"We are about to land at the New York airport in a few minutes Don",Tony, the Romero family's consigliere informed Bernard who was sitting still as a statue staring out of the window.

Bernard gave no visible acknowledgment of having heard the news, prompting Tony to retract his steps back to his own seat, knowing that Don Romero would slay him alive if he continued to disturb him.

From the hard expression on his face, his clenched jaw and fists, darkened eyes and stiff posture, anyone could guess how livid Don Romero was presently!

Bernard ignored the tip toeing of his employees around him. His mind driven by only a single desperate need -to reach his granddaughter as quickly as he possibly could.

He would never forget the sheer panic and rage he had felt in the moment when the news of Amara's kidnapping had reached his ears in Italy. Soon after, he had ordered his forces to be assembled and had left the country with them in tow, his mind driven by only a single thought and that was to get his precious granddaughter back home safely.

He had sworn to kill all those who stood in his way, no matter who they were. No one would be safe from his wrath if anything happened to Amara.

"Only a few more minutes", he thought to himself as he felt the plane making its descent.

As soon as the aircraft stopped Bernard was standing up, ready to rush through the front doors which were being opened by the flight attendants, all of whom bowed to him as he walked towards the exit and in the open.

As soon as he stepped outside his eyes fell on the Sullivan guards who were waiting at a distance to receive him. He made his way to them followed by Tony and the Romero guards who were quickly exiting the plane.

One of the men from the Irish group stepped forward, bowing in respect to him. "Welcome to New York, Don Romero. It's my honour to receive you",he greeted.

Bernard raised his hand silencing any other words that the man was about to say. "What news do you have about my granddaughter?",he asked authoritatively.

The Sullivan guard stiffened before he grudgingly replied,"The rescue operation was a success sir. All the culprits were caught. The ones who have been caught alive are being held at the Sullivan estate."

"What about Amara? Is she well?", Don Romero asked sharply.

The man before him tensed further, his jaw clenching,"Ms. Amara was found in an unconsciousc state sir. She is being treated at the Sullivan hospital as we speak."

******

Bernard stood in the hospital room gazing down at Amara with pained eyes. His hands clenched tightly in fury when his eyes fell on her reddened cheek where a distinct handprint mark could be seen. He wanted to kill the man brutally and painfully who had dared to raise a hand on his grandchild.

He slowly walked towards her bed and kneeled down next to it.With painful delicacy, as if he was handling something easily breakable, he took her hand in his, "Hey princess, open your eyes.... look nonno is here ", he said softly. His throat tightened with emotion when Amara didn't even twitch. Never before had she not answered his call.

His hand hovered over her abused cheek but didn't dare touch it, "I swear to you that I'll make the one's responsible for hurting you pay with their lives princess. I promise you". He said, his each word laced with a dark promise of suffering and pain.

"The Doctor says that she was overdosed with a drug to keep her unconscious, they have already treated her with medicines necessary to counter the effects that the drugs had on her ", Pietro informed him. "She's going to be alright Don, she is being treated by the best doctors in the country."

Pietro had been standing outside Amara's hospital room on guard when a Sullivan guard had run up to him to inform about Don Romero's arrival. He had seen the deadly expression on his Don's face which had softened only after he had entered Amara's room.

They heard a soft knock on the door but no one entered the room as Bernard had forbidden everyone except the doctor's treating Amara to enter.

Bernard sighed and leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on Amara's forehead before standing up from his kneeling position. He walked outside with a passive and cold look on his face to see one of the Romero guards waiting for him.

"What is it ?", he demanded furious at the interruption.

"Don Sullivan has reached the states sir, he is heading towards the Sullivan estate where all the captives are being held ", the guard informed him.

"Very well. Pietro, you and Tony take care of the security here. Stand guard outside her room and don't let anyone except the Doctors treating her to even step a foot on this floor and when they do need to go inside then don't let them enter alone", he commanded sternly.

"As you command", Pietro bowed.

"It's time for me to go and spill the blood of all those low lives who have dared to attack my family ....... And they better run because I'm going to destroy them for what they tried to take away from me"Bernard swore darkly.

*********

Dark eyes scanned the gathered onlookers, at once congenial and dangerous. The captured O'Reilly guards were trembling as Sean's gaze swept over them before coming to land on one person in particular.

"I was really looking forward to meet you..... Jordan O'Reilly ", Sean addressed the trembling man in the centre of the room with a feral grin on his face.

Jordan looked like he might pass out at being personally addressed by the Irish Don who towered over his kneeling form, raw ire rolling off of his body in waves.

"I'd imagined the man who spoke to me on the phone to look more fierce and fearless but look at you shaking and sobbing before me like a scared cat ", Sean mused.

"Just end me and be done with it already ", Jordan said bitterly and Sean raise his eyebrows in mock surprise.

"Oh so the O'Reilly dog does speak eh?! You think that I'll kill you so quickly ? Are you that stupid? Did you forget my promise to you? I told you that I'll make you weep tears of blood for every tear that you made my granddaughter shed, I've not even begun with you yet ", Sean said darkly.

