It's Just A Picture (BL)
Chapter 341: I should take him back to Italy with me

Chapter 341: I should take him back to Italy with me

Dongwoo clutched onto Seojin’s arm while Seojun took the gun from him. He looked at it. There were bullets fully loaded in it.

His uncle wasn’t messing around after all. He looked up to see his mother ferociously grabbing Alejandro’s collar.

"Tell me, Alejandro, is what this young man said true?" She asked. "Did you or did you not do those things? And you better answer me honestly. Tell me to my face; Alejandro Barone, what did you do?"

Alejandro went silent. Staring into his sister’s eyes with his that were shaking. He didn’t think he would get to see her. It had been so long.

But to think they would reunite with her glaring at him like he was the devil.

He scoffed.

"What did I do?" He asked, repeating her question. "All I wanted was a chance to be with you again." He raised his hand to graze her cheek. "I wanted my sister back. So, I did everything."

"I don’t want to hear what you had to do, Alejandro. In the first place, I wasn’t out of reach. It wasn’t like I was locked up somewhere or you were banned from seeing me. You’re just the one who didn’t come." She said but he laughed.

"You’re funny." He said.

They all watched what was going on with a bit of angst in their chests. They didn’t know how this was going to play out. They didn’t know what Alejandro would end up doing either.

"Did you think I didn’t come to see you because I didn’t want to?" He asked.

"Are you trying to find a reason to justify what you did here?" Allegra asked, her eyes narrowing in anger. "What you did to these two?"

"I’m not. I’m just answering your question, dear sister. You know, I would do anything for you and I would go to any length for you too." He stared deeply into his sister’s eyes and closed his eyes. "That old man had his way of making me do things. I just... Wanted to see you free."

Allegra furrowed her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes at him, searching his facial expression carefully.

"What are you talking about?" She asked and his lips curled up.

He opened his eyes but had no intention of answering her question.

"Well, if you’re out of there, I guess there’s no need for me to do what he wants." He tucked his hands in his pocket, acting relaxed. "Honestly, I wanted to be the one to get you out. But this works too." He raised his gaze at the people behind Allegra, his eyes falling particularly on Minwoo.

"Wait, Alejandro, you have to explain this to me. Were you... Were you being threatened?" Allegra asked, so confused that her mind wouldn’t settle.

She didn’t understand why Alejandro sounded like that. Yes, she vaguely knew that he was doing a bit of their father’s bidding because she was living with him. Maybe because he didn’t want to disappoint their father which would inherently reflect on her.

That was what she thought.

But hearing him now, it seemed like there was more to it. Had her father been threatening him with her all along? Was that why he never stopped by when he came home?

She would see him but just before she could call out to him, he would take the opposite route just to avoid her.

She thought... He hated her.

So what was this?

"Alejandro, please explain this to me." She yelled at him, gripping his collar even more tightly and fiercely.

There was a fire burning in her eyes. A fire that could bore through his soul.

"Haha, I wish I saw you like this more often." He made a comment that made her freeze up right away. "You were always so tame, my dear sister. So obedient. And so..." his eyes went cold as he added, whispering into her ear. "Weak."

Allegra could confirm his words. She had been all of that all along. So weak and an obedient little girl to a father who would never love her.

Yes, she had been all of that but no more.

She slowly released her hands from his collar and sighed. Getting controlled by anger wouldn’t do anything. The reason Alejandro was doing this was because he wanted to fulfill her father’s commands at her expense, so she would let it go.

But... She glanced at them through her shoulder... Would they be able to let this go?

She knew her brother was a dangerous man so she didn’t want them to her caught up with him. She didn’t want her sons, their lover, and this innocent man who seemed to be caught up in all this to suffer for getting involved in him.

’I should take him back to Italy with me.’ she thought and closed her eyes, letting out a sigh. ’After all, there’s no place here for us.’

"Ah, now that I have the chance to say this," Alejandro spoke up and she raised her gaze to him. "I would like to ask for credit for disciplining your boys for you." He said and Allegra’s eyes widened.

Seojun and Seojin gritted their teeth. What was Alejandro planning to say in front of Dongwoo?

"Uncle, what are you doing?" Seojun yelled out.

"Oh, I’m just filling your mother in on your multiple ’activities’." He said and turned his gaze to Allegra. "You know, these brats were quite loud, so I had to discipline them a bit. I took them with me to my ’family’ and taught them a thing or two. You should thank me for teaching them more than they could ever learn in the outside world."

"Alejandro," Allegra asked, her eyes so dark that one could not see exactly what kind of emotions she was harboring. "Are you saying you beat up my kids?"

"If you put it that way then, yeah. They needed a good smacking to learn how to shut their mouths." He said and started taking out a cigarette from its packet. "No one gets to talk to my sister anyhow and get away with it. Even if they’re her kids." He boldly said and lit his cigarette.

"W-wait, hold on a minute." Dongwoo struggled over Seojin’s hold. "What is he... what is he saying?" He looked at the twins desperately.

He remembered they said they had passed through their uncle’s hand and they had learned a lot from him but... Getting beaten? They never mentioned that.

How was it that they never mentioned that important part?

"How old?" Allegra, who had been silent, asked.

She slowly wriggled her fingers, stretching them and waiting with her head bowed.

"Hm?"

"How old were my kids when you did that? How old were they when you decided you wanted to ’discipline’ them without my knowledge?" She asked.

"Hm, probably 15!"

Dongwoo’s eyes widened and he looked at them. They tried to avoid eye contact. It was precisely because of this that they did not spill this detail.

His reaction was... Painful. It was hard to swallow.

"Forget it, Hyung. It was all in the past." Seojun said.

Minwoo was watching the whole thing from the side, next to Dongwoo and the twins. Just what in the family drama was he witnessing right now?

He looked towards the twins and then back to their uncle, who held no remorse as he confessed to doing something so horrible to his nephews.

Allegra felt her heart pounding hard. This was not healthy, especially not for someone her age but she couldn’t stop thinking of it.

There were times, around when the kids turned 15, they often came home with bruises and never even bothered to hide them.

She just thought they got into scruffles on their way back from school but to think it was this... It was so bad that she didn’t even try to find out about it because they had specifically asked her to stay out of her life.

Yet, she couldn’t help but think, what if they had actually wanted her to care? They walked past her with bruises on their faces, and a bleeding arm, leaping towards their room. What if they wanted to be comforted all along and that was why they intentionally walked past her with their bruises?

She had kept quiet about it, even though it hurt her heart to see her sons in that state.

’They’re rebellious boys, I know that. They hate me, I know that. They don’t want me to ask, I... I know that.’ she said these words to herself so many times in the past, trying to comfort her heart and stop herself from making them hate her more.

But to think the reason behind it all was her. Her brother wanted to ’discipline’ them on her behalf and did that.

She was furious.

The tears in her eyes dried with the burning rage she felt.

She raised her hand and slapped him.

They were all shocked, especially Alejandro. Once again, his cigarette ended up falling from his lips and he was in utter disbelief as this was the first time his sister was hitting him.

"This time..." She said. "I will do everything on my own. Whether on my behalf or not, do not think of going near my children or anyone close to them." She turned away from him, her fists clenched in rage. "From now on, Alejandro, I warn you. Stay away from them. Do not make me hate you."

(Okay, y’all. Let’s not forget to check out my new book, To Byul (Omegaverse) it’s a little continuation of AAB. Thank you as you do so, hehe)