Chapter 3

The bright sunlight shining through the windows woke me up. I groaned internally thinking surely it has only been an hour or two since I went to bed. Whatever pain meds the doctor gave me were amazing. I had just managed to sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed when there was a knock on the door before it opened and Lileth’s head popped around the side of it.

“Good morning, dear. How are you feeling today?”

“A bit sore, ouch!” I placed my hand to my cheek to find it a bit more tender than I had expected. The skin that was cut had some paper stitches on it and it felt so tight.

“The bruising has come out a bit more on your face. Although there were no facial bones broken, the bruising and swelling can feel just as bad,” she sighed. “What happened to you? Karma’s a dish best served cold. He will get what he deserves.” I couldn’t help but giggle as I thought that she was going to say something else. I have heard that ‘karma’s a bitch,’ but that was a new one on me. “Let’s get you dressed, dear. Gio has something that he wishes to discuss with you.” Panic settled in the pit of my stomach, making me feel nauseous. The next moment, I was bent over the toilet heaving up the very little I had eaten the day before. “It’s Ok, nothing to worry about,” Lileth reassured me as she gently rubbed my back. “Master Gio and the family don’t like men hitting women. Especially not you,” she quickly covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide open.

“What do you mean by that?” I whispered, as it was painful if I opened my mouth wide.

“I’m sorry. I’ve said too much.”

“You can’t say something like that to me without an explanation,” I gently pushed.

“I’m sorry but that is for master Gio and Antonio to explain.” I shrugged slightly knowing that I wasn’t going to get anymore from her. I gently washed my face and patted it dry with the softest towel that I had ever felt, before attempting to clean my teeth. This proved to be really difficult as I couldn’t open my mouth wide enough to reach the very back so, I had to make do with using some mouthwash.

Lileth was waiting for me in the bedroom with a choice of clothes to choose from. I went with a pair of stretchy jeans, a vest, and a loose-fitting shirt to cover my arms. I don’t know what I would do without her right now. I didn’t even need to ask her to help, she just did.

Once dressed, she lead me to the dining room, where a group of god’s were sat chatting over breakfast.

“Please, come join us piccolo,” a man that looked to be around my age, maybe a bit older, said as he pulled out a chair for me.

“Uh, grazie,” his toothy smile made his face glow.

“Io sano Antonio e tu sei?” he rushed out. From whatever he said, I only identified a name, Antonio.

“I’m sorry, but that was as far as my Italian gets me. It’s a pleasure to meet you Antonio,” he chuckled deeply.

“Antonio, dobbiamo dirgleelo,” the guy I remembered as Gio said, making the smile on Antonio’s face drop to a frown. The men stood and excused themselves but not before they faced me and gave me a small nod of respect. I could feel the blush creep up my neck to my face where I knew it would blend in with the bruises. Why would they acknowledge me? I was nobody.

They were fit and I don’t just mean their physique’s. Their faces looked God like but deadly and intense. I could feel wetness pool down there. OMG! What is wrong with me? After what I had been through, I shouldn’t want to be with a man again, especially one that had bulging biceps that could crush someone’s skull, peekaboo tattoos on their necks and knuckles.

“Ahem!” someone cleared their throat as I watched the men leave. I just couldn’t help myself, my eyes slowly lowered to check out their assets. Perfect, absolutely perfect. Their suits must be painted on. I closed my eyes to try and regain some composure. Lileth appeared next to me with my breakfast. She followed my line of sight and giggled.

“I know dear. If I was only a few years younger,” my turn to giggle at her words.

“Please take a seat Oriana.”

“How do you know my name? I can’t remember giving it to you,” my body tensed as I got ready to turn and run. Not like he wouldn’t be able to catch me easily or anything due to the pain I was in.

“I checked your purse for some sort of ID last night. We have been looking for you for a little while now.”

“Why?” I was starting to feel scared and anxious now.

“Because” Antonio started as he pulled out the chair to sit next to me, “you are my sister.” Everything started to spin, my heart rate picked up and I couldn’t catch my breath before everything went black. "Fanculo!” I couldn’t tell if that was Gio or Antonio, but I didn’t care. What I did care about was whether someone caught me or not before I fell off the chair.

As I slowly regained consciousness, I could hear them talking.

“I told you, Gio. I don’t know if I can tell her anymore.”

“Look, you don’t have a choice. It’s for her safety.”

“Don’t you think I know that. Can’t it just wait a few days? She’s been through a lot.”

“Just tell her Toni.” Gio was slowly losing his temper.

“Hmm, tell me what?” I groaned as I tried to sit up, only then realising that I was back in the bedroom.

“You are my sister. We have the same parents,” Antonio sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed next to me with a box in his hands. “Here, take a look for yourself.” He handed me the box and my heart started to race again as I studied his face for any similarities.

“Please tell me,” I asked in a whisper.

“Ok,” his shoulders sagged in defeat. “I know you will have a load of questions but, please wait until I finish. This is going to be hard enough to get through without the interruptions. It’s really hard to talk about all this now that you’re here. I have thought about so many ways how I would tell you. I planned to say so much to you but I thought it would be under better circumstances,” I nodded as I held on to the box he had given me. “Our Mamma was a beautiful, strong Italian woman. A model and a singer. She was an angel in our Papà’s eyes, perfection. They were deeply in love. They completed each other and were so in love.” Tears were in his eyes threatening to spill. I held his hand, making him relax and smile at me. “He loved her more than life itself. She was his reason for breathing,” my turn for the tears. “When I was 9, she disappeared. Papà searched for her every day. He used all his connections to try and find her. The day he found her was the day she died in a car accident,” the tears were running down my cheeks. I hadn’t even noticed that Gio had left the room. “The guy who was driving, I assume was the man you thought was your father?” I nodded. “He was actually the bastard who kidnapped her,” he started grinding his teach together in anger. I removed my hand from his arm, worried that my touch would anger him more. “I have nothing against you, piccolo. You are a part of her, her exact image in fact,” he placed his hand on my cheek, which I found so comforting. “My little sister. I have been looking for you for years after I lost sight of you when you turned 16,” my eyes widen in surprise.