James leaned back and tapped his foot, bored and anxious at the same time. He turned his chin towards Damon and pushed his fingers through his dark hair with a chuckle.

"So, what will you do?"

"Talk about business with this son of a bitch, of course."

"He was really cheerful around Deetra, hugging and all until we stepped in his office. He really isn't joking about money. He didn't show off his wealth as much as I thought, though."

"Only poor show off money that they don't have, James!"

Damon laughed and fixed his suit jacket in front of the goldish mirror with a smirk. He whistled cheerful, setting the gun inside his coat after checking how many bullets there were in. The kingpin wanted to be sure; he didn't trust Lazaro as much as Deetra seemed to. That man was another misogynistic prick in his eyes, just like his father.

"Don't you show off yourself all the time, though, Damon?"

James brought his finger to his lips, thinking before glaring at him. He chuckled again with his hands on his hips and looked back at James.

"Oh, and also, rules don't apply to filthy rich people, so shut up."

"Whatever you say, old man...."

Damon grabbed his car's keys, ready to step down the stairs to the garage, before turning his attention back to James. He raised his eyebrows with crossed arms and stared at him, confused.

"Will you stay here?"

"Well, I don't have anything important to do, so I was thinking of waiting for Deetra to wake up."

"Suit yourself. If I go missing, Lazaro probably ditched me into an abandoned house or something."

"Oh. Will I get the fortune if you "go missing"?"

"No, Deetra will."

"Same shit. Have fun with uncle Lazaro, Damon!"

A mischievous smile took over his lips. Damon rolled his eyes, stepping down towards the garage already.

"Fuck you."

"GET IN THE LINE AFTER YOUR SISTER!"

James laughed, enjoying himself before melting back on the couch tiredly. He closed his eyes and soon was fast asleep.

Damon and James' friendship was indeed something out of this world. Each alone could barely figure out things, but together, they could take down anyone. Everyone knows that two halves of a brain cell make a whole one. On the other hand, Deetra had way more brain cells than both of them had. That's why she would have the business sooner or later.

Deetra had a bright future in front of her, as bright as it could be considered for an average person. She didn't want to end up like her mother, alone with kids and million of drug dealers on her back. That's why she was afraid of marriage and commitment. Damon would leave everything on her hands someday, and Deetra was worried about this. Sometimes, there was a specific thought going through her mind: Leaving this mansion behind, away from all the drugs and alcohol. But she couldn't let her brother down. They were alone and had only each other. They needed to be strong. They had to be each other's support through sweet and sour.

Damon arrived at Lazaro's mansion within ten minutes with his car. He locked the car and rushed towards the house while fixing his suit. The bodyguards scanned him from head to toe.

"Can we help you, sir?"

"I'm Damon Hopkins. I need to see Lazaro right now."

"He is busy now, sir."

Damon sighed, taking out his wallet, and mumbled under his breath.

"How much to let me in, name a number."

"Sir, I need you to leave."

The bodyguard tried to grab Damon's arm, but he pushed him away with a growl. He wasn't having any of it. The other bodyguard took out his gun and pointed it towards Damon's forehead. He grinned, grabbing the end of the gun and pressing it against his head. The bodyguard looked at him with a scared look, his palm getting sweaty.

"C'mon, pull the trigger. I don't know if your boss will spare your life easy if you hurt me. Do it pussy."

The man was ready to trigger the gun while having his teeth pressed together, but Lazaro walked out. He glared at the bodyguard and then at Damon. His confused face turned into a happy one, and a smile took over his face.

"Nephew! What a surprise!"

He raised his arms, laughing and hitting him softly on the back. Damon chuckled and pushed his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Gerald, lower your gun. This is my nephew!"

The bodyguard, who was angry right now, lowered the gun, swearing -in Italian- under his breath. Lazaro heard him but ignored his people's behaviour and invited Damon into the living room.

"C'mon, Damon."

"After you, uncle!"

Damon raised his palm showing to the inside of the house with a smirk. Lazaro walked in with fast steps, and Damon followed him with slower steps turning a bit towards the bodyguard before entering the living room. A wide smile appeared on his face, and his eyes sparkled as he blew a kiss to the air making him even angrier.

