Alexandre stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. It was barely few minutes past ten and he was having trouble sleeping. He didn't know what it was, but something kept bugging him. He heaved a sigh, laying on his side. It didn't help that he kept tossing and turning.
The ringing of his phone awoke him. So, he sat up, pushing his messy hair away from his face. He picked the call and brought the phone to his ear.
"Sir"
Dre frowned at the sound of the chief security's voice.
"My apologies for waking you up from your night's rest" he said.
"You don't need to apologise, Dante. I wasn't asleep" Dre replied.
"There's a woman at the gate. She said she needs your help. She has an injured male in her car" Dante stated.
Dre frowned, his brows creasing up as he rose to his feet. "Alright, I'm on my way" he said as he started to make his way out of his room.
"Dre?"
He turned back to see Ellise. She was wearing dark blue pyjamas bottoms and a yellow T-shirt. "What's going on?" She asked.
"It's not a big deal, El. You should go back to sleep" he said. "I will wait for you" she insisted. "Okay, if you insist"
When Dre arrived at the gate, Dante approached him.
"Her name's Noelle" Dante said. "Open the gate" Dre ordered and it slid apart.
There stood a crying Noelle. Dre's frown deepened.
Why was she there?
What was going on?
"You need to help me. Your brother is in there. He's dying" she cried.
"What? Where is he?" Dre asked, concerned.
"In the car"
Dante followed her to the car, his eyes widening when he saw the condition Dre's brother was in. He was bleeding too much.
"I couldn't take him to the hospital. He'll die before I get there. Can you help him?" She sobbed. Dre sighed, ordering his men to take Valentino to the guest room. Good thing he had both Ellise and Cece who could handle it, especially with Ellise being an intern at the hospital, and CeCe who was a surgeon. A very skilled one at that.
"Come on in" Dre said to Noelle who thanked him and walked in, still looking so shaken up and scared stiff. Ellise's wide eyes met Dre's as soon as she saw Noelle. "What happened?" She asked. "Valentino was shot" Noelle responded and Ellise gasped.
"Where is he?" She asked.
"In the guest room. Can you handle this?" Dre asked and she nodded. "I'll call Cece" Dante said. "You do that, but you have to hurry. He doesn't have much time" Dre said.
Ellise grabbed her tool box and entered the guest room while Dante approached Dre and Noelle a few minutes later with an alert Cece. "Don't worry, dear. He'll be fine, now wipe off those tears from that pretty face of yours" She said to Noelle who smiled weakly.
"I just want him to be okay. We were just leaving when they attacked us" Noelle said to Dre after CeCe had entered the guest room.
"He'll be fine, Noelle" Dre assured her.
She embraced him.
"You are a good person, you know. I'm so glad Val has such a wonderful brother like you. Thank you for helping us" she said. He gave her a small smile, relieved about the fact that she'd thought of coming to him for help. Valentino seemed to have found his perfect woman.
....
An Hour later, both Cece and Ellise walked out with tired smiles on their faces.
"He's fine. He's quite weak and I think he'll need a blood transfusion by tomorrow as a result of the amount of blood he's lost. But he's stable now" Ellise said.
"He'll be good as new, soon" Cece said.
Noelle embraced Ellie.
"Thank you so much" She breathed. Ellise grinned.
"I'm glad I was able to help. He's asleep right now.
You should freshen up and get some rest too, Noelle" Ellise said.
She nodded and was taken to a spare room.
"Alexandre Leon Montero. You will tell me what is going on right now" Alicia said as she walked towards her son who grimaced.
"Valentino is here" he told her. "What? Where is he?" She asked.
"He's asleep. He got shot" Alexandre said, grimacing at the look of pure horror on his mom's face.
"I need to see him" she said.
He sighed and led her to the room. He switched on the bed lamp.
There he was, lying on the bed with his features serene. He looked innocent and peaceful. His messy hair was all over the place and there was a bandage wrapped around his torso and a cast supporting his shoulder. Alicia had tears in her eyes as her fingers traced the scar on the side of his face.
"My baby.... He didn't have this scar on his face when I last saw him. How did he get this burn?" She said, her voice strained.
"He looks so much like you and Xanthis. If you three were raised together, things wouldn't have been like this. You would have ruled the world together" she sighed.
"I want to tell him that I love him, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow. My dream has finally come true. My children are here with me and I'm so happy. I'm the happiest mother on planet Earth" mum said.
Alexandre gave her hand a gentle squeeze. She rested her head on his shoulder. Then, she leaned down to press a kiss to Val's forehead.
....
