Nadia’s POV

Sometimes I wonder what actually goes on in my brother’s mind when he’s not busy running the family’s money laundering operations. Dominic seems to completely lose his focus at the most inopportune moments, especially when children are involved. I had given him clear, straightforward instructions – one dog, just one small dog – yet when I returned from my delightful vacation in the Hamptons and collected my children, they came back with two dogs. And Carmen’s dog was nearly her size! I was tempted to send both the canines and my children straight back to his heavily fortified estate.

Naturally, Dominic had prepared a persuasive explanation when I called him in a fury about the two dogs. The frustrating part is that he convinced me – he always did. Since childhood, it had been this way, even before we understood the weight of our family name in the underworld. I ended up doing whatever he wanted. My children, those little masterminds, knew exactly how to manipulate their uncle, the feared Capo of the Thorne organization, to get their way. By extension, I felt manipulated too, because after Dominic surrendered to their wishes, he somehow made me cave in to his desire to please his niece and nephew. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

I reluctantly took my little troublemakers home to our compound with their two furry companions. Surprisingly, the smaller dog turned out to be a whirlwind of energy and mess, while the larger one was completely serene, quiet, and well-behaved. Still, I was determined not to let my home descend into chaos, especially when maintaining appearances was crucial to our family’s legitimate business facade.

What caught me off guard was how quickly these two furry creatures stole my heart. The sneaky pair worked their way in gradually – following me around the secured mansion, resting at my feet when I read classified reports, attentively listening when I spoke to them during my encrypted phone calls, and greeting me enthusiastically when I returned home from managing our front companies. Truthfully, they gave me more attention than my own children did. Not that I would ever admit I’d fallen for these fuzzballs. I even bought special imported treats that I kept hidden in my private study, saving them for moments when it was just the three of us at home.

I was in the middle of secretly treating Popcorn and Caviar when a security guard informed me through the intercom that my father was at the compound’s main gate, demanding to speak with me. The irony wasn’t lost on me – the man expelled from the Thorne family for his betrayal now stood outside the very gates he once walked through with respect. I instructed the guard to let him in and remained where I was. In truth, I had wanted to confront him since the day he cornered Vincenzo at the mall, but Gerard had persuaded me to let it go, citing family politics and the delicate balance of power in our world. Now, however, I would meet him, and he would certainly get an earful.

"Daughter! I’ve missed you terribly! I’m so relieved I could reach you. I’m desperate and need your help," he declared, entering my living room with outstretched arms approaching me. The sight of him in his cheapened clothing, so different from the tailored suits he once wore as a respected member of our organization, made my stomach turn. I immediately stepped backward.

"Don’t touch me!" I warned sharply, hearing the dogs growl behind me in a way that reminded me of the guard dogs we kept at our warehouses.

"Nadia, what is this? Don’t treat your father this way. Daughter, I’m going through an extremely difficult time," he scolded with a whining undertone that would have gotten him killed in front of any respectable family head.

"My father? I don’t recognize you as that anymore," I replied with a cold, brief laugh that carried all the ice our family was known for in business negotiations. "And you’re simply facing the consequences of your own actions – consequences Dominic was too merciful to fully impose."

"Nadia, I can see Dominic has been poisoning your mind with falsehoods about the family business. Believe me, daughter, nothing he told you is true. Dominic has always resented me because you were always my favorite, daddy’s little princess, even before he became the family’s right hand." Marcus spoke rapidly, his desperation evident, making me want to strike him the way Dominic had taught me during our childhood self-defense lessons.

"Nothing is true? Are you referring to the women you abused, or perhaps that tramp Nancy, whom I recently discovered was your son’s girlfriend before you stole her while he was building his reputation in the organization?"

My voice trembled with rage and pain, the kind of controlled fury that made enemies of our family think twice before crossing us.

"Sweetheart, Nancy was just a momentary lapse of judgment during a difficult transition period."

"Don’t call me sweetheart. I AM NOT YOUR DAUGHTER!" I screamed, tears springing to my eyes. I noticed Popcorn and Caviar positioning themselves protectively in front of me, their instincts as sharp as our trained security personnel.

"Nadia, you can’t judge me. I was an excellent father to you, even while serving the family’s interests!"

"Were you really, Dad?" My tone dripped with the kind of cynicism Dominic used during interrogations. "Were you an excellent father when you harassed my teenage friend during a family gathering? Or perhaps when you attempted to assault one of my bridesmaids at my wedding, embarrassing us in front of allied families? Maybe you were excellent when you blackmailed my mother and threatened to exploit my fragility to drive me to suicide, compromising family security? No, I know! You were excellent when you stole your son’s girlfriend and abandoned your household for that gold-digging tramp, bringing shame to our name."

"Nadia, you don’t understand the complexities of family politics and business pressures..." I cut him off before he could continue.

"Save it, Marcus! You have no control over me anymore! I only allowed you past our security today to issue a warning, so listen carefully: stay away from me and my household, don’t approach my children on the street, don’t attempt to speak to them, don’t even look at them. If you come near them, Marcus, I will kill you myself. Do you understand? I WILL KILL YOU!" Fury had completely overtaken me, the Frost family rage burning through my veins.

"You worthless thing! Who do you think you are to address me this way? Want the truth? You were only valuable as long as you could persuade that idiot Dominic to give me money from the family coffers. Now, you’re useless to me." Marcus’s mask slipped, revealing the desperate, bitter man he’d become since his expulsion from our world. "But I won’t leave empty-handed."

He moved toward me with the kind of threatening posture that would have earned him a bullet in any other context, but before he could touch me, both dogs intervened, each one sinking their teeth into one of his legs. Marcus panicked immediately.

"Oww! You mangy mutts! Let go of me! HELP, MAKE THESE STUPID ANIMALS RELEASE ME!" Rage poured from his voice as blood from the dog bites stained my Italian marble floor.

"SECURITY!" I shouted, and two armed guards promptly entered, their hands instinctively moving toward their concealed weapons. "Remove this scum from my property, and if he appears again, call the police and inform Dominic immediately. Caviar, Popcorn, release this piece of trash!"

The dogs instantly obeyed, positioning themselves beside me, sitting but still growling at Marcus with the same protective instinct our family’s enforcers showed toward threats. As that contemptible man was escorted out by security, likely never to approach our compound again, I knelt down and thanked my four-legged defenders. They certainly earned extra treats that day, and perhaps a mention to Dominic about upgrading our household security protocols.