"I'm afraid I have some bad news, there's no easy way to say this"

Lexi got up and ran over with tears in her eyes "oh god please tell me she's okay" she cried.

"Is there somewhere private we can talk" the doctor asked Damon.

"Wait...anwser the question, is she okay?" Damon asked frantically.

"She's stable now please let's talk privately"

Lexi sighed with what appeared to be relief

"Go find Mason and tell him they can come back" Damon told Lexi before following the doctor. Lexi appeared heartbroken in his eyes so he decided to at least be civil.

"Is she out of surgery? When can I see her?" Damon asked.

"She's out of surgery now but she is unconcious still, we don't know the damage until she wakes up. What I want to talk to you about is somewhat disturbing. We have a duty to inform child services and the police when we think a child is being abused"

"I can assure you, this incident wasn't linked to abuse"

"Of course not as it happened in a school however her home life, whilst in surgery we discovered extensive scars which suggest years of abuse"

Damons anger rose. How dare those sick bastards.

"There is no abuse going on at home" Damon stated.

"That may be so but an investigation is required"

"Fine, have any of her injuries been dome in the last month"

"No but why does that matter, abuse is abuse"

"It matters because we have only just gotten custody of her, she was living with her mum in America up until a month ago"

"And where is her mum now"

"Prison"

The doctor wrote all this down. "I will let child services and the police know, they may still want to ask questions but since there is no evidence of abuse in the past month you should be okay but you will have to provide proof you did in fact gain guardianship in the last month" the doctor explained.

"Fine. Can I see her now" Damon replied.

"Yes I'll take you to her"

Damon never felt such sadness, when he saw his little sister hooked up to all the machines it broke his dead heart.

"I am so sorry Emilia, I should have been there, I failed you" he whispered as he took a seat next to her.

"We should have talked more, I knew something was up but I wanted you to come to me, I didn't want to force you to tell me" he continued.

Once Emilia was recovered, he would be going straight to America, he would be visiting that prison and killing them.

He had no doubt, he would kill his own mother for hurting Emilia. He didn't consider her his mother anyway, she abandoned them. How bad it was would determine the level of torture.

"Hey when you wake up you can call me a stalker all you want, actually it will have some truth in it because I'm never going to leave you alone. I'll be the annoying older brother you try to get rid of but I'll find a way to watch over you" Damon said, his voiced laced with an emotion that he wouldn't ever let his brothers or father ever hear.

"Oh when you wake up we can shop for binoculars" he joked....he already owned many pairs, for surveillance purposes in mafia related activities.

Damon sighed "you're going to be okay darling, I'll make sure of that"

Just then the others entered.

"How is she" Mason asked.

"She's stable, the surgery was a success"

"Lexi said you were talking to a doctor what did they want" Dante asked.

Damon decided that what the doctor had to say, he would tell their dad but the others didn't need to know unless Emilia wants to share it with them.

He wasn't going to call a family meeting and force her to tell them all against her will either and he wouldn't force her to show them. He definitely didn't agree with that approach and believed it would do more damage than good.

He wanted to see the scars himself but he would let her decide when she was ready to share. And if she didn't want him to see, he wouldnt ask again. If there was some issue the doctors would have sorted it and told him. They were simply there.

Everything was going to be her choice and hers alone.

"The doctor was just updating me on her condition" Damon replied but his focus was elsewhere.

"Ok well another thing, dad messaged, he's just got on the plane so he will here when the plane lands" Mason updated, their dad had messaged him when they had left Damon alone with Lexi.

"Good. She should be awake soon but they don't know about any damage until she's awake" Damon said.

"Damage? What damage could she have?" Matteo said his voice cracking.

Mason and Damon shared a look, being the eldest two they both took responsibility for their siblings, especially when they were younger.

It wasn't like their dad didn't do it, all the boys looked up to him and thought he was a great father but owning several large businesses, running the Mafia and raising four boys was hard work. Damon being the oldest decided he wanted to help his father but Alesandro refused claiming he needed a childhood and to be out with friends.

Alesandro made sure all his boys had a childhood, joined as many clubs as they wanted, spent time with their friends, did all their homework and did well in school, when they were old enough, around 15, he allowed them to train 2 days a week but that was only because they all asked him to start, thanks to Damon who was always persistently asking to start. He did all this as a single father whilst running companies and the Mafia.

His sons all aspired to be like him.

As soon as Damon was an adult though, he managed to convince his father that he was capable of looking after the boys every now and then. Matteo and Dante were still little kids so Alesandro tried his best to always be there. That's not to say Damon didn't parent his youngest brothers to some extent whilst growing up. Mason was quiet and always watched on, he was still young himself but when he needed to he would help out.

Now that Damon was older, it had become a normal thing for him to be in charge of his brothers when their father went away, he did that more these days because the boys were all fully grown.

Even though Matteo was 17 he was pretty much a big kid, and unlike his other siblings he was the most emotional. Being the youngest growing up meant Damon and mason were quite protective of Matteo even if he annoyed them. Their father had dropped Matteo off at his first day of secondary school and unfortunately he was stuck in a meeting so Damon had picked him up, Matteo had apparently been bullied so Damon took matters into his own hands, and had a word with them.

Matteo was never bullied again.

"Well she hit her head pretty hard so she might have memory loss or something similar" Mason anwsered.

"What? No! She can't forget us" mason was on the verge of tears.

Lexi realized she should at least pretend she was upset by that news.

"But will she remember me? I'm her twin, she can't forget me" she said managing a few tears.

Damon focused on Lexi. A sickening thought entered his mind but he soon brushed it off.

That being said, he realized he needed to keep an eye on her even closer. She was a bitch yes but maybe she knew about the abuse? But then what if her bitchy attitude was the result of being abused?

He would have to do some research.

"I'm sure that's not the case, she will remember us" Damon said although he wasn't sure.

She was still asleep, there was nothing he could do for her until she woke so he decided to focus on his other siblings.

"It's getting late, mason will take you down to the cafe and get some food then you can come back up and sit with her for a bit"

"I don't want food, I want to stay with her" Dante protested.

"I know but you need to take care of yourself, she wouldn't want you skipping a meal. If she wakes up I'll call you" Damon said. He knew Dante was taking it hard, they were close and it must be hurting him right now but he needed to make sure all his siblings didn't ignore their health.

They all left but a few minutes after they did, Matteo came back in.

"Shouldn't you be getting food " Damon said.

"I'm not hungry"

Damon looked at Matteo, he was always hungry. It concerned him greatly but he understood why.

"I never really made much effort with her, it's not that I didn't want to, it's just I sorta didn't know how. Do you think when she wakes up she will give me another chance" Matteo spoke, again his voice cracking.

"Of course she will" Damon reassured him.

"I hope so, Damon I know you don't like the whole feelings and shit but please, I kinda just need...well maybe I should ask mason, but he isn't as honest as you, he sugar coats it too much but maybe that's what I need, you say it how it is but maybe I should...god I'm rambling now"

Damon sighed, he knew his family was hurting and yes he hated feelings but he couldn't let them suffer.

"It's going to be okay matteo" he said.

Matteo needed the reassurance. Sure Mason could give it him but it meant so much more from Damon as he was cold most of the time.

Matteo didn't even think about it, he was emotional right now and he couldn't think straight, he just hugged Damon.

Damon didn't know how to react but he knew he couldn't push his brother away even if he wanted to so instead he hugged him back. Granted the hug only lasted a few seconds but it was enough for Matteo to truly know everything would be okay.