Alex woke up with a throbbing headache. He started to panic when he was locked in a cell.
"No" he whispered, tears threatening to fall. He had been stupid and now he was away from Skye and James. He wasn't having the worst time with his family either.
The room started to spin as he panicked. His breathing was heavy as he tried to gasp for breath. He had been so stupid but he couldn't stay here. He felt sick. he wanted to curl up and cry.
His heart was racing as he heard footsteps.
The man that knocked him out appeared.
"I can't wait to watch you beg for mercy. To beg to be killed because really being dead is the best option you have" the man said as he laughed at Alex's state.
"Not so tough now are you" he entered the cell and punched Alex in the stomach.
He grabbed a chain and made sure to tie Alex's shaking hands. He wasn't going to take any chances after seeing what the boy could do.
"Where are we going " Alex whispered as he was too scared to fight. He complied without a fight. His survival instincts kicked in but this time it was accompanied by a new fear. He didn't know this man, the gang that held them hostage, he knew what they were like. These men were unpredictable.
"One of the bosses is here. I'm sure he would love to meet you. He's in a meeting but nothing better to get him more angry then to interrupt that meeting. He's requested to see you though which means kill you. I'm hoping he gives me the honour of doing it myself."
When they informed the boss about how their was a witness so they had to take him hostage. They didn't bother telling the boss it was a kid. After all they were hoping to kill him and dispose of the body before anyone realised a kid took down two men.
"So the guns will be here tommorow....."
The boss paused as one of his men threw a kid into the room.
"What the fuck did you do to him"
Alex who had let himself be thrown on the floor curled up in a ball, his hands covered his head to protect himself and his eyes squeezed shut.
He didn't dare look up when he heard the anger in the man's voice.
It was almost inhuman.
Lorenzo wasn't expecting his night to turn out like this. When he got to the mafia headquarters, he was informed a witness knocked some of his men unconscious. He was expecting a fully grown man but instead he was beyond shocked to find it had been Alex.
And then it dawned on him everything they had built up with the triplets was now destroyed.
Alex knew what type of men they were now.
For a brief second he looked at Alex and saw how vulnerable he really was, now he didn't have to fight for his siblings. He cowered away, to afraid to even look up.
Lorenzo rushed to Alex who flinched away "no please don't . I'm sorry. Please. Please"
Lorenzo felt so much pain hearing his brother beg him not to hurt him. He knew Alex was terrified as he repeated his words desperate to remain unharmed.
He realised his tone before probably was unfamiliar to Alex as it was nothing but pure anger.
Even the men in the room didn't dare speak, some of them even flinched away when they heard his tone.
"It's okay Alexander. I'm not going to hurt you"
Everyone was in shock at the emotion their boss displayed.
Alex lifted his head and opened his eyes when he recognised his brother's voice. He didn't speak at first. He simply watched his brother carefully.
"Alexander it's okay, you're okay. No one is going to hurt you" Lorenzo said repeating himself as he broke the chains.
Alex was terrified. He didn't want to show emotion but he couldn't help it.
He never expected to be thrown into a room where his brother was the boss.
Lorenzo's stone cold expression dropped as soon as he saw Alex which was surprising for Alex.
Alex thought Lorenzo would act cold and distant. Maybe pretend he had no idea who Alex was.
"I'm so sorry. Please forgive me" Lorenzo said not bothering he was being extremely weak asking for forgiveness in front of the mafia.
This was Alex. His baby brother.
Alex looked at Lorenzo and didn't know what to say. He knew his family were in the Mafia, he knew what they were capable of. He knew Lorenzo didn't have him locked up. It was the men who had taken him.
This was still the same Lorenzo who gave him his hoodie. The same man who had shown him how much he cared. Who protected him. And unfortunately the first he trusted. The man who stopped a stranger from hitting him even when they first came here. The same man who hugged him even after he hospitalised Marco.
Alex didn't care that he was showing emotion now in front of a group of men who probably would kill him. He just wanted Lorenzo's comfort. So he hugged the man.
Lorenzo didn't care what anyone thought as he hugged his brother back.
"You're okay. I've got you. I'm not going anywhere" he whispered when he felt his shirt start to dampen. His little brother was crying.
"Everyone out" Lorenzo ordered in such a deadly voice that no one questioned the emotions he had shown. They simply left without so much as a whisper.
Now it was just the two of them.
Alex and Lorenzo.
