all the stars | sonny carisi svu

chapter twelve {SONNY}

i sat at my desk for hours as they came up with evidence in the other room.

i couldn't do any work. all i was thinking about was her.

as italian families come, her's came in a large group. her nona, mom, her brother's wives and kids, her older sister with her fiancé, and her younger sister. that's just the immediate family, i'm sure there was a lot more.

i had greeted them as i brought them to one of the rooms before i went to tell the rest of the squad about when each family member arrives.

olivia and barba went in with me as rollins and fin kept checking to find any whereabouts of the suspected perp, benjamin hemingway.

as soon as barba walked in, they knew exactly who he was, hugging him and all.

as tough of a face as that family put on, they were scared to death, but who in this squad room wasn't.

liv had told them what was going on before she went back to squad room to see what was going on. barba went back with her as he planned charges to bring against him, such as kidnapping, assault in the first degree, and attempted murder of an officer which is the only thing we have right now.

i stayed in the room with the family, playing with the little ones, because well, i wasn't allowed to be on the case.

"detective, um-" her mom starts to say, but i realized i didn't introduce myself.

"detective sonny carisi."

"detective, why are you with us and not helping the other detectives?"

i heard the accent she was talking about when she was telling me about her mom.

"officially, i'm off this case ma'am."

"wait, you are?" christian asks. "why?"

"personal reasons." i state.

"wait, you're the guy who's partnered with my sister right? the one ella doesn't shut up about at family dinners?" her older sister, valentina russo, who was the ada in the family, said.

"i'm gonna say yes because strong staten island accent and well the way she describes him is on point." i believe sal's wife said.

"she was right, he's good looking and good with the kids." her nona says causing me to chuckle a bit.

"i see you're all breaking in carisi." rafael says walking into the room.

"the girls very much are, you know us trying to lighten the mood." christian says.

"oh i'm very much aware." he says.

"is there a chance ella is still alive?" her mom suddenly asks.

"mom! you can't think like that!" sal says wrapping his arms around her.

"el is strong. she's a fighter and if anyone's gonna fight to stay alive and get this guy back in prison for what he did to her before and now, it's her." i say.

after that, the waiting was killing them and there was a lot of crying. i couldn't blame them. i wanted to cry too, but just like her brothers, i held back those tears and whatever i found out from the squad, i relayed to them.

it had been hours and no trace of her.

after a few more hours of waiting, benson sent me and her family to go back home.

her brother's with their wives and kids back to their homes staten island and her older sister with her fiancé went back to their home in queens, per ella's mother's request. we ordered squad cars to stay in front of their houses for their own protection.

her mother tried to say that she was going to a hotel with her nona and younger sister, but with barba's help, we managed to convince them to stay with me being that i'm a cop and could protect them if anything even though we'd have squad cars in front of my apartment too. plus, italian's trust each other.

i took them back to my apartment, which was thankfully i had cleaned a few days earlier. i asked them if they wanted anything to eat or drink, which they all said no to, but i gave them water anyways.

"i know i haven't properly introduced myself. i apologize. i'm dominick carisi jr. but everyone calls me sonny. you can call me whatever you like."

"it's alright. thank you for letting us stay in your apartment dominick." her nona says.

"of course. if there's anything you need, please let me know." i say.

i went into my room, put my gun and badge in my drawer, took my suit off, and putting on a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt, and sweatshirt. i ran some water through my hair to get the gel out of my hair before returning to the living room to make some food for her family.

when they finished eating, or really picking at their food, her nona and little sister went to get some sleep, her mother approached me.

"sonny?"

"yes mrs. russo?"

"you're a handsome man, you know that?"

"thank you ma'am."

"i'm assuming you're the dominick my ella doesn't stop talking about like my daughter said in the squad room?"

"i might be. we're partners."

"honey, we know you're more than just partners." she says. "i may not be a detective, but i was married to one and i have three kids who are just that."

"plus us italian's are smart." i say as she laughs for a second.

"sonny, i'm scared for my life. i don't know if she'll come back and if they find her, she won't be alive."

"they'll find her because if they don't, i don't know what i'm gonna do. i don't know what i would do without her. and when we find this son of a bitch, i'll see to it that he ends up in prison for the rest of his miserable life." i say. "she's strong, she's gonna make sure he stays there this time when we get him."

her mother and i spent some of the night crying and worrying. i had heard nothing from the squad and i was getting worried from the first night of many nights.