Chapter 16

Diageo and Ryan⬆️

Isabella's pov

I walked into the kitchen to find everyone talking when I entered everyone's but Marcos attention was on me. "Marco..." I hesitated but I gained his full attention.

"Yes?"

I hesitated, glancing at my brothers before finally saying, “I want to go see Diageo and Ryan. They landed earlier, and I—”

“Why not invite them here?” Marco interrupted. His expression was unreadable, but there was no harshness to his voice.

I exhaled, bracing myself. “Because I just got here. They’re my comfort, and I want to go to them first.”

He studied me for a long moment, his hands resting on the counter. I held my breath, waiting.

Then, I decided to push my luck.

“Please, Dad?”

The second the word slipped out, I regretted it. Not because I didn’t mean it—I did—but because the room went dead silent.

Marco’s eyes widened slightly. His lips parted, but no sound came out. And then...

He teared up.

Shit.

Panic shot through me like a bullet. “Wait—no—forget I said that. I won’t call you that. I didn’t mean—”

“No,” Marco cut me off, his voice thick with emotion. “Say it again.”

I blinked. “What?”

His hands curled into fists, his jaw tightening as he fought to keep himself together. “Please, Isabella. Say it again.”

I swallowed, feeling everyone’s eyes on me. My brothers were frozen, watching in stunned silence.

“…Dad?”

Marco let out a shaky breath, his smile breaking through the tears that had welled up. He wiped at his face, laughing softly. “Damn it, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry over this.”

I stood there, stiff, unsure of how to handle this sudden emotional outburst.

“I’ve waited so long to hear that,” he admitted, shaking his head. “You don’t have to stop saying it.”

I bit my lip, my heart twisting. I wasn’t used to this—to someone wanting me.

“…Okay,” I said quietly.

He exhaled again, visibly pulling himself together. Then, he nodded toward my brothers.

“You can invite them over for dinner,” he said. “I want to meet them.”

I hesitated. Not because I didn’t want them to come, but because I wasn’t sure how they’d react. Ryan and Diageo were protective.

Still, Marco had just given me this. I owed him a little trust.

“…Fine.”

His smile widened. “Good.”

And just like that, the tension broke. My brothers started teasing me about getting scared and I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

Maybe—just maybe—this family thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Later, I joined Luca, Lorenzo, and Leonardo in the gaming room. They handed me a controller, surprised when I admitted I had never played Call of Duty before. After a brief crash course, we jumped into a match. Before long, I was wiping the floor with them.

When I won my first match, the room fell silent.

“No way,” Lorenzo muttered in disbelief. “She just beat us.”

Luca groaned. “She’s never played before, my ass.”

I smirked. “Maybe you guys just suck.”

After a while I hear the doorbell ring and sprinted as fast as I could and just as I reached the door I was pulled back by my shirt. Turning around I spot Alessandro is the one holding me. "Not so fast Isabella." He said with a hint of amusement.

i then spotted someone running well actually more like fast walking. "How...how are you so fast?" Jeeze for a mafia man he ain't fit. I thought

"I'm not fast your just slow." I shrugged patting him on the back.

i didn't realise when Alessandro opened the door all I heard was Isabella before I was tackled hurting my ankle in the process.

"Get off me you fat asses." I said groaning in pain quickly the two got up helping me up in the process. I head into the living room with them while trying not to show I was in pain but as you guess I was not that lucky.

"What the fuck happened? Why are you in pain? Where hurts?" A panicked Vincent asks.

Taking a seat I deny it but the stubborn fuck got Alessandro involved and dad.

"Tell me where hurts sweetheart." Seeing the worry in his eye I sighed and tell dad that its my ankle, he carefully takes off my shoe and sock Vincent pushes him out of the way to have a better look. He looks at it for a few min a few minutes before walking away when he does I look down to see blood?

"Wait why is it bleeding?" I ask no one in particular but I got no answer everyone looks out of it even Diageo and Ryan Probably blaming themselves.

Vincent comes back a few moments later with a cloth and puts it on my ankle which I hiss in pain breaking everyone out of their thoughts. Vincent Picks me up carefully afraid I'll break. I sat on his lap most of the time with my head on his chest. When we were about ten minutes out exhaustion hit me like train so I close my eyes breathing in my brothers sent which calmed me down. I ended up falling asleep.

Diageo's POV

The hospital waiting room was suffocating. I paced the floor, hands in my hair, replaying the moment over and over. I should have been more careful. I should have been more aware. This was my fault.

Matteo sat nearby, arms crossed as he watched me. “You need to sit down.”

I ignored him, my jaw clenched. “This shouldn’t have happened.”

“Diageo.” His tone was firm. “Accidents happen.”

I turned to him, my voice strained. “Not to her. Not on my watch.”

Before Matteo could respond, the doctor finally walked in. “She needs surgery,” he announced, his tone calm but professional. “The bone has broken through the skin. We need to operate immediately.”

My stomach twisted. Matteo gripped my shoulder. “She’ll be fine.”

I swallowed hard, nodding. But deep down, I couldn’t shake the guilt. This was my fault, and nothing Matteo said would change that.

"Diagoe, get it into your head. She's okay you didn't kill her for fuck sake." Alessandro said. "All she needs is a minor surgery to put the bone back and some crutches."

i sit down and try to sit still but I can't stop my leg from bouncing.

after a couple of hours the doctor comes in. We all hold our breath even though it wasn't an serious surgery. "Surgery went well." We all sigh in relief. "But...we noticed something."

"Well what was it?" Marco looked like he knew this couldn't be good.

3rd person pov

"When one of the nurses went to change her they noticed..."

"Spit it out for fuck sake." Luca shouted.

"She noticed bruises and scars all over her body." He took a deep breath." We did a couple of x-rays and scans. She has a dislocated shoulder, some broken and some fractured ribs, she had deep cuts that looked like stab wounds and some we presume were done with glass as when we went to clean them we had to take glass out that was embedded into her skin. We also believe she was starved as she's under weight. We need to wait untill she wakes up to confirm or deny to an exam but we seen signs of sexual assault."

That's all it took for her brothers, father and friends to break. Their piccola principessa was so much stronger than they thought. (little princess)

Next thing you know some of her brothers are punching holes in the walls while the others stormed out of the hospital. All Marco was thinking is how much he failed her as a father.

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