Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word.

"The Don and the other high Boss's are in a very important meeting Mr.O'brien. We've been instructed to not permit entry to anyone inside the office", said one of the security guard standing outside the corridor which led to Don Sean Sullivan's office.

"Go and inform the Don that Daniel O'brien has come with the important files he asked for. I'm sure he will understand what I mean by that", the man named Daniel replied.

A look of nervousness and fear crossed the guard's face at the prospect of disturbing the Don and his sons in the middle of their meeting.

"He ordered me to be present with the files at my earliest. He will be unhappy with any delays", Daniel insisted when the guards made no move.

The two guards exchanged brief looks with each other, communicating silently. After what felt like years to Daniel but in fact were a few seconds, one of the guard turned around and marched down the restricted corridor where the Don's office was located.

Even though on the outside Daniel didn't seem nervous, on the inside he couldn't help but dread the impending conversation that would follow once he entered the office.

It had taken him almost two months to get the information that the Don had asked him for. The file in his hand was weighing him down by what seemed like a tonne. The Don had not been very specific about what he needed exactly, so Daniel had dug deeper to get the information that would satisfy him.

And how he wished.......how he wished, that he wasn't the one choosen for this work!

Although Daniel was greatly fearing the reaction of the Don to the news, he wanted to get this meeting over with and hand over the file to the Don safely. The information within it was too sensitive and potentially destructive if it fell in the wrong hands.

Daniel was jolted out of his thoughts when the guard walked upto him. "You can go in Mr.O'brien", he said.

Daniel nodded and stepped forward as the guard whispered a cautionary message to him ,"All the best sir, Master Patrick does not seem to be in a good mood."

Gulping a little nervously, he nodded his head in acknowledgment and walked down the corridor towards the single door present at the very end of it which was being guarded by another two guards carrying heavy weapons.

Daniel ignored them as he pushed the heavy doors open to step in what could very well be his doom!

Closing the door behind him, Daniel turned around and his eyes fell on the three intimidating figures present inside the office.

The Irish Don was seated at the head of the table, his younger Logan Sullivan son sitting on his left while his eldest son Patrick Sullivan was leaning against the large glass window, a scowl on his face.

"Ahh Daniel finally you're here. What took you so long?", the Don asked in what Daniel guessed was supposed to sound pleasant but came out as hard and impatient.

"Apologies sir, but the Romero's have tightened their security even more in the past few months. As it is, it was difficult to infiltrate their organization before and now with the new arrangements it has become next to impossible", Daniel replied back, bowing his head in greeting.

"Romero's? You asked him to get information on those Italian's?

Why?", Master Logan asked the Don curiously.

"Patience, Son!",the Don replied back calmly.

Daniel prayed that the Don would keep his calm in the wake of the news that he was about to deliver.

The Don's hard stare flickered to him.

"And you O'brien, if I wanted to get their organization infiltrated and start a war with them, I wouldn't have given you this work", he stated in dark amusement. "I gave you this job because if I recall correctly, your wife's younger sister is married in one of the families who are allies to the Romero's. I had thought that it would be easier to get information that way without alerting anyone about it", the Don stated calmly.

"Of course Don, I apologise for my presumption", Daniel replied apologetically. "I was successful in my given task. I did get the name of the child through my contacts but nothing else."

"A Child?", Patrick Sullivan finally spoke, a calculating look entering his eyes.

The Don took out an envelope from one of the drawers and held it out for his son.

Patrick walked towards him and opened the envelope from which a picture of the Romero's fell down. His brows furrowed when he saw a little girl in the frame. Her features not clear due to the large distance from which the photograph must have been clicked.

"I could only get a name so I had to use some other connections, sir. That is why it took me so long to report back to you", Daniel repeated.

"Stop stalling now and tell me what you have found out", the Don commanded impatiently.

Daniel cleared his throat once. He could feel the sweat dripping down his neck.

"The girl has been living with the Romero's for almost six months now", he began robotically. "She is only four years old. No one other than those very high in the organization have seen her. It was purely by chance that my sister in law was present in one of the tea parties hosted by Rickard Romero's wife and overheard her talking to her son Allister to keep the girl company and not let her wander around until the guests were to leave."

