Delgado

Prologue

A/N - here we go again...

~~~

Santiago Delgado was a man of many things: arrogance, anger, stupidity...and the shit ability to be a father.

He was also a man of control; he controlled the streets while growing up, he controlled his wife, he controlled his children.

The latter never stopped.

He controlled his children even while he was behind bars, haunting their dreams, filling their minds for almost every waking second of their days.

Except he was no longer behind bars.

No, Santiago Delgado was standing on the doorstep of the house he had most definitely not made a home.

His son- his eldest son; the boy he had shaped into who he was today, stared at him in shock - until he all but dove forwards to move his sister out of the way.

Isabella.

Santiago hadn't laid his eyes upon his daughter since she was three years old- and even at 17, she looked just like him.

Before the man even had a chance to open his mouth, a punch was packed straight into his jaw, sending him stumbling back.

Caleb. Always the one causing problems, never knowing when enough was enough.

"Missed you too, son", Caleb Delgado was many things - but he was not that man's son.

"I'm not your fucking son", the boy went to charge at his father again but a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks- Prescott.

He never had an interest in anything Santiago wanted to teach him; the man looked his son up and down, he'd grown up. Finally put his childish fantasies of making cakes behind him, he thought.

"Don't waste your time on him", he shoved his younger brother behind him, "why are you here?".

"Is that any way to greet your father?", a smirk tugged at Santiago's lips as he stayed put on the doorstep, "it's been 8 years Prescott, thought you'd be excited". The 23 year old squeezed his fists together and clenched his jaw, Santiago found it amusing just how much he could agitate them all.

"The fuck's going on?", Alexander- no longer the nine year old boy who brought nothing but anger and bad school reports back home, but an adult- nearly as tall as half of his brothers, "what the fuck?".

The youngest Delgado son had been waiting for this moment for months and it had finally come; he charged at the man without so much of a second thought and punched his right in the nose- twice, until blood gushed from it.

Santiago didn't retaliate.

"Where's Xavier?", the man has the audacity to push further, "he still wetting the bed like the weak little-".

The events that ensued in that split second could've been missed if you blinked. Alexander was pulled back by the grip of his eldest brother who now stood in his position, gun pointed at his father's forehead.

"What the hell?", every head turned to the doorway of the kitchen where the middle child stood- Chase. Santiago classed him worse than Prescott.

Quiet, following his mother's footsteps, no interest in control, protection, making others fear him.

A disappointment in his eyes.

Nobody had time to blink before Santiago snapped into action.

He was, of course, the man who had taught his sons almost everything they knew, which meant he could beat them all at their own game.

The gun once pressed at his forehead by his son had now been twisted out of his grip and aimed at him instead; Santiago eyed his daughter as she screamed for her eldest brother- he couldn't protect her after all.

She was held back by Caleb who covered her entire being with his frame, they were all itching to pounce on that man and protect their brother, their father figure.

But those five boys knew better than anyone what Santiago Delgado was capable of.

Prescott turned his head to the side, Caleb closed his eyes, Chase crossed his fingers, Xavier clenched his fists, and Alexander exhaled and pounced just as the gunshot rang through the air and a body thumped to the ground.

"The calm before the storm", Santiago muttered, "happy birthday Isabella".

~~~

A/N - who got shot? no comment....