.

"Wake up!"

Allister's eyes fluttered when he felt someone trying to nudge him awake.

"Wake up fratello",he heard a sweet voice command.

At once his eyes flew open and he was greeted by the sight of an adorable little four year old girl trying to shake him awake. The pout on her face immediately being replaced by a bright smile.

"Amara" he mumbled, his voice laced with sleepiness. "How did you get here?"

He had no idea how she had been able to climb in his bed as it was too high for her.

"Happy birthday fratello!", she replied back sweetly.

Oh, off course! It was his birthday today, he reminded himself.

"Thank you so much princess", Allister replied, kissing her forehead lightly as be sat up on the bed.

"But you didn't tell me who brought you here? You didn't come alone, did you? What if you had lost your way around?",Allister asked her sternly.

"I brought her here", said a voice from the doorway and Allister turned to see who it was.

"Pietro", he acknowledged the much older man with a nod.

"Uncle Pietro!", Amara exclaimed happily from beside him as if she was meeting Pietro after a very long time.

"Amara wanted to be the first one to wish you, so I brought her here", Pietro explained. Turning towards the little girl, he continued, "Let's go now princess. The young master needs to get ready for his big day. Many guests are going to be arriving for the celebrations tonight."

"Ok uncle Pietro",she replied and hugged Allister around the waist before scrambling down the bed and toward her guard.

"A very happy birthday young master, have a nice day ahead!",Pietro wished Allister and walked outside with Amara in tow.

"Are you excited for today's celebrations princess?", he asked her after she didn't say anything for quite some time. "Is something wrong princess? Why this long face?",he asked after seeing the forlorn expression on her face.

"Uncle Pietro",she began softly. "When will I get to meet grandma Patricia?", she asked.

Pietro froze on his spot.

He looked around making sure that no one had heard her before bending down to pick her up.

"Ssshh princess, not here",he cautioned as he carried Amara back to her room.

Closing the door, he walked towards her bed and sat her up on it before bending down on his knees to be at her level.

"We've already spoken about this before princess. You can't ask anyone about your grandmother Patricia yet", he told her urgently. "You'll get to meet her soon as well as your other grandfather Sean and your father's side of family. You're excited to meet them, right? You will get to meet them very soon. But you must be a good girl for that and not mention about this to anyone, you understand me Amara?"

She nodded her head vigorously.

"Good girl!" he patted her head and stood up when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in", he commanded.

A maid entered the room."The Don has summoned you, sir", she informed him politely.

"Alright!",he nodded. "Assist the princess to get ready for breakfast",he ordered her as well out of the room.

Life had not been easy for Pietro after he had returned to the Romero organization. No matter how greatful the family was that he had brought Amara to them, it still didn't change the fact that he had disobeyed the Don and helped Cristina to leave her family in the first place, and as it was widely known.... disobedience and disloyalty had consequences in the mafia life!

The first month had been a literal hell for him! He still winced when he remembered the torture he had undergone as a punishment to atonement for his crimes. It did not help that Master Rickard Romero had been the one overseeing his punishment.

In any other case the person responsible for a crime such as his would have been killed painfully. It was only the oath that he had sworn pledging his loyalty and protection to Cristina that had saved him.

After the month had been over he was given the time to heal before being presented to Amara again who in turn had started to ask about him more often.

It was only then that he had slowly begun plotting ..... planning on how to introduce Amara to her father's side of the family, the Sullivan's!

Similarly to the Romero's, the Sullivan's had no clue about Amara's existence and the death of their children. Pietro knew that it was downright suicidal on his part to even try something like what he had but this was what both William and Cristina had wanted and Pietro would see to it being fulfilled, even if it was the very last thing he did.

Pietro also knew that the Sullivan's would never harm Amara, just like the Romero's never would. She was their blood and flesh.

Discarding all thoughts of the Sullivan's out of his head, he knocked on the office door and entered when he got the permission to do so.

