by Serena Light
They weren't too worried about their parents walking in on them given that it was a weekday and they both were busy working. That is until they heard their mother's voice through the closed doors of the closet.
"This is exactly why I didn't tell you!" Rosalie exclaimed as the bedroom door burst open. "I knew you'd create a huge scene about it!"
"Huge scene?" Arcangelo rebuffed in disbelief and slammed the door shut, the three teenagers holding their breath knowing they had no way of getting out and that they shouldn't be in here, especially not with Paolo. "Rosalie that man touched you! He harassed you! I saw it happen and you expect me to stay quiet about the whole thing?"
"I can deal with it." Their mother grumbled, Salvatore and Serafina giving each other worried glances to see Paolo listening into the conversation. "I don't need you coming to protect me. My problems are my problems and I don't want to burden you with them."
"Fuck, you sound just like Vincent." He chuckled humourlessly. "Rosalie, I chose you over 7 billion people. I chose to spend the rest of my life with you, and I chose you to love and protect. You are not in any way a burden to me, you are my wife. And as my wife, you are supposed to tell me when some dickhead is making you uncomfortable."
Serafina could imagine her father standing before Rosalie, cupping her cheeks into his hands and giving her a soft look.
"No, you don't get it!" Rosalie exclaimed, her voice thick, knowing she would have pulled away in agitation. "You would have created a huge scene - like you just did, and he'd report me to HR!"
"Let him report you to HR and we'll see just what I'll do to him-"
"-No! You're not listening to me!" Their mother shrieked in frustration, her voice sounding like she was trying hard to keep from crying. "I did not accept this job because we need the money or something; I accepted this job because I need it!
"You fight him and he reports me to HR and I get fired! I get fired and I lose this job! I won't be a consulting doctor anymore! It was fucking hard to get this job and that also with sheer luck because no hospital in their right mind wants to hire a Mafia Boss's fucking wife! Do you think they want to take that chance?"
"I spent a large portion of my life working my bones raw for this I was the Valedictorian, and even then I don't get to reap the benefits of all my effort? That's fucking unfair and you know it!"
"I don't have this job and I stay home wallowing in pity!" Rosalie spoke through broken sobs. "You're busy throughout the day and don't need me to be around you. Arsenio is living his own life, he doesn't need me, Salvatore and Serafina hate me, have you seen the way they look at me? Marco can handle himself and doesn't need me to coddle him and I would hate myself if I let this job slip from my fingers, Arcangelo!"
The twins wincing at their mention as they noticed Paolo looking at them with lips pressed into a thin line.
"When you married me, you knew very well that I wouldn't sit at home like some domesticated housewife waiting for your every beck and call. On our honeymoon, you said you loved me because I didn't try to be like anyone else and was just me and this is me. Before you proposed to me, you told me you wanted me to graduate and be self-sufficient because you wanted me to be independent and I have been trying so fucking hard to be an independent person, but the fact that I'm married to a Mafia Boss makes it all ten times harder! And I don't want to be one of those people who ask you to pull a few strings for me because that's unfair on the other candidates and I would have been chosen because you said it, not because of the years I spent studying and my abilities."
"Arcangelo, you might have chosen me over 7 billion people but I chose you over my entire universe. I made you the center of my world and I will do whatever it takes to be beside you, but honey, I can't sit at home and let all my effort to be in vain. I can't do that." She sobbed. "Please don't ask me to do that. I beg you; please don't make me do that."
"Princess..." Arcangelo trailed in a pained voice, pulling his wife in for a hug. "I wouldn't ask you to do that for me, you know that, but-"
The sound of the door opening had him stop mid-sentence, the three in the closet looked at each other in confusion, wondering who came in without knocking.
"I'm so sorry." Marco's voice spoke up. "Is everything okay, mom?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
"I'm sorry to disturb, but the guards can't find the twins and Paolo." He informed and instantly all three of them tensed, looking at one another in uncertainty.
