Trusting My Brothers

Chapter 40

"I have missed you, piccolo." She says, stilling holding me.

"I've missed you too." I said, wrapping my arms around her.

Finally letting go of me, she invites me in. Liam, Evelina, and I go to sit on the couch in the living room.

"So, what are you doing in Italy?" she asked.

"Well, my parents passed a couple months ago in a car accident. Apparently I had family that lived here and they were willing to take me in." 

Evelina's face takes on a sad expression. "I'm so sorry for your loss. It must have been awful to lose them at such a young age."

Involuntarily, I snort and say something I knew that I was going to regret, but it's not like it matters anymore. "My parents were abusive, Evelina and I actually am kind of glad they are gone. That probably makes me a bad person, but after everything they did, I don't know."

She looked defeated. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have helped you."

"It's complicated. As much as I would have loved help, it would have made things worse. Besides, I tried to go to the police before and they didn't believe me, so I learned to stay quiet." I said and hit Liam's thigh as a gesture to tell him to keep quiet that he knew. 

Unfortunately it was his bad leg, causing him to wince. Evelina, who noticed, turned her head to him in worry. "Are you alright, Liam?"

Still trying to forget the pain, he says, "Yep. Just a little sore from...working out."

Leaning in to whisper in his ear, I say, "Maybe you should tell her the truth. Or at least a part of the truth."

He nods and takes a deep breath before turning to face his mom. "Last night, there was a random shooting where I was hanging out. I got shot in the thigh and I called Lili to help me out."

Evelina stands straight up. "What?! Why the hell didn't you go to the hospital or call me?! You are in serious trouble young man!"

"Mom, I'm okay. Lili fixed me up and I'm good. Just in a little pain." Liam tried to reason, but Evelina was not having it.

"I don't care. You are my son and I'll be damned if I lose you like I lost your father. You are grounded indefinitely." she says with tears in her eyes and turns to me. "Thank you for helping Liam. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't get there. And I'm sorry that I never noticed what was going on in your house. I wish I could have helped you."

Giving her a hug, I say, "It's okay. I was really good at hiding it, I guess. Besides, I'm happy here and am on my journey to healing. Wow that sounded kind of cliche."

She just laughs and I remember something. "What happened to your husband?"

Evelina looks somber. "He died in a shooting two months ago."

"I'm so sorry; that's awful." I say and start to tear up. He was always making me laugh when I cried. Both him and Evelina were my parental figures.

"Yeah, and I am now going to be a single mom to a teen and a new born." she said sadly.

"How far along are you?" I ask, wiping the loose tears away.

"I just went to my three month check-up. You know, I wish I got the chance to tell him he was going to have another kid."

"Mom, he would have been ecstatic to find out." Liam said.

"And I hope you know that I am here if you need anything." 

"Thank you. Now I'm sure your brothers are starting to worry, so I hope to see you again too." Evelina says.

"I hope so too. Bye." I say and leave to go to the car. Once I get in, my brothers drive to Val's house, which was only five minutes away, and drops her off before going back to ours.

The entire time, the car was silent and once we get home, I decide that I can't take it anymore. "Okay, if you are going to yell at me, can you do it now? The suspense is killing me."

Enzo says, "Well, all I have to say is I am both angry and proud of you. You should have never left without telling one of us and especially in a situation like that. What if the shooter was still there? What if you got hurt to? Do you have any idea how much it would have hurt us if you were harmed or were dead?"

Nico continues from where Enzo leaves off. "Liliana, ever since we got you back, our family has finally been whole. Yes, we still have our issues, but you never saw how bad it was before we found you. If we lost you again, the family will probably go to shit."

"So why are you proud of me?" I ask. They just smile at me.

"Because you took initiative. Your friends were in a bad situation and you helped them. You also called us when you needed help, which just shows how much you have have started to trust us. When you first arrived here over a month ago, you would have never asked us for help, and for those reasons, I'm extremely proud of you." Nico says.

"Thank you so much for everything." I say and mean it. 

Think back to everything, I realized that they were right. I have come so far from the girl that hated everything, from the girl who was self destructive. A month ago, I hated everything about my brothers, but now, I love them. A month ago, I would have said they were being too strict and overbearing, but now I know they just want to protect me. A month ago, I would have been alone, but now I have two best friends and a complicated love interest. A month ago, I had nightmares every night and self-harmed, but now I dream about good things and haven't cut in weeks. I should be proud of myself and I am.

"You never have to thank us, Bambina. Besides, you have helped us as well. We used to be so afraid that we just learned to act cold to everyone. But now, we learned that it is okay to show emotions...besides anger." said Enzo.

"I love you guys." This was the first time I ever voiced this to them.

"We love you too, Lil." said Nic and they both give me a hug. 

"I hope you know you are grounded." Enzo says in my hair and I just nod, not letting either of them go.

After a few minutes of hugging, I hear someone say, "Can we join in on the group hug?"

I turn to see all of my other brothers there: Luca, Savio, Matteo, and Fabiano. Tears start to form in my eyes and I tell them yes, causing them to run into the hug and making me laugh. We stay just like this for a while.

"I'm sorry for everything that I said since you have been here, Liliana. I had no right to do any of that to you and for that, I apologize." I hear Matteo say. Everybody else voices similar things, just for the wrong things they personally have said.

"It's okay. I forgive you, though remember, I don't forget." I say vaguely, causing us to laugh.

Five minutes later, I let go and say, "Can somebody make some food? I'm hungry."

Nico says he will and we all go to the kitchen to eat some delicious lasagna for lunch.