******

A few hours later, Amara sat on the floor of her room, her back against the door and her knees up against her chest, staring at the ceiling with almost vacant eyes.

She sniffed, wiping away the tears that had streamed down her cheeks as all the events of the morning whirled viciously inside her head. She couldn't believe that so much had happened in a short span of time!

Amara closed her eyes tightly when the sound of light footsteps reached her ears, and she knew who it was somehow just by the sound of it, the carefulness of it, ever considerate towards her.

"Amara?"

It was a while before Damien spoke and even then his voice wasn't strong like always. It was a short call, barely more than a whisper, fear and nervousness latched on to the end of it.

She hitched a cry, biting her lip to stop the sound to the point of drawing blood.

"Amara, please it's me .....open the door",he called out softly. "I just...need to see for myself that you are alright."

Amara wiped away her tears, clearing her throat once before calling out,"I-I'm fine."

Try as she might she was unable to stop the trembling of her lips and on the other side of the door Damien's worry grew tenfold.

"I would like to see it for myself", he replied back gently. "Open the door please."

She scrubbed at her face furiously, removing any and all traces of her tears as she stood up to unlock the door but turned away quickly before Damien could glance at her.

Damien stepped inside her room, closing the door behind him.

"You left the school in a hurry", he began conversationally. "I would have come with you if I knew that you were leaving."

"I-I'm sorry", Amara apologized, shuffling the papers strewn across her desk, her back towards him.

"You don't need to", Damien replied back gently.

An uncomfortable silence enveloped the duo.

Damien struggled with himself internally, hesitating to ask her what punishment Cian had been granted. Because of course he had been, otherwise Amara would not be so upset. She had always been particularly sensitive about Cian, especially after what had happened six years ago.

Finally sighing, he began,"Whatever happened today.....I know that you are upset and probably angry with me", he winced, "but the truth needed to come out at some point. Cian has-"

"I don't want to talk about him", Amara cut him off quietly.

Damien bristled.

"He set you up to compete with his girlfriend and that bitc-",he cut off, visibly trying to calm himself before continuing, "I'm not going to let her off for what happened in that ring", he warned. "What punishment has Valerio decided for them?"

"Damien please", she pleaded.

It hurt to even think about him.

"Not this time Amara!", Damien snapped, misunderstanding her words. "I need to know what punishment Valerio has decided for them. I won't let them escape without any repercussions. I won't let him escape from justice this time", he emphasized bitterly.

"I don't know", she burst out, turning around to face him."I don't know...",she repeated softly.

Damien snapped out of his anger, staring at Amara with increasing concern.

Her eyes shone with an agonized sort of expression as she brought her hands around herself, like something fragile trying to find solid ground.

''Amara", he muttered, shocked to see her so... so broken hearted. "What's wrong?"

The tears that she was trying so hard to control finally spilled as she threw herself in her brother's comforting arms, crying softly.

"It's about Cian, isn't it? Has he been punished very harshly?", he asked, conflicted.

Damien didn't receive any answer which made his anxiety spike. If this wasn't about Cian then why was she so upset?

"Is it Valerio?", he ventured hesitantly.

To his surprise, Amara nodded against his chest, tightening her arms around him.

Damien could guess what had happened.

He was all too aware of the extent Valerio could go in his rage. And it was no secret to him that even a scratch on Amara was enough to set the beast off. After the incident with the chilli drinks, Valerio had proven to the others that he didn't take Amara's security lightly. What might have seemed like a prank to some was actually enough for Valerio to threaten a blood enmity against the Avdonin family because of Niall's prime involvement in the incident.

But he also knew that the Valentini heir's anger was not something that Amara had ever seen before. He tended to behave rather civilly when she was around.

Damien contemplated on how to explain this to her but was shaken out of his stupor when Amara spoke.

"I've hurt him", she sniffed.

"What has happened?", he demanded, pulling away to look at her in the eyes.

"Harley tricked Cian to submit my name for the combat, but Cian told me that he would take the entire blame on himself",she revealed softly.

His eyes narrowed in anger. Damien couldn't believe this! Cian had been tricked? And even then he wanted to take the blame on himself? What game was he playing at now?

"Amara, there's something that you aren't telling me and I want to know what it is", Damien spoke, tensed.

She remained quite for a few moments before she began telling him about her conversation with Cian, both in the corridor and in the room. She told him about the fear she now felt after Cian had explained to her the effects his involvement could have on the peace between her two families.

Damien could feel himself getting more and more alert with every word that she spoke. "He understands that this has the potential to create tension between the two Dons' then why would he want to take the blame on himself?", he muttered internally.

