"I'm home!"

Amira's heart leapt out of her chest, as she fiddled with the blanket Lucian had draped over her. She tried to get out of it but failed due to her frantic state.

Suddenly the TV that was playing some cartoons went silent as all the girl could focus on was how she could finally get into the embrace she wanted.

As soon as she pulled the blanket away and put her stuffies aside, Amira leapt from the couch and ran for the living room door.

Before she could step out though, she was engulfed in the warmest embrace, causing her frantic state to immediately calm down. She relaxed slowly and kept her face buried into Asher's chest.

"I missed you so so much," Asher muttered, leaning down to place a kiss on her head. The sniffle that followed made Asher panic. He tried to pull away to look at her face but Amira refused to let him move an inch.

"No need to cry, honey," he mumbled against her hair, in a soothing tone.

"I missed you more," Amira mumbled and for once, Asher didn't counter it with 'that's not possible, I missed you more!' because he knew how miserable she must've been during these few days.

He smiled instead and leaned down to place another kiss on her head, as he felt some moisture through his dress shirt. He unwrapped his arms from around her slowly, earning a whine in return.

"Just picking you up, darling. I haven't had enough of the love." He chuckled, before picking her up and walking to take a seat on the couch.

Just as he took a seat, a sob escaped her mouth.

"You're so mean to leave like that, Asher," she whined in a soft voice, again, almost sounding like Rose.

"I'm sorry." Asher immediately bowed down and backed away. He didn't want to be scolded by a literal baby, especially when she was slipping into headspace.

"You should be," Amira muttered. "I won't talk to you if you do that again."

An exaggerated gasp was heard next, which made Amira crack a smile despite her sobbing state. Asher couldn't see it, but he knew she was smiling.

"Now that's too mean!" He exclaimed, earning a scoff in return.

"It's not," Amira muttered into his chest, barely audible. "Leaving you for some days would be mean."

A pang of guilt hit Asher's heart as he frowned at the carpet he was staring at.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, just wanting to drop this topic.

He raised his hand the side of her face and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Look up please, Honey," he said softly. Amira shook her head.

Asher sighed.

"Let me see my baby heart properly," he cooed. "I need to make sure Lucian looked after you well."

Amira tightened her hold, crushing all hopes Asher had. But a smile made its way to his lips, when she slowly released her hold completely and looked up with big teary eyes.

Safe to say, Asher's heart fluttered at the sight, despite the tears on her face, that made him sad.

"So pretty," he said, his smile widening as he reached out to rub the tears away with pad of his thumb. "And adorable."

Amira blushed red at this and tried to curl back into his hug but she was stopped when Asher clicked his tongue.

"Not yet, Bunny," he said, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He leaned forward and grabbed a tissue.

Asher grasped her chin lightly between his thumb and fingers as he worked on getting rid of the tears.

"Enough tears for today," he said.

Amira looked at him quietly, sniffling now and then. She couldn't believe how she stayed away from him for so long. Not talking about the three days but the eleven years they had been away from each other. Sure he wasn't this mature and caring back then. He was thirteen, after all.

But he was always this sweet. Always so cheerful and kind.

"I love you." She sniffled. Asher stopped for a second before continuing his work, a smile appearing on his face.

"I love you too," he said, throwing the tissue away and releasing his grip from her chin. Warm gray eyes looked into her big adorable ones, before Asher chuckled and looked away.

Raising her hand to his lips, he placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

"Do you need more love, my love?" He cooed, stifling a laugh when she nodded quickly. Asher moved forward and placed kisses all over her face, while his hand raised to her neck to tickle her there.

Hearing her little giggles, made his heart flutter like every other time but the secrets hidden behind her eyes was something that was clawing at him from the inside.

His gaze lifted when he saw a shadow loom in the doorway of the room. Lucian stood there, with his arms crossed as he stared at Amira's giggling self with a lot of emotions swirling in his eyes.

Asher's smile dropped, slowly disappearing into nothing. The atmosphere around them screamed that something had gone very wrong.

He sensed the storm maybe. It made him guilty for even leaving. If he was here, he'd atleast know what actually went wrong.

