Oblivion

Chapter Fifteen - Sticking togther

Third Person

Matteo rubbed his hands through his face, trying to expel the last traces of alcohol. Fuck they really took it a bit too far this time. He nervously looked at his cell phone again, but Vito hadn't written to him again. In fact, no one had written to him. "What do you think will happen?"

"What's going to happen? Vito will be pissed, tell us we can't do something like that and we'll say with deep regret it will never happen again," Riccardo replied without opening his eyes. As soon as the plane took off, he was already asleep. How he could sleep in such a situation remained a mystery to Matteo.

"You think so? We've really screwed up."

"Sit back and wait. The main thing is that you stick with our story! Do you understand?" Matteo mumbled a half-hearted agreement, feeling even worse than before. "Good, so relax, get some sleep and look forward to seeing Vito's disappointed face when he picks us up at the airport."

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A

s it turned out, they were both picked up by a driver who drove them home without any further detours. Inwardly, Riccardo began to think furiously again. It was so typical. Instead of taking care of something himself, his brother sent some unimportant person to take care of the two of them. He didn't care that it was the middle of the night and he didn't care that Vito must have been awake since morning. This was a family affair and His Majesty didn't even have the muse to move down from his throne. It was ridiculous. Vito was ridiculous. His whole family was ridiculous. At least he was able to fall straight into bed and sleep.

"We're here," the driver informed them monotonously and the two brothers got out. The house, their home, lay almost completely dark before them. Only in one of the office rooms was there a faint light. So either Domenico or Vito was still awake. Probably Domenico, he never seemed to sleep anyway.

"Did you see it?" Matteo asked, pointing with his chin at the small light while the driver behind him was clearing out the luggage.

"Fuck," Riccardo cursed as he followed Matteo's gaze. "Maybe it's Vito after all."

'There's only one way to find out.', Matteo thought, picked up his bag and went to the side entrance. Riccardo followed him silently. "Is Maria still there?"

The two of them listened irritably to the noises from the kitchen. "That can't actually be the case," replied Riccardo, but still walked towards the door in quick steps, a little more hopeful. The prospect of still seeing Maria made him forget his anger for a short time. He kicked the door a little harder than he intended, but instead of Maria there was only a boy with short blonde hair and blue eyes, looking frightened into Riccardo's. "What the hell- Who are you? And what are you doing in our kitchen?"

Matteo took a step around Riccardo and could now see what, or more specifically who, he meant. The boy could only be a few years younger than him and when he looked closer he realized he was wearing his sweater. What was that supposed to mean? It didn't suit him at all! The sleeves were rolled up several times. "And who gave you permission to wear my clothes?"

"I-I-" the boy began to stammer, but Riccardo didn't give him time to answer. Instead he came to him in long strides and grabbed his collar.

"My brother asked you a question or can't you speak in complete sentences?" He pulled him threateningly closer to his face and the boy seemed to collapse. Pathetic, said Riccardo. The boy didn't even try to defend himself.

"Let go of her now," a new voice chimed in. Domenico took Riccardo's hands and slowly began to squeeze them more and more together. It didn't take long for Riccardo to give in under the pressure and let go. Josephine backed away until her back hit the refrigerator. "Are you okay?" Domenico asked without taking his eyes off his brother. Josephine nodded silently.