05

We don’t want any fires breaking out.

« My little girl, » she smiles when she spots me in the living room and goes to sit right next to me.

I immediately bury myself in her arms and giggle like a little girl when she plants wet kisses all over my forehead.

« Hi, mom, » I grin when I pull back.

« When do you ever not work ? » I ask because I know mom and dad love to spend time together as much as they can, but she also loves her job and spends a shit ton of time in her office.

Just like dad, but he’s more relaxed about it, whereas mom is a bit more determined.

As a child, I saw her as two different people.

One was my loving mother who cuddled with me and smothered me with her love and stories.

The other one was her lawyer side. The side even I was a bit scared of when I saw her work.

Because she’s a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom.

She’s ruthless and fearless, facing anyone who stands opposite her, no matter their status and name.

She’s made a name for herself and earned her place in the boardroom of the company she owns with dad.

SILVESTRO AND AMORRETO : ATTORNEYS AT LAW

She didn’t want his help in any sort of way and proved to everyone else she could succeed on her own.

Now, you can imagine the expectations everyone had for me when I was younger. Certainly, in school.

Everywhere else. As soon as they learned the last names I carry, there were certain standards I needed to reach on an intellectual level and with what I wanted to achieve in life.

The pressure is bigger on my twin brothers, especially Alessandro seen as he’s studying law as well, but that doesn’t take away how much I compare myself to my parents.

« You know I love to work, » mom smiles and brushes a curl away from my face. « But I love you more, and we’re spending the whole weekend together. I miss you. How are you ? How’s school so far in your second year ? Oh ! How was your meeting with Matteo’s parents ? »

I appreciate her attentiveness and how she asked after Matteo, despite her obvious distaste for him.

Even dad isn’t fond of Matteo, and he likes everyone.

But they put their dislike aside – though barely – whenever Matteo does come over.

The look of horror and panic on his face during his first-ever dinner with my parents was comical.

Dad fixated his glare on Matteo because how dare he date Riccardo Silvestro’s only daughter ?

And you’d think Matteo committed a heinous crime with the way mom put her lawyer’s face on and interrogated him.

I had to smother a smile sometimes, even though my boyfriend was dying beside me. Especially with the way my twin brothers joined my dad in glaring at him and intimidating the fuck out of Matteo.

I tell mom all about the dinner with Matteo’s family and update her a bit on how school is going and everything.

Then, mom shows me pictures of uncle Nicholas and aunt Fallon with their children. Their eldest child, Amara, is five years older and the other two, Hayden and Tristan, are three and two.

Nicholas met Fallon seven years ago, and they instantly fell in love. They made quick work into getting married, and not long after, Fallon gave birth to their first child.

Both mom and I are awing over the new pictures and how adorable Amara looks in her princess dress with her curls all over the place.

The door opens, signaling one of the twins has just come home for the weekend as well.

By the way they slam the door shut, it’s Alessandro.

He walks into the living room, sporting the leather jacket that he takes everywhere. We share the same kind of hair, the curls a mess on top of his head.

His light-brown eyes scan the room and when he spots us on the couch, he flips me off and walks over to plant a quick kiss on mom’s head.

« Be nice to your sister, Alessandro, » mom sighs and shakes her head.

« Sure thing, » he smirks and walks to the kitchen, to join dad there.

I watch dad cook as he talks to Alessandro, asking him about his life and past week, studies, and whatnot.

Both my brothers take a lot after my father look-wise. They have a tall and lean body, with as dark hair as my father has – so do I – though Alessandro has curls while Dante has more wavy hair like my mother.

Their eyes are a lighter brown than mine and if they both grew a thick stubble, they’d almost be dad’s carbon copy.

Except that they have some similar facial features to my mom, too, but they are few and not as many as I do.

Mom and I both join dad and Alessandro in the kitchen. I sit at the kitchen island, stealing a few vegetables from the cutting board until dad scolds me.

« Look what your father made me last night, » mom brags and shows me multiple pictures of the delicious burgers.

Dad tends to my mother’s every craving and knows what she likes, so it’s very easy for him to impress her.

But, I love food, so it’s also easy for him to impress me.

« Now I’m craving one, » I groan, « It looks so good. »

« Why do you think I married that man ? » mom laughs and leans in to quickly kiss dad.

« She still eats that food seated in the middle of the kitchen island when you guys aren’t around, » dad snitches.

It’s almost sickening how in love they are.

But it’s cute, and it set my standards way too high growing up.

But I settled for douchebags in the past, either way.

I look up twice when I see Dante entering the living room across the room.

« Since when are you home ? » I ask him, and he looks up from the book he’s reading. Alessandro snorts.

« He’s so quiet, you rarely notice him being here. Why are you surprised, sis ? »

« He’s just not as loud as you are and decides not to make his presence known everywhere, » dad says pointedly.

« Thanks, dad, someone has to let the clown now, » Dante responds dryly and already heads for the door before the doorbell even rings.

Though, it’s clear who it is already.

And my thoughts are confirmed when he exits the foyer with his best friend by his side, Valentina.

Valentina is a childhood friend of ours. My parents have always had this apartment and we visited it a lot during vacations and holidays, but when we were younger, we lived in a different neighborhood.

