Beyond the lies

Chapter 8

It was now evening. Sofia had successfully managed to avoid meeting any of her brothers for the past few hours, and with Remo coming home late at night, she doubted the events at the hospital would be brought up today.

How wrong she was.

As soon as dinner was over, Vincent asked her to meet him in his downstairs office. It was less formal looking than the one she had seen on the third floor and had lots of armchairs and sofas. There she found all of her brothers seated, even Remo who had now returned with a file clutched tightly in his hands. No one looked happy.

"Fia, come sit here." Luca gestured to the empty spot next to him and she obeyed. To the other side of her sat Dante, and opposite her were the rest of her brothers. 

Vincent spoke up, "Remo, the results of the check-up?"

The addressed brother grimaced and opened the file and spoke, "It's better if I just summarise it. Sofia's severely underweight for someone her height and age; she's got a few deficiencies including iron and calcium. What worried me the most was when I couldn't finish the last part of the check-up."

Rocco interrupted, "What part? And why?"

Remo glanced at Luca, and it was only then that Sofia had realised why she had been sat next to him. She had felt the most comfortable around Luca so it would be easier for him to lift her shirt in conformation that she really was a broken girl.

It's a trap.

"It's quicker if Luca just lifts her shirt so we can see her stomach."

It was a battle of speed, and Sofia had won since she had already predicted it. She managed to hold onto the bottom of her shirt in time before Luca could. For a few seconds she struggled as Dante took her hands and held them in his, and still squirmed in hopes that Luca would change his mind, but he didn't.

Her brother raised her shirt hurriedly until it was just below her ribs and then dropped it in shock. Dante's grip on her loosened and she yanked her hands out of his, though she slightly missed its warmth. No one spoke for a while as they tried to process what had just been witnessed.

It seems that Vincent was the first to snap himself out of it and return to his emotionless facade, "Sofia, who did this to you?"

She looked down and whispered another one of her lies, "no one, I'm just clumsy."

Marco scoffed, "are you serious right now?"

Rocco put his hand on his twin's arm in warning, though it didn't stop the lashing brother.

"Why the hell are you trying to protect whoever did this to you?"

After that Sofia blanked out for a full minute until Vincent told Rocco to take Marco away until he cooled down. She was completely numb at this point and even though the rest of her brothers tried to find out the truth, she could only repeat her previous words like a broken record player.

The girl refused to break down, to reveal her hurt, to share her pain.

Eventually everyone realised that their sister would not be fully honest with them for now, so Vincent decided to let her go to her room. Once she did all eyes were back on him.

Luca was the first to speak, "Vince, do you think...?"

The eldest nodded, "without a doubt, Maria must have done this."

"I don't get it, the woman's dead. Why's Sof still not opening up?" questioned Dante, looking frustrated.

"It's not as simple as that," frowned Remo, "the scars show years of physical abuse, but there must be mental trauma from what Maria did as well. Sofia's used to hiding everything, she didn't even crack when all of us tried."