"H-he told me that he wouldn't do it if I...."

"If you what?", he repeated.

Amara looked at him helplessly. "If I broke up with V-Valerio",she whispered so softly that Damien had to strain his ears to hear what she had said.

"What?", he shouted, enraged. He couldn't believe how stupid Cian could be to even suggest something like this.

"I refused to do so. I didn't want to...", she cried softly. "But then Valerio came in and they both started arguing. Val got angry because Cian said something bad about his parents....he punched Cian and he wouldn't stop....Val was so angry and Cian- he...he started bleeding...it scared me...I couldn't stand there and watch them fight...", she fumbled over her words, jumping from thought to thought.

"What did you do Amara?", he asked urgently, dreading her answer.

Amara did not answer and she didn't need to. The heart broken expression that crossed her face was enough for him to know what had happened.

"You broke up with him", he declared, tensed. "You broke up with Valerio because Cian-"

Damien stopped short, eyes widening in disbelief as he continued to connect the dots in his mind.

He placed his arms on Amara's shoulder, bending slightly to look at her in the eye.

"He said something about Valerio's parents? What did Cian say that made Valerio so angry?", he asked her urgently.

Amara looked troubled at his question. "He said something about their d-death",she whispered.

Damien's eyes widened in horrified disbelief, Cian's intention becoming crystal clear to him. He almost laughed out loud at Cian's daring but no less conniving strategy.

He had played a huge gamble which had paid off! Cian had tried to kill two birds with a single stone because by taking up the blame on himself he had not only saved Harley but he had also manipulated Amara into breaking up with Valerio.

The members belonging to the mafia world knew not to let slip even a mere whisper about the deaths of Vittorio Valentini and his wife, but if Damien had to guess, Cian had done so purposely in order to instigate Valerio because Amara had refused to break up with him otherwise. Cian had wanted Valerio to lose his control in front of Amara.

He had wanted Amara to witness how much damage Valerio could inflict on someone. And Amara who had rarely ever seen Valerio in his beastial mode must have become afraid to see that side of him.

Amara looked at him, lashes lined by tears.

"I couldn't even tell him Damien",she sobbed, her face flushed. "I couldn't even tell Valerio that I lo-"

Before she could've complete her sentence, an urgent knock sounded on the door.

She quickly wiped her eyes while Damien answered authoritatively. "Come in!"

"What is it?",he asked the maidservant who had entered the room.

"Don Sullivan would be arriving at the manor in the next few minutes. I've been ordered by Mrs. Claire to let Ms. Amara know that she has to be present outside for the Don's arrival", the woman answered.

"We'll be down right away", Damien dismissed the woman, who bowed once and left, closing the door softly behind her.

"He'll be here soon", he muttered anxiously. "Go and wash your face quickly Amara otherwise it won't take Don Sullivan more than two seconds to realize that you've been crying."

Amara nodded as she turned towards the bathroom but was halted by Damien's unexpected question.

"What was his reaction?",he questioned her, tensed."What did Valerio do after you broke up with him? Did he try and hurt you?"

Damien could never believe that Valerio would ever hurt Amara intentionally. But this wasn't a small issue. Amara had broken up with Valerio. And as much as Amara believed that this was the end, Damien knew it wasn't!

"No! He would never!", Amara protested at once.

"I refuse to believe that he let you just walk out after you broke up with him."

Amara winced."Uncle Pietro was waiting to take me back home, so I left quickly", she murmured.

Damien nodded at her answer. "Go on then, I'll be waiting out at the entrance for you. Come down before your Grandpa arrives", he ordered her before turning around and leaving, making sure that Amara did not see how unsettled he was by her answer.

He could not believe that Valerio had let her walk out so easily. No! Possessive beasts like Valerio never let their loved ones out of their sight, let alone their life. Damien half expected Valerio to have raised a storm by now but he hadn't done anything of that sort yet, and this worried him more than he could express.

Because the truth was that more than Valerio's raging presence, his absence was scaring the day lights out of Damien.

"Damien, where's Amara?

The boy in question was jolted out of his thoughts at the question that was hurled at him as soon as he had walked out of the main entrance.

"She will be here in a moment Mrs. Sullivan", he replied back politely

Claire Sullivan nodded, looking frazzled for all intents and purposes. "The boys aren't here either. Caden knew that father would be arriving today, he should have been here along with Cian to receive him."

"Mother", Liam spoke, running up behind her."I've just received word, Grandpa has crossed the last check post along with his entourage. We should be ready now!"

