Logan

Logan looks at the disastrous state of his kitchen with a wide grin on his face. He made pancakes with Lucas but most of the batter didn't make it into the skillet. It's literally everywhere. And the little monster is fast asleep on one of the benches, sucking his thumb, his hair standing up in all directions. 

Logan takes a minute to look at the boy before quietly starting on the cleaning. His thoughts wander to the moment when Lucas let go of his hand and ran away. The memory makes his heart race. He doesn't even want to imagine something happening to Lucas. Lexy would never forgive him for it. Lucas is her everything. 

He watches the boy every Saturday, while she works in the hair salon. Lucas got his looks from the Brewsters: gray eyes and ginger hair. And according to his grandma, the boy is the spitting image of Logan as a kid.

He steps onto a chair to wipe the splatters of batter from the ceiling, the vision of a slim hand with dark-red nails appearing in his mind. Her hand rests in his and then the image merges into the same hand around a glass of vodka.

The shock makes him lose his balance and he barely manages to save himself from breaking his neck.

He jumps down from the chair, running his fingers through his hair. Closing his eyes, trying to focus and think clearly. The red nail polish means nothing. A lot of women have red nails. That doesn't mean it's the same person. It's not possible. The mysterious woman is nothing like Miss Pia. They both have short hair and dark eyes but that's where the similarities end.

He shakes his head and starts to clean again, making sure the place looks decent enough before Lexy walks in.

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She is sprawled out on the couch, watching cartoons, when Bruno drags himself out of his bedroom. "Mornin'. Ah, I smelled the coffee already. Want another cup?"

She gives him a thumbs up.

He gets the coffee from the kitchen and waits for her to make room for him on the couch before sitting down. His eyes land on the clock after yawning and stretching out, realizing it's noon already. He grabs his mug and takes a sip. "I'm seriously getting old now. It takes this body until noon to recover."

She chuckles and nods.

"You don't have to agree with me, Scor. You could say I still look great or something."

She looks at him from head to toe and shakes her head. He puts his coffee on the table, grabs her mug to put it away as well, and starts tickling her until the tears stream down her cheeks from laughter.

Bruno lets her catch her breath and they sit up again. She rests her head on his shoulder and lets out a sad sigh. He wraps his arm around her, pulling her closer. "It's going to be fine. Just think of how happy it will make mama."

She plants a kiss on his cheek and gets up. "Okay, I'm going to shower and put my armor on."

He chuckles and watches her walk away before drinking the rest of his coffee while flipping through the channels on tv.

When she walks back into the room, she's dressed in leather pants with a black blouse, her trusty scorpion bracelet around her wrist, and a bit of make-up on her face. She's holding her boots with the stiletto heels in her hand, sitting down on the couch to put them on.

She catches Bruno's grin. "Yeah, I am counting on you wearing your leather pants and black button-up. And these boots... well, you know."

Bruno winks at her. "Yeah. Channel your inner bitch."

He walks away laughing and comes back a while later, dressed in the male version of her outfit. She stands up, a sparkle in her eyes because they are almost the same height when she wears her boots. And seeing how Bruno is the tallest of her three brothers, it allows her to look down on the other two.

Bruno holds his hand out to her and she grabs onto it. He gives it a gentle squeeze as they walk out together.

They take the long way over to mamma's house, enjoying the freedom on their motorcycles. As they ride onto the driveway, they find a fair amount of cars parked, feeding her anxiety immediately. She turns the engine off and takes off her helmet, taking a deep breath while she takes her gloves off as well.

The front door flies open and a tiny voice yells out for her. "Soppia! Zia!"

A tender smile appears on her face when the little black-haired boy runs up to her. She picks him up as soon as he's close enough and he wraps his little arms around her neck,  covering her face in wet kisses. Her eyes rapidly fill with tears as his innocent love fills her heart.

She cuddles the boy lovingly. "Enzo, ti amo."

Bruno clears his throat, making the boy turn his head his way. Bruno cocks his eyebrow and crosses his arms. She giggles and Enzo kisses her on the lips, sending Bruno a challenging look. Bruno drops his arms, sighs and looks at the ground all sad.

Enzo reaches out to Bruno and she steps off her bike with the boy in her arms, lowering him onto the silver bike, where he jumps into Bruno's arms. Bruno's face lights up as he gives the boy a firm hug.

"Pappa! Soppia with you!"

Bruno smirks. "Si, my boy. I brought Scorpia with me. I promised nonna I would."

