《Daniel Nicholas Castello》

"He managed to escape," Rafael tells me as we watch the fire engulf everything around it.

The explosion was a necessary precaution we needed to take to ensure that Lucien's men couldn't regroup and save him. But they somehow still managed to, and I'm going to make them pay for it.

"I know," I reply, and he raises his eyebrow.

"How are you so chill about it?"

I'm not chill about it, I'm sure my appearance and reaction don't give that away, but I really am not. I'm currently imagining all the ways I can kill Lucien Marcello- and none of them are very humane. The only thing stopping me from going after him right now is my promise to Selena that I would see her soon.

I smile sinisterly. "Because I know that when I find him again, I'm going to make him regret ever escaping."

He stares at me for a second as if he wants to say something to reprimand me, but before he can, Lorenzo interrupts, "We need to go. We'll meet the others back in the city."

I shake my head. "No. I need to see Selena right now. She's going to be worried about me, why I didn't come back, and she already has too much on her plate to worry about that too."

"We're going to have to walk there," Rafael says, and I shrug. "Are you sure you can walk? You've lost too much blood already."

I am suffering from excruciating pains throughout my body too, but I made a promise to Selena, and I intend to keep it.

Rather than replying, I start walking in the general direction of the rendezvous point. I hear Lorenzo mutter something about my stubbornness but I don't bother replying to him. I'm the boss. Or at least I will be soon. What I say goes. I don't much care for anyone else's opinion.

"How do you know Selena?" I ask Rafael.

He smiles at me, and I can see his affection for her on his face, which bothers me for some reason. Fuck that, I know exactly why it bothers me- I love her, she's mine and I don't like it when anyone else wants what's mine.

"She's been best friends with my brother since they were babies, and our families are close to each other."

"I see," I reply simply. He didn't tell me what she was to him.

He grins mischievously. "I can see that."

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're very bad at hiding your jealousy," he says, and I scoff. He being delusional. I'm not jealous at all. I'm just possessive of her, protective even, but that doesn't mean I'm jealous.

Okay, that may sound exactly like the definition of jealous, but I am really not jealous, I'm just... well, I don't know what I am, but it's certainly not jealous. I think.

"I'm not jealous. I have no reason to be," I reply with a blank expression, trying not to give away how uncertain I feel about the matter.

"Sure, Ace. I believe you," he replies sarcastically, and I give him an unimpressed look.

"Why would you think that I would be jealous?" I ask him, hoping that his answer may help me make up my mind, and he smirks.

"I know about the kiss," he admits.

I blink in surprise. "How the fuck did you know about that?"

"Oh, well, let me see. Maybe, just maybe, I know about it because you kissed her in front of some of the people who work for me."

"And they had time to tell you about it?"

He shrugs. "Of course they did. I instructed them to tell me everything that happened in that room that concerned Selena."

I narrow my eyes at him. "I don't remember you being so inquisitive."

He laughs. "I'm usually not, but I made a bet with Stella, so I wanted to see who would win."

I would ask him how Stella knew about this, but I already know the answer. She probably would have tried to call me after I was kidnapped, and when she was unsuccessful, she would have contacted Rafael- who would have given her all the information like the lovesick puppy that he is.

"Is she here?" I ask him.

"No, she isn't. She's in Vai with Valentina," he replies, with a small smile on his face. He always smiles when he's talking or even mentioning his daughter, Valentina.

"How is she?"

His smile widens. "She's fine. She was asking about you a few days ago. It's been a while since you visited, and I think she misses being spoiled with that much attention and gifts."

Despite all my pain and anger, I smile. I love Valentina as I love Teresa. They're so similar to each other, in personality, that it's hard to love one and not the other.

"Then I'll have to visit her soon," I say. "Stella helped find us, didn't she?"

Rafael nods. "Her father had some of his men working undercover for Marcello. When she found out, she convinced her father to use those men to help us find you. We actually remained in contact with those men for the past ten days. That's how we knew how close you and Selena had gotten before we made our bets."

"What was the bet?"

He smiles. "Stelz said that you would get together before you got out of there; I disagreed. And so, she obviously won."

I roll my eyes. "Jesus, just because I kissed her doesn't mean that we're together."

