Their Little Princess

Chapter Twenty-Six

About 15 minutes later, I relieved when Elijah is the one who walks in. Only for a moment before I see the disappointment on his face.

"Mr. Rossi, hello. We need to speak with Madison's guardian, though—"

"Excuse me, I don't recall asking," Elijah says, he has a frown, he looks stressed. I can't help but think it's my fault. He's been working so much lately and now he has to come down to the office. He shuts his eyes pinching the bridge of his nose, "Go get the twins," He says to Principal Holbert.

"Right away, Mr. Rossi," He says, scurrying out of the room.

Elijah turns to me, "Why would you do that, Madison?" He says.

"Elijah, I—"

"No, stop. Just...Stop. If you don't like Emma, that's okay. But you never have an excuse to use violence. Against Xander's girlfriend of all people. She's been nothing but nice to you, we've all been as nice as we know how, but all we ask is that you work with us a little bit here."

"She—" 

He stops me, "Enough, Maddie. We'll talk more when we see Alessandro."

I stare at the floor quietly until Xander and Carlo walk in. I still remain silent, I don't dare look Xander in the eye. I take a risk and look up at Carlo, but he just looks confused, confused and disappointed. My eyes inadvertently wander to Xander, the tensing of his jaw, his angry look in his eye, the way he refuses to even look at me.

"Come on, stand up, Maddie," Elijah says. Not harshly, not angrily, and that makes me upset. If I deserve to get in trouble, then don't fucking coddle me! Either you care about me or you don't. And you don't want to hear me out, don't act like what I feel matters. I grab my bookbag off the office chair and follow my brothers out.

The car ride there is silent, but the moment I get in, Alessandro calls me, Elijah, and Emilio to his office. My heart is racing as I walk in. Francesco is already sitting there pretty casually, Emilio is sitting in the chair against the back wall and has his hands folded and he's leaning forward resting them on his lap, but he has a look of concern.

"Sit," Alessandro says simply, gesturing me to chair directly in front of his desk. I sit down across from him. 

Of all people in this household, I trust that me and Alessandro have some kind of understanding. I trust him to hear the story before he judges because he's fair.

"You had no reason to do that."

My heart drops. He continues. "This is the reason why I told them no guests. Especially Emma. We know you aren't used to having people who cared for you like family. We had no way to gauge how you would react to having another girl have a place in this family. Your brothers, a few in specific believed I was wrong and over-reacting. You've done nothing but prove me right. You can't hurt someone simply because you don't like them—"

"Alessandro, I—"

"Don't—"

"I didn't hit her because I 'don't like her'. She—"

"We respect you, I ask for the same respect. Please do not cut me off." He says firmly, "Not only do you attack a girl you know Xander is partial to, but you show no remorse. I'm disappointed in you. You of all people should know what it's like to be a victim of unfair violence."

The room after that is silent. My heart drops and tears threaten to collect. I thought him saying he was disappointed in me was the worst I could feel. But just the idea that they could think I'm like Daniel in any way, knowing how much they despise him, makes me feel sick to my stomach. 

He stands up, "Give me your phone," He says. My nostrils flare in fury as tears begin to well in my eyes, and I drop my phone on the desk. "Tomorrow, you're going to apologize to Emma, and you're going to mean it. Do I make myself clear?"

I nod.

"I can't hear nods, Madison. I said do I make myself clear," He repeats.

"Yes," I say, sharply.

...

The rest of the evening is different from our usual nights. They're cordial but silent, and Sandro was right earlier, I'm not used to having a caring family. But this...This is something I'm used to. I can look back and remember being falsely accused and punished. Isolated in the only place I have to live.

It does nothing but remind me why I don't call this place home.

Carlo spends most of the night in his room, the music is loud and I assume he's painting. Elijah goes upstairs to attend to work. Sandro is in his office, his door has been shut all night and Emilio and Francesco went down to the warehouse earlier. Leaving me and Xander in the kitchen alone. 

"What's wrong with you?" He asks finally.

I look up at him, my brows furrowed slightly. I can already tell by the anger and disappointment on his face that this is gonna be the frosting on this shitty evening. I don't respond, having been asked that question more times in life than I can count. I never have an answer, no matter how many times I hear it, because I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with me, I don't know what I could have possibly done to deserve this life.

I am in no way saying, I don't deserve anything I've gotten. But doesn't the pain and hurt have to end at some point? Even hurricanes have a break of silence and peace. When can I get mine? Haven't I been through enough? No...I haven't.

"What? Are you jealous of her?"

The fact that everyone assumes I'm jealous of her makes it worse. He looks furious, like he genuinely believes what he's saying.

"You have 5 other brothers, I'm not your only brother, can't you just find somebody else to cling to?!" He says furiously, "Just fucking..." He hesitates, "Don't fucking talk to me. You..." He leaves. That loss of words kills me inside. They're all I have left in this life. 

I wait about an hour for Carlo to come get me, yesterday he said he'd show me how to paint. He never comes, I pray he's just forgotten, I'd drop the little I had just for him to want me to paint with him. But he never invites me.

That night, I sit in my room quietly. I don't know what to do. On purpose this time, I grab my mother and I's picture.

Her arm around my shoulders, crouching down and smiling at the camera, her arm pulling me close. Her teeth blindingly white, her blonde hair a strict contrast to my dark hair and beautiful. The look of joy on her face. I sometimes wonder what things would be like had she been like this all the time. If we could have been kind of like a normal family, even without Daniel. I've never considered Daniel family, but my mom could have been.

I miss what could've been, because now there's no chance of it happening. I always think that maybe if I spoke up and said the right things, she would have had a realization that I could be enough for her to love. I could have said something to change how she thought about me. I was too much of a coward to ever speak up. 

But when I look at this picture, I can almost pretend that she loved me and that we were a family. One that she liked having.

I hug her picture to my chest as a single tear finally drops. Just one.