"Did they check in all the rooms?" Arcangelo asked, confusion evident in his voice
"Yeah,"
"Hold on,"
Just then Paolo's ringtone started to blare through the closet, showing their father to be calling him.
Their eyes widened as they looked at one another, knowing they were in serious trouble. The doors slid open to show Arcangelo standing to his towering height in black slacks with suspender over a white button-up, paired with a black and gold tie around his neck.
Looking up at his looming figure, the twins swallowed thickly at the dark look in his eyes which swirled like storm clouds, his rage tangible.
"Out." He snapped harshly, forcing them to wince at his tone.
"Dad-" Salvatore began to explain the situation.
"I don't want to fucking hear anything from anyone of you," He growled. "Get out. Now."
"Yes, sir," The three teenaged muttered under their breath before walking out the closer and out the room, the door slamming shut behind them followed by the locks clicking into place.
Glancing up, they all winced at the looks their guards were giving them, all of them wondering how they had the audacity to sit through that.
"What were you guys doing in there?" Marco questioned gently.
"Eating Belgium chocolate," The twins spoke in sync.
"Oh, boy," The youngest Regnante sighed. "You all are screwed."
They spent the rest of the day hiding in Marco's room and trying to get their minds off the inevitable, failing miserably. Lunch and dinner had come and gone and now the three lay across Marco's bed, blubbering with guilt and anxiety.
It wasn't until a knock sounded on the door did they all look up in a panic, their fear heightening when Major stepped in.
"Come on," He cocked his head. "Your dad wants to see you guys,"
Instantly the three began to get up from the bed, the guard's next words having them freeze.
"Just family, kid," Major directed his words to Paolo, the boy wincing at the reminder that he wasn't a Regnante.
"Does he want me too?" Marco inquired from his study table.
"Yup, all three of you rascals,"
Nodding, they made their way out the room, silently stepping into their parents' bedroom to see the lights dimmed and their mother sleeping, Major pointing to the open balcony doors as they walked across the wooden flooring with light feet.
"You wanted to see us?" Marco spoke as they stepped onto the balcony, seeing their father leaning against the railing and looking up at the stars.
"Do you guys know what your mom is going through at this point?" He asked them, still looking at the cloudless sky.
"No-not really..." Salvatore trailed uncertainly.
"What you overheard in the closet is just one aspect of what's stressing her," Arcangelo informed, the three looking at him in confusion. "She's going through a lot and wants to confide in me because I'm her husband; I made an oath to her that I would be there for her through everything life throws in her way."
"So just tell me one thing: how can my wife confide in me, when she feels like her confidentiality and privacy is compromised even in her own bedroom?"
"What you three did back there was a clear violation of privacy. My privacy, your mom's privacy, but most of all, you violated her sense of security. You took that little safety away from her, her safe haven and you three took it with your recklessness."
His words stung and had the twins wince as Marco nodded to his words in understanding, seeing his point while the older two
could only see the guilt of their actions.
"But what upsets me the most, is not the fact that my wife doesn't feel secure in our bedroom any longer, but the fact that you two had the fucking audacity to involve an outsider in your games," He stated calmly. "If it were just you two, I would have told you to forget that you heard her say that and leave it at that, but you involved someone outside of the family in this and forced your mom to feel violated."
"She is the love of my life and despite being the ages you guys are, can't bloody see that your actions not only affect her but me as well. My wife feels like she can't talk to me because she never knows when someone might be listening to her confiding in me with her secrets. Not only did you hurt her, but you also hurt me as well."
"Your mom loves you, four siblings, equally, but she feels that two of you don't need her to be motherly and she feels like her twins hate her." He sighed walking towards them. "I try telling her otherwise, but you all are teenagers now, and I know how teenagers are like: 'I hate my parents, they don't understand me, and no one gives a shit about me'."
