Sofia could never use her words.

Whenever she tried to say something that was making her nervous, words were stuck in her throat like needless.

It was the kind of person she was.

That's why she still couldn't believe that she told Alessandro about everything.

When she entered the kitchen everything looked perfectly normal.

Valentino was wearing the school uniform, his shirt was unbuttoned and his tie was hanging loosely over his neck. Not a morning person that one.

The moment he saw her, he attacked her with a question. "Fia, why didn't you tell me?"

"Um... I... it was hard. I'm sorry. I'm just bad at talking about things" Sofia said shyly. "But it only thanks to our last conversation I was able to open up to Alessandro. So in a way you helped me a lot... thank you" she said softly, worried that he will be mad at her anyway.

But to her shock, Valentino wasn't mad. He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug and she could now rest her cheek on his shoulder. Sofia absolutely adored his hugs." You can always count on me" he assured hotly and Sofia's eyes filled with tears as she hugged him back.

She looked at the table where Alessandro was already consuming his breakfast in absolute peace. He was wearing his black Armani suit, the golden Rolex, and the signet ring on his pinky finger, looking perfect as always.

One person was missing.

"Where is Francesco?" She asked sitting at the table right next to Valentino.

"In Madrid," Valentino said as if it was totally normal. And in a way, it was.

"He's often abroad" Sofia noted.

"He represents our company. It often means speaking to foreign investors and traveling" Alessandro explained.

"But don't worry after his business trips he always brings a lot of food" Valentino grinned as if the food was the most important thing about all of it. "Since he's in Spain, I bet he will bring jamon iberico, rabitos, and cava" Valentino assured, Sofia had no idea what he's talking about.

"I don't understand any of the words you just used," Sofia said dryly. "What's jamen iberiko?"

"Jamon iberico" he corrected her with amusement "It's a type of ham. To answer your next question rabitos are my favorite sweets, figs filled with chocolate and caramel and cava is a type of champagne. Always when Francesco comes back we have a big feast with specialties of a country he went to, it's heaven"

It did sound good, Sofia couldn't wait.

Alessandro cleared his throat and now two teenagers focused on their older brother.

"Sofia, as we discussed yesterday, you don't need to go to school today but I will allow it if you insist" he spoke matter-of-factly.

"I want to go" Sofia was absolutely certain of her answer.

"That's a horrible idea," Valentino said, clearly unhappy with her choices. Sofia looked at him with suspicion.

"Excuse me, are you her new guardian? I know nothing about it" Alessandro said with a mix of calmness and warning in his voice.

"Sorry" Valentino muttered properly chastised but that docile attitude lasted only a second and he came back with even more power "She threw herself in between me and Bruno when I wanted to kick his ass and then between me and Alessio" he yelled.

That damn snitch.

"Why I didn't know anything about it till now?" Alessandro asked in a dangerous voice and this is when Valentino realized he fucked up because he got himself in trouble as well.

Valentino shrugged wordlessly, knowing there's no good outcome for him in this situation.

"I think you will write an essay," Alessandro said in a perfectly leveled voice.

"Fuck" Valentino cursed.

Alessandro raised his eyebrows "You will also clean the garage and that pigpen that is otherwise known as your room" he added strictly and Sofia noted how he's way gentler when he speaks to her. She definitely didn't want to be in Valentino's spot.

Valentino left a long-suffering sigh "Why do you hate me?" He took a bite of his ham and cheese sandwich.

"You know what's at stake with Denaros. The moment he even glanced at Sofia I should know about it" Alessandro snapped.

"I know, I'm really sorry about it" Valentino replied.

This is when Sofia decided to interrupt them.

"Alessandro"

Both of the brothers looked at her with questioning looks. "He just told you he wanted to beat up two people and you worried about Denaro looking at me?" She asked incredulously.

Valentino rolled his eyes,

Alessandro spoke to Sofia with the patience of a saint "Although I do believe Valentino is too hot-headed, I am fine with him solving his issues in his own way as long as it doesn't negatively affect our family. But you should focus on worrying about yourself right now because I'm very unhappy with your behavior"

Sofia stiffened and with worry, she listened to what her older brother has to say next "I shouldn't have to say it but you will stay away from Valentino's issues. If he's doing something wrong he will answer to me not you so don't interfere in his business. Is that clear?" Alessandro said taking the last sip of his coffee.

"Yes," Sofia said without enthusiasm.

Alessandro's eyes narrowed as he continued. "I never want to hear again about you putting yourself in between two fighting men. You could get hurt" he said in a dangerous voice.

"I'm sorry," Sofia said but she saw that it's not enough and she added "I won't do it again, I promise"

Alessandro nodded and warned. "Promises are very important in our family. We do not break them so give your promise rarely only if you can make sure that you can keep them"

Sofia nodded. Another important detail about her family.

"The meeting with everyone involved in video making process will take place after classes, at 3 pm" Alessandro added.

"Do I have to be there?" Sofia asked.

"Yes, I would like that" he replied and she reacted with disappointment but nodded nevertheless. It's not like she had a choice.

Then Alessandro's attention shifted towards Valentino once again "Remember what I told you" he said.

"Yeah, yeah," Valentino said and then he reflected to whom he's speaking to "I mean yes of course" only after that they were dismissed from the table.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

"What did Alessandro tell you?" Sofia asked curiously when she was sitting at the passenger seat next to Valentino.

"He told me to make sure Sofia minds her own business" Valentino responded cheerily without revealing anything. Sofia rolled her eyes.

"Mean" Sofia was sulking, sitting in her arms crossed and staring into space. Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to play offended because they parked in front of the school.

"See you later, grouch," Valentino said his usual goodbye (with added, light-hearted insult) as if everything was normal.

"Bye," Sofia said unsure what else to do. She has to learn how to kick his ass because he clearly deserves it sometimes.

She just had hope that she will survive this day of school.

🍀🍀🍀

Author's note:

I barely managed to add this chapter today. I hope it was enjoyable, probably has a lot of typos and I'm sorry for that.