*REBEL SIMMONS POV*

I could help but stare into those mesmerizing grey eyes as Dante walked into the room. His stubble was thicker, and I could tell that he's been growing it out. His hair looked somewhat messy from what I'm assuming is him running his hands through his hair countless times. He looked toned, and his large muscles constricted against the plain black t-shirt he wore. As amazing as he looked, the one thing that bothered me was the large bags underneath his eyes, indicating that he hasn't been sleeping over this past month.

He slid into the seat next to me, and cleared his throat while looking forward, avoiding eye contact with me.

"Dante." Florence said towards he son, her eyes beaming. "Where's your brother?" She asked as she tilted her head.

"Don't know." Dante said before he looked down at his plate and picked up a fork. The tension in the air was thick as everyone was adjusting to Dante's intimidating presence once more.

I stared at my plate, losing all appetite from the emotions that began stirring in within my stomach. I sighed softly before placing my fork down while I stared at my steak, mashed potatoes and vegetables.

"Is something wrong with your food?" Dante asked slowly, breaking the silence as he continued eating.

"No." I stated as I looked forward, making everyone look my way as they continued to eat in silence.

"If there's nothing wrong with it, then why aren't you eating it?" He asked as he finally looked over at me.

"If you're so concerned about it, then why aren't you eating it?" I snapped back as I narrowed my eyes at him, making the twins eyebrows raise as they watched intensely.

"Because ...reasons." Dante said as he put down his fork and stared at me.

"Obviously you're not eating it because you don't think it's worth eating. So I'm not sure why you even care so much about it." I said as I shrugged and raised my eyebrows.

"That's not true." Dante said in a deadly tone as his eyes narrowed. "I do care about it, that's why I'm not fucking eating it!" He said as his hands clenched into fists on the table.

"Well you ate it before, I'm not sure why you're not eating it now." I said before I chuckled at him. "Unless you're eating something else? That's the logical answer here, right?" I said as I tilted my head.

"Aw shit." Isa said in a high pitched voice before sipping her tea.

The Vino family as well as my mother looked down at their plates with wide eyes, trying not to eavesdrop on the humiliating situation that was unraveling before them.

"Why would I eat something else when there's only one meal I'd like to fucking eat." Dante said in a harsh tone before turning slightly to face me.

"Obviously you don't want to eat it, if you're not eating it." I said blatantly as I crossed my arms and stared at him.

"Of course I want to fucking eat it! It's my favorite god damn meal!" Dante said before slamming his hand down on the table.

"Well if it's your favorite meal," I said mimicking his accent, "Then why aren't you eating it?" I said as rolled my eyes.

"Who's says I don't want to eat it?!" Dante exclaimed as he glared at me, his voice booming through the dining room.

"I don't know, maybe you got full on an appetizer and found out it was better than the main course." I said as I gave him a deadly glare.

"I didn't eat any fucking appetizers, and I haven't eaten appetizers ever since the food got here." Dante said through his teeth.

"Really!" I said as I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. "Because I'm pretty damn sure I heard you talking to an appetizer." I said as I tapped my chin and looked up at the ceiling.

"I want to eat the food. I was eating the foods but I can't eat the food right now god dammit!" Dante shouted as he leaned towards me.

"Well maybe it doesn't want to be eaten by you because you're an asshole!" I yelled back as I clenched my jaw.

The only sound in the room was a spoon hitting the floor on the other end of the table, followed by complete and utter silence. I looked around to see the twins staring with amusement clear in their faces, Florence and Giana were eating slowly in an attempt to mind their own business, and my mother was drinking water while looking directly at both of us. Harry looked mortified and confused in his sweater vest, and Stephan was looking between us with an eyebrow raised.

"Excuse me." I said as I felt a blush of embarrassment creep up into my cheeks.

I quickly walked out of the room and outside towards the garden when I heard the sound of faint footsteps following me. I continued walking to my sanctuary, figuring that this would most likely explode into an argument and i wanted to place as much distance between us and the house as possible.

"Just fuck off, will you?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Geez, woman! I was just checking to see if you were okay." A familiar voice said, making me gasp and immediately turn around.

"Stephan, shit. I'm so sorry." I said as I ran my hand through me hair and gave him an apologetic stare.

"I'm just messing with you." He said as he gave me a soft smile. He sat down on the bench, and patted the seat next to me, motioning for me to sit beside him.

I sighed before obliging, and flopped down on the concrete bench.

"So... you and Dante seem to be very passionate about... eating your meat?" He said as he raised an eyebrow at me and chuckled.

"Guess so." I said shaking my head.

"Touchy subject?" He said after a moment, looking at me with his eyebrows furrowed.

"You have no idea." I said before sighing.

"Yeah, another thing you and Dante have in common." He said under his breath, making me look at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Hey I'm not spilling any details." Stephan said as he shrugged. "He may be a dick but he's still my dick of a cousin." He said as he scratched his head and laughed. I chuckled before looking down at the floor, enjoying the peaceful night sky around us.

