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BEFORE YOU READ ANY PART OF THIS STORY UNDERSTAND THERE ARE TRIGGER WARNINGS. I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU DOMT READ IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY ANY. HOMOPHOBIC SLURS, RAPE,MOLESTATION,NEGLECT,PEDOPHILES,CRIME,DRUGS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE, NON CONSENT,BULLYING,HATE CRIME AND MANY MENTIONS OF THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY,THERE MIGHT BE OTHERS THAT I MIGHT HAVE MISSED BUT IF THESE SCARE YOU AWAY...PLEASE DONT READ😊😊 if you hate gay stuff please dont write hate comments...just dont read...if you feel this book has more triggers please tell me. I have worked so hard on this book and I dont want it taken down😊thank you for choosing to read my book please enjoy🥺🤭❤🧡💛💚💙💟💜

When I answered John I didn't think he would go this far. In fact I didn't know things would turn out to be this hectic today.

Earlier

I woke up at 5:30 am knowing fully well I had to prepare breakfast for Jacqueline and her psychotic boyfriend for the night. I took a slow painful and cold shower, some wounds from the previous night opening up while I scrubbed my body clean. I brushed my teeth and applied the concealer and foundation on my face enough to hide the bruise starting to form on my left cheek. The tattoo on my neck of a fancy looking letter M was enough to get me through the day. I had been smart enough to realize that the tattoo was a mark of my family, well apart from Jacqueline who seemed more like the devils spawn than my mother. The only problem was that I didn't know my family or what the letter stood for, I mean I could bet a lot of people had tattoos of the letter M on their bodies. I didn't even remember getting it, I didn't remember anything before I turned six years old and now thirteen years of torture and abuse had made me completely forget even my last name. I took a breathe and rushed downstairs the sooner I finished the sooner I got out of that stupid house. I was saving up so that when I get to eighteen I could finally buy an apartment. I made scrambled eggs and bacon and took an apple hoping Jacky won't realize before rushing out the door. The walk to school wasn't that long but try walking to school on a sprained ankle and some broken bones.

Getting to school it was still too early so I went to the library to read through some books. I enjoyed reading novels, I wasn't that great at school and I knew it always gave Jacky a chance to punish me more. When I got to the end of the hallways next to the janitors closet and near the library, I saw John get out of his fathers office. Now a normal person wouldn't pry on the business of his school bully and the principals son but then again,he looked dishevelled and scared. His hair a brown mess on top of his head and his pink lips swollen..his poorly unbuttoned shirt concluded my assumption the principals son had just had some good pounding. When the door opened behind him, I expected to see his girlfriend Brittany but even mother nature couldn't have been prepared to stare straight into the other persons eyes.

It was ironic, really. John bullied me for being gay, and here he was walking out of his own fathers office with none other than the new substitute teacher. I mean I understood he was hot as fuck but really? That was messed up, that was a teacher for Goodness sake. I scrunched my nose in disgust and sighed.

"Wassup John?" I said intentionally stressing his name.
He turned suddenly scared and I smirked.
"What are you doing here looser?". His cheeks were completely flushed a rosy pink.
I shrugged.
" You know,,,studying, like normal people do in a school!" I said amused. He froze and then suddenly turned angry.

He walked straight to me annoyed and pulled up the collar of my shirt almost lifting me off the ground. The teacher watched with an amused smirk. Even if John saw the bruises on my body I bet he wouldn't be surprised because he and his friends were part of the reason I had them but I thought I saw a tinge of guilt when he stared at my chest after lifting me by my shirt. I mean its not like I was expecting this when I wore my oversized black pink shirt.

"You better not say anything about what you've seen fag." He spat with disgust. I chuckled darkly.
"Funny you still refer to me as that when you're one yourself." I smirked and I think that broke the thread holding his patience because the next thing I remember was being thrown into a janitors closet and being locked inside. Now there are a lot of things I am scared of;

My mother,,yes am very scared of her when she is drunk.

My mothers drunk boyfriends because if what they do to me when she isn't looking.

My grades cause I fear I might not graduate.

Arachnids cause they are creepy creatures.

And small rooms,,that is my biggest fear. In fact I remember passing out when I was about twelve when my mom locked me in the small attic of our house because I didn't make her steak to a medium rare. So you can imagine the panic I had inside the very tiny janitors office filled with sickening smells of bleach and disinfectants and to make matters worse, spiders had made webs on every corner of the room and were still on the webs as if mocking me and daring me to make a step. And I didn't, I sat still and prayed John would forgive me and come and open the door considering he has access to every room in the school.

