Beneath The Ashes

Ivy

The silence in the house feels deafening as the five men stare at me. My stepbrothers. I still can't wrap my head around it.
Marcus never mentioned them. Not once.

Massimo's gaze flickers toward the stairs. "Where is he?"

I swallow hard, glancing toward the second floor. "Upstairs. Third door on the left." My voice is barely above a whisper.

Massimo nods, his jaw tightening as he gestures to his brothers. One by one, they start moving, their footsteps heavy against the worn floorboards. I watch them go, frozen in place. They move like shadows, dark and quiet, each one radiating a quiet kind of fury.

"Wait." The word slips out before I can stop it.

They all pause, turning to face me. Five pairs of dark eyes settle on me, and for a moment, I forget how to breathe.

"You... you shouldn't go up there.He is sleeping." My fingers twist nervously around the rag in my hands. "If you make him angry, he'll take it out on me."

Massimo's expression stoic. "Tell me honestly, He touches you?"

I blink, startled. "What? No, I mean... not like that. It's just... when things go wrong, I'm the easiest target." I lower my gaze, my voice barely a whisper. "It's better to stay quiet and stay out of the way."

A muscle jumps in his jaw, but he says nothing. Without another word, he turns and heads up the stairs, his brothers following close behind.

I stand there for a long moment, frozen. I should stop them. I should do something. But the truth is, they scare me. Not in the way Marcus does — no, Marcus's anger is sharp and unpredictable, like a knife. But these men... they're something else entirely. Cold. Calculated. Dangerous.

I feel like Marcus might not be the scariest person in this house anymore.

The sound of heavy footsteps fades as they disappear upstairs, and I let out a shaky breath. My knees feel weak, and I sink to the floor, clutching the rag like it's a lifeline.

I should run. I should hide. But instead, I do what I always do. I scrub.

The tiles are cracked and worn, the grout stained dark with years of neglect. No matter how hard I try, it never really gets clean. But I scrub anyway, pouring all my fear and frustration into the movement. My arms ache, my fingers raw, but I keep going.

It's easier to focus on the floor than to think about what's happening upstairs. Easier to pretend that nothing's changed. That my stepbrothers didn't just walk into my life and turn everything upside down.

But no matter how hard I try to ignore it... I can't shake the feeling that nothing will ever be the same again.

Declan POV

The stairs creak under our weight as we make our way to Marcus's room. None of us speak, but the tension is thick in the air. I can feel Massimo's fury radiating off him like a storm cloud.

I don't blame him.

The house is a wreck. Dust coats every surface, the wallpaper peeling, the air thick with the stench of neglect. And downstairs...

That girl.

Ivy.

She looked like she barely existed in this house. Small. Fragile. The way she smiled — bright and brave, despite everything — made something cold twist in my chest.

Massimo reaches the third door on the left and pushes it open without knocking. The door slams against the wall, the sound echoing through the house.

Marcus jerks upright in bed, blinking blearily. "What the—" His eyes narrow when he sees us. "Oh. It's you."

"Hello, Marcus" Massimo says, his voice dangerously soft.

His eyes dart between us, his brow furrowing. "What are you doing here?" He pushes himself up, rubbing his face. "Last I heard, you all wanted nothing to do with me."

Massimo's jaw tightens. "We came to take back what belongs to us."

Marcus blinks. "What?" His laugh is short and bitter. "You're a bit late, don't you think? I already took what I needed."

Massimo tilts his head, a slow smirk curling at his lips. "Did you?" He crosses his arms, eyes cold. "Funny. Because as of last week, everything you took? It's ours now."

Marcus freezes. "What?"

"You heard me," Massimo says. "The court ruled in our favor."

Marcus's face pales. "You... you're lying."

Massimo reaches into his coat, pulling out a folded stack of papers. He tosses them onto the bed. Marcus snatches them up, eyes scanning the contents. His hands tremble as he reads, and I watch the color drain from his face.

"No," he mutters. "This... this can't be." His head snaps up. "You bastards."

Massimo shrugs. "We fought for what was ours."

"You can't take everything!" Hid voice rises, frantic. "The businesses, the money —"

"Already done." Jaxons voice is quiet, but it cuts through the room like a blade. "Need your sign on these. But you can keep the mansion." He smirks. "We dont need dusty filth & Consider it charity."

Marcus's hands curl into fists. "Charity?"

Massimo leans in, voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "And you're going to start taking care of your stepdaughter."

Marcus blinks as he gets done signing the papers . "Stepdaughter?" He scoffs. "You mean Ivy?" He laughs, shaking his head. "She's nothing to me. She's just here to clean."

The room goes deadly silent. I glance at my brothers, seeing the same look burning in their eyes.

"You let your daughter scrub your floors while you rot in bed?"  Vale's voice has disgust in it.

Marcus shrugs. "Step-daughter and yes She needs a roof over her head. She earns it."

Massimo's hands curl into fists. "You don't care about her at all."

"Why should I?" Marco sneers. "She means nothing to me."

The silence is deafening. Massimo's eyes burn with rage. His voice is low, each word sharp as a knife. "You disgust me."

He scoffs. "Not my problem."

Massimo takes a slow breath, his gaze flicking to each of us. We don't need words to know what he's thinking. When he looks back at Marco, his voice is calm. Deadly.

"We're taking her."

Marcus's eyes widen. "Like hell you are."

Massimo steps closer, towering over him. "We won't let another child grow up neglected because of you."

His voice drops, each word razor-sharp. "At least we had each other. She looks like she has no one."

Marcus stares at him for a long moment, then laughs. "You think you're her knights in shining armor?" He sneers. "Good luck. She's more trouble than she's worth."

Massimo doesn't say another word. He just turns and walks out of the room.

And we follow.