"Didn't you both profess your love for each other?" He asks me, and I sigh.

"Yes, we did. And I do love her, but she won't when she finds out what I really am."

"You may be underestimating her feelings for you. I know her. She doesn't just kiss anyone."

"And who does she kiss?" I ask, my jaw clenched. I really need to calm the fuck down.

"As far as I know, you're the first person she has ever kissed."

I stop walking for a second. Jesus, that was her first kiss? As much as I know I'm an asshole letting her first kiss be in that place, I'm ecstatic that I'm the only man who has touched her like that.

I look at him. "Why?"

He snorts. "You'll have to ask her that, or even my brother, but it has a lot do with the fact that her family is a bit traditional and they're very conservative when it comes to intimacy."

I should have expected this. Vincente Calos may not be an official part of the Cosa Nostra but he still has the mind-set of a Made Man.

Before I can reply to him, we hear a commotion in front of us.

"That's the rendezvous point," Lorenzo says. He tells me to stay back as he leaves to check what the commotion is about. I, naturally, don't listen and follow him. Lorenzo looks back at me and mutters a curse. My jaw clenches. I'll deal with his attitude later. I need to get to Selena first.
When we first enter the clearing, everything looks normal. I am momentarily confused about what the commotion was about but that is before I see them.

Stefan is sitting on the ground next to an unconscious Selena. He's checking his pulse. My heart starts pounding like a hammer, slamming against my ribcage. Is she unconscious or dead?

As I start nearing them, Stefan looks up and surprise flashes across his face.

"What happened to her?" I ask Stefan, kneeling on the ground beside Selena.

"She thought you died in the explosion. All of us did. We didn't think there was any way you made it out of the building alive. And then started panicking. She just froze for a while before passing out."

I put two of my fingers above her jugular and sigh in relief when I feel her pulse.

"How long has she been like this?" I ask Stefan.

"She passed out a few minutes after the explosion," he tells me.

I look at Rafael, who is standing beside me. "We need to get her medical attention immediately."

Rafael nods. "Your parents set up a makeshift medical bay in their house. We can take her there."

I snake one arm around her waist and another under her knees and lift her to my chest. She's light- almost too light, and that worries me.

"I can carry her," Rafael says, trying to take her from my arms. I stand up, back away from him and glare at him.

"Absolutely not," I snap at him, and he sighs.

"She's like a sister to me, asshole," he replies, looking a bit amused despite the circumstances. "And I don't think you have the strength to carry her right now. You've bled out too much."

I know he's right. I am in too much pain right now, and I feel weak- like I might fall down. But I can't give her to him. I'm the reason why she's in this state, so she is my responsibility... that and I trust no one else with her.

"I'll be fine," I tell him impassively. My tone implies my decision is final, so Rafael sighs but doesn't argue. "Where are the cars?"

"This way," Lorenzo mutters, starting to walk away from me.

-

"She was so fucking terrifying when she saw the explosion. We thought you died," Stefan tells me. There's a hint of fear in his voice. I rest my forehead on Selena's head. "We almost lost you just as we got you back."

"You should have known that nothing could have happened to me."

"Regardless, I made a promise to Francis to get you back alive. Your grandfather hasn't let him leave the house since you have gone missing. Both of them were growing crazy with worry."

"It wouldn't have been your fault if anything had happened to me. Even so, I would've been left wondering 'what if I didn't let you go' all my life."

"What about Mamma and Papà?"

"They know you were taken by Marcello but they think it's because of that old grudge again," Stefan tells me then he looks at Selena.

"What?"

"Despite everything that happened to you, I'm glad you found her. I can tell she makes you happy..." He trails off.

I narrow my eyes at him. "If you are about to say something that will piss me off, know that I am not above throwing you out of a moving car, no matter how much I'm grateful for you."

"I know that," he replies then smirks. What the fuck is he going to say? "Try your best not to fuck things up with her," he pauses to look at my reaction, but I simply nod. That wasn't as bad. Stefan is like a brother to me, he knows me more than most people do. So it makes sense he'd think I'd fuck things up- I have a habit of doing so. "And please try to make sure that I don't become an uncle before I have fully recovered."

And there it is.

I glare at him. "I really would have pushed you out if Selena wasn't in the way."