Present time.

I heard gunshots and screams. I hoped that John would remember I was still inside the closet but I knew he didn't care. I took deep shaky breathes knowing I was about to have a panic attack. The school was suddenly very quiet and alli could hear were my muffled whimpers as I tried to breathe. I had stayed in the closet for about four hours now and I was assuming people were in their second period and at the forth the janitor would come to pick his equipment and let me out but now all hopes disappeared withe gunshots. I couldn't stop hyper ventilating until the door burst open and fell right beside me almost hitting me. I didn't dare look up because I had a feeling it wasn't John. All I could see were black dress shoes that looked expensive enough to pay our apartment bill and there were two pairs standing in front of me. I didn't stop whimpering cause now I was over taken by fear of death. I guess mother nature was done with me. I could tell both men were wearing suits since they started from the dress shoes. From the manly cologne that wafted up my nose I could tell they were rich. I would know. I work at a cologne and perfume store to earn money for food and this was one of the expensive ones I only had the privilege to smell because I work there and I was arranging them up on a shelf in the special shelf. But I still didn't dare look up and I realized how deprived of air I was when black dots started covering my sight.

"He's about to pass out, should we kill him boss?" I heard a man say. I prayed a silent prayer and prepared to die. No more pain,no more bullying.

"Look at his neck....." Was the last thing I heard before darkness consumed me and I let it.

When I woke up I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. Just where Jacky had whipped me some weeks before but other than that, I realized I was in a very comfortable bed. Definitely not mine or Jacky's. This one had navy blue covers and sheets that were oddly soft like a baby blanket. The pillows under my head were almost sinking me in. I took a deep breathe of the surrounding air and a calming vanilla scent got swept into my nose. I looked beside me to see a beautiful lamp on a golden bedside table. In fact looking around, everything I saw was golden in here, and I was pretty sure even the bed I was lying on was golden. I sighed and looked to my right to see two days. Great, I couldn't have been more grateful for cliche rich people bedrooms. It meant I had to find out which one was the bathroom because I felt a sudden urge to throw up. I painfully got out of bed and sighed. I walked to the first door and opened. Thankfully it was the bathroom. I didn't bother looking around I knelt before the toilet, pulled up the seat and threw up all the contents in my stomach which was probably just two granola bars. I sighed and leaned on the toilet seat after flushing to gather my air.

I looked around the bathroom and immediately knew how rich my captors are. I can't wait till they find out they kidnapped the wrong guy and am just a poor nobody whose birth giver wanted nothing to do with. I bet if they called mom she would brainstorm a thousand better ways to kill me. Hell, she would even suggest they throw me in an ocean! I wouldn't be surprised considering for my tenth birthday she gave me a gun and suggested I kill myself. That was the day I actually realized she never wanted me. I was just a way of her getting money from the child services. After she lied that I wasn't her child and she was just a foster care for me. I knew it was a lie because I had seen my birth certificate and though I had no dad, I knew Jacky was my birth giver.

They had a huge bathtub and the bathroom was as large as my bedroom back home. The walls were a dark green and golden and everything else was golden. I took a deep breathe, the things I would do to just earn two bucks and here people were buying tiles to tile the bathroom wall and golden accessories. I didn't dwell much on it though. I walked out of the bathroom and decided the door opposite the bed was my way out of the place. I mean if this people attacked the school with guns, they could easily kill me if I wasn't what they wanted. I took a deep breathe and walked out slowly looking both ways before spotting a flight of stairs. I rushed to them tip toeing and went down slowly. When I was at the second last step I paused to check if someone was at the room below.

"What are you doing?" A deep voice asked from above the stairs and I jumped startled and turned just to loose my step and fall back wards. I prepared to wince from the floor connecting with my bruises but it never came, all I felt were muscular hands holding me and preventing me from falling. I sighed still looking at the dark mahogany floors.

"I was just hungry mahn, you don't have to shoot me." I said softly. "Am sure your boss doesn't know that he got the wrong guy, I don't even have money on me...." I looked up when none of them spoke for a while. I was met with pretty blue green eyes staring at me confused. He seemed about a year or two older than me. Was he also kidnapped? I realized the person behind me was still holding me so I sobered up and steadied myself.

"Boss?" He questioned. I shrugged.
"Yeah, you know, kidnappers serve a boss?" I said confused.

"You mean dad?" He asked scrunching his nose.

"Your dad, my kidnapper, same thing." I said shrugging.

