𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ( 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞)

𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲- 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞- 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬

A brother is a friend given by nature.
~Jean Baptiste Legouve~

𝐌𝐚𝐱

I let out a sad mirthless, ironic, chuckle when Lia hung up on me. Her directive was short, precise, commanding. I had no time to decline the offer, I don't know why I thought I could. The command was clear, I was to spend Christmas with her family.

How was I supposed to sit at the same table as the man responsible for scarring my face, or putting me on the list of suspected murderers? Hurling my life upside down. How would breaking bread with these people help me move on? Or help me find a way to deal with guilt, sadness, loneliness?

Since knowing her family, I find myself looking at her in a different light. Picking up undertones, some signs that I saw but ignored; like how confident she was, her sharp voice when a man touched her without consent when we went out clubbing during filming. In retrospect, Lia scared me. But I would rather deal with her because we were acquainted, my violation of her notwithstanding rather then deal with her family.

Pulling up a bottle of water from the fridge, I leaned against it, looking over at Dino and his friends talking about some chick they had seen yesterday night at the club. I envied them—their laughter, the usual banter something I would have been part of before my life turned upside down. Although I couldn't join their conversation, I was glad they were here.

I like hearing their voices. They kept me from complete sorrow. A sign that I was not alone even though I felt like I was.

God! I was so exhausted, I could barely eat or sleep, my body felt so weak—a burden to my brain, dragging it around felt as if the full weight of the world was on my shoulders, sitting stubbornly, unwilling to let go of me.

I took my water, slowly walking back to my seat beside the couch where Dino sat. He hasn't been the same since he met Lia's father. He mentioned once, a while back that he felt as if he might meet them again, whether he meant accidentally or intentionally, I wasn't sure. But I knew it wasn't something he wanted.

When we heard the vroom of the car, we all stood in unison, running our eyes at each other in surprise wondering whether anyone of us knew of whoever had pulled up on us. No one in my circle knew of this house, other than Chris, and he was dead. This was my hideout, I bought it a long time ago. I brought Dino and his friends because I did not want to be alone.

The media found me, I thought. They finally did after days of hunting me and camping outside my house. But that lasted for less than a minute when I saw Luca Bianchi step out of one of the range rovers parked beside each other.

"Oh, God!" Dino swore getting off the window to return to his seat. My heart started to beat frantically.

"How did they find me?" I asked in a whisper, putting my forehead against a window pane, watching them. I didn't need an answer, it was a rhetorical question, but Dino answered anyway laughing nervously.

"You really need an answer to that?"

I shook my head, the loud thudding of my heart getting through my ears as I watched a lanky boy with curly hair step beside Luc. I remembered him with Lia in Abu Dhabi. He looked exactly like his father, but his youthful look made him appear gentler, the smile on his lips changed his whole face. I saw him pull another guy's hand, this one was taller, older, his dark hair covered the top of his ears.

"That is Nicolo Bellucci, his father is Romano" one of Dino's friends mentioned.

"I know. I can see the resemblance. Whose hand is he holding?"