"We need to get you checked over. You're getting some nasty bruises" Lorenzo said.
"Not yet" Alex mumbled as he didn't want the hug to end.
"Not yet" Lorenzo whispered agreeing.
Lorenzo would have loved to keep hugging Alex but he grew concerned when the boys didn't let go.
"Alex we need to get you checked out" Lorenzo said softly.
"No. I don't want to go anywhere"
Alex was terrified and didn't want to leave the comfort of Lorenzo's hug. Being in his arms, he felt safe , he felt loved.
He had never felt this sort of love before, not even from Rafael. He knew how much Rafael loved them but Lorenzo he actually felt it and it scared him how much he liked it. Skye and James were different, the triplets loved each other fiercely and that would never change.
He didn't feel like he was about to be attacked, he felt protected. As long as Lorenzo was with him he wouldn't get hurt.
He finally understood why Skye was so fond of him.
"I'm not going anywhere" Lorenzo told him again.
"Don't leave me" Alex whispered.
"Never. Let's get you checked out though"
Alex reluctantly agreed. He expected to follow behind Lorenzo and Lorenzo to stop the emotion, but instead Lorenzo took hold of his hand. Alex hated how dependant he was on Lorenzo at the moment but he couldn't help but accept Lorenzo.
"Boss about the gun shipment. How should we proceed" one of the men who had been in the meeting dared approach him and ask.
"Does it look like I care? Figure it out yourself" Lorenzo replied sharply, his focus was Alex.
"But boss" the man tried.
"Fuck off. I don't care what you do just get it done. I have bigger priorities" Lorenzo was growing more angry.
Alex might have been scared but holding Lorenzo's hand gave him a bit of courage back. He found it amusing how the man got flustered over Lorenzo's words.
But the man glared at Alex "this is a big deal boss, why the hell are you being nice to a little kid. I know you're a family man but he knocked two of your guys unconscious. He deserves to rot in a cell for that alone"
Alex automatically cowered into Lorenzo.
"And what does it say about them if a little kid can knock them out" Lorenzo asked. He just wanted to get Alex checked out, he needed to know Alex wasn't going to collapse any second.
"That's not the point. The point is this filthy orphan was roaming the streets and attacked us" the man who had brought him up from the cells, who had been the one to knock him out earlier that night spoke as he appeared.
Lorenzo would have killed them all now if it wasn't for his brother. He didn't want to show how heartless he actually was in front of his brother. But he had already made a mental note to kill everyone involved.
Nobody hurts any of his siblings and gets to live.
"Filthy orphan?" Lorenzo questioned, his tone was daring them to say another bad thing. Another excuse to kill them.
The two men gulped, they didn't know what to say. Lorenzo was inches away from killing them. They didn't realise they would already be dead if it wasn't for the small boy who was holding their boss' hand.
"I'll deal with you both later. Come along little brother, we need to get you checked out" Lorenzo said making it known Alex was his brother.
Lorenzo smirked as he watched their faces drop.
Lorenzo took him to the medical area where someone was quick to give him a check up. Lorenzo noticed that Alex sat in fear, tears falling as he waited for the check up to begin.
"Hey it's okay. I'm right here" Lorenzo said.
"It's not that" Alex mumbled.
"What is it? I promise to try and fix it if I can"
"You can't fix it. You're going to be disgusted and disappointed with me"
"Why is that" Lorenzo asked. Instead of denying it, he asked why. He wanted to understand.
"Because you will see the scars" Alex mumbled not daring to meet Lorenzo's eyes.
"Scars don't make you disgusting" Lorenzo stated.
"Yes they do. They are a sign of weakness. I couldn't protect Skye and James, I wasn't good enough"
"Do you think I'm weak Alexander" Lorenzo asked, his tone was filled with authority. Purely to make his point.
"No sir" Alex didn't meet his eyes. He was scared and reverting back to his old self but also Lorenzo was intimidating.
"Look at me Alexander" Lorenzo said.
Lorenzo looked up and for a second he panicked when Lorenzo took off his jacket.
The panic dissapeared and he curiously watched as Lorenzo lifted up his shirt.
A large scar ran down his body.
"Occupational hazard. I know I can't compare it to yours. But I want you to know no matter how many scars you have you are not weak. I have scars , you don't think I'm weak. Don't think for a second that scars make you weak"
"But if I had done better" Alex trialed off.
"No. Those men were vile monsters. You are strong Alexander....maybe even stronger than me" Lorenzo told him.
