One of the assassins was tasked to kill both mother and daughter, and he knew just where to find them because of the intel they got from the party. So it was not hard to find them and execute his plan. When he got to the nursery, Mrs. Russo was already asleep on the daybed. As he was trying to suffocate the baby by using a pillow, he heard hurried steps heading his way. So instead of failing his task, he decided he would take the baby instead and do the deed outside. He jumped out of the building and made a run for it.

What he didn't account for was that one of the security guards would hear the baby and see him jump out the window. The guard followed him, shooting him in the leg, which slowed him down. He could have gotten rid of the baby and left it right there in the forest, but he was not going to fail, and have them find her, so he decided he was getting rid of her somewhere else.

Lucky for him an open delivery truck was parked at the edge of the forest. The driver had stopped to relieve himself in the bushes, and the assassin used that opportunity to jump at the back of the truck and hide in between the crates. When the baby started crying, he left her near the tailgate. He hid deeper among the crates, to conceal himself, letting the driver find the baby himself. He slipped out later as soon as the driver stopped the vehicle to investigate the noise.

The driver had picked the baby up and contemplated taking it to the cops or the church. It was the most humane thing to do, he thought, not wanting to kill an innocent child.

He did not want to be questioned about the baby, so he decided he was dropping it off at the nearest church he could find. And it so happened, that beside the church was an orphanage, so he just dropped the baby there before it started raining.

Back at the mansion, Mr. Russo fought so hard to carry his wife and son to the underground bunker to protect them, before he came out again and started looking for his daughter.

These underground bunkers were hidden basements fashioned like the basements the royalty had to prevent them from being captured. They had all the provisions one would need in case of emergency, and not everyone knew about them, so nobody found his family while they hid in there.

Mrs. Russo was hysterical when she woke up and found out that her daughter was nowhere to be found. She cried out loud, "This is all your fault. You killed my baby!" blaming her husband. "You should have just left me out there to die! This is worse than death! My baby, my baby...she's out there, and you won't want to look for her! Let me out! I want my baby!" she screamed.

When the attack finally ended, and his daughter was still nowhere to be found they left the city to go into hiding. Mr. Russo wanted to protect the remaining family members that were still alive.

They hoped every day that their baby girl was still out there, and someday soon, they would get reunited with her. Mrs. Russo never got better, she had refused to eat until they found her precious child, crying every day until she was exhausted. So they had to sedate her, so they could feed her and let her rest so she could get better.

At 10 years old, Nicholas became a violent kid, lashing out at everybody all the time. He blamed himself partly for being so young and not being able to help his sister and his mother.

He carried his father's guilt, his mother's deteriorating health, and losing his sister weighed very heavily in his heart. He wanted to hurt anybody and everybody that had to do with their family's demise. He trained every day and studied hard to get ahead, vowing to get stronger and better so he could eliminate all their enemies.

-=-

Aurora went home with an extra bounce in her step. "Her parents did not abandon her, and they loved her all those years they were apart," she thought. It was the best news she had gotten in all the years of her life. Well, it was one of them, aside from Dimitri finding her and loving her all those years as well.

She was arranging her wardrobe for tomorrow, and she didn't notice that Dimitri had been standing behind her, with a sullen mood. He was sulking like a child, following her around, waiting for her to notice him, and pay attention to what he wanted.

When she was still oblivious after a while, he initiated by hugging her from behind, rubbing his lips on her neck.

"Aurora…," he said softly.

"Hmm?" she responded absent-mindedly.

"Aurora!" he said a little more curtly this time.

"What is it? Tell me," she asked.

"Aurora…," he said in a whiny singsong voice.

His voice alerted her that there was something amiss. She was wondering why he was tiptoeing about telling her about it.

"What is it Dimitri?" she asked as she turned into his arms, cupping his face, "What is bothering you?"

"I know Nicholas is your brother," he trailed, "But I don't trust him. What if he does something to harm you later?" he asked.

"Dimitri, we've seen the reports, and it clearly showed that I am related to the Russo family," she smiled, "I finally found my family."

"You had a family, you had us," he replied.

"This is different," she dismissed, rolling her eyes, he was being ridiculous right now, but she knows where he's coming from. Up until today, Nicholas was supposed to be their enemy. "I know, I don't understand much about clans and families when it comes to the mafia, but I think he looked glad to see me. He welcomed me so readily as his sister, and that did not look rehearsed," she added

He sighed.

"I understand your concern. You don't need to force yourself to like him right away. We all know it will take time to bury the hatchet, but for my sake, can you please reconsider being his friend?" she requested.

Who would ever think that his sworn enemy would ever be his brother-in-law? "How do you even deal with that?" he thought. After one of Nicholas' people clocked her in the head, Dimitri was still on the warpath to find this guy and make him suffer. Nobody lays a hand on his woman and lives.