Damien watched as the guards lined up in a military formation, Claire and Liam Sullivan, the only two members of the Sullivan family apart from Amara present at the manor stood with him, the staff waiting behind them with bowed heads, just as numerous cars rolled inside the compound gates.

"Why hasn't she come out yet?", Liam whisper yelled at him. "Whenever Amara is home, she is always the first one that Grandpa likes to see."

Damien could only shrug in reply, before straightening his back as the Don finally stepped out of his car and covered the short distance between him and his family members.

And just as Liam had said, the Don's eyes did

a quick sweep of the gathered people, searching for his golden haired granddaughter amongst them before his eyes hardened.

"Welcome home, Father", Claire Sullivan greeted the Don who kissed her forehead in return before turning to greet his youngest grandson.

Damien shuddered as the Don's eyes narrowed when he took in the absence of his other grandchildren and just as everyone had expected, he questioned in a hard voice.

"Where is my granddaughter Claire?"

"F-Father..", Claire Sullivan began nervously, only to be cut off by Amara.

"Grandpa!", she called out as she ran towards him. Her voice soft but the joy in it unmistakable.

Damien smiled softly at the pure innocence that was being reflected in her face at that moment as she fearlessly walked in the embrace of one of the most ruthless Don that he knew.

Now, he could only hope and pray that the Don would not realize how upset and unsettled Amara really was! But just as the though crossed his mind, a small sniff was heard.

Damien froze, eyes widening slightly as he exchanged an alarmed look with Liam.

The Don's eyes, which had been soft until then turned cold at once. He carded his fingers through Amara's hair soothingly as he spoke,"Why the tears, precious one? Has anyone upset you?"

Even though the words were spoken softly, the steeliness in them was not missed by anyone, nor was the fact that Don Sullivan seemed to be aiming his question at both, Amara and them simultaneously as he glared at them over the top of her head.

Amara shook her head."No, I just..missed you Grandpa. I'm happy now that you are back'', she murmured against his chest.

Don Sullivan smiled slightly, kissing the crown of her head, but his smile slipped instantly, being replaced with his usual cold expression as soon as Amara pulled away and he wiped her tears.

He looked her over once as if checking for any visible signs of hurt before nodding, satisfied. He finally glanced at the two empty spots besides Claire.

"Liam!", he called out in a hard voice, "Where are your brothers?"

"They were at school the last I checked but I don't know where they both went after that", he answered apologetically.

Amara turned to look at Damien, worried, who shook his head discreetly in return. Where had Caden and Cian disappeared off to?

".... find them and report back."

Amara caught the last words of the instruction her grandfather seemed to be giving to one of his own personal guard, who quickly left to follow his orders.

"When they both arrive home, they should be sent straight to my office",he ordered Aunt Claire.

"Yes, father!"

"And Claire, do oversee the last of the arrangements for the evening dinner party", he ordered.

"Party?", Amara asked softly.

"Yes Amara", Claire answered. "It's just a small dinner party for our closest allies and their families. A chance to celebrate the night together before most of them leave for Chicago tomorrow",she explained.

"You're leaving again?", Amara murmured as she looked at Don Sullivan with accusing eyes. "But you just came back Grandpa!"

Sean glanced at her indulgently, putting his arm around Amara's shoulder as he began steering her inside the manor, followed by the other members.

"I have to go, little one",he answered stoically. "There are certain delicate matters that need immediate addressing and cannot be left for a later date."

"How long would you be gone for this time?",she asked, trying her best to sound normal.

"Longer than usual",came the reply, and Amara smiled sadly at his answer.

It was a ritual they followed. Amara would always enquire about the number of days that it would take him to return home and Don Sullivan would always answer in the same way, never giving any specific date and time. His reason behind it- a mafia man could never guarantee whether he would be returning home from work, let alone at the given day and time.

"Come on Amara, I've got many presents for you and your cousins", he called out to her. "We can spend some time together while you go through them all. I want to know how well you've been taken care of in my absence."

Damien gulped nervously, watching them walk away, hoping and praying that Amara would not let anything slip in the Don's presence.

*****

"I thought Aunt Claire said that it would be a small dinner party", Amara thought to herself, just as another one of his employee walked towards them with his family in tow, bowing and greeting his Don respectfully.

It was early evening.

The grandfather- granddaughter pair were seated on one of the beautifully decorated tables arranged in the backyard of the manor.

Amara sighed softly, allowing the small smile that she had put up on her face to fall off while her grandfather was distracted. She had spent the last few hours with him, smiling and laughing, trying her best to forget whatever had happened at school.

She hadn't fooled him.

Something about her must have unsettled her Grandpa and he had wasted no time in questioning Liam about it.