Valentino was incredibly sore by the time he awoke the next morning. He could barely move. The door opened and Noelle walked in with an unfamiliar strawberry blonde haired lady. "Good morning" they both greeted. "Morning" he replied, grimacing at how rough his voice actually sounded.
"I'm Ellise. Alexandre's fiancee" the unfamiliar lady said. Valentino wasn't surprised.
She was beautiful and she looked perfect enough to be his brother's wife.
"How are you feeling?" Noelle asked, brushing his hair away from his face.
"Sore and weak" he replied truthfully.
"That's fine. You're lucky that they were able to help you. You would've died last night" she said.
"You will have a blood transfusion today, since you lost a lot of blood last night. But before that, there are people who will like to talk to you" Ellise said. Valentino swallowed hard, knowing what was to come. He didn't want to be rejected and hated. He didn't want to be seen as a murderer, a bloody sinner.
"Relax, Val. You're trembling" Noelle said, taking hold of his hand. Ellise opened the window blinds. "I really don't know what to expect, Noelle. What if they hate me?" He rasped hoarsely.
"They do not hate you. They helped you last night. They're good people. They were actually worried about you last night" she said and he blinked.
Worried?
About him?
To him, it sounded both insane and impossible.
There was a knock on the door. "Come in" Noelle said just before Valentino could protest. The door opened and his breath hitched in his throat at the sight of his birth mother. Behind her stood a familiar figure. His father. A shiver ran down his spine. What was going to happen now?
"Good morning, son" Alessio began and he nodded stiffly, his voice disappearing all of a sudden. His mother sat down on the bed beside him, her eyes filled with concern and happiness? Valentino still couldn't believe it.
"All these years, I've always wanted my three sons to be with me. I didn't abandon you, son. I wouldn't do that to you. You were kidnapped and when I actually went in search of you and found you, you didn't want anything to do with your family. To you, I may have been a horrible mother, I'm sorry. I want you to stay with us. We're a family and we should be together so that we can protect you" she said.
He turned away, his eyes becoming glassy. He couldn't understand why she was gazing at him with such tenderness, it brought a fierce ache to his heart.
"Why are you doing this?After everything I've done?" He croaked.
"I don't care about everything you've done. You are my son, you are part of our family"
Drained both emotionally and physically, Valentino felt the tears brimming. He had no strength to fight it.
"We know that it's been hard for you. We want you to accept us just as we've accepted you" his father said. "If you have accepted me, it doesn't mean my brothers have" Valentino said.
His mother wiped her tears.
"They have accepted you too. You just need to talk to them and see how much they love you" She said.
'How is this possible? This must be a dream' Valentino thought.
"Believe it or not, we want you in our lives, Valentino. We are family" Alessio said and Valentino lowered his gaze, a certain warmness in his heart. It suddenly felt like the burden on his shoulders had been lifted.
The door opened and the two people Valentino dreaded the most walked in. Alexandre and Xanthis.
It struck him at how unmistakably similar the three of them looked.
While Alessio and Alicia began to have a conversation with Noelle who was all smiles, they approached Valentino's bed side. Anxiety rested heavily on him.
"So, here we are. Are we going to keep staring at each other?" Xanthis broke the silence first.
"Do you need introductions? I'm Xanthis Diaz Montero, older than Dre by six minutes. I'm the smart ass here. He's Alexandre Leon Montero, older than you by two minutes. He's a mafia bos, a major alpha male" Xanthis said, scrunching up his nose. Everyone laughed at the expression on his face. But, Valentino was too tensed to do that.
"I'm the not so serious brother and he's the overly serious brother. He's serious about everything, even his food. Don't even go close to his woman, he'll rip off your balls in the most cruel way possible" Xanthis said. Xandre scoffed, glaring at Xanthis who ignored him.
"Look, I know you're new to all of this. You have made mistakes, we know that. But,
we're your brothers and I know that you don't think you should be forgiven. We forgive you and we want you home. We're family now. We clearly do not have anything against you, right Dre?" Xanthis said.
Xandre on the hand was staring at the window.
"Dre" Xanthis called out sternly.
"I was bitter and angry at first, Valentino. You made me want to hurt you in the worst way possible. But, I want you to know that I'm over it. I might be cold and unforgiving to others. But, not to the people I consider to be my family. We all make mistakes and I'm hoping that you won't make them again. You're a Montero. You always have been. So, act like one"
Valentino had no doubt now. He had been affiliated and now, he was thankful to Noelle for bringing him home, to his family. He had a family now, one he knew he could count on.
"Now that it is all settled, welcome aboard, Valentino" Xanthis said and a smile ghosted over Valentino's lips.