He sets Enzo down on the ground and gets off his bike. Enzo grabs onto Scorpia's hand and she smiles at Bruno. Bruno grabs Enzo's other hand before walking towards the front door together.

As soon as they walk inside, Enzo lets go of their hands and runs off screaming.

"Soppia's here! Soppia's here!"

Bruno laughs and wraps his arm around his sister's shoulders as they move towards the big family kitchen together. Loud voices fill the air but as soon as they cross the threshold it goes dead silent.

Mamma is in front of the stove but the sudden silence makes her turn around slowly. She breaks out in tears as soon as Scorpia's eyes meet hers. She runs to her daughter to hug her in a way only an Italian mamma can: way too tight but soaked in an incredible amount of love.

Mamma whispers through her tears. "Ti amo. Ti amo. Ti amo. I have missed you so much. Ti amo."

Scorpia kisses her mom. "Ti amo. I'm sorry mamma. I really wanted to..."

Mamma places both hands on her daughter's cheeks. "Shhh. You're here and we're going to have a nice meal. Go and sit down at the table."

Scorpia walks over to the tap and washes her hands. Mamma points at her while giving all men at the table a look that doesn't require any words. They all scramble up from their seats to wash their hands too.

Ciro is the first to come up to her. "Hey, little sister." He wants to give her a hug but she avoids his gaze and steps aside. He doesn't say another word and washes his hands.

Scorpia's anxiety rises, feeling trapped in the kitchen without knowing who else is here today. She looks at the other side of the kitchen island that's attached to the wall on one end, and searches for Bruno with her eyes. He tries to calm her down with his gaze, unable to get to her.

Dino is next in line and doesn't even try to hug her after he witnessed her reaction to Ciro. He nods and washes his hands. Dino is the youngest of the three brothers, and sadly does whatever Ciro tells him to.

She wrings her hands together, the tension making her skin crawl, and that's when she sees him. His creepy grin and his fear-inducing, almost black eyes trigger her flight response.

"Oh hell no!"

She places her hands on the island, jumps on top of it, and slides off on the other side. She doesn't even register the plates breaking or people gasping, all she hears is her terrified heart trying to break out of her chest while she runs out of the backdoor as fast as her legs are willing to carry her.

Bruno pushes people aside to get to the kitchen with his fists clenched and knocks Salvatore out with one clean punch. Ignoring all the commotion, he turns around, and runs out of the backdoor to look for his little sister. He finds her in the back of the garden, punching the old oak tree with her bare fists.

He runs over there and grabs her arms to prevent her from completely ruining her hands. "Shh, sorellina. Calm down. It's me. Please calm down."

She turns around to face him and he looks into her eyes, finding nothing but pure fear in them. He has only seen that look once before. And it wasn't when she was pulled out of the car wreck when she was five.

She sinks down to the ground and he quickly picks her up in his arms. The terror has such a hold on her, that she is not able to speak or cry. It's like the light has left her heart.

He races inside and finds his younger brothers kneeling next to Salvatore, who is still unconscious. All the other visitors seem to have left.

Mamma looks at him with eyes full of panic and questions.

"Choose right now, mamma. Those three on the floor or Enzo, Scorpia, and me. At least for today. And quickly or there will be three guys knocked out on your kitchen floor and I walk out!"

Mamma looks at him with desperation in her eyes but as soon as she looks at her other two sons, the choice becomes clear. "Get out! Until you hear differently, you're no longer welcome here. And take Salvatore with you!"

Ciro and Dino drag Salvatore towards the front door while Bruno doesn't even spare them a second look as he carries his sister up the stairs to put her in her 'old' bedroom.

Bruno comes down again, grabs a plate and cutlery from the table and walks over to the stove. Mamma follows him to scoop pasta from the pan onto the plate before grabbing a piece of Parmesan cheese and grating it on top. Bruno nods at her and she rubs his back lovingly.

He walks off towards the stairs and hears his mother's voice. "Come with me, Enzo. You are allowed to eat in front of the TV with nonna this time, and you get to pick the show." Bruno smiles for a second, grateful that Enzo is still little and easily distracted.

He opens the door to her bedroom and finds her crying, feeling a bit relieved because he rather sees her cry than paralyzed by fear. He sets the plate down on the nightstand and sits down at the edge of the bed.

Her head shoots up and she throws herself into his arms, crying her heart out as he rubs her back. "Shh, sorellina. They dragged him out of the house unconscious, he can't hurt you. I'm here. Ti amo, Scorpia."

She looks at him through a veil of tears as soon as she hears he got carried out and mumbles. "I just ran away. Ten years of training and I ran away."

