Agreement
POV: Elena
The room goes silent and everyone turns to me.
Eloisa is the only one who has no idea what is happening at this moment.
I watch each one and they are all fully aware of what I am saying. They are all involved.
"Eloisa, show your cousins where the game room or the pool area is," Lorenzo asks without taking his eyes off me.
Eloisa smiles and nods.
My four younger cousins follow her without protest.
"Elena, sit down so we can talk," Uncle Carlo asks and I take a step back.
"I'm fine on my feet," I say cautiously.
I assess my chances of running if I need to and they are not good. My uncle Salvatore leans against the doorframe, blocking my only way through along with my cousin Dante.
"Bambina, you don't have to be afraid," Luca tells me, approaching and I hold up my hands to stop him.
"I sure do," I say in survival mode.
The word family already scares me, imagine if they were from the mafia? I'm terrified.
"We're not going to hurt you, Elena," my grandmother says and I shake my head.
"I'm sorry, but I can't trust your words," I say and take a step back. "I barely know you."
"But you know us," Vicente says and I stop.
I look at them suspiciously. The only disagreement I had with them was the day Lorenzo slapped me. I know I pushed him to his limit that day.
I position myself in the only corner of the room where there's no one and, luckily, I can see everyone.
I feel like everyone is watching me. Do they expect me to freak out?
"Did you think about telling us?" I ask calmly.
"No," my grandfather answers and I appreciate his sincerity.
"And would you act normally?" I ask, laughing nervously. "Didn't any of you think our ignorance could be dangerous?"
"We didn't have much of a choice, did we, Sorella," Lorenzo says bitterly.
I look at him and remember the social worker's voice on the phone. I remember her telling Lorenzo that Eloisa and I needed a home.
I also remember hearing Lorenzo's voice on the phone asking if he was our only option if our stepfather had no living relatives who could take us in.
"You stopped looking for us to protect us." Realization hits me and only makes me angrier.
"We never wanted to let you go, but when your father disappeared, we decided it might be better not to expose you to our world," Aunt Andreia says.
"Do you realize how absurd what you're saying is?" My voice rises. "Your children are part of the mafia, you're all in on this business, and you were afraid of hurting us?"
None of them say anything.
"The worst decision you ever made in your life was to stop looking for us," I say with hatred. "It was to let our dear mother raise me and Eloisa."
My tone is mixed with many emotions, but the main one is resentment.
Leonardo laughs with irony of my statement.
"You complain about having parents, while we are left with an empty shell of a man who then simply disappeared." Leonardo shouts and everyone looks at him in surprise. "It's all your fault."
I smile sarcastically.
"It wasn't my fault, Leonardo, and you're already a big boy to realize that." I don't raise my voice to speak. I don't need to. "Be grateful that you had this at least."
Leonardo approaches me, burning with anger, and none of them stop him.
"I wish you had never been born, I wish you had never been part of our family." He spits the words with hatred, and even though I don't care, it hurts.
"Our thoughts are not so different, brother. I never asked to be born or to have a family," I reply in the same tone as him, with a cold smile on my face.
""Elena, dear," my grandmother starts, but I interrupt her.
"I don't agree, but I understand the decision you made," I tell them. "I'm not going to pretend that I want to get involved with your business or with you, because I don't."
"But this is your home, we are your family," Aunt Esther says, hurt.
"I already had a family and I didn't like the experience," I say seriously, and she looks at me in shock.
"Are you saying you don't want your own family?" my grandfather says seriously, and I turn to him.
"I'm saying that the people I called family have already caused enough damage, and I'm not willing to repeat that again," I reply, and he assesses me in the same way Vicente usually does.
My grandmother breaks eye contact by standing in front of me and holding my hands.
"Then give us a chance to prove that we are different," she asks gently and everyone agrees.
I look at them again and see that their desire for me to be part of their family is real.
But what if I get hurt again? What if this is a trick?
"It's not a trick, Sorella, we only want the best for ours," Dante says and I realize I was thinking out loud.
"Just one chance and I promise that if you don't feel safe or want to leave, we will give you a new life where you will never have to see any of us again and you will live well," my grandfather says and I think I can work with that.
"I will respect your rules as long as they are all fair and I will try to live with you." I bargain with him and I can see amusement in his eyes "I accept the proposal as long as none of you pressure me and I want my room key back."
Everyone looks at my grandfather as he considers my request.
"Deal, Elena Valentini," he extends his hand and I shake it firmly.
POV: Lorenzo
After closing the deal with Grandpa, Elena went up to her room, claiming to be tired.
Even after she left the living room, we all remained silent for a few seconds.
"What was that?" Aunt Isadora asks as she hugs Uncle Carlo.
"We still don't know," Vicente says regretfully. "She's been building walls around herself since she arrived, and whenever the word family is mentioned, she gets all agitated."
"Have they put someone in charge of investigating her past yet?" Uncle Salvatore asks as he fills his glass with whiskey.
"Yes, but we still don't have any results," I answer tiredly. "Our hypotheses aren't the best, and I want proof before I freak out with suggestions."
"I know I'll regret asking, but what are the hypotheses?" Dante asks seriously.
"Abuse, the way she reacts indicates that it was from her family. We just don't know if it was her own parents or a relative," Sandro replies, and I know that this whole situation hurts him.
"Doesn't her sister know anything?", asks the irritated grandmother and from her tone I know that she is not a fan of Eloisa.
"She says that Elena has always been like this," Vicente replies. "Either she doesn't know or she's afraid to tell."
"We promised Elena not to force her, but we're still going t
o investigate," says uncle Massimo, determined. "And whoever made my niece so afraid of her own family will pay with their life."