Heartbreak & Lies

I didn’t sleep that night at all. Even though I seemed happy and untroubled by these past events, I was worried and I missed Jonathan.
Something wasn’t right but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
That they gave me this jewelry and welcomed me here so easily, it was just so unreal and I was very suspicious of them.

When I descended the stairs, I was met with an unfamiliar face of a man in his late 50’s. He gasped when he saw me and it looked like he was close to tears.

“Emma, go to the kitchen, we have some serious talking to do” Matteo said while he motioned to the older man to be quiet.

I quietly walked into the kitchen and sat down next to Marco.

“Are you ok?” Marco asked and gave me a small hug.

“No. Obviously you’re keeping something from me and I want to know what” I whispered, feeling anxious for some reason.
“Who is that man I ran into?”

“Everything will be explained so just relax and listen, ok?” he smiled sadly.

“I want to go home. I miss Jonathan and I just…”

Matteo, Dante and the older man came in and sat down, interrupting me.

“If I have understood this correctly, you are Emma Hockings and live with your brother Jonathan Hockings?” Matteo asked and I nodded.
“You were born in Ireland on January 5th 1991 and have lived there your whole life, am I right?” he continued.

“Yes. Where are you going with this? Just let me go home” I snapped.
“You have no right to keep me here. I want to be with Jonathan” I continued quietly, when all of them stared at me.

“I want you to take a look at this” Matteo sighed and handed me some papers.

I took a good look at them but didn’t understand what it was about since it all was in Italian. What did catch my attention though, was my name. And who was Giuseppe Salmonelli?

“Um, why is my name on this paper? Who is Giuseppe?” I asked nervously.

“Meet Giuseppe Salmonelli, our father” Marco piped up and motioned to the older man.

I looked at the round, older man with graying hair and waved shyly.

“And then we have this” Matteo mumbled and handed me a photo.

I looked at it and saw myself. No, an older version of myself holding a baby. She was sitting with 2 young boys and a younger Giuseppe on a couch.

“What is this?” I wondered, still staring at the photo.

“It’s a family photo” Dante grumbled.
“I didn’t know you were that stupid.”

“I mean, why are you showing it to me?” I glared at Dante.

“Emma” Matteo whispered, biting his lip nervously.
“That baby was kidnapped about 11 years ago.”

I gasped. Poor little baby…

“Why do you tell me all of this?” I blurted out, tired of getting no answers.

“You are the baby” Marco stated after a few minutes of silence.

“Nuh uh… You’ve had your fun playing games with me. I’m going home now” I stated and got up.

I almost reached the front door before I was grabbed into a hug.

“I’m not playing games with you. None of us are” Matteo tried to reassure me.
“We even took a DNA test to be sure.”

“You what?” I whispered and stopped trying to break free from the hug.
“How dare you do that without my consent?”

“We’re your family. You belong here, not with that..”

“No! You are not my family. You never will be” I cried, interrupting Matteo and stomped to the front door.
“Leave me the fuck alone.” I slammed the door behind me.

Not knowing which way to go, I chose a random direction and started walking.
I should have paid more attention when we were heading here.

I didn’t get too far before I was grabbed into someone’s muscled chest.

“You could show some gratitude towards your brothers” Dante spat at me.

“For what? Ruining my life? It was perfectly fine before you guys messed it up” I mumbled and felt the tears escaping my eyes.

I heard him groan before he turned me around and tilted my head up.

“Angel, don’t cry” he pleaded softly.
“We just want you here where you belong” he murmured, brushing my tears away with his thumb.
“I want you here” he whispered before pressing his lips against mine.