Eli Borrelli

5: New York

Eli POV

After three hours in the air, we finally landed in New York, which calmed me down a bit. On solid ground, I had places to run to or hide in if shit were to hit the fan.

There was another black range rover waiting for us next to the plane, which actually didn't even surprise me anymore. These people were rich as fuck and I had just decided to expect them to be royalty or something.

Before I could even turn, some people in suits had already put my sad little bag in the trunk of the car, leaving me standing there looking like an idiot with shit in my hand.

Alessandro opened the door for me looking a bit amused. I just nodded and sat down. He followed soon behind and told the driver to start. 

We drove for a while down the busy streets of New York as I just gawked at the city. It was a lot like Chicago, but there, I could enjoy the city without the suppressed memories jumping back to mind. We didn't go downtown, which made me realize, they must live somewhere a bit more private.

"So... why Eli?" Alessandro asked after a while of staring at the back of my head.

I shrugged at first as an immediate reaction, but after some consideration, started explaining. What was the worst thing that could happen if I just explained my name?

"I knew I wanted to leave the country at some point, and in a lot of places, there is a version of Eli, Elia, or Elias," I said simply with finality.

Of course, that was a big part of the reason, but it wasn't all of it. I then sighed trying to remind myself, that he was not Frank or my mom. I could run if I needed to. I didn't have to push so much. Still, I didn't like sharing about myself.

"In the bible, there's this prophet, Elia. He pissed off a king and then just sat on a mountain. The king sent a bunch of people to him, but Elia just burned them. Like full-on burned them alive. I always thought he was pretty cool, you know, lighting bitches up and all," I rambled a bit, but I could see Alessandro smile a little at the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, and also he rode a fucking flaming carriage through the sky butt naked. How fucking cool's that?!" I exclaimed. 

I have this thing, where I make a lot of jokes when I'm uncomfortable. It's a real problem.

"So you like fire?" Alessandro asked with humor in his voice.

"Oh yeah! I'm a full-on arsonist," I replied in a completely serious tone, earning a chuckle from the well-dressed man to my left.

Alessandro POV

As soon as we landed, I could see Eli relax a bit. They didn't glance around as much and actually talked to me. I didn't like the cursing, but I had to admit, they were pretty funny. 

For most of the ride, Eli just stared out the window at the passing sights. No matter how hard I tried, I could not read this kid. Even, when they talked, I had no idea if they meant what they said. This kid gave me absolutely nothing to work with, which was kinda impressive.

I couldn't wait for the others to meet Eli. Lorenzo will probably be way too concerned about their petite figure and small, slightly visible scars on their face. I didn't want to bring them up, but it looked like, Eli had been in some fights, and I didn't know how to feel about it. They didn't seem like the kind to just get in fights, like Antonio, or me, when I was younger.

Antonio POV

I had no idea what to expect. Alessandro texted the family group chat when they landed and informed us about Eli's name and pronouns. I mean, obviously, I was excited to finally get to see our bebè again, but I had no idea, who would walk through that door.