"Daaad..." Isabella whined as Dante tucked his little daughter to bed with a soft smile on his face. "You don't haf'ta always tuck me in. You're busy and got lots of work to do."

"Now you hush, Bella. I like tucking you in. I enjoy it, and busy or not, I'll always make time for you. You should know that by now." He booped her nose before brushing some strands of her hair to the side. He's got his fond look plastered on his face as he pats his daughter's stomach in a lulling movement that he always did for as long as she could remember.

She snuggled with the bear that had always been with her ever since she was a baby and pouted at her father. "But, I'm getting ooold. I'm not five anymore. What if I'm old enough that you won't tuck me in anymore?"

She doesn't want that. Isabella still wants Dante to tuck her in every night because that's the only time that they could chat for hours if she doesn't want to sleep. That's the only time where Dante isn't busy with work.

He chuckled before leaning down to kiss her forehead lovingly. "Even if you're five or eighty, baby, I'll still tuck you in and I'll sing you whatever lullaby you want and give you goodnight kisses." He said, unembarrassed and unfazed by his mushy words. He actually even looked proud of what he said.

Isabella felt warmth spreading all around her. She'd like that. She'd like that very much. "Thank you, papa." She whispered, audible enough for her father to hear.

Dante beamed at her before grabbing her hand to kiss the back of it. "I'll always protect you, cariño. Whatever it takes. I promised you that, didn't I?"

(Sweetheart.)

Isabella nodded. "I don't care whose who, I'll kill anyone who gets close to the pack." She repeated her father's words, remembering exactly what he said. He always said it, to be honest. No matter if it was Anthony or Elois he was talking to, he'll say it to his family. It was a vow, a promise that a leader made to its pack and it's obvious that he'll chose to die than breaking that promise.

"And what are we?" He asks, brushing her knuckles with his thumb.

She beamed at him. "A pack. We're a pack." She said like it was a quiz question that she knows by heart. Which she does know by heart, if she were to be honest with herself.

He ruffled her hair, causing her to grumble. Everyone likes to ruffle her hair because it was always clean and well-brushed so they like to dirty it a bit.

Isabella doesn't appreciate it.

"Papa, no, stop." She gently swatted her father's hand away like she always does, causing him to chuckle, like he always does. It has become a habit, to be honest. To ruffle her hair while she was getting tucked in, to do this simple talking, to act like everything is normal even though she knows that her family business is anything but that, to act as if she doesn't have three bodyguards because everyone she doesn't know can potentially be her killer one day.

It's not hard to act, it's normal because it's her life. She's living in a dollhouse where everything is perfect, and whatever she wants is she will get with just a word.

And, it's fine.

"You know that you'll always be my little girl, right?"

Isabella nodded. She'll always be, whether she likes it or not. She looks at the fond look on her father's face, the lulling patting of his hand on her, the soft tone he always uses whenever he's with her. She's as if she's fragile, something that should be kept in a secure spot, seen by everyone but cannot be touched.

"I know, papa." Isabella replied solemnly.

"That's my good girl." He answered, kissing her forehead again. "You're always being so good to us, sweetheart. You keep being good, okay?"

She smiled in response. "M'kay..."

He looked satisfied with her answer. He then pinched her cheek, causing her to whine. "But, stop being so stubborn with your brothers, okay? You're getting cheekier and cheekier. You'll give Anthony and Rafael a heart attack with all your mischievousness."

"He doesn't know fun then!" She huffed, crossing her arms. "We were having fun, is all."

"Fun doesn't mean putting hand wash all over the floor just so you and the others could skate around it."

She scoffed, avoiding eye contact. "That wasn't my idea, it was Romeo's." It was half the truth. She agreed with his plan and had actually enjoyed it.

But, she didn't enjoy cleaning the floor. Anthony punished them by cleaning it and it was anything but fun. He punished them by cleaning the floors and it took them hours because of their squabbling.

"Uh-huh. Then how about the time where you thought that you were an adventurer and got lost in the forest?"

