Chapter 57: Luke

Sasha left and I sat there, pondering if I should let Luke in. He betrayed my trust, lied to me, tried to make it seem like it was my fault for not telling him.

But.

Sasha was right. My brothers do want to help me. We all deserve second chances. And they beat him Carl so I have that to thank them for.

I groaned but gave in. I stood up and walked over to the door. "Luke can come in. Only him. But! He has to leave when I say. Deal?"

There was a choir of agreements. I ran back to my chair, making it seem like I hadn't left. "Lidia?" I heard Luke open the door and call my name.

He shut the door and walked over to the chair Sasha sat in. "What am I?" I said coldly. He was not Sasha. He would get no comfort.

My question surprised him. "Uh, a young woman?" He answered questioningly.

I slowly turned my head towards him. "No, what am I? Why do you care more about something that happened over five months ago and not how I almost killed a girl. So tell me Luke, what am I?"

It looked as if he couldn't find the right words to say. What a shocker. Luke's always known what to say. A little girl making him lose his touch is quite funny.

"You are a White. You are my Curly. That is who you are." He finally responded.

I abruptly stood up. "No Luke! I am not Curly! Or Chica! Or any of those pet names!" I stared down at him.

"What do you mean?" He almost whispered.

"The girl all of you fell in love with is a lie! I am not Curly! She is an illusion! She died the day mom left the house! You don't know me! You know Little Lidia White. The timid little girl whose mom just died. You don't know me. So I am going to ask you one final time. What. Am. I?"

Tears were welling up in his eyes. I almost broke, I almost instantly fell into his chest and continuously apologized for saying what I said. Almost. I almost did except I remembered that Curly would do that. Not me.

"I-I don't know. All I know is, is that you're like dad." He said and looked out into the forest.

I scoffed. "Yeah, you told me that. Let me rephrase the question, if someone hadn't pulled me off Lexi, would she still be alive?"

He clasped his hands underneath his chin. "No, she wouldn't." And shook his head.

I sucked in a breath. I could've killed her. I wanted to kill her. Why? Why am I made like this? What happened?

"And why didn't you tell me this?" I hissed. I may be mean but shouldn't a person know if they're a potential threat to other people?

"Because I didn't think that you would be locked away in your room, hiding from us. I didn't think that you were lying to us since you got here." He looked back at me.

I was still standing above him. "Don't try to turn this on me! I didn't do anything wrong!"

He wiped his hands down his face. "Yes Lidia I know it's just, I wish you told us. Any of us. We would've been more than happy to help."

I narrowed my eyes. "Yeah 'cause your so helpful right now."

"Lidia we are your brothers. I am your guardian. I have the right to know!" His stone face was breaking. With every word I continue to say, a piece of his façade chipped away.

"Carl was my guardian! Look what he did to me! You have no right to anything! I'm the one who has the scars! Both mental and physical! " I yelled back.

Finally, his mask that had held up through countless of sleepless nights, countless school meetings, countless mafia interrogations, broke. Luke held his face in his hands and sobbed. I was so shocked I stepped back. Luke just cried. Luke White just cried. Hell really is freezing over.

"I know Lidia, I know. I-I'm trying my best," he wiped his nose with the back of his hand, "I've always been trying my best. It's hard sometimes, having all this responsibility. I'm not even thirty and I have three siblings to take care of, a billion dollar company, and a mafia. It's hard Lidia!"

No matter how mad at him I am right now, seeing him like this is painful. My strongest brother is dealing with his issues like everyone else. I would've never known though, he always seems so passive and cool. I never would've imagined that he had all this baggage.

"Luke," his red brimmed eyes looked hopeful at me, "we both have baggage, I see that now. I promise I would've told you. Wether it be in four days or four decades! Even the best secret keepers have to spill the beans someday. All I'm saying is, it hurts me that you snooped through my stuff. It hurts me that you didn't even wait three days to see if I was going to tell you."

He sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. It-it doesn't help that it's dad's death day either."

I gasped. "What?"

"It's his death day. The day he was murdered. We all get more emotional on this day. Father stepped in when Sarah left with you. He was our mom, dad, and our best friend. Most of all, he never stopped looking for you. He made me promise as I held him while he bled out, that I find you."

I covered my mouth with my hands. I've always debated whether my father loved me. To hear someone tell me his dying wish was to find me makes my heart swell with joy. I had a father who loved me.

I sat back down in the chair. "Luke?" I hesitantly asked, "how did he die?"

He sighed. "We were in a shoot off and he got caught in the crossfire. I was the one who spent his final moments with him. Telling our brothers that he had died was hard. It was the second time I had to tell them we lost a family member."

I scrunched my eyebrows. "You were the one who found me gone?"

"Yes, I was going to take you to the zoo. I had just gotten my drivers license and you made me promise to take you to the zoo," he chuckled, "you were a very vocal toddler. So unlike how you are now." He smiled over at me.

I imagined how hard it was for him to tell everyone I was missing. How hard it was to tell everyone Father died. After Father died, he was thrusted into this world of crime, parenthood, and business. It must've been really hard for him.

"We both had to mature a lot faster than we should've, huh?" I said.

He sighed once again. "Unfortunately so."

Luke showed emotion! Idk why I put my characters through this pain 😭 who do you think was in the wrong? Lidia or Luke? I hope you liked it and dont forget to vote, comment, and obviously like :)