Adelina's POV:
Shards of glass fly everywhere as I attempt to cover my face and eyes. Michael's eyes are glazed over with fury as he looks at me with a wild look covering his features. With every slow and menacing step he takes towards me, I unconsciously take one back. My body violently and involontarily flinches at every slight movement.
He reaches down and silently picks up a sharper fragment of glass from the ground and my back hits the wall. Slowly, he runs the tip of his finger along the sharp end, testing it's efficiency. Today is nothing like the others. Today is much scarier than the others.
He reaches me at a snails pace while my heart thumps more and more aggressively against my ribcage. He lifts up one hand, his drunken state making it hard for him to coordinate it. His hand lands on my cheek roughly as my head jerks backwards from the unexpected motion.
Salty tears start to drip onto my cheeks as I start to let out sobs
"Darling," he shushs with a small chuckle that sends shivers down my spine, pressing a finger against my lips "there's no need for that"
His hands make their way down to my waist where I thrash before being slammed back up to the wall. I struggle in his hold before he places the cool piece of glass against my cheek.
"Ah ah ah," he chuckles tapping the makeshift weapon soflty.
His lips soon latch onto my collarbone and my head jerks once again as a sharp pain stings my cheek. A louder sob escapes my lips this time.
I sat there trapped, the memory replaying over and over again. Nothing more and nothing less. My mind wakes up before my body. I lay there, still and unmoving trying to process my surroundings. Everything comes rushing back and I groan in annoyance.
Yesterday was painfully awkward and I fully expect the same thing of the boys today. My gut feeling about them is becoming highy unsettling and I need to get rid of it as soon as possible. I'm hoping everyone will be there for breakfast or around in general but I doubt it.
After taking a shower and getting dressed in yesterday's clothes, which is nothing new to me due to living with Michael, I head downstairs. I wander a bit, not fully knowing the floor plan, but soon end up in the in a hallway I think leads to the kitchen.
I hear muffled italien words coming from a room nearby. I follow the sound of the voices until I end up at the door.
"C'era un problema. Sono partiti presto per incontrarsi ..." one muttered before his sentence trails off. (There was a problem. They left early to go meet with...)
I lean in closer to the door, hoping to hear more of the conversation they felt the need to have in italien but the floorboard creeks under my weight. The conversation instantly seises and I stand up straight and take a deep breath before pushing open the door with no second thought. If I had waited they would have figured I was eavesdropping.
"Hey," I say calmly, realising I've successfully ended up in the kitchen. Angelo is pouring himself a cup of coffee while Raffaele sits eating his breakfast on the table. Raffaele has a panicked look on his face but gives a small smile and Angelo simply smiles.
"Goodmorning," he says picking up a mug.
I give him a nod and go to sit at the table.
"Would you like anything to eat?," he speaks up again after a moment of silence. I look around, as if I would find the answer written on the placemats, while rule number four rings in my head. No eating or drinking.
"Uh," I say, about to refuse but still looking around until my eyes land on Raffaele who sends me a subtle nod. "Yes, thank you," I smile.
They both seem pleased with my answer and Angelo questions me on what I would like.
"Whatever is fine, I'm not one to be picky" I reply.
So he gets to work. Silence surrounds us except for the occasional question by Angelo saying "how did you sleep" or such and I can't help be upset by it. The quiet bothers me. By the time my food is ready, Raffaele has already finished his own but still sits comfortably in the chair he was in when I first arrived into the room.
"Where are the others," I speak.
"The twins are at school," Angelo answers with almost no hesitation.
"And the oldests?" I direct my question towards Raffele.
He hardly looks at me before Angelo answers in his place.
"There was an emergency at work,"
I eye him suspiciously. He is obviously not the one I had asked. I seem to accept his answer but mentally hold on to their reactions.
"Oh alright," I reply.
"Why are you wearing the same clothes as yesterday?" he questions with a confused look.
"I don't have any other clothes" I say.
"Why didn't you tell us," he looks at me, baffled
"Didn't think it was important"
He shakes his head.
"Someone will take you tomorrow"
"There's really no need-"
"Don't argue with me," he intervenes with a playful glare.
I simply roll my eyes, which he looks upset about but doesn't scold me for.
"Fine"
Angelo smiles before announcing he had a class to attend. He apologises for leaving but stresses it is an important lecture. I couldn't care less in reality. One less obstacle.
Soon after the front door closes, Raffaele gets up to leave.
"Wait," I call after him. He turns to me with a questioning look. "Would you mind showing me around?," I continue.