"Good you are here Pietro", Don Romero stated when he went to stand before him, "I want you to stay close to Amara tonight during the celebrations. Let her run around, Allister and Damien are going to be with her as well but don't let her out of your sight."

"Yes Don", he replied back.

"I don't expect anything to happen tonight afterall only our closest allies and the high ranking members are invited for the celebrations. They won't even dare to look at her the wrong way",he continued with a hard glint in his eyes.

It was no secret amongst those who knew about Amara's existence how much the Don loved his youngest and only granddaughter. And God save those who ever try to harm a single hair on her head!

Just as Pietro was about to raise some issues concerning the security, he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in", the Don commanded.

A guard walked in carrying what seemed like a sealed envelope in his hands. Walking over to the Don he handed it to him.

"This came for you, Don. It was a member of the Sullivan organization who delivered this."

Pietro's eyes widened when he heard that and sure enough when he looked closely, he saw the Sullivan family emblem on the envelope.

The Don remained expressionless even after hearing that.

"Leave", he commanded and both, the guard and him turned to leave when he heard, "You stay Pietro."

Pietro halted and moved back to his initial position, all the while looking at the Don who was drilling holes in the envelope with his stare. Finally, he opened it to reveal a letter inside which he then began reading.

Once he was done he kept the letter aside, a contemplative expression on his face.

Pietro was very curious to know about the contents of the letter but he kept his face in a blank mask of politeness. It never proved good for anyone to interfere with the matters of their superiors.

As it happened, he didn't need to hide his curiosity behind a mask because the Don unexpectedly said, "They want to hold a meeting. The Irish Don wants to hold a meeting with me tonight."

"Wh-what?", Pietro stuttered, surprised.

The Don continued to gaze at him shrewdly, judging if his surprise was genuine or not. Once he was satisfied he continued, "The letter does not state the reason behind this unexpected request. It just says that Sean Sullivan is in Italy and wants to hold a high priority meeting with me."

"Will you say yes Don Romero? If so, then where will the meeting be taking place? If it's here then you'll have to promise them safe passage back..... "

"I understand",the Don waved away his concerns, "What I am curious to know is that why would he want to meet me? After all that has happened.... "

Pietro heaved a sigh of relief internally. It had been no surprise for him that the Sullivan Don wanted to hold a meeting with the Romero Don, though what had actually surprised him was the timing.

He had not expected it to happen so soon!

Yes, Pietro knew that Daniel O'brien had been trying to find information about Amara. Pietro himself had left the man a few hints, discreetly trying to steer him towards the truth. It seemed that he had been successful in his endeavour. The Sullivan Don was finally coming to see his granddaughter.

"He wants a meeting, I will oblige him then. I will offer him and his entourage safe passage for the meeting......",the Don stated, a calculating glint in his eyes. "Pietro, go and inform my son about this new development and make arrangements for even tighter security tonight."

"Yes sir", he replied, a plan formulating in his mind on how to bring Amara face to face with the Sullivan's.

Just as he reached the door he heard the Don Bernard calling him again.

"...And Pietro, I want you to be present in the meeting as well. I will order someone else to take over Amara's guard duty for the night or better yet I'll ask Rose to take the children out of the estate once the meeting begins. I don't want to risk Amara being seen by anyone who I consider my enemy."

"Of course sir", Pietro replied before leaving.

His earlier anticipation forgotten, Pietro was now filled with cold dread. The Sullivan's and the Romero's were going to come face to face after many long years, and now with Amara not being present at the estate he shuddered to think about what could happen.

It was amusing really, how he was relying on a girl of four to do something that no one had ever been able to achieve before.

Not even her own parents had been able to bring the two families together! Their love had lost before the two families.

But Pietro believed that if anyone could do it, it was her...... Amara would be the catalyst that would bring an end to an age old rivalry.

He just hoped that he was not proven wrong.

*******