabella finally knows the truth!

I suddenly found myself cursing out loud, quickly running out of my room, and racing to Isabella's bedroom, which's just literally two rooms away from mine.