"I have something to discuss with you. In my office," Lucian said, slowly shifting his gaze to Asher. His gaze flicked to Amira again, who looked panicked at the idea of being alone again. "Beau and Nicholas will be here soon."

Amira visibly relaxed. During the few minutes Lucian was gone, she was busy getting anxious and scared, until she heard Asher's voice, of course.

Lucian turned as he heard the front door open and close. Two footsteps approaching the living room, without the usual chatter that was usually there when they were together.

"Good evening, brother," The two voices rang as soon as they reached the hall outside the living room.

Nicholas and Beau were quite fidgety as they saw the sadness Lucian was hiding very clearly. Nico was studying his expressions, trying to get a hint of what actually happened while Beau did everything he could to avoid eye contact. He was actually scared of the lecture he was gonna get for never visiting them here.

Lucian returned the greeting before he turned to Beau, the gloomy expressions wavering slightly as he looked at him properly.

"Good to finally see you here, Beau," he said, moving forward and engulfing him in a brotherly hug. That made Beau relax and slowly move his hands up to clutch Lucian's coat at the back.

Lucian smiled at the gesture. It reminded him of the shy kid he used to be and maybe still is. Beau used to be the sweet kid who got anxious about little things. That clutching of the fabric in his fists was something Lucian was all too familiar with.

How when someone would be slightly mean to Beau, how Asher and Nico would cause a scene and how Beau would get anxious because they would get scolded for getting into a fight and hurting themselves.

Not something you could expect from the two sweet men, Bunny and Rose knew. But they did get into a lot of fights for each other. Something that Lucian found annoying yet admirable.

Beau released his hold slowly, absorbing more than enough of the love the hug provided. It felt really good. Just like those times and he loved every bit of it.

"I don't get any hugs when I come home," Nico mumbled, elbowing Beau lightly. Beau chuckled and pulled away completely.

"Try being a little less annoying and maybe you'd get hugs too." Beau smirked, watching in satisfaction as a scowl appeared on Nico's face.

"What a little spoiled cryb-" Nico cut himself off when Lucian cleared his throat. Instead, he settled with rolling his eyes. Sure, Beau was the pampered child out of all of them. Mostly because he was the only sweet one who didn't have a dangerous side to him.

"Bunny is inside." Lucian turned to face Beau, removing any signs of the scary look he had when he looked at Nico. "Stay with her while we talk, please. She's getting anxious alone."

Beau nodded his head while Nico focussed on keeping a frown hidden and avoid the nervous fiddling of his fingers.

The two boys started moving to the living room, both trying to keep their tense expressions hidden but failing.

"Not you, Nicholas," Lucian declared, stopping Nico dead in his tracks with a jerk. He turned to face Lucian slowly. "You'll be there during the discussion."

Nico released a breath when Lucian said that. Heaven knows, how badly he wanted to know what went down.

Beau nodded to Nico and entered the living room. A nervous breath escaping his mouth as he saw Asher and Amira present inside.

Asher looked up from his place on the couch, a relieved look appearing on his face as he saw Beau enter the room finally.

As much as he hated being away from Amira, he had to know what went downhill in their absence, whether it pained or not.

Nodding to himself, he slipped his arm under her knees and the other under her back before lifting Amira a little to put her on the couch.

But he decided against it when she clutched the fabric of his shirt in her fists anxiously. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her temple.

"I need to go, darling. I'll be back soon," He murmured, before pulling away and looking to Beau.

Beau nodded and started walking forward. Taking a seat beside Asher, he pulled Amira into his arms, quite reluctantly from Amira's side, but he managed to succeed. Asher stood up and adjusted his coat a little. He turned to face Amira again and smiled sweetly, which, as he assumed, made her relax a lot.

He reached out and put his hand on her head.

"Be good," he said, patting her head once while keeping the sweet smile on his face. "Then we'll cuddle and watch-" he cut himself off to see what was playing on the TV. "Some cartoons?"

He looked back at his sister with a sheepish smile on his face, which made her giggle slightly again. That caused a similar reaction from the two men as they both smiled sweetly and looked at her with nothing but love and adoration.

