No POV:
-london England-
The air is tense as Nicholas Rose and his eldest son Leonardo Rose enter the silent room, "you're late." Riccardo Valentino retorts annoyed and disappointed at the terrible time management his cousin is displaying, "something came up." He says unbothered taking his seat towards the head of the table as Leonardo hangs back and takes a seat next to his cousin- Francesco Valentino, eldest son of Riccardo Valentino in the surprisingly small and humble office.
At the front desk sat Montgomery Stark, watches the cousins closely while also keeping an eye on Sasha Petrov, who had received a last minute invite to this top secret meeting to understand more of this complex situation.
These four men and their four eldest children sit silently in the maximum security high-rise in the centre of london. the four fathers, all heads of their family's successful and incredibly influential businesses decided they needed to sit down in an attempt to understand what's happened and where it's going.
Montgomery ends the tense silence with a sigh as he leans back in his chair, "let's start with the codes. Firstly we all agree to get our best men into finding the password for Ivanovs vault, correct?" He asks and all of the men nod, "let's start simple, ..graysons number was twelve." Montgomery says surprising both Sasha and Nicholas.
"..Well Viktors number was one hundred and eighty seven." Sasha says in a heavy Russian accent which also sounds slightly confused at the vastly different numbers, he glances to Nicholas trying to understand what he's thinking as Nicholas only glances back in return.
"Ella's was eight hundred and twenty eight." Everyone falls silent as they mentally try to work out what these numbers could mean, "..right, I don't think we're going to get it right now. ..Send out these numbers to your smartest and most trusted individuals and keep each other updated on any ideas." Montgomery says in an annoyed tone as his son, Zayn Stark scoffs from behind him.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just get Malinowski and get the password from him ourselves.? He is the only person alive who knows what the code is." He asks leaning onto the corner of his fathers desk as his fathers glare deepens, "Zayn that man in a ghost, you know just as much as everyone else here that even with all the men we have working to get him we have little to no chance of even finding him- let alone getting the number from him.."
"-And don't forget that if we take Malinowski away from Vladmir Ivanov then he will die and his eldest son igor Ivanov will take over-" Montgomery brings himself to stop his rant as everyone's backs freeze over with chills.
No one wants to think about what would happen if Igor Ivanov took over the strongest underground business in Russia.
Everyone in this room knows that Vladmir is dying and weak- rumours say that's why wojciech Malinowski is working with him and why he's using humans as test rats to see how long Malinowski can keep Vladmir going from his inevitable demise.
Even Vladmir himself doesn't want his run to run Russia. That says a lot.
"You need to understand that we won't find him unless he wants to be found." Montgomery finishes as Zayn sighs and backs off, "..do we know his intentions? -And does anybody know anything about what the ivanovs are planning. I assume we all know they've both been seen in America." Sasha says looking around.
"Well we can assume it has something to do with Ella," Nicholas starts, "some of my guys found a small apartment where some of Vladmirs guys had been staying and they found notes and information they had been making and keeping of Ella."
Pity falls of Montgomery and Sashas faces, knowing the girl is younger than both of their youngest children they can't imagine what it's like being the parent of a child so unlucky to have such things happen and happening to her.
They can't even think of what it must be like for her.
"How is she?" Montgomery asks what everyone is wondering, "she's getting better." Nicholas says simply trying not to hint to anything wrong.
Especially because of Sasha, although so far he's seemingly had good intentions of simply building a strong work relationship with him, Riccardo and Montgomery they can't trust him just yet, Montgomery has been a close family friend since their fathers and fathers before them built up the foundations of their empires yet sashas a new name and new face to the world. They simply can't trust him entirely- especially with anything about Ella.
"Let's focus on getting into the vault and keeping our family's safe, yes?" Riccardo says shrugging wanting to get the attention away from Ella, "we have the code- now we just need to know what's inside the vault. We have strong evidence that Vladmir wants Ella back for some reason- so now we have to find out; why her, what does wojciech Malinowski want, and what's in the vault. Am I forgetting anything?" Riccardo says in a stumble Italian accent looking around at the three men and their sons.
"No? Okay."
——
-9 am America (24 hours after meeting)-
Ellas POV:
Me dad and Emily sit outside in the first seating area with the big bar as we eat our breakfast, I'm pretty proud of myself to be honest. I've eaten two and a half pancakes with the toppings! Like Nutella and sugar and stuff..