Jordan cried in rage, "Your son already tortured and killed my brother in front of my eyes, now he has gone to end my entire family, what more could you do that would break me? "

"Quite eager are we ?", he chuckled condescendingly before pouring his glass of vodka over Jordan's wounds making him scream in pain.

"Believe me, I've not even begun with you yet " Sean said coldly.

"And you won't stop after you know the full details of what they had planned to do to Amara", Rickard announced as he entered the basement room followed by Patrick, both of their suit coats splattered with spots of blood.

"What are you talking about?", Sean asked authoritatively but Rickard didn't answer him and instead walked towards Jordan kicking him in the stomach once before yanking him up by his hair roughly. "Why don't you tell Don Sullivan here exactly what it is you have done that has sealed your fate to be the same as Aiden O'Reilly's would be".

His eyes remained on Jordan though he inclined his head in Sean's direction. Jordan's eyes flickered to Sean in unparalleled fear and desperation. Rickard waited for a moment, but Jordan appeared to be rendered frozen.

"I would like to hear the full details as well", an authoritative voice boomed from behind and without even turning to look Rickard knew that his father had just entered the room along with the Romero guards.

Jordan's eyes flickered from Sean's face to Bernard's. The Romero Don's face was undecipherable...but his eyes were smoldering in overpowering hatred.

"Answer him", Rickard ordered harshly ,"Believe me you don't want me to answer for you".

"It-it wasn't my plan please.... I have no part in it ", Jordan stuttered terrified of what was to come once he confessed the truth. "It was all Aiden's plan..... he wanted to take away the Romero's and the Sullivan's honour for the loss of his, h-he wanted to degrade your families in the worst way possible and for that he planned to.... " Jordan's mouth went dry under the rageful stares he was receiving from all the men present inside the room as they slowly put two and two together " the girl.... trafficking business", were the only words he could mumble out before Bernard was on him, punching every inch of him that he could reach.

"HOW DARE YOU ?", Bernard roared furiously, his eyes clouded with unpalatable rage "I WILL TEAR APART ANY MAN WHO EVEN THINKS ABOUT HURTING MY GRANDCHILD " Bernard swore.

"Tell me Jordan.... are you married?" Sean asked him and somehow his composure seemed all the more terrifying to everyone present there than Bernard's outburst a few moments ago had been.

"No", Jordan answered quickly.

"Patrick? ", Sean questioned his eyes boring dangerously in Jordan's.

"She's in the room next door father", Patrick answered the unspoken question.

"Please sir no..... ", Jordan begged on his knees, already knowing what the Don must be planning.

Sean chuckled darkly, " You would have seen my granddaughter and my family destroyed to bits in a heartbeat and now I will make you watch your world crumble to ash and dust before you". He turned towards one of his guards and ordered, "You know what you have to do ". The guard bowed quickly and left the room making Jordan struggle against his binds as he cried out furiously.

Sean ignored the struggling man behind him and calmly walked on the other side of the room where a hand- axe hung on the wall. Sean could practically smell the blood on it. He removed it from it's place on the wall and walked back to where Bernard was standing next to the kneeling form of Jordan, seething in rage.

"You said you'd tear any person who hurts her" Sean said coldly, handing over the axe to him. At once Bernard understood what Sean meant as Amara's unconscious form flashed in front of his eyes and he remembered the handprint mark on her soft cheeks.

"You raised your hand on Amara.....You left those marks on her", Bernard growled lowly.

Without warning he raised the hand-axe high over his head and brought it down with all his human strength on Jordan's right arm. Not even a single man present in the room so much as blinked as blood splattered on Sean and Bernard's faces and Jordan's blood-choked screams and howls of pain echoed through the entire manor.

Everyone present there knew that it was just the beginning of what was going to be one of the most gruesome tortures in the history of the mafia world.

*****

"Don't do this to yourself Sean " Patricia pleaded to her husband.

"What am I doing? ", he asked indifferently not looking at her as he stood near the large window of their bedroom.

"Go and visit Amara atleast, it's been almost two days since the incident and you've not gone to check up on her even once, she's still unconscious....... "

"I know she is still unconscious Patricia, I get hourly reports from the hospital ", Sean snapped at her.

"Of course, you have no problem with waiting on pins and needles for the phone calls every hour hoping that there is some change in her condition but you outright refuse to go see her for yourself ", Patricia stated coolly.

"I have my reasons", he said calmly.

" I understand your reasons Sean, I do", she told him softly as she made her way towards him.

"No you don't ", he said harshly but he regretted snapping at her immediately when he saw the hurt flash on her face.

"You blame yourself for what happened, you feel responsible for not being able to protect her from our enemies", she stated and she knew she was correct when she saw his cold and passive mask crack as pain flashed across his face for a few seconds.

"It wasn't your fault. We could have never predicted that one of our oldest allies would betray us in this way, even if our alliance was broken we still had a woman of their family married into ours. Our only mistake was that we assumed that Alyssa's loyalty would be towards her husband's family but we under-estimated her capacity of holding onto trivial college rivalries. It doesn't matter now though, justice has been served, she can never harm Amara again " Patricia said.