"Okay let's get this over with" Alex agreed.
Alex pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.
The examination was over.
Lorenzo was doing his best to contain his anger, the majority of scars had been shown.
Alex was feeling vulnerable, not many people had seen his scars, the doctors and police who treated them and Skye and James. No one else.
He looked over to Lorenzo hoping not to see a look of disgust.
He saw anger and it made him look away in shame.
"Alexander...." Lorenzo was at a loss for words.
His baby brother had been tortured and it hurt to see the damage.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I don't have the words right now. I'm sorry. I just want you to know that you don't have to pretend around me. You don't have to be strong , you are still a child. I don't think any less of you."
Alex nodded.
Noticing he didn't want to speak, Lorenzo decided not to push it. He was actually surprised the triplets hadn't lost their minds, the scars alone showed how bad it was and if they had suffered for years. Well it was a wonder they kept their sanity. Lorenzo acknowledged they still had problems but from what he'd seen, they were coping rather well.
Lorenzo knew how hard it must have been for Alex to trust him enough to be in the room whilst the examination was taking place. Lorenzo had offered to leave but Alex had told him he could stay.
The doctor came back shortly with the results. Alex had bruises some major but nothing internal, no bleeding no broken bones. He was going to be ok.
"Be on call for when my family needs you. I suspect you'll be doing a house call" Lorenzo said. He would speak to their dad and urge him to get the doctor to check Skye and James too. Of course he didn't want Skye and James in this building so a home visit would have to do
"Oh and make sure you bring a female doctor on the house call" Lorenzo added.
For Skye.
"Let's get you home, yeah" Lorenzo said gently looking at his brother who was watching him warily.
Lorenzo was fully aware it was almost 3am.
"Okay"Â Alex just wanted to be anywhere but here.
As they walked through the building, Alex noticed it was quite high tech. He had expected something run down but it was quite the opposite.
The man from earlier, who had been the one to kidnap him , throw him in the cells, threaten to kill him and call him an orphan was stood watching. He now knew Alex was Rafael's son. But he didn't care.
After all, this man was in his 30s, and although Lorenzo was known as one of the bosses, Rafael was the one in charge and Lorenzo was merely a child.
"You know it doesn't look good, didn't your parents ever teach you manners boy" he spoke directly to Alex.
Word gad spread that Alex was one of Lorenzo's brothers and by logic it was obvious he was one of the triplets that went missing.
Everyone knew of the triplets. They had been searching ever since they went missing.
Lorenzo was finding it hard to restrain himself from killing the man.
"Don't you have better things to do then insult me." Alex replied straight away before Lorenzo could threaten him.
"Are you going to let the boy speak to me like that" the man exclaimed.
"You know you're not only insulting him but you're insulting our father's parenting skills. Do you really want to insult the head of the mafia or his children " Lorenzo replied.
The man scoffed "no wonder your father doesn't want to give up his title, you're weak , letting a child speak to me in such manner. Mind you it's my understanding that you're all cowards. I can't blame you though, it's in the genes"
Alex was confused, he saw pure anger in Lorenzo's expression. He was confused about the genes statement but it seemed to fuel Lorenzo's anger.
"I hit a nerve didn't I. She didn't love you"Â the man taunted Lorenzo.
Lorenzo snapped and punched the man straight in the face knocking him out as he fell to the floor
"Somebody lock him in a cell" Lorenzo ordered in a different language so Alex wouldn't understand.
Alex was confused but followed Lorenzo out of the building.
"What just happened" Alex dared ask .
"Nothing. He was a good soldier but he thinks he can pull shit and get away with it, all because dad values him" Lorenzo briefly explained.
"Im sorry for how he treated you. It should never have happened" Lorenzo added.
"Who was he talking about, you have a girlfriend, so who didn't love you. And why are we all cowards because of genes"
"Enough questions Alexander. You're in trouble for leaving the house still" Lorenzo said .
"Lorenzo what are you hiding" Alex asked knowing he would be in trouble but also knowing Lorenzo was pointing it out to change the subject.
"Mum left us. She walked out, ran away with a different man. Thats all you get to know"
The cliffhanger....what does everyone think. Bet you all thought the mother just died.
Honestly this chapter took so long to write as Alex has finally fully learnt to feel safe around Lorenzo.
I love writing Alex and Lorenzo scenes through most. So expect more.
James will be explored too. I haven't forgotten him.