Whenever they make a laudable feat to establish an altruistic compromise, they always land themselves in some sort of bedraggled strait. The main cause of most of their disputes was their massive egos.
But this time was different, Ernesto was right. Damien let out a defeated sigh, he was a coward. He should have done what he did today, years ago. He should have freed their father long ago.
Damien overlooked the derisive slur, staring straight into Ernesto's caramel eyes that were shodded with solicitude, one that Damien knew all too well.
Now that they had succeeded in freeing their father, how long would it last?
" Where is mother?" Damien asked instead, trying to solder back his ravaged thoughts. There was a reason why he was the oldest amongst his siblings. It was him who they wait on when a crisis was roused in the family and in a situation like this one that was threatening to rip them apart, Damien's job was to make sure that never happens— to save their family from falling apart.
What use would he have if he couldn't help his family carry their burden?
" She's inside," Ernesto answered as he tailed Damien to the front door. Standing next to Damien, Ernesto was roughly an inch taller. He had high cheekbones, a defined jawline but the shadows that danced in his beautiful brown eyes were more or less flagrant.
" You didn't tell her anything, did you? A parrot is better at keeping secrets than mother is." Damien pushed open the door, stepped in, and held open the door for his brother.
Ernesto couldn't help but roll his eyes, stepping in as well. " Of course, I didn't tell her anything."
If either of them had made the mistake of telling their mother beforehand, she would surely have blithered the news to someone else and somehow along the lines, Leo would have gotten news of what they were planning and then he would have tripled his forces in order to foil their endeavors.
Keeping their plans a secret from her was a way to ensure success and now— now they had their father back.
" Who's at the door?"
Both men flinched when they heard their mother's sharp voice coming from a distance. A door on the first floor slung open and their mother emerged out, holding a half-finished glass of wine that she had stashed away for herself so she wouldn't have to share.
Celeste halted when she caught sight of her two sons, narrowing her eyes at them before gulping down her drink.
" Damien, why are you here at this hour?" She turned to Ernesto. " And you, Ernesto. I thought you left?"
Her brown eyes went from one son to the other, waiting for answers. If it wasn't for the fact that both their voices had become permanently etched in her brain, she would have thought an intruder had broken into the house.
Damien parted his lips to respond but before he got the chance to, Dominic made his way in from behind them.
The glass slipped out of Celeste's hand and shattered into tiny shards on the floor, her face now caked with shock and disbelief.
She took a tentative step forward. " D-Dominic?"
Dominic's smile widened to a full-blown grin. " In the flesh."
" How?" Her eyes went from Dominic to Damian then Ernesto, unanswered questions teeming from her gaze.
A door to a room on the third floor screeched open and Thiago stepped out to see what was causing such a ruckus downstairs. His steps echoed as he sauntered down the hall.
He quickened his pace when he heard his mother's voice but felt a flicker of panic in his chest when a different voice streamed into his ears. A voice, shockingly familiar yet he couldn't liken it to any other.
That alone was enough to send him dashing down the staircase.
Celeste snapped her gaze to him at the sound of hustling footsteps. Damien and Ernesto turned to him as well.
Thiago instantly skidded to a halt but it wasn't the stares of his mother or his brothers' dangerously narrowed eyes that stopped him.
No, it was the irrefragable presence of the man standing in their midst. The chills the man's cold blue eyes never failed to send, chills Thiago knew all too well.
" Holy shit," Shock pushed the words out before Thiago could even bother to withhold them.
Slowly, Dominic veered his gaze to Thiago who swallowed, his legs wilting to goo.
Somehow, Dominic's already wide smile widened even more at the sight of his youngest.
" Son." Dominic stepped closer and threw his arms around Thiago, who couldn't help but stiffen at the impromptu embrace from his father.
He was completely frozen. His hands were cold, his feet had turned frigid with all that was happening. So much so that he wasn't able to process everything or even know where to start. He was a block of ice.
Thiago hadn't seen, nor hugged his father in such a long time that doing it now seemed quite foreign. The feeling was… strange. Uncertain of what to do or how to even react, he tossed his mother a glance— she still looked just as shocked as he was— then he looked at his brothers who stood by the door. They both wore tiny smiles on their faces but that wasn't enough to mask the solemn dither rampaging their thoughts as they watched what was supposed to have been a wholesome, little family reunion.
Both their faces were devoid of any form of surprise, not a sliver of shock on either of them. Which led Thiago to ask himself a particular question; what the hell was going on?
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