Vengeance

Chapter 34

Ava's POV

It all felt like a dream.
For so many years I had been hoping that one day my brothers would come, find me. And now when it was actually happening, it felt too good to be true.  

This nightmare is finally coming to an end.

We were heading towards the stairs, when I stumbled after stepping on my own dress. Two strong arms caught me before I could hit the ground.
I looked up to see Ryan looking at me with worry. 

How is he always there to keep me from falling?
How does he manage to save me from every bad situation?
But what he did for me today, was something I wouldn't be able to repay him for, my whole life.
He didn't just stop my wedding with a terrible person, he saved me from the darkness I was living in for past 13 years.
He gave me my life back. 

"Are you having a concussion?" His voice brought me out my train of thoughts.
I quickly straightened up and replied, "No, I just stepped on my dress." I blushed a little.

How many times will you embarrass yourself in front of him?
You so clumsy!

"Arlo is bringing the doctor, we'll have your head checked out soon. Be careful though."
I nodded at him.
Enzo stepped in and just like an older brother he moved between us, taking my hand to support me as we headed down the stairs.
I looked back at Ryan and saw him staring at me with some unreadable expression.
I gave a slight smile at which he just nodded 

Well that was weird...

As soon as we came into the view of the main living hall, I was taken back to the memory of my 5th birthday.
Just like that day, all of my brothers were standing there watching me stepping down slowly.
Only now, they were much older, more handsome and more manly.
All of them were staring at me with so much intensity, I could feel it from a distance.
I looked at the first guy standing to the extreme right, since he was the nearest of all.

Blue eyes and dark brown hairs.

He looked so calm and composed.
It had to be Dante. The most sensible, caring and gentle of all.
He used to braid my hair when I was little. He always had answers to all my questions. He always helped me when I used to lose my toys, which was like all the time. No one else had that much patience to find my things for me.
My eyes moved towards left. The next person was bulkier than Dante and also a little shorter than all of them.
His eye colour was same as mine and he had dark brown hair like Dante.

That's Romeo!

We had most of the fights. He used to get mad so easily, which used to make me wanna trouble him even more. But he was just as loving as everyone else. He used to scold me a lot but also used to make upto me by bringing chocolates, which he definitely used to steal from the kitchen at night.
Next to him were the two twins, who also had same chocolate brown eyes like me and dark brown hair like Dante.
They were closest to me since they were not too old like other three.
Matteo was a little nerdy and Marco was outgoing. They were most talented ones amongst us all.
The three of us would get away with almost anything.

We had reached the last stair. I glanced towards Lorenzo at my right. He gave me slight nod in assurance and removed his arm from around me. I took a deep breath. And approached the boys.
Dante being Dante, took both my hands gently in his, brought them in front of us and kissed them both ever so slightly.
He gulped down hard before looking up at me.
"I missed you, Ava." Always so calm and composed Dante looked extremely vulnerable in that moment. 

"I missed you too, fratello." I teared up again.

He turned away before he could lose any more control on his emotions.
I looked towards Romeo. He pulled me instantly into a bear hug. 

"I thought I lost you, Aves." He said in a low breaking voice.
I pulled apart to look in his eyes. They were bright red. 

"So did I. But look you found me! And I'm gonna trouble you even more from now on. Need to make up for all the time I lost." 

He chuckled and wiped the wetness of his cheeks with the back of his hands.
I turned towards left. And saw Matteo and Marco were looking away from me.

"You both must have finally got all the attention from Enzo, Dante and Romeo, right. You both couldn't have missed me at all." I teased them.

This made them look my way with disbelief and ridiculous expressions on their faces. 
"That is so not true!" Matteo cried out like a little girl.
"We missed you the most. More than any of them!" Marco complained as well. I chuckled at their silliness as they pulled me into a tight hug. 

This feels exactly like the one Nik and Nessa gave me. 

Enzo and Dante had approached us. I felt Enzo give a quick peck on the top of my head.
Dante wiped the tears off my face and patted my right cheek.
"Oh come on!" With that Romeo slammed into all of us, engulfing everyone into a huge group hug where all my brothers lovingly held me in their arms.

And I knew there nothing else in my life I wanted more than this special moment.
Being with the people I love, trust and care about.
In that moment I couldn't thank god enough for letting me have the best brothers in the world.
When I opened my eyes, they landed straight at Ryan.
Nessa and Nik were with their brothers as well.
Ryan's eyes met mine and I tried to convey as much amount of gratitude as I could through them. He nodded at me understanding exactly how much thankful I was for reuniting me with my brothers.

After all..
La famiglia è tutto.

(Family is everything.)