He lifted his chin back, laughing before joining Lazaro. Damon sat beside him and leaned on his knees. The Italian leaned back and looked at one of the servants. The maid prepared two alcoholic drinks and let them on the small coffee table in front of them. Damon could see Lazaro's eyes undressing the maid; he hadn't changed at all from the last time he had seen him that was years ago. He raised his fingers, making a sign so all the bodyguards leave the living room so they'll be alone. They all scattered inside or outside the house; soon, the room was cold, with only the two around them.

"First of all, I wanna say I am happy you are safe and sound from your accident. Deetra said it was terrible. Secondly, about the customer thing, I took care of it, don't worry. You'll see yourself rise up in the black market soon. You don't have anything to worry about -"

"I just wanted to see you, uncle Lazaro. It's been a long time, and I am not gonna lie, I am a bit disappointed I didn't receive a hug."

Lazarro laughed loudly, grabbing Damon's shoulder with force and shaking him gently. He had forgotten how strong he actually was.

"Men don't hug each other, Damon. That's a little sensitive thing girls do. Real men only hug women to show them their strength and the safety they can provide."

"Yeah, right...."

"How's your life, nephew? Still full of chicks in your bed? Ya, know, your father and I were really worried you were gay. You were hanging a lot around the bodyguards when you were a child, glaring at them with such an admirable look. I swear, your eyes shined when you looked at a shirtless one once."

"... Yup, still full of chicks...."

Damon was trying his best to ignore Lazaro's comments at this point. He drank half of his vodka in a sip and wiped away his lips. He brought his thumb to his lips, biting his nail in anxiety. Lazaro raised his eyebrow and brought his palm back to Damon's shoulder with a compassionate smile.

"Is something wrong, Damon? You seem troubled."

"Uncle Lazaro, you are really into the drug business; I mean not as much as I am but still. There's a new person named Hoplite; they snatched away my clients in less than an hour. Do you have any information about them?"

"I don't, but even if I had, they would cost."

Lazaro grinned, grinding his index and middle finger together. Damon rolled his eyes and had another drink.

"You're hilarious, Lazaro...."

Lazaro stopped any of his actions and turned stone cold in seconds. He leaned back, and a severe glare pierced through his skull.

"If you find me funny, there's the exit, Hopkins."

Damon gulped and looked away, shivering for a second and avoiding eye contact. Lazaro laughed and leaned back, murmuring that he's joking with a low voice.

He furrowed his eyebrows and looked on the side of the living room on a bookcase. With slow steps, he crossed the room and grabbed the picture frame that he found on the top self. The black cornices felt nice around his fingers and the more familiar photograph than ever between its walls.

A tall white man with dark ginger hair was standing in the middle, a big smile on his face showing off his teeth. Damon scoffed, his face softened quickly seeing the woman beside the man. He smiled, glaring at her blue eyes and her soft grin. He sighed and looked at Lazaro standing next to his mother with a smirk and wide-open eyes. His left arm was behind Selena's waist, almost wrapped around it.

"You look young here, all of you."

"Young, dumb... Trying to live the best of our lives...."

Lazaro laughed and stepped beside Damon with a smile. He held the picture frame with a broader smile and rubbed the photo's glass softly with his thumb.

"Would you forgive your father if he returned back, Damon?"

The question made Damon lick his bottom lip and stop in his tracks. He twisted his ring before giving it a good look. His father put him through so much from a young age. Damon was in trouble from the moment he breathed along with his sister. He clenched his teeth and twitched the ring stronger, a purplish bruise forming around his finger.

"No."

"No?"

"He caused so much pain to his children and wife. He abused me every single day, physically and emotionally. He doesn't deserve a family; heck, he doesn't even deserve a good life!"

"Damon, you're harsh... He's still your dad. He's family."

"Genetically? Yes. Emotionally? No. Maybe he's my so-called father in the papers, but in my heart and soul, he is worth nothing."

Lazaro shivered to hear his bitter words. He cleaned his throat and left the photograph back where it was, and returned to his seat. He narrowed his eyebrows glaring at Damon's silhouette.

"Your mother deserved better."

"If you mean yourself by saying "better", well, no."

Lazaro froze in his position and raised his left eyebrow. Damon adjusted his shirt with a nod.

"I take care of my sons, Damon, as much as I can. I love Isabella with every beat of my heart. I managed to get over my drug addiction with her help."

"You love Isabella, huh? Does aunt Isabella then know that you were flirting with my mother after dad disappeared? Does she?"