"He's cute." Said the guy behind me. I turned to look at electric blue eyes and a charming smile. He looked just as handsome as the guy at the top of the stairs but slightly muscular.
"Yeah Den everyone knows the Miguel's are cute. Its no big deal." Said the guy at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah but he got dads complete genes and you know what newsmen say about dad." He raised a brow.

"The youngest most handsome business man?" Asked another voice as he entered the hallway. He looked just like the one at the top if the stairs but instead of a leather jacket he wore a tank top. I bet they all knew just how incredibly handsome they were.

"Exactly, by the way Cain,did you bring my mint ice cream?" Asked 'Den'.
'Cain' who had just entered nodded.
"Yeah, they were sold out but I ordered straight from the factory." He spoke. I was right, they are rich.

"Chris,Blake and Ben want you to call the club, I think the meeting is cancelled." Said Cain. I was so confused by now.

"Am gonna go look for Daniel, I bet the meeting is over right now." Said Den. I didn't get them. Why were they openly talking like I wasn't even there? Did they know I might be a threat? I looked at the two twins now before me as they talked.
"Uhmmm...am just gonna....." I said walking backwards towards the main door which surprisingly wasn't that far.

They just stared at me and suddenly I was held by even more muscular arms and my cheeks suddenly flushed bright red. Why were the people in this house hold so muscular. This time I turned around and stared right at a reflection of me. I mean yeah if I were 35 years old and had a nicely and stylishly shaved example of a beard and my hair was fully gelled back and I was wearing a very expensive looking navy blue suit and I was holding a very expensive IPhone 15 on my left arm, then yes, I was looking at a reflection of me. He stared at me like he had also just realized how alike I am to him and I suddenly felt self conscious. I wondered if they had seen my scars, I mean I hope not. That would give them an idea of the level of pain I can endure and I didn't want them to go any further. The guy cleared his throat but he didn't move back. Still staring at me but this time a small smile graced his lips.

"Dad, I thought you don't like physical touch?" Cain frowned and I became aware they were also there. This made the guy holding me to pull out of his trance and straightened himself and me up and a sharp pain shot through my back and I winced.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked. I glared at him.
"No I winced because I felt so damn good." I said sarcastically. He didn't seem to get the sarcasm, but I can't blame him, sometimes I also don't know if am being serious or not.

"Good, I almost thought I hurt you tesoro." His Italian accent was strong and that was when I realized everyone I had met had a soft Italian accent when they talked.

"Wha....you know what? I don't care..just tell your men to take me back home. Am sure I can still get Liza's diner open at this time." I said. Liza could scrape me some leftovers so that I didn't have to buy dinner.
He raised a brow but answered nonetheless.
"They can't." He spoke so casually. I sighed.
"Why can't they? I don't have rich parents if that's what you thought when kidnapping me." I said. Cain chuckled behind me.

"Well all of them are prohibited from driving for the next one week.." He said. Chris sighed.

"Wait..what if you need an escape driver when breaking into a bank and all those stuff kidnappers do? Won't you need your men?" I asked. He seemed amused but didn't deny being a kidnapper.
"Yes I would." He simply said. "On very important occasions." He spoke.

"Well then consider driving me home an important occasion. I promise I won't file charges, not like anyone would care anyway." I mumbled the last part.

"They can't." He spoke still calmly. Calm people freaked me out.
"Why can't they? My mom can't even pay mortgage what makes you think she will pay to get me back!!" I said annoyed.

"Well for starters they are not my men, they are my KIDS...and second..." He paused and leaned to look me straight in the eye. " This is your home."

Hi guys I'd really appreciate it if you voted for this story. Its literally my first:) Anyway Have a happy end month tomorrow.....so here. I'll update anytime am free

Blake's POV.

When dad called me to his office this morning I didn't know what I was expecting. Nowadays he didn't call us to his office, he just worked on his own. I took a breathe and entered.

"You called?" I questioned sitting down. Dad nodded affirming and pointed to a sit so I sat.

"Remember John Pennyworth?" He asked. I took a while to reload. Yes I remembered a teenage rascal who had trespassed into one of our territories. We understood it was a mistake well until he picked up a disk that had fallen mistakenly from one of our men's briefcases. The disk contained all our transactions and business deals and if the kid was a genius he had probably figured out the Miguel's are not just the richest businessmen in California. I nodded and looked at dad. He sighed and pushed a couple of papers in my direction.

"I found him." He said uninterested. I looked through the file but only one name caught my eyes.

"Son to Denvan Pennyworth?" I sighed and looked at dad. "The family is cursed to cross paths with us huh?" I asked dad. He grunted a response and I knew he wasn't happy at all.