"I hate to burst your bubble, kid, but there are people who care about you, there are people who give a shit about you, there are people who want to listen. You are loved. In more than a million ways, in more words that can be said, and in more feelings that can be felt. I know you like you think no-one cares, but really they do. They really fucking do." Arcangelo sighed, all three of them looking at the ground in shame. "And your mom is at the forefront of the list."
"Basically, what I'm trying to say is that your mom is going through a tough time at this point in her life, both emotionally and mentally, and I would really like it if you siblings could just cut her some slack. Allow her to get her bearings and get back on her feet because she needs it, she really does and it tears me apart to see her like this. If it helped her, I would demolish this Mafia without a second thought, but there is nothing I can do because the pressure isn't coming from me, it's coming from you three growing up too fast. And that's obviously not your fault, just..." He trailed with a sigh, peering into the room and giving Rosalie's sleeping figure a soft smile.
"Just let her know you guys love her, okay?" He spoke so softly they could have passed it off as the wind whistling if it weren't for them being so near him. "Just let her know that she's loved because she needs to see that her children need her just as much as she needs them."
"That's all I ask."
Chapter VIII: 3 A.M.
"Reena," A voice hissed over her followed by the shaking of her shoulders.
Startled, Serafina sat up in bed, blearily looking around her room as her vision adjusted to the darkness of the interior. Salvatore stood beside his twin's bed in a pair of sweatpants and hoodie, bracing his knees and looking at her expectantly.
"What?" She pouted and rubbed her eyes, looking like a petulant child with her disheveled hair and half-open eyes.
"No, please be a bit louder, I don't think China heard you," He snared as she glared at him.
"What?"
"It's 3 a.m."
"Okay? So?"
"And we aren’t grounded anymore, and to be honest, I could use with something to eat about now," He resumed suggestively, her face lighting up with realization. "So...what do you say?"
"Yes," Serafina grinned and got out of bed, pulling on a cardigan and her shoes before following her twin brother out the room, ensuring to have their phones on them before bounding down the stairs with her hand in his. The moment the guard's backs were towards them, they slid out the door and into the dark, getting into the BMW, Salvatore starting the car and driving off, a Range Rover close behind.
The drive was a quick one and they were soon at their destination. Getting out of the car, Salvatore locked the car with a beep and took hold of her hand as they walked across the street and into the apartment complex. They rode the elevator to the 8th floor before stepping out on the landing.
The hallway was desolate and quiet while they made their way to the apartment door, unlocking it, they maneuvered their way into the dark and stood before the bedroom. Slipping out of their hoes, the door opened noiselessly as they grinned at the sleeping figure on the bed. Counting to 3, they both jumped on the bed with a scream.
Soon 2 more voices joined into their screaming as their shrieks morphed into frightened ones rather than the deliberate ones they had begun with.
The lamp suddenly turned on as the twins jolted back at the sight of 2 faces. A girl with beautiful blonde waves sat before them, her hair tousled with a long face and fair complexion, her grey eyes looking at them with panic and fear as she clutched the sheets to her chest, her breathing erratic and uneven. The second face was that of their elder brother, his black hair standing up in odd angles with his blue eyes wide, staring at the twins in disbelief as his face was red with either anger or something close to it.
"You two!" He sighed, covering his face with his hands and shook his head at their antics.
"Bro, you didn't tell us you had a girl over," Salvatore stated. "Hi, Angelica," They grinned in sync, waving at her as if though they hadn't just given her a heart attack.
"She lives here now,"
"Oh! The next milestone," The twins spoke n sync once more. "Mom would be so happy,"
Arsenio only rolled his eyes at them before kicking them off the bed, both of them whining in indignation.
"Let me guess, you two suckers are hungry." He sighed, knowing his siblings too well as they grinned and nodded in confirmation. "Alright, give me a minute and I'll join you two in the kitchen,"
The two left the bedroom and settled onto the barstools of the counter, swiveling in their seats and waiting for Arsenio to join them and make breakfast for them.