"We have the twins birthday coming up! Wonder what they wanna do this year.." Emily asks herself as she scrolls through the calendar app on her phone, "what do they usually do?"
"Uh- have all of their friends over for a big pool party and other party stuff," she turns to me and smirks, "I usually leave when they start bringing out the alcohol. Then It gets crazy but the highlight of their birthday is watching them clean it all up." Emily laughs, "you make them clean up after everyone?" Dad asks surprised, "well I'm not going to make the cleaners clean it all."
"Fair enough," dad says sipping his drink while Emily hums, "what did you used to do for your birthdays?" Emily asks suddenly while smiling sweetly at us, "uh, get a take away I guess, open presents maybe have a friend or two for a sleepover," dad says nudging me, looking to him I simply nod, "oh and what about you Anthony?"
"Well I would get a lovely breakfast in bed from Ella," he starts with throwing his arm jokingly round my shoulder, "then I open my pressies from Ella and becky and some friends and then we would later get a nice takeout and watch a film together."
"Hmm." She says looking at us intently while Alex drags someone out onto the patio, "just sit and talk to people for god sake." Alex says as he forces a guy who looks to be in his early twenties to sit next to Emily, "what's happening?" Dad and Emily ask at the same time as Alex sits next to dad.
"Harry needs some sun." Alex sighs as Harry looks to me before looking away to his hands, "why?" Emily asks as Alex glances to me before speaking, "Harry sta cercando di scoprire la password per il caveau, c'è una cosa che succede con Montgomery e Riccardo e quello," (harry's been trying to find out the password for the vault thing nicks on about with montgomery and riccardo and that,)
"Ohh," Emily says glancing to me and smiling softly, "computer people things," she says shrugging making the three guys laugh softly as Emily takes a sip of her cocktail.
I guess they're getting closer to seeing what's inside the vault.
"pensi che Ella possa sapere qual è il codice? o cosa c'è dentro il caveau?" (do you think ella might know what the code is? or whats inside the vault?) Harry asks in a soft voice as he plays with his fingers under the table, "forse ma... non vogliamo insistere su nulla che possa turbarla." (maybe but.. we don't want to push at anything that could upset her.) alex says smiling softly to me as everyone glances to me.
Putting on a slightly confused face I look to dad who only smiles and wraps his arm round my shoulder, "don't worry about it lovey, just think about your surprise soon whenever dad wakes up." Dad chuckles as everyone else seems to brighten up at the mention of my 'surprise'
Groaning as dads been pestering me about this 'surprise' for the past day he laughs and so does Alex, "oh I wish I could see your face," Alex smiles as Emily agrees, "you grandads very strict on who's gonna be there as he was the one who came up with the idea." She giggles, "he so excited I think he even woke up early today and is getting ready just now." She laughs harder as the back door opens just as she calms herself.
"What are you laughing about?" Stefano asks as Emily smiles sweetly at him, "nothing," she smiles innocently as dad and Alex share a small glance of excitement.
——
"So how did you feel?" Becca asks me and me alone as dad sits outside patiently waiting for the clock to read 12 o'clock and for the therapy session to be over.
"A bit sad and helpless." I type on dads phone and show it to bec a as she nods, "I understand why you would feel that way, ..what did you do once your dad had left?"
"I tried to calm down but time went by really fast and by the time I kind of woke up it was tea time and my dads dad knocked on the door to ask if I was okay and he helped explain stuff I guess." I type out awkwardly as I try tell becca about yesterday.
"Hmm." She hums and thinks for a couple seconds before talking, "I think this was a big panic attack, do you know what that is?" She asks and I nod quickly, of course I know what a panic attack is I've had them since I started at secondary school.
"Have you had a history of these?" She asks and I nod once again, "how do you usually handle your panic attacks?" She asks and I shrug, after a couple seconds of awkward silence I type out on my phone, "they started when I was 11 but no one really knew and I would just hide in the toilets until it stopped as I didn't want anyone to know or worry, one time a teacher found me in the halls upset and I got a school counsellor but she wasn't very useful and don't help much."
Once I show her the text again she reads through it and smiles, "so you tried to get help but the counsellor wasn't.. very good?" She asks and I nod, "she was nice but would kind of turn it into her own therapy session or tell me that I kind of need to get over things, I think I know more about her own personal life than I do my own." I show her and smile softly as she laughs, "yeah some people can be like that, but back to your panic attacks you said you've had them since you were eleven, do you know what triggers them?"