"What do you think we should do? I mean didn't he and the witch get a restraining order against us?" I asked. Dad looked up.

"Yes but they divorced. I don't know where Martha went eventually but I haven't heard of or seen my son for twelve years and I guess its time to get revenge on the bastard." Said dad angry. My brothers and I knew dad started having anger issues after the court ordered for our mother to take custody of our younger brother after the divorce. I was only eight then but I knew enough to know my parents divorced because my mother cheated on my father with a local school teacher and had the audacity to marry him after the divorce. After five years of searching the social services woman told us our then nine year old brother could not be traced and since our mother was in rehabilitation for addiction, it was suspected our brother was under custody of Denvan. When we finally tracked Denvan down, all he could say was our brother was as good as dead and that was the last time dad ever called us to his office. He spent days crying and angry and I felt for him. I was only fifteen but I still remembered the electric blue eyes and blonde hair of our smallest prince. He was the heart of the whole family and his supposed death affected us all in our own ways.

Ben didn't realize it but he kept whimpering in his sleep and screaming Arnold's name over and over again. I fell into depression watching my father fall apart. Chris became cold and distant though he was only six when Arnold went with mom. Cain tried to hide behind his chirpy personality. Dennis and Daniel who were only seven when he went were the closest to him. They just could stop asking about him until they got to ten and understood the meaning of divorce. Eventually we all accepted the death of our angel even before he properly learned to talk. He was a slow bloomer and couldn't walk till the age of four and even then we supported him.

"Dad I don't think Arnold would....."

"Don't!" His voice was cold and angry I knew not to push him further.

"What's the plan to get the disk?" I asked. He smirked .

"We enter the school and shoot that will teach Denvan the family he keeps messing with and that child of his." Said dad angry. I nodded.

"Then we get the disk from his son after at least shooting one if his legs." He said.

The plan went well, but we didn't shoot John. It was easy to get him give us the disk with a gun pointed at his fathers head and another at his. We got it from his locker and ordered the principle to evacuate the school which Denvan did quickly fortunately. The students left screaming but Denvan promised not to involve the police and lie about fireworks or something. That was good enough for dad but he managed a good punch at Denvan for stealing his wife. Then another for his son but Denvan tensed up when dad mentioned Arnold but he fearfully took the punches like a good little pup. He also was not to involve any law men about us breaking the restraining order or he would die. We walked out content but getting to the hallway we heard whimpers like a boy crying. It was from the janitors closet. I dad and I listened for a while before he kicked the door open only for it to land beside a frail figure bent over his knees and sobbing uncontrollably.

"He's about to pass out, boss should we kill him?" Asked Jack one of our men beside dad. Dad was about to respond when I spotted something I never spotted before. My eyes welled up as hope blossomed in me.

"Look at his neck dad,,,,the tattoo!!" I said excited and dad seemed to see it finally.

"Jack leave!" Dad bellowed and Jack left immediately. One glimpse of the tattoo and even dads men knew he was the lost Miguel. Dad got him that tattoo when he was five and in moms custody hoping to find him one day. Without thinking, dad bent down and picked him up with a huge smile. He carried him bridal style as the boy in his arms was already passed out and looked malnourished. When his shirt slid up slightly you could see all the scars on his lower abdomen and that got me worried. Did mom not take care of him? She begged for his custody! Dad let out a low growl when he saw part of the scars and started towards the exit. I didn't know if it was a good idea. I mean, when Arnold left he could barely speak. How sure were we he'd remember us. He had grown handsomely. As thin as he was I could still see his lean build and his full pink lips. I bet he would break lots if hearts in the mafia world.

"Let's go home tesoro.....its time you meet your family." Dad whispered softly to the unconscious lad.

"Dad we don't know whose custody he is in! It could get us in trouble." I tried to speak sense into him. As much as we all missed Arnold to the core, we couldn't risk investigations into our businesses because of a kidnap. Dad did not look back he just kept walking towards the door.

"Come on love, no one will get us in trouble, you forgot we rule this city." Dad spoke proudly. Did he just call me love? Five minutes with Arnold and our warm loving father was back. I sighed and nodded trying hard not to think of consequences right then. After all, I had a meeting at our club at two that day. We got in our car and drove back home . Dad tucked Arnold in his old bedroom. He always liked gold when he was younger. That is how he got the title Mafia Prince from us. I wonder if he would still remember those parts of his past. His weight and how he fainted suggested he was very weak and we had to fix that soon. No brother of mine would be labelled weak on my watch. He had a piercing on his left ear and seemed to wear a bit of make up too. I wanted to know everything about him the moment he whimpered in his sleep and fell into deep slumber after I put him down. I already loved my youngest brother.