"I know," he says, smiling. "That's why I said it while she's still in your arms. I know saying it after would have resulted in my untimely death."

I look at Selena's face and flinch in pain. I feel responsible for putting her in this condition. Everything bad that has happened to her since she met me is directly or indirectly because of me. I know that she's better of without me, but I also know that like the selfish bastard that I am, I won't be able to let go of her. My only hope now is that I don't completely destroy her.

I can't feel the pain that I felt a short while ago- when I saw her unconscious- again. It scared me. I felt like my world had stopped. I can't imagine what I'd feel if I had seen was actually dead. I would have snapped in the worst way imaginable.

The two of us have really been a support system for each other the whole time we were held captive. On countless occasions, we have been willing to die for and with each other- and when you think that you might lose that kind of a relationship, it really pushes you over the edge. I, for one, tend to get a bit murderous when I get pushed over the edge. Not only is that not good for me, but it's even worse for the people responsible for it.

I rest my head on Selena's hair, tighten my hold on her and close my eyes. Eventually, I fall asleep listening to her quiet breathing.

-

《Selena Arabella Calos》

An odd combination of smells invades my nose when I start to regain consciousness. Disinfectant, roses, coffee, and some specific fragrance notes can only be of bleu de Chanel. Other than the pungent smell of the disinfectant, these scents are more pleasant than usual because since I was kidnapped, the only odours I've smelled have been unpleasant- musty smells because of the humidity, sweat and of course, blood. So much blood.

Even the woods that we escaped through didn't smell like this. And of course, then came the smell of burning...

I hear the faint, constant beeping, which I assume was coming from a heart monitor, begin to quicken as I start panicking. He died. He died. Oh my god. He died.

My eyes snap open, but I can't see a thing despite how bright it is in the room. I feel tears start to flow down my face as I remember what happened. He broke his promise. He told me he would see me soon.

I try to raise my hand to wipe my tears, but there's a sharp sting in the back of my hand when I try. I blink several times and look at it. There's an IV needle sticking into my hand. I don't know what it's for, but it's obviously important, so I don't try to remove it. I just lie there as sobs start escaping my lips.

A voice calls out my name, but my addled mind cannot process it. A few seconds later, I feel a hand on my arm, and I flinch away. I open my eyes to see who it is but once again, I can't because of the tears pooling in them.

"Selena," the person says again, and this time, I am able to process it. The person touches my face to wipe away my tears despite my resistance. As my vision clears, I see him, and I'm sure that I'm dead.

"Am I dead?" I ask, struggling to get the words out because of my dry throat. That and because I'm still in shock over seeing Daniel alive. Relieved but shocked nonetheless.

He laughs at my question. A beautiful melodious laugh that I haven't heard from him before. "No, cara, you're not. Neither am I, for that matter."

"But-" I can't finish my question this time because of my dry throat.

"Give me a second; I'll bring you some water."

I watch as he moves around the room, too scared to take my eyes off him in fear that if I do, he might disappear. I still can't believe he survived.

Daniel helps me sit up and hold the back of my head to help me drink water. I feel so exhausted, sore and weak for some reason that without his help, I probably would not have been able to sit up or hold the glass of water.

"Where are we?" I ask Daniel as soon as I've finished the glass of water.

"At my parent's house."

I study Daniel for a moment. I didn't realise it before, but I do now- he looks broken, defeated as if he has completely given up on life.

"How are you doing?"

"Better," he replies, but I can tell that he's lying. He looks at me, notices my disappointed expression, and smiles faintly. "I'm better now that you're awake. The last three days-"

"Three days?" I almost scream. "I've been out for three days?"

He nods solemnly. "At first, it was because you passed out, but then the doctors saw how weak and malnourished you were, so they decided to sedate you because they didn't know how you would react to IVs."

"What about you?"

"They just patched me up, did some tests and told me to maintain a proper diet." He touches my cheek, and I don't flinch away; instead, I lean into his touch. "You looked like a ghost when I saw you in that clearing. I thought I lost you and after my nightmare..." he trails off, then leans forward and kisses my forehead.

"I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it, so you're not going to lose me that easily," I tell him, my voice a mere whisper. He's so close to me, and I don't think that I realised how soothing his proximity would be to me before this moment.