"So... about this ball thing." Stephan said as he looked up.

"The Underworld Ball," I said in a fancy accent. "Quite bougie, don't you think?" I said as I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah well, I'm looking forward to it just as much as you are." He said as he shook his head

"Oh come on. The fancy dinners, fancy guests, a death threat looming over our heads, I'm sure you're gonna have a great time." I said as I lightly punched his arm.

"You're not going?" He asked as he looked at me with a confused look on his face.

"Mafia leaders and their dates only." I shrugged. "I'm just under contract, and I have no date." I said as I looked up at the sky.

There was something about Stephan that was calming, and it was in that instant that I realized why he and Dante butted heads so much: they're polar opposites.

Stephan has a laid back attitude, and can lighten the mood anywhere he goes, while Dante resembles more of a hurricane whenever he walks through the door.

It felt nice to be able to talk to someone after feeling so isolated, even if it was consisting of surface level conversations. Besides, one main reason why I enjoyed Stephan's company was because he never pressed for details.

"Oh, before I forget again." Stephan said as his eyes widened.

"It isn't exactly Christmas anymore but..." he said reaching into his pocket. "Better late than never." He said before tossing a small box towards me.

"You didn't have to, really." I said as I tilted my head and looked at the small package.

"It was nothing, just don't tell Dante." He said as he smirked at me.

"No promises." I said as I smiled and began to open the perfectly wrapped present.

"Oh no you don't, I'm serious about this one." Stephan said as he laughed.

I ripped off the remaining shred of paper and furrowed my eyebrows in confusion at the contents within.

It was a picture, a very old picture of a family: a husband, wife, and son. The parents were behind their tiny son, holding onto his shoulders as they posed for the picture. Behind them was a large crowd of people, some were moving boxes, others were laughing in groups.

But what caught my attention the most, was the little boy. His smile was so genuine and bright that it lit up most of the photograph. His front tooth was missing, and his blond hair was messy. His grey eyes were shining with happiness and life.

"This is one of the last pictures we have of Dante as a kid. "Stephan said as he smiled a crooked smile.

"It's the day he began his training to become the next Don." Stephan said as he looked at the photo in my hands. "That was also the day he stopped smiling." He said as a sad smirk spread across his lips.

I looked up to see Florence giving the camera a small smile. Her eyes were slightly watery, most likely having cried in objection to what her eldest son is about to go through.

Dante was the spitting image of his father: same grey eyes, blond hair, even the scowl looks exactly like him.

"I never thought I'd see my cousin smile again." Stephan said as sadness crept up in his expression. "That is, until you came along." Stephan said as he looked at me, making my eyebrows furrow.

It was true, in the moments I've had with Dante, he had only smiled a handful of time, and all of those rare occurrences were thankfully with me.

"I can't say much... I mean, he'd kill me if he ever found out I even hinted this..." Stephan said as he looked behind us quickly.

"But Dante has a reason for the way he's been acting towards you. He cares about you, he's just... he's just stuck between a rock and a hard place right now, you know?" Stephan said, struggling to find the right words as I sighed and continued to look at the photo in my hand.

"Just don't give up on him, okay? Promise me." Stephan said as he held out his pinky. I looked at his pinky as I recalled his mother's words to me, reciting the exact same thing.

"This family and their damn pinky promises." I said as I chuckled and shook my head.

"But deal." I said as I smiled and interlocked my pinky within his.

"Thank you for this." I said as I motioned towards picture. "And thank you for telling me. I really appreciate it." I said as I smiled at him.

"No problem." He said as he smirked. "But seriously, don't tell Dante. I don't feel like getting my dick chopped off anytime soon." He said as he shivered.

"Anytime soon? So when would be your ideal time?" I asked before I laughed loudly.

"Shut it." Stephan said as he shook his head.

"Wanna see something cute?" He said as he raised his eyebrow.

"Sewing as we were just talking about wieners, I'd assume the logical thing to say is no?" I said as I tilted my head and raised my eyebrow.

"Geez, perv." He said as he scrunched his nose.

"Look at this cutie." He said as he pointed to the corner of the photograph.

"It's baby Stephan. I was told I was quite the lady killer." He said as he smirked and pointed to a small child sitting on the floor.

"Yeah, was is extremely accurate." I said as I smiled. I looked at the small toddler, and Stephan looks just like an older version of the child in the photo.

"Wow, same haircut and everything." I said as I chuckled.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." He said proudly as he ran a hand over his sleek and styled hair.

As my eyes scanned the photograph, my lighthearted mood soon morphed into anxiety brewing within the pit of my stomach when I recognized a blur of a face in the back right hand corner of the picture.

A face I would do anything to forget.

A face that haunted my nightmares.

A face that ruined my childhood.

Johnny Simmons.