Chapter 5 (Aliyana)

We get home after 2-hours due to traffic. The familiarity of home is welcomed to me. I have lived here for a while, with Papa around for most of it.

This house is one of my father's many properties. Like most in the Famiglia, Papa has legitimate businesses and The 5th State ones.

The 4-floor Mansion my sister and I walk into is one of the legitimate things he owns - Real Estate.

“Hello, siamo a casa Papa,” We are home papa, I yell.

Papa doesn’t respond.

He is either busy or out back in the gardens. I am guessing the former.

“You two are quite cheerful today, excited for tonight?”

Filippo, my eldest brother, walks out from the open arch-way leading to the study. His voice is deep and loud as his big smile makes us giddy. I haven’t seen him in months. Staying this side has a few downsides when it comes to my family. But I have never had a close relationship with any of them besides my father.

Filippo looks handsome and refined in his navy suit and grey tie. Guilia and I picked it out for him last week as his birthday present.

We both say my brother is the Italian version of Christian Grey. He has grey/brown eyes and dark hair, which is almost black, like Papa. My friend Kylie says he is a cliché of bad-boy heartbreaker. Too hot for his own good.

His jaw is clean-shaven today. I prefer him with stubble. He smiles at us, showing the dimple just under his eye.

“I didn’t know you were here. Papa said you would make it only tonight,” I say as my brother kisses me first on my cheeks, then my sister.

“Ah. Papa wanted to surprise you. It’s been a few months since I have seen you, you should come to New York more often.”

I don’t respond to Filippo, he knows the chances of me coming to New York to see them are slim to none with Ilaria’s hatred for me.

Here, I have college and friends. I could escape at any time I want. This very home I live in was the home my mother and Papa chose to raise us in. Seattle is my home, New York is my prison.

Papa understands it.

He spends most of his time here with me than he does in New York. Guilia doesn’t mind that much because she has Filippo and her own friends to keep her busy.

Elia and Serena don’t have the same feelings as Guilia does.

I knew this because they always act out when they're here. I feel terrible that we are all divided.

Papa doesn't share the sentiment. He once said that Ilaria was a great mother, and his time was more valuable than using it to raise kids and playing house.

Filippo places his arms around the two of us,

“Follow me.”

We know Filippo has got us something. He is always giving us presents. Sometimes I wish he’ll get married and settle down. He’s almost thirty.

Papa told me Filippo once fell hard for a woman, but in the end, she chose to live a life of loneliness.

Papa said they were both fools falling in love, now they live like fools, alone. I wonder if I would end up like my eldest brother. A jaded person who hides behind fake emotions.

I asked Papa what her name was, but Papa simply said her name didn't matter.

Hearing the sound of my other sister, Serena, scream at my brother as we pass the back door leading to the pool, I groan.

Guilia likes to call them the devil twins. They could burn the house down without a match stick.

“She sounds like a banshee,” Guilia mumbles under her breath. I shake my head, smiling as Filippo pulls us forward.

Guilia doesn't like the twins very much. I know her dislike toward them stemmed from her deep loathing of Ilaria. I try to spend time with them when I can, knowing that they are as much my siblings as the two who now walk with me, but I only get to see them a few times a year.

Elia once said I was like a glass of juice, one minute there and the next gone, but I always left the after taste.

“Do you know where Papa is?” I ask my brother.

“He has gone out, should be back in a few. I got something for the two of you,” He says while the garage door opens.

I see it first and squeal, jumping like a mad untamed creature. It is a Lime Green Ashton Martin Vantage.

My sister takes a few seconds to realize that this is the car we have both wanted since we went to the Stone Heart Palace Hotel with my friend Kylie and saw the beauty parked in the parking bay downstairs.

My brother never sheds an expense when it comes to his family. I guess it is his way of making up for the lack of actual time he spends with any of us. Except for Guilia, I knew he made an effort to see her at least once a week.

Guilia starts jumping and screaming. It is laughable how easy we are pleased by the material life has to offer. Shallow happiness is as sudden and spectacular as it is fleeting and hollow.

I hug Filippo, “Thank you. You didn’t have to.”

He laughs as Guilia throws herself on both of us. My brother is big, but with Guilia jumping up and down, he has trouble trying to hold both of us.

“I ordered two, the other one is going to be a couple of weeks, so in the meantime, you have to share. It’s a good thing, we’ll be in Seattle for the next few weeks.” His face is pensive as he regards us. I am smiling and thrilled, but I admit I am not as crazy about it as my sister. Material things are important to me; however, I won't lose sleep if I don't have it. Guilia will.

She is the poster cover for Mafia Princess. She wants it, she must get it.

Her teeth are on full display as she remains smiling, but stops jumping around when Filippo lets us go. The sun is so bright out today that it reflects directly onto the dream machine that has cost my brother a dent in the bank. I would never waste my money like he does. Every cent would be well spent.

“I love you like fifty times more now,” Guilia muses, clapping her hands together.

“Only fifty?” My brother asks in a teasing voice. It baffles me that our men can be so normal and playful with us but so deadly to the ones who cross them.

I have seen the temper of our men. It scares the crap out of me that one day I might get the end of that deadly temper. My secrets have guaranteed that.

Guilia moves toward the car. Her hand touching the bonnet as if it were a child. I remain standing next to Filippo, watching her.