His eyes flicker to my lips, and my breath hitches. Oh my god. Is he going to kiss me again?

"You must be hungry," he says, suddenly pulling away from me. What the hell. "What would you like you to eat?"

I open my mouth to speak, say something, anything, but I can't. He smirks at my inability to speak. Asshole. "What would you like to eat, cara?"

I glare at him. "Nothing," I mutter angrily, looking away from him, and he laughs like the asshole he is.... oh my god, did passing out affect from brain too? I need to stop swearing.

Daniel tilts my chin towards him and smiles at me. "As much as I want to kiss you right now, I don't like the idea of kissing you while you are under the influence of drugs."

"I'm not! I feel completely sober," I protest, and he rolls his eyes.

"Okay, cara, if you're completely sober, can you please enlighten me as to why you aren't feeling any pain right now?"

I blink in surprise. How did I not notice that? I think if I did, I assumed that I suddenly somehow healed, but he's right. Now that I think about it, I don't think that I'm completely sober.

"That's what I thought," he says, smirking after I don't reply.

Again I don't reply, but this time it's because I'm looking around the room. I didn't realise it before because I was so fixated on Daniel, but the room does not at all look like a bedroom- there are too many monitors and medical equipment in it. The room, despite looking fancy, has a calming and cozy feel to it. The room has white paneled walls, with a huge, beautiful black and white photograph of the Roman Forum on the right wall. There are plants all over the room- even next to the television on the all in front of me. It looks like a really fancy hospital room.

Where in the world are my parents?

"Where are my parents?" I ask Daniel, and there's a flash of emotion across his face.

"They will be back soon. I've informed them that you are conscious again," he replies in a very controlled and formal voice. I don't understand his sudden change in attitude. Did something happen between Daniel and my parents?

"What happened with my parents?" I ask him, and he sighs.

"Nothing important."

"Then why do you look so angry?"

He looks down at his intertwined fingers. "Let's just say that I may have had some disagreement with some of your family members over some matters."

I almost roll my eyes. I'm almost certain which family members he's talking about- Mother and Grandmother. They are the only two possibilities in this scenario because Father would never argue with a business partner over personal matters- assuming the argument was about me- and Jax avoids personal disagreements because they make him uncomfortable.

"I'm assuming that you're not going to tell me what the disagreement was about," I say, and he smiles.

"You assume correctly. The matter was resolved. I won, so you don't need to worry about it," he says, then kisses my forehead.

Being the curious person that I am, I'm just going to have to ask someone else to tell me what happened- that someone being Jax, obviously.

"Why couldn't we go to a hospital?"

"If we went to a hospital, they would alert the police, and no one really wanted them to interfere in our business."

That doesn't make sense. Wouldn't the police help us? Isn't that what they're supposed to do?

"Why?" I ask him, and he sighs.

"There are some secrets that your father and I would rather not get out. And a police investigation would make that impossible," he replies.

"Would that get either of you in trouble?" I ask him, and he thinks for a moment and then shakes his head.

"No. As bad as it may sound, we have too much control over some of the top officials to ever get into any trouble."

That just seems wrong in every sense. Don't get me wrong, I don't want either Daniel or Father to get into trouble, but the amount of power they have is just... criminal- both metaphorically and figuratively.

I can't say I never knew the amount of power that Father had, I just assumed that there was some sort of limit to it- that someone had the power to hold him accountable for his actions, but that's not true. It scares me that some people in the world cannot be held accountable because it's obviously not just people like Father and Daniel. It probably also includes people who are terrible people like Lucien Marcello.

"Selena," Daniel calls out my name softly, and I look at him. "Are you alright?"

I close my eyes for a second to clear my head. "Yeah, I'm fine," I tell him, smiling. I'm not fine, though. I don't know how I am- what I'm feeling. I'm scared and angry and sad and happy all at once.

Daniel looks at me like he doesn't believe me, but before he can speak, there's a knock on the door, and a woman comes in.

"Hello, B," Daniel greets the woman without taking his eyes off of me.

"Hey, Ace," she replies and looks at me and smiles. "Hello, Selena, I'm Dr Bianca D'Angelo. My team and I have been taking care of you for the past few days. How are you feeling right now?"