I looked at the older version of me in front of me and tilted my head confused.

"Home? Are you deaf? Why'd you kidnap me?" I asked. He seemed amused but I wasn't.

"What's your name?" Cain spoke behind me. That's when I realized there were now six older males behind him. I grimaced, I didn't like his tone. I sighed.

"Uhhh what?" I asked. Chris took a gun from his back pocket and I was caught off guard so I fell back. My surprise and fear clearly showing.

"He asked for your name!" He growled. I panted trying to breath new fear added.

"I...its...uhhhm...am Arnold...Pennyworth....please don't kill me....please did my mom gamble again....we will pay back...am sorry...." I was full mode panicking. Maybe they took me as a slave after my mom gambled again.

"Pennyworth?" Dennis asked disgusted. I just nodded were they gonna kill me now?

" I just need to get back home...I'll work and pay you back..." I bit my lip feeling helpless.

"You work?" Asked older version of me who I realized is the dad.

"Yes doesnt pay much but I can promise to pay as much as I can just give me the deadline." I spoke as confidently as I could. They all looked at me.

"Chris you're scaring him! Put the damn gun down!" The voice I heard at school.  I looked up to see a guy smiling at me softly and I felt pretty weird.

"Hey little guy, my name is Blake. " He said and chuckled at my confused look. "Am 21 and this is my twin Ben." He said. I blinked and looked at the two. Yeah they were pretty identical Brunette hair and blue green eyes that looked oddly familiar.
"Owwwwkkkk?" I asked unsure why he was telling me this.

Den and another one who looked just like him crouched down to my level and smiled. Same brunette hair and blue green eyes stared at me.

"Am Dennis am 19 and this is my twin Daniel." He said. I looked at them with a confused frown and I swear I heard the dad coo. I tried to back away but bumped into their fathers leg. I took a deep breathe and looked at the remaining two.

"Am Cain, this is my twin Chris, we are 18. Nice to see you again buddy." He spoke so calmly I almost didn't hear him. AGAIN? I didn't question it. I stared at all six of them trying to decide the nicest so I'd discuss the debt payment with him. After all it wasn't the first time mom got caught up in a gambling rodeo and it probably won't be the last.

It couldn't be Chris he seemed to hate me from first sight. I'd like to think he is the youngest but he still scares the shit out of me. I couldn't pick Cain because he would be influenced by Chris to overcharge me due to mere hatred.

I looked past them at Dennis and Daniel who seemed to stare at me with awe. That creeped me out so they were definitely out of the picture. I still did not get how a handsome man who looked richer than my whole generation combined decided to have this many kids. But again it wasn't his fault the ova kept splitting in two so I can't blame him. Plus he managed to birth men as handsome as him and that was more important. I decided on Blake he seemed tender and I loved his smile.

"Why do you have marks all over your chest?" Chris spoke this time. Distaste evidence in his voice. I panicked. They saw it. Shit mom could get in trouble. I didn't want her in trouble she was drunk and her boyfriends are not good people they made her do it. She didn't want to...that's what she told me when she was sober. This people had no right to question me. They didn't know me and me them. They weren't policemen or anything. I sighed and glared at him.

"None of your damn business." I said.

"Is it your guardian?" Asked the dad like he didn't hear me.

"Or your parent." Blake spoke.

" I don't think you understand English!" I said now annoyed.

"Why are you so bitter?" Asked the twin to Blake..Ben.

I looked at them like they were stupid. Were they? I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to get home as soon as possible to make dinner. Liza's would probably close soon judging by the sky outside it had to be six. I was out for that long? Strange.

"Its Martha isn't it?" Asked the dad. I stared at him and for some reason tears welled in my eyes but I would never let them fall.

"She was drunk, she didn't mean to. She is a good person I swear..."

"No she's not Arnold. She is manipulating you!" Said Blake.

"I just want to go home please." I spoke softly hoping they heard me. They did. Because their dad let out a soft sigh.

"OK I will let our chauffer drive you there. Give him your address OK? And stay safe." He said. He took a phone from his pocket and dialled a number.

"Wait, you don't want money? Then why did you kidnap me?" I asked confused. Daniel tilted his head.

"We didn't, you were unconscious and we didn't know where to take you!" He said. I frowned.

"Am no doctor but a hospital would do." I said scrunching my nose.

"Yeah we will definitely consider that the next time you pass out Arnold." Said Chris sarcastically. What was up with him. Did I know him or something?

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