Raffaele doesn't seem like one to answer questions, he's more reserved.Moreso around me than the others. I can't help but wonder if it's because he's shy around new people or loose lipped. Asking him to show me around will not only help me get a better idea of this house, but also if he's someone who I could easily get to tell me what I need to know.
"Sure," he speaks for the second time since I've met him.
The tour only takes a short while, but it's very helpful. I now know where everything is. The library, rooms, offices, the attic and the basement. Along the way, there wasn't much Raffaele would say.
When I asked questions, he seemed stressed to say the least. He almost seemed to word vomit when I asked what Domenico and Francesco do for work. I must commend him though, he didn't crack under pressure and seemed to recompose himself rather quickly.
He told me they were buisnessmen and when I proceeded to ask what buisness he answered a family buisness before quickly changing the subject. I was correct to assume he didn't speak much, our conversation was often one sided.
He finally drops me off at my room, saying that he would be in the art room if I need him and leaves. I nod and he leaves. Once I'm sure he's gone, I leave my room heading for any one of theirs until I realise I forgot to check the hallway for cameras.
I stop in my tracks, suddenly and unnaturally, and look around the hallway. I repeat many of the things I did in my room before noting there weren't any.
I resume my previous task, and head to the bedroom in front of mine which happens to be Raffaele's. I scower the room, not taking notice of anything unusual. I do the same in both the twins rooms and also find nothing.
However, I don't give up hope and head to Francesco's room. I realise this is a hefty invasion of privacy, but I pay no mind to it as it's for my saftey. At least, that's what I'm telling myself.
Nothing seems out of the ordinary but I don't stop. My methods become a bit sloppy but that doesn't prevent me from doing the search I had planned. My eyes land on the night stand beside his bed and I walk up to it. Once opening it, my eyes land on a seeming untouched, shiny metal object in the back of the drawer.
My eyes widen as my hands slowly drop to my sides. Not wanting to disturb the item, I slowly lean down and inspect it further. The barrel and grip of the gun are personalised and slightly worn. It has obviously been used before.
I stare at it in wonder, not fear but don't dream of touching it. I simply stare, lost in thought until a sudden noise coming form further in the house shakes me from my trance like state.
"Ah fuck," I hear Raffaele's distant voice.
My breathing picks up at the thought of being caught but I even it out rapidly and start to let out silent breaths. A skill.
The art of being unnoticed is one I'm close to perfecting. Given my personality, I'm not necessarily submissive by nature. This made living with Michael more difficult, staying quiet and making myself small would have avoided many things. However, as much as I've trained myself and already do it subconsciously it was never enough.
I still, waiting to hear footsteps but there is nothing to be heard. For a couple cautious moments, I listen intently to each sound. After hearing nothing and deducing no one was about to catch me, I slowly stand back up and take the gun in my hands.
I've never held one before, which in itself is hard to believe but is reality. Sure I've seen one or touched one, who hasn't. I come from a place where they were common to have. Will and Alex used to have one each, said it was for safety purposes. It turns out it really was useful because of the places we went. They never used them but it was a scare tactic.
They never let Phoenix and I hold them even though we whined and begged. We learnt to accept it after a while. Here I am now, with the most intricate detailed handgun between my fingertips wondering why my brothers could possibly need one.
It would be a lie to say I'm not shocked. I lightly trace my finger over the design before moving it to the rest. My fingers arrive at the muzzle and I freeze. Distant memories resurface instantly and I drop the weapon. I stay like that, frozen in place, for a couple of minutes before hastily picking it up and placing it back into the drawer then shutting it and moving on.
Despite my discovery, I continue my searches. In Angelo and Domenico's rooms I found another gun placed in varying spots. They both had a similar design on the grip but were very different at the same time. They are custom, that much is evident.
I leave them there, seemingly undisturbed, with a question in mind. Why would the three oldest have guns and not the others? It seems stupid but these guns mean something to them and I would think at least Raffaele would have one too since he's a legal adult.
I now have suspicions about what relates to the gut feeling I've had since I've arrived but they are followed by doubts and circumstance. One thing I am certain about is that I will get to the bottom of it.
_______________________________
Hi lovelies!
I deserved to be yelled at, I'm sorry
What did you guys think about this chapter??
Is the way Raffaele acting suspicious? Do you think he is shy or has something to hide?
What about the way Angelo was acting?
Please comment your thoughts!
Thank you for all the supportive comments and thank you to everyone reading!
WE HIT 25K THANK YOU SO MUCH!! THAT'S CRAZY.
See you all next week!
Bye loveliessssssss