Carlo

Chapter 8

CARLO'S POV :

My alarm goes off and I turn over to press the cancel button. I stretch before sitting up and looking at what time it is.

5am.

I get up and walk to my bathroom to brush my teeth. I put on a pair of workout shorts and a black zip up jacket. I tie my sneakers up and leave my room.

This is mostly how my mornings start. I get up straight away and try not to fall asleep as I workout.

I pull my hood up over my bed hair and walk into the gym.

When I get inside the lights are already on and there's three punching bags split open on the floor. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion and look over to see Adelaide punching a new bag repeatedly. I walk closer and she doesn't notice me.

Her knuckles have turned purple and there's dried and flesh blood around them.

"Adelaide" I say. She doesn't answer, just starts to punch the bag harder.

"Adelaide" I say a little louder.

She jumps and turns to me, immediately looking down in fear. I had seen a glimpse of the dark bags under her eyes and I can see a little bit of bandage showing through her top.

"Did you sleep okay?" I ask.

She nods her head and starts to punch again, at first she flinches a little when her fist comes into contact with the bag but then she gets used to it and relaxes.

I catch her fist, and look at them closely. I look back at her grey stormy eyes and see that they are bloodshot.

My workout can wait.

"Come on" I drag her to my room and into the bathroom. I lift her up onto the counter and look for the first aid kit.

"You should be resting" Adelaide says, her voice coming out croaky.

"Why's that?" I ask, as I put the kit next to her.

"Your shoulder" She points to my bandaged arm.

"I've had worse." I shrug, "Hands" I order.

She gives me her hands and looks down at them "What time is it?"

"Five." I look at her pale face "Are you tired?"

She shakes her head no and I rinse the blood of her knuckles under the tap. I expect her to flinch at the sting she should be feeling but she doesn't.

I pat them dry with a towel and grab a bandage.

I wrap one tightly and as I start to go to the other one, Adelaide rocks forward, her eyes shutting slightly but she snaps them open and sits up straight.

That's adorable.

I wrap the other one and she does it again. This time her head touches my bare chest and stills for a second, her head shoots back up with her eyes half closed.

"Sorry" She mumbles.

I put everything away and help her off the counter.

"Thank you" She goes to leave but I grab her arm.

"Tell me the truth. Did you sleep?" I ask in a serious tone.

She looks up at me, her eyes half closed. "Yes."

I roll my eyes and let her walk out. I follow after her and she walks past her room heading to the gym again.

"Where are you going?"

She turns around and looks at me. "The gym" She speaks in a 'duh' tone and points in the direction of it.

I shake my head no. "Try again" I push her bedroom door open and wait for her to walk in. Adelaide rolls her eyes and walks into her room. She walks to her bed and gets into it.

I turn to leave but her soft voice stops me. "Can you stay for a sec?" I look at her and her eyes are closed "please" she murmurs.

I close her door and sit down next to her. I get my phone out and start emailing a few people and cancelling meetings that I had today.

Adelaide moves her hands, so they're both laid out in front of her face and she curls forward a little more.

Her lips are parted a little and her long naturally curled lashes make a little shadow on her cheeks. Her nose scrunches lightly and then relaxes.

Her lavender and mint scent fills my nose and I feel calm. I get out of her bed and make sure she's tucked in before leaving.

Closing the door quietly I hear a floorboard creak and a hushed laugh. I roll my eyes playfully with a smile on my face.

I walk down the hallway pretending I didn't hear anything,

"BOO!"

I pretend to fall onto the floor and my little sister Isabella runs to me and laughs.

"Got you" She laughs harder and I end up smiling at the sound.

I get up and pick her up, hugging her close. "Can I see the pretty girl? Mommy said she's really pretty"

"She's asleep right now. Go to mom while I work out" I put Bella down and she pouts.

"Can I go with you? Mommy is singing again" She puts her hands over her ears and I chuckle.

Our mother can not sing. And I mean AT ALL. We have to act like we want to hear more just so she can be happy.

Sometimes she'll sing a note and it'll accidentally come out amazing, but most of it is off key.

"Cmon" I ruffle my hand through Bella's hair before walking off with her running beside me.

"I've been working on my punch" Bella shows me her fist, but her thumb is sticking out.

"Tuck this over" I put her thumb in the right place and she runs to the punching bag and gets into the correct stance I've been working on with her.

She punches the bag as hard as she can and it moves a little. Her face scrunches up and she turns to me "That. Hurt"

I shake my head with a smile on my face and help her work on it.