Since their eldest brother bought his own apartment 3 years ago, Salvatore and Serafina mad frequent visits – but not necessarily at socially appropriate timings that is. Being an airline pilot, he was traveling a lot, but on the days he would get back early or didn't have to fly out, the twins were bound to be in his hair. Sometimes even dropping by when he had just woken for work just so that he would make food for them, and then on some occasions, they'd be at his home 3 times in a day.
None of them realized when but at 3 a.m. Salvatore and Serafina would show up at Arsenio's apartment and make their way into his apartment by using his spare key – if he hadn't changed the hiding place, or used their own copy – whose existence Arsenio was unaware of, or they'd simply break-in by disarming his lock – having mastered the art of break-ins at the tender age of 10.
Once inside, they would always enter his room and wake him up by screaming and pouncing on his sleeping figure. The first time they did that, Arsenio had gotten so terrified that they gave him palpitations for the next 2 hours.
On more than one occasion the police were called because the neighbors thought they were getting murdered. The police coming over was so frequent that Arsenio often turned on the coffee machine for them and took out scones to feed them so that their time wouldn't have gone to a complete waste.
Either way, the twins had developed the tradition of showing up at Arsenio's place at 3 a.m. and have him cook for them as they talked about mundane matters until they left.
"So what do you two want?" Arsenio's voice brought them out of their thoughts as they turned to be facing him, watching him step out of the room in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms.
"Your special," The two grinned as he rolled his eyes in half-hearted exasperation, a smile evident on his face.
"Two Arsenio specials coming up," He chuckled and made his way across the counter, setting out the ingredients. "So, how come you guys are here today? Weren't you guys grounded for shooting at each other?"
"Our grounding is over," They grinned.
"I see," He nodded, cracking eggs into a bowl and whisking away. "So the moment your grounding is over you decide to pay your brother a visit by giving his girlfriend a heart attack?"
"You bet,"
"Man, you tw
o really are something," He chuckled and worked around the kitchen. "Angelica would have to get used to you 2 making surprise appearances if she wants to live,"
The three laughed at his words as they knew he was saying the truth given that they didn't plan on stopping this anytime soon. With the twins being 17 and Arsenio 27, people had always thought the age difference would cause a rift between them, but that wasn't the case. They were just as tight with Arsenio and Marco as the twins were with each other.
"Say, Arsenio," Salvatore called out to their elder brother who hummed in question. "What's the worst thing you've been grounded for?"
"Huh..." He chuckled under his breath, pouring the egg into a pan. "I was probably 12 and for some odd reason I was giving our dad's suits for rent,"
"What?" They both exclaimed in shock.
"Yeah," Arsenio laughed at the memory. "Dad only found out about it when he realized his tuxes smelt weird and found a folded note and condom in one of their pockets. The note stating the total amount the guy wed me with his number. So dad called the guy and asked him why he had his number in his tux's pocket, and the guy told him the entire story,"
The twins laughed and winced at imagining their father's reaction.
"2 days later when I went to get another suit out of dad's closet, it had all been emptied out. For a moment I freaked out and thought dad was leaving – it was that empty. So being 12, I got scared and thought my parents are getting a divorce and when I entered his office, mom was standing with crossed arms and looked really mad and I thought 'shit, they're getting a divorce',"
Arsenio continued to tell the story as he placed two cheese-stuffed omelets before them with sausages, toasted buns and their coffee.
"I had asked them what's going on and dad said that he found out what I'd been up to renting his suits and tuxes for a 2000 euros per hour."
"2000 euros!" The twins exclaimed in shock.
"Have you seen dad's clothes?" Arsenio rebuffed. "Gucci, Armani, Versace, Louis Vuitton, whatever brand, you name it and dad has it. Dad's clothes are all designer and hell expensive, tailored specifically for him. And I go renting off Armani suits and don't get to reap the benefits? I think not," "