"Well it used to be stuff with people and girls at school being mean or just loud and I guess school was just overwhelming for me and I struggled to handle it a lot of the time but now a lot of things used me I guess but idk" I show her with my hand shaking as she reads and smiles sadly, "do you know new ways of calming yourself?" She asks and I shake my head.
Yesterday for example I just cried for hours- and before that I would just cry into dads shoulder and not say anything and leave him just as upset as me as he couldn't and can't di anything to help- and at worse times I sometimes have full on episodes where I'm practically re-living a memory just as real as when it happened to me.
That's the worst.
"Well ways to help can be breathing technique's, or the five senses method, where you list five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste." She says glancing at the clock reading "11:59"
"I recommend you and your father maybe going through some techniques together and seeing what could work, your father seems very eager to help you with anything so I'm sure he'd love to help you in any way." She says just as a knock sounds from the door.
"Come in!" Becca calls out as she stands and hold out her hand for me to hold as she helps me up, "hey honey," dad says walking over and almost immediately hugging me into a soft embrace, as I hug him back I see Stefano and Becca talking as dad pulls away and holds my face in his hands, "how was it baby?" He asks and I simply nod making him smile, quickly bringing me back into a hug soon I find myself back in the elevator beading back to the car.
Watching as the world races up as we suddenly fall into the underground parking we stop softly and the elevator door open to an empty parking lot.
Walking back to the car dad settles me down as he gets in next to me and Stefano gets in the front.
"Ready for your surprise?" Dad asks drumming his hands on his thighs as he almost squeals while Stefano sighs and glances back at his youngest son, "the drives about an hour okay sweetie?" Stefano says as he smiles at me before starting his personalised rolls Royce and pulling out into the busy city streets.
—
We continue driving through the more quiet and long streets with pretty houses dotted around every mile or so and soon pull out into a long driveway leading up to a very fancy looking farm house- nothing compared to dads family's house but still beautiful and large with a big garden and pretty flowers.
Stopping at the end or their drive way the door opens to a lady with a big smile on her face as she sees is exiting the car.
I wonder what the surprise is?
Nerves start building in my stomach as the lady starts loudly talking to dads dad, "so y'all exited to meet 'em?" She asks smiling widely almost making it seem like her cheeks are about to explode.
"Yes." Stefano says simply as dad- probably noticing my shaking hands and stiff posture wraps his arm round me softly as Stefano continues talking much quieter to the lady.
"You okay sweet?" Dad asks smiling as I look up to him, "what is it?" I ask softly as he smiles and giggles softly, "you're gonna see in a sec okay?" He says softly as he continues to help with my now faint nerves.
This lady looks harmless and dads never going to let anything bad happen to me, so.. I should be okay. I shouldn't be so worried..
Taking a deep breathe we follow Stefano and the lady into her house and into the living room where a small group of puppies roll around biting at each others ears.
My heart jumps to my throat as tears well in my eyes while everyone looks to me, a big smile- probably the biggest I've ever smiled ever falls onto my face as I look up to dad and Stefano "a puppy?" I ask as I feel my eyes tear up even more as they both nod- they smile like idiots as the lady opens the crate and asks me softly if I want to see them.
Immediately nodding I grab into dads hand and bring him with me as we enter the crate that reaches my knees, "y'all can play with 'em and see with one's yall like, I'll be out here." She says stepping out into the walk way as Stefano stands next to us only outside the crate whereas me and dads ankles and calf's begin to be jumped at and bit by the seven golden cocker spaniel puppies.
Kneeling down to be more eye level with them all I pet them ass as they all wiggle about, their soft golden fur runs around in blurs as I play with them with all of the toys and blankets they have.
Soon after a couple minutes I look up to the small dog house filled with blankets and pillows to see big brown eyes watching me closely as I play with its brothers and sisters. As the puppies loose interest in me as I stop playing with them and run to attack my dad I hold out a small carrot plushie as the puppy takes a small step out to retrieve the toy.
Gently taking the end of the toy I let go as it gently pulls of it, softly it's tail begins to wag as I look back up to me with big soft brown puppy dog eyes as it softly whines. Sitting down crossed legged on the floor the puppy walks cautiously towards me as I hold out my hands non-threateningly as it places the carrot toy onto my lap, smiling I softly pet its head as its tail wags faster.
