𝑹𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏

C H A P T E R 9

RAVEN

I stand in front of all of them, watching them doing some kind of activity. I watch Theo and Tobias playing poker around the table with Jax. I see Luciano, Lorenzo, and Luca watching the tv. Along with Dimitri and Damon sitting on the couch while avianna does their nails.

It had already been two weeks since they had been visiting us. It was almost time for me to go back to school, which I hated. It felt like we were a part of their family. I excuse myself to go to my room, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

I sit on the chair beside my bed, pulling out old pictures I had of myself when I was younger. There were a lot of photos that my mother left behind. She had left behind a picture, torn right down the middle. The man, who I assumed was my father, was holding onto her, which I couldn't see because the picture was torn.

I often felt that my mother died in vain.

I couldn't help but feel disgusted by myself. I could've helped my mother. Yes, I was only six but I chose to keep quiet. I could've said something at the police station but any child who had just experienced something such as what I saw, would make them traumatized.

I didn't even realize that I was crying until my face started to feel wet. The sound of my bedroom door being open pulls me out of my trance. I didn't bother looking because I thought it would be Avianna or Jax.

"Raven?" I hear Domenico call out. I wipe my face quickly making sure there were no traces of me crying.

"Is everything okay? I heard you crying," he takes a seat at the edge of my bed, looking directly at me while my hair was covering my face.

I always hated it when people saw me cry. I was taught that crying made me weak and vulnerable.

"I wasn't crying," I muttered, glancing at my feet, not wanting to look him in the eye.

One week.

That's all it took for him to figure me out. He knew everything about me, except for my past. He knew when I lied or when I was going to do something bad.

"Yes, you were. You can tell me what's wrong,"

"Nothing's wrong, I just feel a bit homesick," I lie through my mouth knowing he would still not believe it.

"I know you're lying, but I'll leave you for now," I hear the open and close after a few seconds.

I stare back at the picture that was ripped and smile softly, a few tears leave my face dampening the shirt I had ln.

"I'm sure it was nothing," his voice whispers in my ear. I flew up from the chair, placing a hand on my heart that was close to bursting out of my ribcage.

"Don't do that!" I yell, trying to steady my breath.

"What do you have there," he says, taking the half-torn picture out of my hand. I jump up and try to catch it, but with his towering over mine, it seems impossible.

He stares at the picture in shock and another unfamiliar emotion.

"Why do you have my father's picture?"

What did he just say?

"What do mean, your father?

"That's my father in the picture. I have the other half," I gawk at his words.

This had to be some misunderstanding, right?

"My mother had this picture for a long time. That's probably just some other man," I say, still staring at the picture.

"No, that's my father. I even have a picture of him on my phone."

At the same moment, he rushes out of the room while I chase after him. The boys look at us, stunned, as we run past them.

Dom grabs his phone from the counter and quickly unlocks it. He then shows me a picture of the same man from the photo. I truly had nothing to say right now. I was beyond shocked and frustrated at what I had just learned.

"So, if he's your father, then that means he was....also my father."

So that meant that matteo was telling the truth.

I wondered if anything else he told was true. I still couldn't be too sure.

By this time, everyone had already gathered around us, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Is everything okay?" Dimitri asks, I still look at the picture while dom whispers something to Dimitri. Dimitri calls everyone back to the living area to take a seat. Dom stands in front of everyone, holding the picture at his side while I sit in the armchair beside him.

"You guys remember our sister raven, right?" Dom looks at me. They all nod their heads in sync.

"I think we just found her," he smiles. They all seemed a bit hesitant at first but when dom showed them the ripped photo that he snatched out of my hand, they all started cheering for us.

"You don't know that. My mother never said she had any other children. You guys have to be sure about this." I interrupt, secretly trying to pinch myself to see if I was still dreaming

"We can get a DNA test to check but I'm positive that you're our sister. You have multiple similarities to her-well you," Dimitri announced.

"Do you want to do the DNA test?" Dom asks me.

I'm grateful that he asked me for my permission rather than sneak around to find out about me. They still don't know that I know they own the Italian mafia.

"Ok, I think I wanna do it," I nod my head.

"Are you sure?" I nod my head once again. I go into the kitchen to grab a pair of scissors. Cutting off a thin stand of hair, I give it to Damon who had stood there with a tightly sealed bag.

"We'll get back the results on Friday," Dom announces.

We all start watching the tv. Jax now groaning about how he was hungry. Again.

I marvel at whether or not my life would good or bad after the test. Would I be safe around them? Would I be safe from Alessandro? Who knows.

All I had to do was wait.

Friday.

~~~