Verity

Quiet

VERITY'S POV
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I groaned as I rolled over on my bed. I got up and went to the bathroom, taking a quick shower. I observed my body in the mirror- the scars, the bruises. My ribs, they hurt like shit, and the bruising around my neck had become much more visible. I didn't have my painkillers with me, so everything hurt 10x worse than they usually did.

I covered up the bruises with concealer and foundation, and wore a sweater that would cover up the rest of my body.

Nobody talked to me or came into my room for most of the day. It was about 1:00pm when I was on FaceTime with my brothers.

"I miss you so much, Verity. Like, you left me alone with these idiots. And you got new brothers! You replaced us, so mean." Groaned Alexei through the phone.

I sighed, "I miss you guys too. They aren't my brothers. You guys are, none of them were there for me when I needed them most, you guys were, so therefore you are the only family I need and want."

"That was so inspirational." Andrei laughed.
"Yea, brought literal tears to my eyes, sis." Maxim chortled.

"Oh, shut up and let me be soppy. Geez," I rolled my eyes.

"Uhm, by the way, we're coming to Italy. Next week." Alexei said quickly.

"What, why?"

"We can't leave our baby sis alone! What if you run into the Italian mafia?"

I rubbed my temple, "About that.." I looked to my door , where I knew somebody was listening. Probably Matteo, or my dad. "Мой биологический отец - дон гребаной итальянской мафии." I switched to Russian, in case anybody was eavesdropping. (My biological father is the don of the fucking Italian mafia.)

"No way. NO WAY. Francesco Moretti?" Maxim groaned through the phone, face-palming himself.

"Woah, leaving us for the Italians? Low blow sis, low blow." Andrei shook his head.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not leaving you guys, I had no choice. You better not be weirdos next week. I'll talk to you soon. я тебя люблю.," I hung up the phone and looked at the door expectantly, waiting for the person on the other side to open it, or knock at least. (I love you).

Since there was no knock, I simply got up and opened the door to see the twins trying to listen in on my conversation.

They looked at me, wide-eyed. "Heyyy, Verity. We just came up to, er.. ask if you wanted lunch. Well, you'd have to come anyway, it's a rule, we all have to show up for family meals. Let's go," Leonardo brushed it off, grabbing my arm as we ran downstairs.

I only nodded my head. I can tell they couldn't hear or understand anything because they were not being weird, or glancing at each other suspiciously.

I also decided I'd be silent around my family. No talking. Its not too much a "rebellious" thing, no. In all honesty, I was kind of scared to talk. I talked last night , and that ended in an awkward silence.

That's not why I'm scared, though. I was scared because of John. He would punish me when I spoke, even when I wasn't talking to him. I was scared shitless that my biological family would be the same.