"Not yet..... Aiden O'Reilly is still on the run. All our sources are searching for him but we've not got any clue yet.How can I go see Amara without making sure that I've eliminated all those that are a threat to her? How can I look her in the eyes when I know that I've failed to protect her?" he asked her, his words laced with bitterness.

"On top of this all, our alliance with the Romero's is on the verge of falling apart...... Bernard Romero is furious with my decision regarding Alyssa ....", he said impassively and Patricia gasped at hearing this new piece of information.

"What are you going to do? This alliance cannot break Sean, ever", Patricia said.

Before Sean could reply his phone rang and when he answered it,he heard the three words that he was waiting to hear since the past two day's,"She's awake Don ",

******

Patricia was shaking slightly as she entered Amara's room. Amara was half sitting on the bed being supported by numerous pillows all around her while Bernard Romero sat at the edge of her bed. Her eyes were rimmed red as if she had been crying but her face lit up slightly when she saw Patricia enter the room.

"Lady Sullivan", Bernard greeted her cordially and she smiled in return.

"Grandma, you're back ", Amara said weakly though with a small smile on her face.

"How could I not be? I missed my favourite granddaughter", Patricia laughed lightly as she walked towards her bed.

"I missed you too ", she said smiling at her but the smile faltered when she looked around the room for one other figure but Patricia was the only one.

"Where's … where's grandpa …?", she asked hesitantly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Bernard Romero had gone stiff at Amara's enquiry.

Patricia grimaced slightly. Tension between both the families Patriarch's was running very high at the moment, she highly doubted that the two could stay in one room without threateningly wars on each other.

Before she could reply Bernard stood from his seat and looked down at Amara with soft eyes, "I need to go out for some work for a little while princess, is it alright with you? "

Amara looked like she wanted to object but instead she nodded her consent. Bernard smiled at her and caressed her hair once before swiftly leaving the room.

"How are you feeling child? Are you in any kind of pain? ", she asked her anxiously.

"Grandma....",Amara muttered biting her lip. "I... I need to ask you something important before nonno returns", she said ignoring the question about her health.

Patricia's brows furrowed "What is it Amara?"

"Is there going to be a fight between nonno and grandpa now ?" she asked with fear in her eyes.

"What? Who told you that? " Patricia asked her. Amara couldn't have known about the tension between the Don's, Patricia was sure that Bernard Romero would never bring such topics up with Amara.

"No one, I was just wondering ",she sighed staring out in space. "You didn't say where grandpa is...", she asked turning to look at her again.

Patricia hesitated before replying, "He's going to come visit you in some time child, he was on his way with me here but he suddenly got a very important business call ",she said and winced slightly at her lame excuse. It had always been a difficult feat for her to lie to Amara about the smallest of things when she looked up at her with her wide innocent eyes.

"He wasn't lying then...... ",Amara whispered to herself but Patricia heard it.

Before Patricia could understand what was happening Amara had jumped down from her bed, tears in her eyes as she made a mad rush to the door.

"AMARA !", Patricia shouted when she saw her fall down, her limbs physically weak at the moment. She quickly rushed towards her and pulled the shaking and crying girl in her arms. Patricia was really worried now as Amara looked on the verge of hyperventilatin. She was just about to order the guards to call the doctor when she heard pounding footsteps and the door was thrown open to reveal Sean standing at the door along with numerous other guards with a gun in each of their hands ready to defend them.

When Amara's eyes fell on him it seemed as a dam broke because she started sobbing uncontrollably and quickly rushed towards Sean hugging him tightly around his stomach. Sean froze for a moment before he shook out of his stupor and picked her up and carried her to the bed sitting on it with Amara who clung to him tightly.

"He said that you are never going to come for me Grandpa....... he said that you are sending me away because you don't want me to stay with you anymore....but I knew he was lying. I knew it" Amara said as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Who said such nonsense to you?"he asked as his grip tightened around her.

"I... I don't know. I spoke to him over the phone. He said that he was your friend and that you had asked him to take me away from here",Amara admitted.

Sean's blood boiled as he heard Amara, he knew at once who must have spoken to her and tried filling her head with such nonsense. It seemed that Aiden O'Reilly's list of crimes kept increasing every hour.

He pulled away from her so that he could look in her eyes as he said his part. Amara looked at him with tear filled eyes and Sean quickly swiped away the tears before cupping her cheek, "Tell me child.... What is your name?"

Amara looked at him confused before replying softly "Amara "

"No..... Your full name"

"Amara Sullivan Romero ",she replied back.

"That's correct. You are a Sullivan. My granddaughter..... No one can send you away from here Amara. Not even I can, not that I ever will. You are my precious granddaughter, the baby of our family "he said emotionally.

Amara nodded before hugging him back"..... But I was so scared grandpa.... It was so dark and cold there..... ",she mumbled while Sean continued to caress her hair soothingly. "You don't need to fear anyone now Amara, I won't let this happen again, ever ".

"Too right, we won't " Bernard agreed as he came back inside. Both the men shared a significant glance with each other and Patricia heaved a sigh of relief as she realised that even though things were not good between them right now, they wouldn't let it have any effect on their relationship with Amara.