Ruthless

Chapter 21

Audenzia's POV:

Suddenly, I feel Xander violently pulled off of me. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?!" My father screams as he punched Xander across his face. I jump off the counter and get between them, "Dad stop." I demand. Xander wipes fresh blood that is now trailing down from his nose away.

"Get out of the way." My dad tells me in a scary as hell voice. The door opens again and my mom rushes in with the rest of our families behind them probably because of the commotion they heard. "What's going on?" Isaac asks, observing the scene of me between my father and a bloody Xander.

"We are leaving." My father says to my whole family, but doesn't take his eyes off of Xander. "No we aren't." I tell him, hoping he will calm down. "Baby, calm down!" My mom walks over and touches his arm, attempting to calm him down.

"I'm not going to calm down when I walk in to his fucking tongue down my daughters throat!" My father roars, stepping closer to me. His voice is so loud I flinch back, and of course Xander notices. I feel myself being pulled behind him as he comes face to face with my father, "Lower your damn voice."

My father takes a step closer like he is about to punch Xander again but thankfully my mom stops him, "Maybe you should hear them out." She defends us which I am thankful for.

"Don't tell me you knew about this!" He turns to her, fuming. My brothers look like they don't know what to do, each of them look pissed but unsure wether or not to intervene. Cole just appears to be amused at the whole situation, Mr. Romano looks unreadable, and Mrs. Romano looks slightly happy?

"If I would have told you, this would have been your reaction!"

"So you let our daughter fuck around with the boy with a reputation for being a fuck boy!"

"Don't talk about my son like that." Mr. Romano speaks up in defense of his son. Mrs. Romano gives her husband a look telling him not to get involved.

"Dad just calm down." I plead him, remembering why Xander and I had kept this a secret. "Go to your room." He demands me, I try to object but he repeats more sternly, "Go to your room, now." I look to Xander who nods, telling me he will take care of it. I hate leaving him with my father but it doesn't look like things will get better with me being here.

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Xander's POV:

"Sit." Keanu demands when we get into his office. Not in a position to object, I sit down.

"What are you trying to do with my daughter?" He said in an aggressive tone.

I take in the question, trying to come up with a good answer. I think back to how after she has nightmares she comes to my room and cuddles with me to fall asleep, or how she loves nature and stargazing. The image of her waking up in my arms with slightly tangled hair and no makeup brings a smile to my face at her natural beauty. The sound of her laugh fills my mind when I tickle her because of how ticklish she is. I don't know what I'm trying to do with her, but I know I love being around her. I love her smile, how she plays with her bracelet when she is nervous, I love everything about her.

"I'm in love with your daughter."

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Audenzia's POV:

A little over thirty minutes passes of me sitting in my room filled with anxiety. I've been pacing around for a while until I flopped on my bed, not knowing what to do.

Suddenly, my door opens revealing Xander. I shoot to my feet and run over to him, indulging into a hug. "What happened?" I ask him, cupping his face in my hands. He brushes my still wet hair from my face and gives me a kiss. "We're okay," he smiles at me, making me jump into his arms in a big hug.

I didn't care what my father said to him, all I cared about was that we weren't leaving. My father agreed to let us stay here, and possibly even approved of our relationship. Of course it's a stretch but it's a good sign that Xander doesn't have any more injuries.

I quickly remember his nose and break the hug, looking at it. It doesn't look broken but the side is black and blue. "I'm fine." He groans at me inspecting his nose. I roll my eyes, "I'm going to go see how things are downstairs." I say before remembering I'm in just a swimsuit. I turn, open my closet and pick out a black pair of shorts and an oversized black t shirt.

"Turn around" I tell Xander, who is eyeing me up. He rolls his eyes and slowly turns around so his back is facing me. I quickly put on my underwear in case he pulls anything and tries to peek. Luckily, my mom loves Victoria's Secret so I have hundreds of pairs of bras and panties, so I pick out a matching white set.

I slip into the shorts then throw the t shirt on, Xander somehow knows I'm done because he spins around just on time. I run my fingers through my knotted hair and start for the door just to be stopped. "I want a kiss first" he demands, I stand on my tip toes and give him nothing more than a peck and a smile before continuing out of my room.

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"Can you stop?" I hiss at my brothers who are all glaring at Xander and I who are sitting together on the couch. Nobody was here so we put on a movie and got popcorn. Now all of my brothers were in here pissed to find us cuddling on the couch.

"If he moves his fucking hand we will stop." Gray snaps, looking towards Xander's hand that is resting on my ass. "Fine," Xander says, sliding his hand up and around my waist.

After watching us for what feels like forever, they finally go find better things to do. I nuzzle my head into the crook of Xander's neck. The movie faded out from my hearing and I fell into darkness in his arms, wiped out from the long day.

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"Happy birthday!" My whole family screams at me as I wake up in my bedroom, not sure how I got here. My family decided we would celebrate my birthday today since tomorrow is the big ball. Yay.

Isaac hands me a plate of waffles which I get every birthday served to me in bed. It's just a tradition we have always had, and I loved waffles so I don't mind. My whole family squeezes onto my bed and we talk while I eat. It feels nice to talk and laugh together like we used to.

"Is that boy nice to you?" My dad asks me. Damn. I was hoping nobody would bring him up.

I nod and take a bite of my waffle. "I don't want to see him touch you with me in the room." He says, earning a light smack from my mom.

"Same goes for me" all my brothers say in unison. "I am just glad one of my children can give me grand babies!" My mom squeals, making each male family member start arguing about how that's never happening.

All I can think of is how thankful I am for moments like this with my family.

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