MERCURYS POV.

     "Care to mention where you found her?" Angelo asked as he looked at Gino and Violet.

    "Some bus station near their restaurant. I guess she tried just making a run for it." He yawned before walking over to the coffee maker, grabbing a mug before filling it very high with coffee.

    Violet kept her arms crossed and her head down.

    "Violet! Where the hell have you been?!" Nick ran into the kitchen, his fiancée following behind.

Great. All of them are in here.

   "She tried to run away." Angelo answered plainly.

    "What were you thinking?" My mother questioned.

   Do they have to do this in here?

"I want a life." Violet shrugged. "I don't want to get told what to do anymore. I'm almost eighteen."

     "That wouldn't be an issue if you didn't owe seven figures." Angelo responded to her reasoning.

      Nicks eyes snapped up to look at him.

"You have no idea what it's like to be scared for your life, do you?"

   "Excuse me?"

Oh boy.

   "You've never had to actually fear something. Not all of us have that leg up in life, so can you respect that?"

   You would think he would know by now that asking Angelo questions almost never ends well for him.

  "Gino, take Violet back to where they are staying."

     "Let's go Miss. Runaway." Gino chugged what was left in his mug before making their way outside.

    "Mercury, upstairs please." Angelo looked at me.

Ah man. Again? I'm losing weight from going up an down these stairs.

ANGELOS POV.

      "What makes you think I've never felt fear before?" I eyed the two.

"The fact that you're usually the one to cause the fear is a good enough reason for me."

   I think I'll take that as a compliment.

"You mistake me for someone who isn't human." I rolled my eyes.

    "Right. Face it. You don't know what it's like to be scared. You don't know what it is like to care about someone so deeply, that you're willing to endure this hell for." His voice raised a bit at the end. "Do you think I like that you had to drag back my daughter? She's stuck here, and I can't do anything about it because it could get one of us killed. If you didn't know, that is what fear is!"

    What the fuck?

"Well," I sighed. "I guess it's time for you to learn what happened to my daughter almost two months ago."

"What happened to Mercury?" Adaline asked quickly. "Is she ok?"

Could've all been avoided.

"Your last husband took her."

She was literally the cause of all of this.

"What-,"

"He took your child, and you didn't know about it. Warren almost killed her. He cut her hair, he was in love with her." I kept my anger under control with an even tone.

"In love with her?" Nick asked.

"In a twisted, disgusting way. Bottom line is, if he would have succeeded in ending her life, I would have been killed too."

Adaline looked like she was about to faint.

"How do we know you aren't lying?" Nicholas interjected again.

Must he always speak?

"Look at you. As much as I hate to admit it, i don't think anyone would be able to take you down." He crossed his arms as he looked me up and down.

"I never once said that anyone would be able to."

When it had dawned on him, he slowly uncrossed his arms.

"So no, I don't know what it's like to fear for my own life because of someone out there wanting to kill me. I know what it's like to fear for someone else's life, and that's enough to control my own."

It's hard to have to say it, but Mercury is my life.

And it scares the hell out of me.

Having a child that is the only thing that dictates what you do and how you do it, especially without any knowledge of what she is doing.

It really was enough to make the devil fall.

"And right now, the only reason you three are here is because that kid has seen enough death in her life. I'm doing this for her, not for you. So when I say to do something, you do it. I don't care if it pisses you off or not." I finished.

"Look if you could just-,"

"Nick." Adaline looked at him. "I love you, but shut up."

Finally. She uses her head for once.

"If you would be kind enough to get the hell out of my house, I would be satisfied." I dismissed the two.

They didn't stick around for much longer after that.

Good. They're learning.

I tried my best to ignore the small poking on my shoulder.

"Angelo." She whispered for the fifth time.

"Angelo."

I've literally been up all night.

"Ange-,"

"I'm not afraid to bite back you know." I groaned, finally opening my eyes.

"Good, you're up." She later down. "It's like five in the afternoon, you've slept most of the day. Anyways, I was taking a nap and I had a dream."

"Was it about waking me up?"

"No."

"Then why are you doing it?"

"Hush let me speak, anyways, I was at the grocery store, and the cashier was like really mad at me. Are you keeping up?"

"You pissed off a working citizen, continue."

"Right, so anyways, I did what you always tell me to do when I don't feel safe."

"Tell them you just put their name on the mafias list?"

"Exactly, so they don't believe me, and I try to call you for proof that at least I look like a mafia guy, but I couldn't because you were on your honeymoon."

"What the fuck?" I looked at her.

"I know right. So, you end up driving to the store I'm at, and it turns out you married mom."

Oh my god.

"And then Gino changes his last name to Vinati after drinking too much, but that's the main part." She finished.

Vinati?

"Should I be worried?" I asked.

"Don't know. Probably." She shrugged. "But when I woke up I got really scared that you actually did marry mom, so I figured I'd come make sure."

I lifted up my left hand, showing her that there was nothing on my ring finger. "Never in a million years would I ever marry someone, much less your mother."

"Most people would find that insulting."

"Do you?"

"Absolutely not. Just stating a fact."

She's got an interesting imagination, I'll give her that.

"So, Vinati huh?"

They were a good family to do business with.

"Yeah, Gino was telling me about his friend Dean a while back, I guess it just kind of was in the back of my mind."

"Some mind you got there kid." I began to close my eyes again.

"Now that you're half asleep, can I have ice cream for dinner or is that a question to ask you when you're fully asleep?" She asked quietly.

"You're not allowed to have dessert for dinner. We've been over this."

"Fully asleep question it is then."