Amira relaxed completely when Asher lifted his hand and pat her head twice more. He pulled away completely and turned around.

Amira's gaze followed him as he walked out but she didn't let any negative thoughts invade her mind.

"Muffins?" Beau asked, pulling a bag out of nowhere.

"Magic," The girl murmured, earning a chuckle from the nervous doctor who relaxed slightly at the sound.

He pulled out the box from the bag slowly and opened the lid, watching how her eyes sparkled on seeing the sweet stuff. The twinkling eyes flicked upwards to make eye contact with Beau.

"How many can I have?" She asked. Beau couldn't keep himself from getting more nervous again as her lips jutted out into a pout and her eyes started resembling that of a puppy.

"These are all yours, Bunny," he said. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"All ten of them?" She asked, a sweet smile forming on her face.

"Of course," he said. Amira looked back at the box happily and picked one up.

Beau kept looking at her with the same confused expressions, before it clicked. Resting his hand on her wrist, he pushed her hand down.

Amira stopped immediately, with a wide open mouth as she slowly moved her gaze to her older brother.

"Are you not allowed sweets?" Beau asked, searching her face for any kind of answer. Amira's mouth closed slowly and she gulped audibly. "Lucian doesn't let you?"

He got his answer with a shake of her head.

"Not even one?"

She shook her head again.

"He said it's unhealthy. I can't eat it until I have breakfast but I don't want to!" She whined, looking between Beau and the muffin with a pout.

Beau's eyes widened slightly.

"Let's have breakfast first, then," he said, gently taking the muffin from her hand and placing it back in the box.

"I don't want to, please Muffin," Amira pleaded.

"Have you ever had pancakes made by Chef Beau Anderson himself?" Beau asked, standing up with her in his arms. "Or waffles?"

"Yes I have." Her eyebrows furrowed, as she tried to remember bits from her childhood.

"Well, that was eleven years ago, wasn't it?" Beau chuckled, booping her nose as he walked into the kitchen. "I've been polishing my 'the little babies' favorite breakfast' making skills during these years."

He set her down on the counter gently, placing a kiss on her head.

"And I want the princess herself to tell me how I've improved." He grabbed her hand gently and lifted it to his mouth. The soft kiss placed on her knuckles earned him a smile from the princess. "So? What will your highness have for breakfast?"

The giggles that escaped the girl's mouth gave them both reassurance. The way they were all acting like nothing had happened when it was clear what storm had hit the Mazzanti mansion, just made her feel secure.

Amira's laughter slowly stopped, a small smile resting on her face. Beau looked bewildered, to say the least. He looked at her with slightly confused expressions.

"Why the pretty smile on your pretty face?" He poked a finger into her stomach, making her squirm away while giggling slightly. Amira shook her head to which Beau responded with moving his finger to the side of her stomach again.

"Because I love you," she said quickly. She pushed his hand away and looked up to find him smiling sweetly, just as she expected.

Beau's heart melted again. He moved forward and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you too," he said. "More than I love muffins."

Amira chuckled and shook her head. She didn't think that was possible. Beau's love for muffins was something that everyone knew about and kind of adored. Mostly because everyone found Muffin cute, so everything he did was adorable.

She kept swinging her legs slightly while watching him cook and hum to a song, giving out occasional kisses to his only audience and the judge of his food, whenever he passed by.

"Something very bad happened," Asher stated, as soon as they entered the office behind Lucian. He knew it. That's why he didn't even try to frame it as a question.

Lucian stayed silent and walked to his chair, an internal battle going on as to how to tell him about the storm.

Nico fiddled with his shirt sleeve as he sat down and looked at the crestfallen look on his brother's face. This scared him to another extent.

Lucian didn't know where to start so he looked around on his table frantically.

Asher took an impatient breath in at the silence but knowing that it wouldn't do him good to snap at Lucian, he waited.

"Why don't you start from the first day?" Asher said. A bit of the exasperation he was feeling seeped into his words which made Lucian question as to scold Asher for his impatience or scold himself for his stalling.

"The first day went fine," Lucian said. He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated sigh. "Stop rushing this, Asher. Let me figure out where to begin."