"Why all this secrecy though? Who is she?", Patrick questioned curiously.

Daniel got the feeling that this was the moment where something major would change....... for good or bad, he didn't have a clue yet.

Walking towards the Don he handed over the file which contained the information on the child's true origin.

The Don opened the file and began reading it and Daniel watched as multitude of emotions crossed his face, ranging from incredulity to shock to awe and a small flash of pain but when he finally looked up there was only one emotion which was shining out the most..... happiness. His eyes were glowing with a kind of unfathomable joy that Daniel had never seen before.

"Is it true?", the Don asked and Daniel was completely blown by this show of hesitancy by Sean Sullivan, the fearless Irish Don.

"Yes Don. I'm completely sure of it. The contents of this file are hundred percent true", Daniel replied resolutely.

"Father, what is it?, Logan questioned, seeing his father getting emotional so openly."Who is she?"

"Amara..." he replied softly, testing the name on his tongue."Your younger brother William's daughter. My granddaughter....",he said, finally looking up at his sons.

"What!?"

"You heard me once", the Don snapped coldly. But his expression softened again as he looked at the picture of Amara attached along with the papers in the file.

"I knew there was something familiar about her. I just knew it",Sean breathed out. "I had this inexplicable urge to know more about her, to protect her and the innocence that shone in her eyes from the cruel hell that this world is....", he continued softly, his eyes tracing every inch of the photograph with a fondness which he reserved only for his blood.

Logan walked towards his father to look at his niece's picture.

"She has his smile", he said, shocked, his throat clogged with pain as he referred to his twin brother.

"He's living with the Romero's then, is he? Forsaking his own blood, he is living with our enemies now?", Patrick spat, unmoved. "For generations there has been bad blood between us and the Romero's and William acts as if all is well", Patrick snarled, his rage rising with every word.

"No sir, he doesn't live with them. They...he and his wife....were in an accident almost seven months back. They c-couldn't be saved. I'm sorry", Daniel stuttered out.

At once it was like a switch had been flipped as Patrick went pale, his eyes widening in disbelief. "This can't be true!", he breathed out.

"William might not have wanted a part in the business but he was trained since his birth, like the rest of us", Logan spoke. "He was always smart enough to know when he's being set up. How could he have died then? Your information is wrong Daniel and I'm going to break every bone in your jaw for even saying that my brother is dead", Logan snarled as he took a threatening step towards him.

"B-b-but they d-died in a car accident. It was no set up sir. They were living in one of Mr.William's own property's in Texas when it happened", Daniel stuttered out fearfully.

The two brothers ignored him.

"Our brother can't be dead. I will call our best trackers now and get them to start looking for him again. We should have never stopped then!" , Logan said to Patrick as he hurried towards the office door.

"Don't waste your time Logan. We have other important matters that we need to attend", Sean commanded.

"Father",he said aghast." I know that you're furious but he's my brother",he stated urgently. "And you can't just take his word for it", he continued, pointing at Daniel

"I'm not", his father sighed, showing them a copy of the death certificates of both William and Cristina Romero .

"But death certificates can be faked, it's not solid enough to prove that he is dead", Patrick stated calmly.

"They are not fake, sir. I made sure of their credibility. I had to dig very deep to get my hands on the information. I..I'm sorry", Daniel repeated.

"He's my twin, father, please", Logan stated desperately.

"Not everything is lost yet son", Sean Sullivan said, his eyes finally moving away from his granddaughter's photograph.

He beckoned Patrick to him and showed him the picture.

A small smile crossed Patrick's face as he looked at William's daughter.

"She is four years old",Logan read from the file, "which makes her only a year younger than Cian", he continued, referring to his son.

"Yes she is", the Don said, standing up. "And I'm sure that she will love to meet him as well as her other family".

Daniel's eyes widened. His worst fear was coming to pass.

"Logan, make the necessary arrangements quickly. We leave in three days for Italy. Ask our allies to be on standby and be prepared for the worst, but don't tell anyone about Amara yet. It's finally time to bring my granddaughter to her true home and if the Romero's object, we will answer back............ with war."

*****