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Daphne Barnes did not, nor had she ever loved her husband James Buchanan Barnes. She had every intention of trying when she met him for the first time on their wedding day but after the ceremony he made it perfectly clear she would never have his heart but he would provide her with anything else she could want or need. It hurt her knowing she was trapped in a loveless marriage but this had been the easiest way to forgive her fathers gambling debts, his addiction had almost cost him his life until his daughter finally entered her glow up and he sold her to the family he owed as compensation for a clean slate.
And really what else was she going to do with her life? She’d been raised her entire life to be the perfect wife and mother but she barely graduated high school. She would never even have the opportunity to have children, James hadn’t touched her since the obligatory kiss at their wedding and her father had beaten into her the importance of loyalty and monogamy no matter the state of one's marriage. Not to mention she married a mafia man, she was too terrified to stray from her husband for fear of retaliation despite him having a mistress.
When she’d learned James’ mistress was Delilah Levinson she knew she never stood a chance. The two had known and been in love with one another their entire lives, but James' fear and selfishness led to her current misery. He’d been too afraid of Delilah’s brothers to marry her so he’d settled for the sold daughter of a gambling addict and an absent mother. So not only was she void of love but she lived with the constant humiliation as she went about her household chores and meal prepping. Most of the time her husband never made it home in time to enjoy the meals she made while the food was hot, dinner ending up being his lunch the next day instead. He never commented on her cooking skill, not like everyone else who’d thoroughly enjoyed her meals but his indifference continued to tear her down mentally.
All the build of suffering she kept pushing away by working harder everyday of her life to be a better wife came to a head the night she heard James come home around 2:00 am with Delilah. The audacity of him to bring his lover into the home they shared revealed a level of rage that boiled until long after the pair left for the day around 10:00 am, leaving her to listen in on their infidelity. She hoped her anger would burn itself out as it always seemed to so she could maturely discuss the manner with her husband, but the longer she stewed the more enraged she got until she grabbed her car keys and tracked her husband's location.
By the terms of being part of or employed by the Rogers Family, their locations were to always be available to spouse and whichever brother oversaw their particular duties, in Bucky’s case that was Steve. Curtis Everett had put the program into place in the aftermath of his sister's murder in efforts that emergencies would be handled efficiently and quickly as well as identifying traitors before they got too deep. Now, it worked for the raging women to drive down to one of the Rogers warehouses where her husband was currently working. Her gait raiditing her wrath as she charges up to the warehouse door, five feet before she reaches the door she is roughly grasped around the waist and whipped away from the door, a man standing between her and it.
“I wouldn’t go in there, cupcake.” the man sneers.
“I need to speak with my husband.” She is undeterred by the human blockade until she takes note of the gun strapped to the side of his chest. “James Barnes.”
“Shit,” the man hands his head for a moment before pulling out his phone, his eyes locked with Daphne until the call connects and the man does a scan of the surrounding area as he talks on the phone. “We’ve got a problem … I can’t … Fucking listen for two seconds … A wife … Barnes … on our way.”
He ends his call and roughly grips Daphne’s arm practically dragging her back to her vehicle, he takes her keys and places her in the passenger seat. As he is getting into the driver seat, Daphne hears multiple gunshots ring out from the warehouse and reality sinks in, turning her fiery rage into icy fear.
Her head starts to turn to observe the sound but the man speaks up, “Nope, not a sight you want to see sunshine.” he pulls onto the street driving faster than she had driven to the warehouse.
Twenty minutes later finds her seated before a wooden desk in a darkly lit room. The man who’d brought her in turned out to be Lloyd Hansen and the office belonged to Frank Adler. Her fear has multiplied as she realizes how much trouble she is in for just the action of showing up at one of their illegal businesses. Lloyd dropped her in the plush office chair and left her in the care of Frank.
Frank removes his reading glasses, saves the document he’d been reviewing on his computer and finally looks across the desk to the women across from him. Raven haired, fair skinned, green haired Daphne Barnes who is trembling in fear and despair before him, he hadn’t been prepared for a broken woman to be dropped into his lap. He knew the Barnes marriage wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows from conversations he’d overheard between Steve and Bucky but he wasn’t prepared for this mess.
