Iris POV

Just as I had predicted, the next couple days are spent in the same routine. Now that I've stopped being a bother to my brothers, they make no effort to see me. It's almost as if I don't exist to them anymore. That's fine, I guess. I was a fool to believe that I could mean enough for people to keep their promises to me.

But, I've decided that it's time I stop being a coward as well. Nothing great was ever achieved by people who never took risks; so, with Slater by my side, I walk out of the comfort of my room for the first time in over a week.

The hallways are eerily silent, and I don't think I ever really paid attention to the amount of noise my brothers made. Somehow, their voices made this mansion feel like a home because without their chattering, the house feels haunted.

"Where are they, Slater?" I murmur, turning slightly to face him.

"Depends, who do you wanna see first?" He asks, a hint of a smile in his voice even though his face is blank.

"Leandro." I reply with no hesitation. Slater smiles knowingly. Of course he knew who I'd want to see. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

"He's in his office, solnyshko." He says, and I nod before immediately turning and walking in the direction of Leandro's office. The door is closed, and a part of me thinks I should knock, but a much larger part of me tells me that if I knock, I might just bolt before I enter; so I choose to do the next best thing - barge into the office with no warning - my entrance causes Leandro to spring out of his seat, his posture tense before his eyes land on me and he immediately softens.

"Iris," He greets, his eyes shining with an emotion I can't read.

"HI, Leo" I smile, standing awkwardly at the door.

"Did you need something, Leggro?" He asks, breaking my heart a bit. Why does he think I need something? Do I usually only come to his office if I need something? I sigh internally before responding.

"Yes, my brothers."

"Did you think you lost us?" He asks, his brows furrowing.

"Well, yes. I haven't seen any of you in over a week, Leo."

"I see, we've been busy, Iris." He sighs, making my heart sink more. I'm not imagining the coldness in his voice. Did I lose my brother because I chose to trust my mother?

"Okay, I just wanted to see if you're okay, I guess." I say before walking out of the office and closing the door behind me. Slater remains silent, waiting for me to speak first so he can gauge my emotions.

"I'm okay, Slater." I mumble.

"No, you're not." He states, like he needs no confirmation that he's correct. "But, you're not going to give up, Iris. You're going to go and talk to at least one more brother before you retreat to your...cave again."

"And why would I do that? To let him break my heart too?"

"No, because you're going to try with Carmine instead of one of the other idiots." His response makes me sigh, but, I make my way to Carmine's room anyway, barging in just like I did Leo's office. His reaction, however is nothing like Leandro's. Carmine smiles the second he sees me; and before I even see it coming, I'm wrapped in his arms.

"I missed you, Car." I sigh, wrapping my arms around my brother.

"I missed you too, Iris. I was trying to give you space." He whispers, pulling away before eyeing Slater who's standing in the doorway like a creep.

Did... Did Carmine just speak in front of Slater when he doesn't even speak in front of our brothers?

"Next time, don't give me space, Car. I didn't need that. I didn't think you guys wanted to see me." I reply, glaring at him. He really thought that I needed space, so I won't be angry with him for long, but that doesn't excuse the way I felt - even if that was mostly based off my own thoughts. I never did say that I was reasonable.

"Okay, I promise." Carmine sticks out his pinkie, making me smile. Of course he understands that pinkie promises are - in my eyes - as sacred as it gets. I wrap my pinkie around his, sealing the promise.

"Car, why are the others being so distant?"

"I don't know, did something happen though?"

"Sort of," I sigh. "I went to Leo first today, and he was so weird about it. I think he hates me now."

"Leandro could never hate you, dumbass." Carmine retorts, his response surer than I've ever heard before.

"It sure looks and feels like it." I mumble, taking a deep breath as I will the tears that threaten to spill away.

"I don't know, Iris. But I don't think Leandro could ever hate you - even though he's about as warm as the arctic." Carmine sighs, and I can almost immediately tell that he's thinking about doing something stupid.

