Blood is thicker than water

Chapter 21

Adelina POV:

"I swear to god-"

"What are you going to do?" Valentino cocks his head. 

Today is Saturday. From the past five saturdays I've spent here, in this house, I've learnt that Valentino is one of the three early risers of their family. In true Valentino fashion, he's insisted for the past five weeks that I wake up at the same time as him.

When I get up at the same time as him, I get an hour and a half of sleep a night. It's easier to sleep with sun. 

The nightmares haven't subsided, I've only fallen back into the habit of having them. I was in the middle of one, seeing Micheal's dead eyes, when Valentino shook me awake.

"You look like shit," he says.

I stop to glare at him. My patience had been thin the past couple weeks, and he would do better to tread lightly. 

"Do I look like a fucking mirror to you," I grit out quickly.

"Language!" I hear Angelo call out from the top of the stairs. 

"Kiss my ass!" I yell back. Angelo looks at me with a dark gaze before I'm pulled into the kitchen by Valentino.  He scolds me about talking to our brothers like that, saying that they won't put up with it for much longer. We come to the table and sit down.

"Let her get in shit, maybe she'll learn something," Valerio, our last early riser says.

"Suck a dick," I mutter while his eyes go darker than Angelo.

"I dare you to say some shit like that again little girl," he challenges with a dark glint in his eyes. An intimidating smirk makes way to his lips and his jaw clenches.

"That a challenge tough guy?" I whisper,leaning forward in my seat while Valentino tries to diffuse the situation. 

"Do you think we need new light fixtures..." he says looking up, speaking about nonsense.

"When's the last time you got laid, Valerio, you seem a bit tense," I taunt. Suddenly, his chair goes flying backwards and he abruptly stands up leaning forward while his white,clenched fists rest on the table. He's supposed to be intimidating, yet I don't think he's trying to be. This is simply his natural reaction. 

Within seconds I'm flying out of my chair and assuming almost the same position. My own hands lay flat against the table and I apply most of my weight onto my arms. A cold expression takes over my features.

"Will both of you shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down? It's barely 8 o'clock. Much too early for this shit, I should've goddam known you would both be easily irritated fucks in the morning," Valentino huffs rubbing his eyes. 

I look at him with a little smile raising at my lips, not being able to remember a time where he swore so much. I chuckle lightly and realize my irritability level is in fact quite high. Both Valerio and I stare at each other for a moment longer before falling back into our chairs with smirks and amused glints gracing our faces. 

"Thank fuck," Valentino curses once again, sounding more like a sailor than anything else.

Valerio reaches his hand out, waiting for something to be handed to him, and I observe in confusion.

"Pay up, bitch," his voice rumbles.

"Ah shit," Valentino groans and reaches into his pocket. A wallet is soon found between his fingertips. He pulls out bills upon bills and I'm too busy gaping at them to see the hundred dollar mark on them. 

Never had I seen so many at the same place, in the same wallet, in the same hand. Well, that's a lie. The situations very different, this is casual. There are bills stacked upon bills as he counts them before handing them to a smirking Valerio.