Soon with the puppy in my lap on its back as I hold it like a baby with the carrot in between its legs as it chews the end of it as much as it can with its little puppy teeth Stefano sits opposite me and tickles the puppy's belly making it wiggle and whine cutely.
"This the one?" He asks and I nod and look up to him smiling, "she's so cute." I say stocking it's ears that seem too big for it's small baby frame as dad suddenly falls to the floor, looking back I see dad on his arse with seven puppies crawling all over him as he laughs, "they've got me!" He says picking im them off once at a time before the all soon climb back into him.
"Ah!" He says as one bites his hand as he prys each one off before they climb back on. "Help, oh my god, it hurts." He says standing as they bite down onto his shirt and trousers with their puppy teeth as he try's catching them and placing them onto the floor for them to only bite his hands, "help!"
—
Sat in the car on the three hour drive back home I watch the puppy snores softly in my lap curled in all the soft blankets it could ever want as dad sings a lady gaga song making Stefano and I laugh.
We're a put one and a half hours in, so about half way as Stefano pulls into a car park. Stopping his car in the parking space basically next to the pet shop door he turns back to me smiling, "let's get you're little pup some toys hm?"
I hold the puppy in my arms as we walk down the shopping isle, the isle on my left is filled with toys and chews and on the other side is beds and food all for dogs of all ages.
So far we've picked out the food the breeder lady recommended and some treats, I've also picked out a cute pink dog bed but I think I might just let her sleep on the bed with me. ... or Maybe when she learns to go to the toilet outside..
We stand before the toys as dad sets me on my feet to look at them more closely, looking at all of the toys I can't decide on which one to get her, looking back to dad and Stefano they both smile. Shrugging to show them I can't decide of which one to pick Stefano smiles, "why not all of them?" He shrugs before beginning to pick a single toy from each and every selection and placing them in the shopping trolly he's been pushing.
My heart starts to race while I look back to dad slightly concerned, I can't afford all of this, i don't have any money. Wobbling over to dad as I feel my nerves return he wraps his arm round me before kissing the top of my head, "it's okay, we can afford it, you and your puppy deserve it hm?" He says in my ear making me smile up at him still feeling a bit sickly as I watch Stefano put all of the way too expensive dog toys into the basket.
As Stefano finishes he turns back to smile at me and dad only for his smile to drop as he looks behind us, my heart jumps as I also quickly turn only for dad to hide me behind him from whoever's there.
"Kate you need to leave." Stefano and dad say in sync to who ever 'Kate' is, "n-no I can't. I-I just wanted to see you... and my ..baby." She says in a soft voice that sounds like she's trying to sound almost motherly only for it to sound slightly terrifying as she sounds completely mental.
"Kate I have men surrounding you now, leave now if you don't want to get hurt." Stefano says with an intimidating voice making shivers run down my spine, tears begin to fill my eyes as the intense situation continues as my world begins to blur.
Okay what did Becca say to do again? Five things I can see... attempting to blink through the fog I look down to see the puppy in my arms looking up at me lovingly, okay a puppy, the blanket it's wrapped in, Uhh.. looking back up and around I see the toys on the shelf and the bright lights above us.. okay so the shop lights, the toys on the shelf and.. the shopping cart.
I take a big deep breath before moving onto the next sense as I hear dad, Stefanos and Kate's muffled talking, four things I can hear... okay so, the shouting, the puppy whining, my breathing, and the buzzing of the lights above us..
Taking another deep breath I start the third sense, I can feel dads arm around me and his hand moving up and down my back, I can feel the puppy wiggling in my arms and licking my cheek.. and my legs hurting from standing for so long.
I take yet another deep breath as I start to do the fourth sense, two things I can smell, this one's easy, dad and the dog food next to us.
Taking my last deep breath i finish the five senses thing Becca told me about, my saliva I guess... as dad finally turns to me and kneels before me, holding my face in his hands he wipes away the tears on my cheeks as he softly smiles at me, "it's okay sweetie she's gone now okay? She's gone now." Dad says bringing me I to a big bear hug as Stefano also turns back to me as the lady is dragged out screaming and shouting by some guys.
——
A/n: hello everyone! Thank you for reading this chapter I hope it's okay for you all :))
I hope the new Monaxiá thing is okay and I hope you all like it :)))
I was also wondering if people would prefer shorter chapters? Or should I carry on with the length I'm kind of currently updating with.? :D
<3