Lazaro shut his mouth quickly and crossed his arms. He squinted his eyes closed and breathed in loudly. The Italian crinkled his nose and stood up with his hands in front of his belly.

"Damon, I wasn't flirting -"

"Are you kidding me? You think that because Deetra and I were kids, we couldn't understand you at all!?"

"Damon -"

"I don't know if you were married then, but you had a son that was one-two years old or so. Where were you for him?"

The room was quiet. Almost quiet. Some bodyguards were peaking through the windows, checking that everything was alright as they had heard Damon's yells. Damon was breathing heavily, his lungs nearly giving him out. Lazaro stroked the nape of his neck and looked away. He eyes the bodyguard who was staring at him and nodded that everything was okay. The veins on Damon's neck were close to throbbing from his anger. He tried to maintain eye contact with Lazaro even if he was trying to avoid it.

He didn't want to see his father ever again, even if someone would pay him to meet him. To his eyes, he was a disgusting man that left behind a family. He let his mother do all the dirty work even if she didn't know how.

"Why were you flirting with my mother? She was such a strong woman and barely managed to take care of the business and the kids after our father's disappearance. You started visiting us more, and at the start, she was happy but at some point after... I could barely see a smile on her lips when especially you were around. What have you done?"

Lazaro shrank the space between them by walking with slow steps towards him. He moved his arm behind Damon's back and guided him back to the couch. Damon looked at him confused and brought his hands to his cheeks.

"I met your father around my twenties. He was a bright young man that was climbing slowly but firmly the stairs of the black market. I was surprised when I learned that he hadn't attended a university. He had many potentials, so I offered to pay him his student years, but I had to choose the university."

"And?"

"A doctor was quite significant at that time for my people, so I sent him to Italy to study medicine. He met Selena there, who was also studying medicine."

"But mom wasn't a doctor, she was a- "

"Nurse. That's how she met Jason. God, he was over the hills for her. She made her somehow marry him after knowing each other only for a year or so."

"How he- "

"I don't know. I can see what he found in her, though. Selena was a young, smart, beautiful lady. I think she was pregnant already when they got married...."

"Pregnant..."

"With twins."

Damon's body jerked, hearing Lazaro's last words.

"After both received their degrees, they returned to London. Jason was already thriving in the black market. He was doing business while studying, and everything had worked out for him. Selena didn't know that Jason was into such dark things and when she discovered it... well... it was already too late. She was married with two kids."

"I don't understand...."

"The following years were... hell. Selena felt like a fool; she didn't deserve all this hide and seek from the police. Jason wasn't letting her go outside the mansion at all. He had paid billions to make the mansion to keep her in like it was a personal prison. To him, she had to stay home and take care of you. Selena had no one to speak to except.... me. I was the only person Jason was trusting enough to let have contact with her. I was trying to visit London twice a month, so Selena had someone by her side. After having conversations with her for hours, I could see why he hid her away from anyone. She was a diamond; she could have every man in her palm but ended up in a trap."

"His actions are still wrong."

"Of course. When Jason disappeared, it was the perfect chance to have her by my side. I know, it was wrong. I was married, but... She was all I desired. That's why I was coming around every other day in the summer where I was in London; I wanted her to be with me, but... I failed. Her mind was on Jason till the day she died. The hope she had, waiting for Jason to return, was strong, but cancer was stronger. I am sorry, Damon, for your father and my behaviour."

Damon stayed silent and looked down, his mind scattered. Too much information and his fried brain couldn't understand everything. He jumped a bit, feeling Lazaro's hand on his shoulder, rubbing it softly.

"I know I am not the best uncle in the world, but I care for Deetra and you. I am sorry I lost every contact after Selena's death, but I am here now. If you ever need anything, I am here for you. In all the ways, your father wasn't."

"I have to return to my sister."

Damon stood up, took the car's keys out of his pockets, and rushed towards the car, not saying goodbye.

"Take care, Damon."

"I'll try."

Damon drove away, speeding over the limits in seconds. He had to tell his sister the truth. Jason wasn't just a terrible father; he was an awful husband, too. Way worse than Damon thought. But his brain wasn't filled just with anger for his father; a woman was hiding in the back of it.

He wanted to do something about the Abigail situation sooner or later.

A/n: Remember to comment, like and add the book to your libary if you liked it :)