Stuck | 18+

Chapter 33

Maids rustled in the dining room, serving Frantinos their strict Italian lunch on the seemingly lovely afternoon that was anything but.

Everyone's tout shoulders and calculated movements were reasonable now that don had somehow made his presence known unannounced. Unusually enough he had canceled, not rescheduled, canceled all his meetings only to stay at the mansion, spending time with his family.

Not that his family was pleased at his so unpleasant appearance. They were anything but confused if not downright troubled. His presence meant either a full blown celebration was in order or something gravely horrible was about to happen and yet none of the reasons were fitting at the moment.

Except his father, everyone was intrigued. Donavan Sr. had walked down from his donship for a reason, his prominent ignorance. His disinterest in inherited businesses and underground matters was so eminent, that his competitors had almost stripped frantinos of their fortune and respect until the adulthood of Donavan. From Donavan's evident intelligence and brains in Italian famiglia, his father had handed him over everything just at the tender age of eighteen. Surprisingly for the French and Russians, Donavan had found his roots faster and stronger than anticipated. Building his empire from scratch he was hardly referred to as someone of privilege, quite the opposite, he had came from ruins his father simply laid in.

Dominic was no different. With his father being, just like his brother, unintelligent and gullible, had no in-born privileges of inheritance. His ambitions and hardwork to live on the top of the food chain had made him who he was. Extremely dominant in every possible domain of his life, Dominic seeked power more than wealth. And even when his immaculate contribution in building frantinos businesses was highly revered, his ambitions never went dry. The fact that his brother stood a single step above him bothered him. The respect Donavan received from being the don annoyed him for he had been no less contributer than his cousin who received everything on a silver platter.

Donavan wasn't an immature bystander that had foolishly misunderstood his cousin's hostility as something as little as jealousy. Ofcourse it wasn't jealousy, it was an insatiable hunger that craved Donavan's blood.

Dominic's intentions to snatch everything from donavan's clutches wasn't a news. Donavan was far more aware of Dominic's patterns of behavior that Dominic thought he knew, and that was exactly why Donavan was indeed the don.

He knew within his cousin lurked a far more dangerous person, waiting for an opportunity to strike. It was only upto to Donavan's skills to recognize that opportunity before Dominic did and stop the unspeakable from morphing into truth. Donavan hadn't forgotten the glimpse of horror that flashed on Tara's face upon the mention of Dominic. His suspicion of Dominic having something to do with his wife always throbbed at the back of his mind, waiting for puzzles to click in place before he could act upon it.

At the moment he didn't notice anything out of order except for Tara wanting him back. Not in the way that she cherished his presence and adored him as a lover but the crude attraction that he could never contain within him. It had evoked a newer emotion in him at the knowledge of her being wanting him back the exact way he seeked her. There was something beautiful in feeling wanted by someone whom you wanted too. And for the very sole reason, he was becoming something different, different than what he had been all his life.

He was a man of steel, determined and disciplined, not accustomed to bending for anyone. The hardworking and ruthless man who lived for his work and thrived on the blood of his enemies was rarely known was his devotion for family. As much as he protected it with his blood and sweat he worked for no actual people but himself.

Even when the quietness reverberated in the dining hall there was a loud music of tensed strings. Tara, content with today's events silently ate her food, having eaten nothing from the last night she fed herself with eager, allowing the relaxation she had so hardly achieved for a day.
Out of nowhere Donavan said something, like a declaration, without looking up from his plate. Tara's eyes squinted at him, wondering whom was he talking to in Italian. When she noticed Dominic's hold tightening on his fork, there was no doubt it was for him.  
Slowly looking up from his plate, dominic's gaze lifted up at Tara. If eyes could kill, Tara would have probably been bleeding daggers. Tara froze in her place at the burning rage within his eyes, partly confused at why Dominic was angry for something that Donavan said. She hated herself for not learning Italian yet. Whatever conversation she was missing on seemed to be an important one.

Dominic took deep breaths, visibly calming himself. Saying something back he seemed to argue with Donavan's order. All it took was  a single raise of an eyebrow that donavan did ever so disinterestingly for Dominic to shut up. There was no room for game of power.

Tara wondered what was it that her husband had said. But again, she wanted to care less. There was a lot on her plate to be paying attention to minor stuff going around the mansion. The time passed, this time a little more tense than before. The subtle curious hostile glances from his mother and sisters felt more believable. She tried to ignore them as much as she could, focusing on her food she had dearly missed for the night.

When don stood up from the table, finished with his lunch, everyone did. Tara gasped unexpectedly when Donavan held his hand in hers, guiding her with him as his whole family watched in silence. Their unsurprised look raised questions in Tara's mind.
Do they already know about this?
Tara wondered as instead of the upper floor of their suite, he carried her to the main door.

From someone who watched from outside, a loving husband had adoringly held his wife's hand and took her out of the house as he planned a wonderful vacation for her. And much to Tara's surprise, he actually had.

Leaving the Frantino mansion Paris, Tara realised what announcement had don made in the dining room. It probably said that he was going to spend some private time with her and conveniently enough all the responsibilities fell upon Dominic.
No wonder Dominic was angry.
Not only did it gave Tara more time to come up with a plan to get out of the Dominic situation, it also made him busy enough to not stuff his nose in her matters for a while.

Tara couldn't believe her fate that for once had played by her side. She almost smiled as Donavan held the door for her, their bags already settled inside the car. Getting inside she sighed, grateful for the time she had so unbelievably bought herself. The mystery of where he was taking her consumed her mind.

I hope it's a peaceful place.

She prayed for some good time to think through her decisions.

Decisions she didn't know will bring havoc if not disasters in Frantino mansion, disasters of potential so large, that they'd burn everything with them, her too.
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A/N: yesterday I was on tech fast, meaning I didn't check my phone. And at the end of the day when I did I had 100+ notifications and 5k+ new reads..in a single day...that's the greatest achievement this story has got since the beginning. I am so grateful for all of you, every single one of you...love you so much.