Asher leaned back in his seat with a look of clear disapproval on his face. He gave Lucian a deadpanned look as he waited patiently for him to start explaining stuff.

Nico, sensing the ticking time bomb beside him and the obviously nervous brother sitting on the other side of the desk, decided to take matters in his own hands.

"She was already upset after a nightmare she had and she kinda slipped and spilled some of her secrets," he started, ignoring the way Asher's head whipped around to face him and give him a nervous look.

"There was this fucker named Jeff Allen who assaulted her sexually." Nico glanced at Asher to gauge his reaction. "She didn't say it directly but it must've happened multiple times."

Asher tensed up, his heart banging against his ribs as he stared at Nico emotionlessly. His hand clenched slowly into a fist and his jaw clenched.

"He was that bastard's friend. The day Jayden found them, he had been trying to force himself on Bunny while Rose had to deal with Lucas downstairs. You know the rest." Nico sighed at the end, looking to Lucian to indicate that he'd have to speak now.

Asher's angered gaze moved to Lucian, which honestly made Lucian a little more nervous.

"And you kept this from me because?" He snapped, not caring he was talking to his elder brother.

"Because I didn't need you stressing out when you were away from home," Lucian reasoned.

"It wasn't about me, Lucian!" He gritted, resisting the urge to slam his fist down on the table.

"Watch who you're talking to, Asher!" Lucian snapped back.

"Maybe someone who hid stuff from me when I deserved to know as soon as possible," Asher retorted sharply. His glare didn't waver even though Lucian's furious glare was set upon him. For the first time in his life, Asher was having a glaring match with Lucian and not losing.

"I don't know how you think you can talk to me like that, Asher," Lucian began. His voice sharp and rather angry. "But I suggest you think twice before you open your mouth again."

"You shouldn't have kept it from me, Lucian," he gritted. The vein that was popping from Lucian's neck made him rethink what he was about to say. "Just because we're younger does not make us any less of her brothers."

His anger was worst at the moment. He couldn't think of anything to calm himself down. Anything that'd make him less angry at Lucian for keeping stuff hidden and pretending like it was all going sunshine and rainbows.

Thankfully, Nico intervened before Asher could say anything hateful in his anger. Seeing the rising tension in the room and the rising anger in the two brothers, Nico couldn't stop himself from snapping.

"Can we focus on Bunny first then argue about the unimportant stuff?" He gritted looking from Asher to Lucian, who were still having a glaring match.

"No. Let him finish with his temper tantrum," Lucian gritted. "I wonder what accusations he'll have for me when he hears about-"

He bit his tongue to cut himself off. Nico's eyebrows furrowed slowly. His heart drumming against his chest as his mind whirled with thoughts that shouldn't be there.

It didn't seem possible. What worse could've happened? What could be worse than going through so much pain and starting each new day as a survivor?

"Calm down please, Asher," he said, putting his hand on Asher's shoulder. Asher looked down and took a deep breath, tears gathering in his eyes in the process.

"Have you found him?" He asked, in a deathly calm voice.

"Yes," Lucian replied, unclenching his fist and relaxing slowly into his chair. His gaze lingered on the paperweight on his desk. "He's still unharmed."

Asher's eyebrows furrowed.

"Why?" He asked. Lucian should've made him miserable by now.

"I was waiting for you to come back home and decide what his fate will be," Lucian replied. He looked up from the paperweight reluctantly. "I didn't mean anything bad, Asher. She'll always have more love for you than any of us. But I'm the parent for a reason. I couldn't make you upset when you weren't close enough to be comforted."

"Besides, what would you have done, except getting stressed out?" Nico said, looking at Asher pointedly.

"I'm sorry." Asher sighed, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger. He took his time regaining his composure before he looked up with tired eyes.

"That's not all," Asher said, remembering the way Lucian cut himself off. There was something else that was unfortunately worse than the news he just got.

"Next morning when the news came up, Bunny heard it al,." Lucian started. He cleared his throat and moved his gaze back to the paperweight, wondering how to phrase it to make it sound less horrifying. "She had a meltdown and told me she killed Lucas."