don't lie to me

Chapter IV

"Amalia please-" Leonardo began one I walked closer to the chairs in front of the massive desk, but I couldn't help but cut him off... again.

"One- not my name. Two- I need to talk first." His eyes hardened slightly, but he nodded so I went off. "I want a DNA test, to prove that we are related." That made his jaw clench and his eyes turn near black. I had thought about it a lot last night and even though I had begun to adjust to the idea of staying, I needed confirmation that I had to because I really would rather not.

"If that is necessary then it can be arranged but I assure you, we are most definitely related, you may not remember us but we certainly remember you." I had somewhat forgotten that I had apparently been living with them before we were separated by my mother. I nodded, wanting to move on since Leonardo looked angry, although he tried to cover it, and it scared the shit out of me. "If that is all I would like to begin talking about the first thing on the agenda for this meeting: your behavior last night." I rolled my eyes since there was nothing wrong with my 'behavior last night'. "Now, I am aware that you have not yet been informed of the rules and expectations, but I assume that you could have come to the conclusion on your own that such blatant disrespect would not be tolerated. Also, both yesterday and just then you attempted to correct us on your name. Your name is in fact 'Amalia', it was the name given to you at birth and is what you will be referred to as hence forth. Once you accept and respond to your given name we can begin considering 'Mia' as a nickname, but until further notice, you will be called 'Amalia' and only 'Amalia'. Do you understand everything I just said?" I was fuming.

"I don't need fucking rules and none of you deserve any God damn respect! I'll act however I fucking want and you will have no say. My name is Mia, I was raised, away from you, being called Mia and I will not stop that because your sensitive ass can't handle it." He scared me, most definitely, but there was no way in hell I would let some psycho claiming to be my brother control my life.

His eye twitched again, seems to do that a lot. "Amalia, I am trying to be as understanding as possible given the situation. However, my patience can only be tested so much. I will give you some advice, don't fight me on the name thing, first, because you will lose, second because it only frustrates me more, and third, you need to pick your battles wisely." Something about his phrasing of his last point made me think consider allowing them to call me Amalia, I could always consider myself Mia and if there truly will be more situations of them trying to control me later that would have more of an impact on my life, which I didn't doubt, I wouldn't want to waste time and energy on something as trivial as a nickname. My identity came from within me, not how others and how they refer to me. After coming to that conclusion I nodded my head and confirmed that I understood and agreed.

"Now that at least one thing has been accomplished, I would like to move onto the rules. I understand that you did not have these in your old home and do not think that you need them, but you are a child-" Who does this man think he's talking to, "who needs to learn how to listen and obey-" Am I a damn dog?, "without argument, also, this family has a reputation you need to uphold in and out of this house, as the youngest and only female the expectations will be different than that of your brothers and more enforced." How refreshingly sexist.

"Do you want me to say 'woof woof' and roll over because the bull shit that just came out of your mouth sure makes it sound like you do."

"You are no dog, this I understand, but you are a little girl who does not understand how to do as you are told by someone of authority, meaning me, your brothers, and any other adult. I would like to proceed without further interruption." I rolled my eyes but nodded, remembering what he had said about picking my battles. "One- No disprisect, using profanities, raising your voice, disobedience, or attitude. Two- Always ask before going somewhere and keep us updated on your location. Three- You will be attending school starting Monday and while I have been told that you are very bright, you don't apply yourself, this will change as you will be expected to maintain a 4.0 and straight A's. You will also be expected to join multiple extracurriculars or at least one that meets daily. You will need to have your friends approved by Vincent or Stefano, who will be attending school with. And no boys, ever. Four- Do not enter the west wing of the house, it is where we conduct our business and there is no need for you there. And lastly your clothes need to be more modest. Your midriff is showing and your shorts are too tight and loose." I had thoughts.

"Rule one- we will see, I'm not changing myself but I'll try to avoid doing those things in front of you. Two- okay. Three- grades are a maybe, I already do cheer and I'll be countinuing that at an all star gym and not some stupid sideline cheer, I'll be friends with whoever I want and have whatever boyfriends I want. Four- stupid but okay. Five- my clothes are fantastic." My clothes really were fantastic, I worked hard for my body and I look fine as hell.

"None of this was a 'maybe' or 'we'll see'. Your attitude will change as will your grades. If you want to I can allow you to have approved male friends, but there will be nothing more, this I will not budge on. Also you will need to pick a new activity, cheer, specifically allstar involves a lot of travel, revealing attire, and it is far too dangerous. If you were to get seriously injured it could have permanently and irreversible results. And your attire is in no way fit for a young girl, you look like a slut and are practically begging guys to have inappropriate desires."

I decided to not argue on most of the topics he addressed since I would either be fine with not doing them or would be able to hide it. Cheer, however, was a different story. As was my outfits, I was about to go full on feminist on this man. "Cheer is non negotiable, I will be on an all star team, money seems to be no issue for you so travel won't be an issue, the dangers are understandable, but any sport has risks and i'm assuming that at least one of you has played football in the past and no one stopped them. As for the 'attire' I dress like that anyways and it's not that revealing. Also you sound like a virgin when you say shit like 'inappropriate desires', although I wouldn't be surprised if you were."

"Amalia, I understand that cheer is something that you enjoy, but the dangers-"

"The dangers don't matter if i'm miserable. I am safe and good at it and I know my limits, and we both know what I said about football is true."

"Amalia, if you cut me off again there will be consequences that you will not enjoy." His tone and entire demeanor made my blood run cold and I no longer had any interest in pushing him further. "I will allow you to do school cheer which is much safer than all star, and I will see about taking you to a gym and watching you practice and then reevaluate, but that is no promise, and if I see the practice and you get hurt or I think you will, there will be no argument and you will stop immediately and only do school cheer. Understood?" I wasn't totally sold on the arrangement but it seemed to be the best I would get so I nodded in confirmation. "I forgot to mention, we expect verbal replies always starting now."

"Okay" I said desperately trying to hold in an eye roll.

"Also, if your clothing truly does all resemble that of a cheer uniform, then while you are out shopping for school supplies and things for your room, you will get a new wardrobe as well since I am assuming you have not changed your mind about redesigning your bedroom." I was okay with getting new clothes, I wasn't going to stop wearing my own but who am I to deny a new outfit.

"Absolutely not, that room was barfed on by a three year old." He smirked. Leonardo Caputo smirked. I had an odd sense of pride that didn't leave even after he covered it up.

"Well, you and whoever is willing, likely Giovanni or Stefano if they are not busy, will take you to get those things at two." It was twelve now so I had a bit of time to rest before we went. "And please borrow someone's shirt and pants before going out, maybe one of Vincent or Angelo's girlfriends left something here that would fit you better, if not use something of your brothers."

"Okay"

Eventually I made it back to my room after getting lost a few times. When I did, I realised just how much my ribs were hurting, I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed earlier so I took pain killers. I go back over to my bed to check my phone, something I hadn't really done since arriving because it had died and then I had to go see Leonardo. I unlocked it and wasn't surprised to see some snapchats and other miscellaneous alerts. There was also, however, twelve missed calls and twenty-four messages from Jay.

Holy shit! Jay!

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