Mom and dad wanted us to grow up in a child-friendly neighborhood where we could play safely on the streets and interact with the other children who lived close by.

Valentina was one of them. I’ve known her my entire life, and she grew up with us.

Her parents lived a few houses down from ours, and we became good friends quickly. Though she really hit it off with Dante and they’ve always been the closest of friends, even if she’s three years younger than him.

If they weren’t so platonically good friends, I’d say they’d make a good couple.

But both have always made clear that friends are all they are.

« I didn’t know the spawn of the devil would join us for dinner, » Alessandro says, his voice has taken a darker tone as he glares at Val.

Val, who is usually soft and quiet, turns her narrowed eyes at my brother.

« Didn’t know Satan himself would join us. Dante, you told me he wouldn’t be here. »

« Sorry to disappoint, sweetheart, » Alessandro smiles sarcastically and pushes himself off the wall.

« I’m not your sweetheart ! » Valentina snaps, causing my loud twin brother to snort.

« Wouldn’t want you to be, either, » is all he says, before he disappears up the stairs and probably fucks off to his room.

Valentina mutters something in Spanish, which I’m sure is a string of colorful curses.

Then, she directs a beaming smile to my parents and greets them kindly, apologizing for what she said to their son.

« We know how much of a handful he can be, » mom assures her, « and it’s not like this is new to us. »

« I’m sorry, I really didn’t think he’d be here, » Dante says and wraps an arm around his best friend.

« Don’t worry about it, Dante, » Valentina assures him and turns towards my dad. « Can I help you with cooking ? »

« Of course, you know where the apron is, » dad says, proudly wearing his own apron mom bought him.

It’s a bright pink one with ‘World’s best chef’ on it.

Valentina puts her pin-drop straight, black hair up in a ponytail, exposing her beautiful features.

She’s half Dominican and half Filipino.

Her skin is a rich, warm brown color. Her eyes are this really dark brown, and she has a very small and fine nose, with a set of the fullest lips I’ve ever seen on someone.

She’s one of the sweetest girls I know, soft-spoken, and doesn’t talk a lot around everyone.

Alessandro is the only one who makes her snarky side come out. They’ve had it out for each other ever since we were children.

I don’t know what makes them hate each other so much, but they definitely shouldn’t be left alone in a room unless you want the place to burn down.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I take it out to see the girl’s group chat.

Zainab : idk if you guys watched the new show on Netflix, but I totally call dips on the hot guy

Charlie : some of us are actually studying instead of drooling over some abs…

Zainab : shut up, I saw you checking out that dude’s ass last week

Charlie : lapse of judgment, everyone has those. Can someone back me up ?

Me : no

Me : Zainab, ur right, that guy is so hot and you have every right to claim him. I don’t mind

Zainab : ofc you don’t, you already have a boyfriend so you can’t really complain, now can you ? Except, he has a hot older brother you can put aside for me ?

Zoe : don’t remind me how I’m single, please

Zoe : btw, how much older are we talking ?

I grin down at my phone in the group chat. They’re all friends from high school, still, and we managed to stay friends.

Even though we’re often on other campuses and don’t run into each other a lot, we try our best into meeting up as often as we can.

My eyes linger on the last text Zoe sent.

Roman is thirty-one.

He’s aging well, it’s not fair. He’s classic and elegant. And so sophisticated, but rough around the edges and carries this authenticity.

And that fine specimen happens to be the brother of my boyfriend.

Life is so not fair.

That Monday, I’m headed over to my class and am buzzing with curiosity.

My professor has taken the semester off for pregnancy leave, so we’ll be getting someone new instead.

I run into Tess, someone from my classes as well. I like her, and we always sit together during our lessons.

« So, I think it’s going to be a very old man with wrinkly skin and who’s balding, » she guesses.

I chuckle. « As long as they’re a good professor, I don’t care. »

We’re nearing the entrance of the auditorium, and I already see students piling into the room.

« Or, » she continues, ignoring me, « It’s going to be a young professor who happens to be insanely hot and we’re going to have eye candy for the rest of the semester. »

« Tess, please, » I scoff. « Hot professors don’t exist. »

I find myself eating my words when I step inside and immediately look to the front.

Halting in my steps, my lips part in shock when I see Roman standing there, wearing a dark brown crew-neck sweater and a pair of black pants.

He looks up, and his eyes clash with mine and they widen for a fraction of a second.

Something deep inside me hopes that he’s not my new professor. That he just happens to be here by coincidence.

He has his own business to take care of, why would he be teaching students ?

Our eyes waver for a few seconds.

I’m sure confusion and shock are written all over my face.

Tess tugs me to one of the seats in the middle, for I’m frozen and stuck in my place.

« You were wrong, hot profs do exist, » she giggles as we sit down.

I’m stuck on autopilot as I take my laptop and set everything up for the class, still in shock and my eyes are fixated on Roman at the front of the class.

When everyone is settled down, I notice the slant of his jaw clench as he leans against the front table and crosses his arms.

« Good morning, class. I’m your new professor, Mr. Moreno. »

Life is so not fair.

. . .