Jilani Corsetti is a seventeen-year-old trying to live as freely as she can. Having an unfortunate upbringing full of pain, fear, and hate, she wishes to move forward and actually enjoy life. With her trustworthy friend, Joseph, and his uncles, Jila...
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JILANI
The meal was warm in her belly as she slid back into the car, her father still choosing to be in the back, by her side.
She was a bit uncomfortable, not because of him, but because she was embarrassed. How could she have cried like that? So mortifying! Her father had been all smiles during the rest of the dinner, but Jilani could only flush and mutter answers to his friendly questions here and there. She felt bad, especially because she didn't know if he was put off by her sudden closed-off behavior, but he didn't mention anything so she left it like that.
However, it's not like she can dwell on her crying episode, because they were going to be arriving at the house she would come to live at for the next few years at least, which meant also meeting her roommates.
God, six brothers. How could she even survive? Living with Joseph and Jordan was already bad enough, even though she mean that fondly, and now she would have to deal with seven males? Males who she didn't know at all, including their temperaments and habits. Would they even like her? Want her there?
She was sure it would be an adjustment for them as well. Raffaele had received her well, but she also told him vaguely of her dark trauma. She felt he was being sympathetic by nature, but these other boys wouldn't know anything unless Jilani told them. How well would they receive a new sister out of nowhere? Her father had animatedly talked about how her brothers would be overjoyed to finally reunite with her, but Jilani had her own skeptical dispositions. Reuniting with someone, who you knew for a few days as a baby, and living with them, now seventeen years of age, were two entirely different things. Regardless, Jilani was the one who agreed to come here, and she'd face it just like she'd faced everything else.
The car ride was mostly silent, her father commented here and there, still pointing out interesting things to do in the city, but the food seemed to have put them in a bit of a semi-food coma. Within no time, they had arrived at the estate. Or rather, mansion.
The property was a bit out of the city, more inland, but by the size of it, it was easy to understand why. The mansion was, in simple terms, huge. It wasn't such a surprise, considering seven men lived there, and it was their main palace of work for their mafia dealings, most likely. It was almost like a gated community with the tall, dark metal fence all around, a huge fountain sitting in front of the mansion, glorious looking and well-lit despite the time of night.
Even so, Jilani had lived in a small house in her childhood, and a moderately sized apartment in New York. Granted, she was surrounded by humongous buildings, but still... Jilani could only imagine what the interior looked like. She was sure people with endless wealth would spare no penny in their own dwelling.
Jilani attempted to swallow her inexplicable nervousness as she took her father's hand once he stepped out. She supposed her nervousness wasn't so inexplicable because she knew why, but it didn't lessen the blow any. Her father, ever observant, only smiled at her gently.