She tries to punch herself in the face but Bruno is quicker. "Don't you dare! You've hurt yourself enough for today! Stop it!" He says it in such a dominant tone that Scorpia immediately drops her hands. The tears still stream down her cheeks as he lovingly strokes her bloody knuckles.

He hears quiet footsteps come in and sees mamma walk over to the nightstand with a glass of water. She looks at the bed and he catches the heartbreak on his mother's face before she runs out of the room. "Take good care of her, Bruno."

He hands Scorpia the glass of water, as soon as her last tear is shed. She wraps her fingers around the glass, closing her eyes to hide the pain that shoots through her hand. Bruno watches her and asks carefully. "Can I go downstairs for a bit, to get the first-aid-kit? And some painkillers? I promise you I'll come right back."

She nods lightly and he runs downstairs.

Bruno finds his worried mom on the couch with a sleeping Enzo. He gathers everything he needs and kisses his mom on her cheek before going back upstairs. Scorpia is sitting up in bed with the plate of pasta on her lap and tries to eat, her face distorted from the pain. He tosses everything he's holding on the bed and feeds her a bite.

She gives him a grateful look as she whispers. "Hungry."

"Say aaa." She opens her mouth and he places two painkillers on her tongue, helping her to a few sips of water to swallow them. He feeds her a bite of pasta again before eating some himself.

He opens the first-aid-kit and pulls out the materials needed to take care of the wounds on her knuckles, cleaning the cuts gently and wrapping her hands up with a bandage before placing a kiss on every knuckle.

They take turns in eating the pasta until it's all gone.

"Grazie", she whispers.

Bruno puts everything back into the first-aid-kit and gets up. Her eyes fly open, staring at him in panic. "Don't go."

Bruno looks at her lovingly. "Sleep or talk?"

"I won't be able to sleep for a while", she mumbles.

"Okay, talking it is. I'll go and get something to drink and check on mamma and Enzo. I'll be right back. Or would you rather come with me and talk downstairs?" She thinks about it for a second and then throws the blankets off to swing her legs out of the bed.

Bruno smiles at her and wraps his arm around her as soon as she's on her feet. They walk downstairs together and he guides her over to the couch.

She sits down next to the sleeping Enzo and the boy snuggles up to her in his sleep, mumbling. "Soppia. Ti amo." A tear rolls down her cheek and she strokes his hair with her sore hand.

Mamma looks deep into her daughter's eyes. "I assume you want to talk to Bruno in private. I will take Enzo with me and go to bed. But you have to promise me that we'll talk tomorrow. Because I kicked two of my sons out and even though my heart knows I made the right decision, I still need to hear from you why.

Scorpia gives her mom a sad look and nods.

Mamma gets up to lift Enzo off the couch. She whispers 'Ti amo' and goes upstairs.

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Logan

Logan looks up from his phone as the two Italian brothers come in. He grabs the bottle of 'Puni Alba' and two glasses, and is about to walk out from behind the bar when the oldest raises his hand to stop him. The brothers sit down at the bar and the oldest explains. "We're doing things differently tonight. We really have to drink our sorrows away."

Logan nods and pours the whisky into the glasses. They down the whisky and nod at him. He fills the glasses a second time and after downing that one as well, the youngest starts to talk.

"Fratello, what are we going to do? Mamma just kicked us out. And Salvatore always wants to eat at her house on Sunday. And Bruno... Salvatore is never going to forgive us for that."

Logan pretends not to listen but can't deny that the conversation intrigues him. Mostly because they usually communicate in Italian with each other.

The oldest answers with confidence. "I have no clue, fratello. But I don't get her. It's been ten years and she hasn't breathed a word about it all this time. She must have moved past it by now, after so many years. We were all young then."

Logan refills the glasses and the youngest throws his drink back with an angry gesture, his tone threatening as he speaks. "Yeah Ciro, we were all young! But she was fifteen and Salvatore was thirty! And we don't know what he did to her. We believed him and never talked to her about it! Dannazione!"

The oldest sips his whisky. "I believe him, Dino. I have to because when there's no trust, I'm dead. And the same goes for you. He says he only kissed her and that's it. And even if that's not true, he can still pin the other girl on us. Think little brother, there's no way out of this!"

They gesture to Logan to fill the glasses again as he desperately tries to hide his feelings. He always got a bad vibe from the oldest brother and this conversation gives him the chills. All he can do is hope that they will leave the cafe soon, saving him from listening to this conversation any longer.

Thankfully the brothers are so drunk that they continue their conversation in Italian.

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