As I try to think of my answer, I can't help but notice how similar Dr D'Angelo looks to Daniel. She looks like the female version of him- same beautiful blue eyes, straight dark hair and defined jawline-which I find odd because, as far as I know, he doesn't have any older siblings.

"Thank you, Dr D'Angelo," I start, but before I can answer her question, she says: "Please, call me Bianca."

I smile at her whilst Daniel turns around and gives her a look. I don't understand why but he seems displeased.

Dr D'Angelo seems too nice to be related to Daniel... but then all of Daniel's family is nice. If the stories I have heard are even close to true, Daniel doesn't usually do nice.

"I feel good, better than I thought I could feel after everything that happened," I reply, and she gives me a sympathetic look.

"I'm glad to hear that. Can you please rate the pain in your body from 0-10?"

"I would say somewhere around 1 or 2."

"I see," she says, noting it down on a notepad she retrieved from her bag.

"It's obviously because of the painkillers," Daniel comments, and Bianca turns to shoot him a quick glare.

"I'm the doctor here. I know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it."

"And I'm not a complete idiot in medical science. I also have the added advantage of knowing her, and I know she's not the one to admit to pain easily even if she's feeling it, so your analysis will not work as well as you hope it will."

Dr D'Angelo ignores him and looks at me again. "I'm going to have someone run a couple of tests on you. If you want to, I can also reduce the amount of painkillers that we are giving you."

"Yes, I think that would be nice. I don't want to get addicted to the painkillers," I tell her, and she nods. "Can I get up and move around?"

"No," Daniel says before Dr D'Angelo can reply.

"Yes, you can walk, Selena," Dr D'Angelo tells me, ignoring Daniel again.

"No, she can't. She hasn't healed yet," Daniel argues.

"I have a medical degree, asshole. I know what I am doing." They glare at each other before Dr D'Angelo turns to look at me. I am a bit surprised that she called Daniel an asshole- for some reason, I thought that it was only Francis who did so. "Ignore my cousin, Selena."

The fact that they are cousins make their similar appearances much less surprising. I've seen cousins who look so alike that one would consider them to be siblings, sometimes even twins.

"You can definitely walk, although I would recommend that you take it a little slow. Don't walk too much, or you'll overexert yourself and reopen your wounds."

"Thank you, Bianca," I say gratefully.

"My pleasure, Selena. It was nice meeting you, especially since-" Daniel rudely places his hand over her mouth, effectively muffling her words.

"I think it's time for you to go now, Bianca," Daniel says in a tone that strongly suggests that he doesn't want to be argued with.

Dr D'Angelo removes his hand from her mouth. "Do that again, and I'm going to lick your bloody hand."

"That's not very hygienic for a doctor," he deadpans, and she rolls her eyes.

"I'll see you later, Selena. I'll have someone come over and do the required tests and reduce your painkiller intake. You can move around after that. In the meanwhile, I sincerely hope my cousin doesn't drive you insane before-"

"Goodbye, Bianca," Daniel interrupts again before she can continue.

She glares at him again. "Don't be rude, Ace. I'm older than you," she says, hitting the back of his head.

He stares at her blankly. "Not mentally."

I almost laugh before realising that might not be the best thing to do. Dr D'Angelo literally can end me if she wants to.

She narrows her eyes at Daniel. "Bye, asshole," she says, but it doesn't sound like she's particularly mad. She gives me a smile before turning and leaving the room.

"Why do people keep calling you Ace?" I ask him.

"What would you like to eat?" He asks me, ignoring my question.

"Are you like really good at something?" I ask him, ignoring his question.

Daniel gives me an icy glare. "I asked you a question."

"I asked you two," I retort.

"Answer mine, and I'll let you walk to the kitchen to eat without any arguments," he offers, and I sigh.

He does drive a good bargain.

-
A/N

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and it was worth the wait... also PJO fans, do you now see why Daniel's nickname is Nico? Yeah, it's because of Bianca... Bianca D'Angelo. Honestly both siblings deserved better. Every time I think about it, I cry.

I wish I could write more in these A/Ns but if I am being honest, I think I have exhausted myself and now I'm struggling to even think so the best I can do is continue writing chapters that hopefully you guys like.

See y'all in the next chapter.