"You found me! Plus, Nico was there so I wasn't alone." She reasoned with a grin. It was as if her reason was reasonable enough.

"You were gone for half the day and Nicolai was sobbing when we found you because you made him think that the rustling leaves meant that bears were getting closer to you. You gave Dmitri and Rafael quite a fright when they heard Nicolai's blood curdling scream in the distance."

His scream was like in the horror movies, to be honest. They were hungry and dirty and Nicolai kept tripping, getting mud all over his expensive clothes. She didn't understand why he was scared——Maybe it was because they found a coyote in the distance and it scared Nicolai enough that he thought that bears could also come out of nowhere. If they did get lost for a whole day then his family would go bananas and have a whole search team to find them.

She pouted. "It wasn't my fault. I was accidentally lost."

He raised an amused brow. "Accidentally?"

She nodded. "Accidentally." She confirmed.

He sighed, shaking his head. "Okay, whatever you say, you cheeky monster."

She giggled at that. "I'm the boss." She said proudly.

He slaps her hand gently and gave her a stern look. "I'm the boss. You're too young to be the boss, baby." He mused. "Don't get all cocky on me, missy."

"I'm not little."  She exclaimed, sound offended. "And, I'm not cocky."

He pinched her nose, causing her to whine in response. "Aren't you happy that you're a knight in shining armor?"

That seemed to lift up her spirits. She nodded enthusiastically, eyes beaming in excitement and joy. "I'm okay with being a knight! I'm always the knight."

"You always are." He agreed, satisfying her ego.  She beamed at him.

"I love you, papa." She said, not afraid to say whatever she wants to say. She loves her family, even if they're dangerous or even if she's like a doll in a dollhouse, kept by people who's possibly controlling her.

His eyes softened, smile filled with fondness. He leaned down and kissed her forehead lovingly. "I love you so much more, baby. More than you could ever imagine."

She grinned. "How much?"

Dante opened his arms as wide as he could. "Thiiiiis wide."

Isabella laughed softly. "G'night, papa."

Dante nodded. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

**

When Isabella finally got to sleep, that's when Elois and Lucius entered her room with a loud bang.

It was a miracle how Isabella didn't wake up with how loud Elois and Lucius were

"Pres, I got us some cooki——"

"Tony told us not to eat one!" Lucius shouted, yanking Elois by the collar, causing him to choke.

"I don't care 'bout him! He's such a mother hen that it's suffocating!" Elois whined, trying to get out of his brother's grip on him.

"Do you want to get killed?" Lucius hissed.

"If you wake her up, I'd cut your heads and give it to Bella as her teddy bear."

Both of them froze.

They know that voice.

They slowly turned to look at their father and they felt fear all of a sudden. The man was giving them a dangerous look that caused shivers down their spines.

"Boss, sir, my dad, papa, mah man." Elois babbled with a nervous chuckle. "How's it going?"

"I'm serious, Elois." Dante warned. "If you two keep squabbling there then we'll have some serious consequences now, would we?"

They both looked nervous. "Yes, sir."

Dante looked satisfied. He nodded with a smile. "Okay then. Go to sleep, you two. We'd have serious problems if the mother hen saw you here being all noisy."

Elois couldn't help but smile when their father actually agreed that Tony's a mother hen. The young man nodded enthusiastically. "G'night, pops! Sweet dreams!"

Dante chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Buenas noches, hijo."

(Goodnight, son.)

Lucius rolled his eyes before looking at Dante. "Good night..."

Dante smiled at Lucius softly. "Sweet dreams, Luce."

Lucius smiled at that, looking at them fondly before gently ushering his youngest brother out of the room, leaving Dante with Isabella.

Dante sighed in satisfaction before kissing Isabella's forehead for one last time.

"I love you so much, Bells."

______

I hope you guys enjoyed it!!

Just some Dante and Bella moment before everything goes boom (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

Anyways! Happy New Year! It's officially 12 here so happy New year!!!