"You wanna start a war, Iris?" He asks, his eyes twinkling with mischief in a way that reminds me of a child. A large part of me recognises that this is his way of taking my mind off Leandro not reacting well to me; I can't bring myself to accept it.

"How about another time?" I wince, giving Carmine as much of a smile as I can muster.

"Sure, I mean, my plans can always wait."

With that, I walk out of his room. Slater, of course, follows me silently. I can never tell what it is that he's thinking but I feel like he already knows me better than I know myself.

"Which of my brothers felt the same way as Carmine - about giving me space, I mean." I ask, walking beside him.

"Aleksander, Luka and Rocco. I'm unsure about Andrei, Mikhail and Leandro; but I doubt they feel the same way." So Leandro doesn't think that I need space from him in order to heal? Then what exactly is he trying to do here by pushing me away? Unless he actually hates me...

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GUYSSSSSSS I MANAGED AN UPDATE. I THINK IT'S BECAUSE I'M AWESOME. (not really, I was just bored to death.)

Ramadaan starts tomorrow for me, wish me luck; I'm horrible when I'm hungry frs.

Ramadaan Mubarak to any Muslim readers I might have.

ALSO I DIDNT REALISE MIKHAIL AND ANDREI EVEN EXISTED. LIKE WHERE TF DID THEY SPAWN FROM? I MEAN, YEAH. THEY'RE FROM MY IMAGINATION, BUT SHOULDN'T I HAVE REMEMBERED THEM THEN????

I'M SORRY IF I WROTE THAT ALEK WAS THE ELDEST AT SOME POINT. IT'S ANDREI, APPARENTLY.

AND MIKHAIL IS THE YOUNGEST???? SINCE UH WHEN? I THOUGHT IT WAS LUKA (I THINK)

WTF.

ALSOOOOOOOOO, HERE'S THE IDEA FOR THE BOOK I WAS TALKING ABOUT IN THE LAST CHAPTER:

Okay, so I was reading this book, Reign of a king. It's a whole duology and shit, you should read it. It's kinda freaky, and I never thought I'd love a man named Jonathan. Also, for any RK readers out there. Wtf was up with Kyle???? Like I thought Aiden was bad because I hate bully romances, and he was a bully, but I ended up liking him. (yes, I shouldn't have read a bully romance if I don't like bullies but whatever, I'm not hating) and I flat out refused to read Xander's book because he's XANDER.

And then along comes Kyle. FIRST OF ALL, SIR, MIND YOUR BUSINESS, YOUR NAME IS KYLE.

PICTURE THIS, KIRILL, ADRIAN, DAMIEN, RAI AND FREAKING KYLE. ANYWAY, I HATED KYLE. THE EDITS OF HIM ARE ONE STORY, AND HE'S A TOTAL OTHER.

LIKE WHAT????

ANYWAY, BACK ON THE TOPIC.

I was reading Rina's books, because I was bored. And if you're interested in reading the Reign of a king thing do not read the rest of this because it is a spoiler.

So, you know how Margot made Alicia think she was crazy? And Jonathan only married her for revenge? I was thinking, what about a story about a man and woman who loved each other dearly, but the man suddenly dies with no explanation. He was young, healthy and everything but suddenly, he's dead.

So, what if, the maid, or well... Head maid in this scenario thinks it's the wife who killed the husband, so, she sets out on a mission to destroy the wife.

What she doesn't know is that the wife is innocent, but now, she's left with all her husbands businesses and everything to take care of, so she's already frustrated.

She's trying to handle everything, and suddenly, she starts hearing voices and shit. She then starts seeing ghosts. She thinks she's going crazy - or so the maid thinks - but in reality, the wife knows it's all the maid's doing.

But she allows it because she feels the maid is doing it out of respect for her husband. Only, a couple years later, she meets another and he moves into the house, and the maid slowly convinces him that he's losing his mind as well.

Now I can't let the whole story slide, but you know, let me know if you're interested in reading something like this. I'm not sure about how I'll write it. But this book has like..... Ten chapters left, so I'm sure I'll be able to write it. And let me know if you'd prefer this over one of the others I posted previously or.....