“What did you see at the warehouse?” He needs to sort everything out before he checks on her mental health.
“I didn’t see anything but I heard a gunshot when Mr. Hansen dragged me away.” she fiddles with her fingers, a visual representation of her nerves. “I know to keep my mouth shut, James has made sure of that.”
“Was it urgent, the matter that drove you to the warehouse?”
Frank watched as her expression morphed from broken, fearful, anger and finally snapped into hopelessness and tears. Not used to dealing with distressed women he reacted to the best of his knowledge by coming around the desk and kneeling down in front of her seat and rubbing her knee. He isn’t entirely sure how it happened but somehow he ends up sitting on his ass in his office with Daphne in his lap crying into his neck as she holds herself against him in a death grip.
“I’ve tried so hard to be a good wife, regardless of his neglect even when I discovered his affair.”
“Infidelity isn’t right,” he says mindlessly, on autopilot while he focuses on her heartbeat and the gentle rise and fall of her chest against his.
“I could handle his cheating, it was easier when I found out who it was and that they were together before we ever got married. But he brought her into our home last night and I just snapped.” her weeping intensifies at the memories.
Frank loses the rest of her venting as he ponders his oldest brother's friend. Growing up Bucky was always the ladies man which had made the virtuous Steve far more appealing for the long run but Frank had never imagined Bucky to be an unfaithful man. He recalls Bucky’s last long term relationship was with Natasha Romanof, who was the polar opposite of Daphne but Natasha had been out of the equation for so long now he wasn’t convinced she was the mistress. The only people he could think of that Bucky spent most of his time around, Frank was 100% certain Bucky wasn’t sleeping with: Annie who was completely enthralled with Steve and hadn’t known about Bucky’s existence before she met Steve. From Daphne’s own retellings, Bucky had been seeing this woman before they married and Steve and Annie had only just gotten married a couple months ago, dating probably a year ago whereas Daphne and Bucky had been married for about 3 years now.
“Am I really so unappealing that it's alright to rub my face into the humiliation I’ve been dealing with since the day I met him?!”
“Hey no!” Frank gently pulls her head back so he can meet her gaze. “You’re an amazing woman who deserves much more than your current predicament.”
It's with that sincerity that Daphne and Franks friendship is forged, from that day on all the effort and energy she’d put into her ungrateful husband was now placed upon Frank and Mary. Daff and Mary grew close as Frank fell harder and harder for the married woman. And while she could never bring herself to betray the vows she made for the sham of a marriage. Together they love one another in silence, never crossing the boundary she set but continuing to spend more and more time together, Mary acting as their unknowing chaperon.
It was Franks’ birthday when everything changed for them, a Monday night so he’d spent Sunday with his family celebrating, allowing him to spend his actual birthday with Mary and Daphne. He hadn’t been so excited for something like this in a long time, knowing Daff had picked Mary up from school so the two could cook his favorite, her meatloaf. Daphne was a better cook than half the restaurants him and Mary ate at before Daff had entered their lives. Just another of the many ways Daff had shown how she loved and cared for them, she thoroughly enjoyed taking care of them and allowed him to return those actions.
But when he pulled up to his house he noticed his sister sitting in her car waiting for his arrival. She hopped out of the car eagerly and came over to give him a one sided hug so she didn’t drop the store bought cake in her other hand.
“Happy birthday!”
“We celebrated yesterday,” he pointed out.
“Well I know but I thought we could order dinner, have some cake and just hang out.” Delilah suddenly looked around, searching for something. “Where’s Mary?”
“Inside, her and a friend are making dinner.”
“Oh,” Delilah suddenly seemed down and Frank noticed the slight bags under her eyes, like she’d been having a tough time recently. “Got room for another?”
Internally sighing about his precious evening being invaded by his little sister, he nodded and forced a smile and led the way inside. The smell of dinner bringing his mood up, it further rose when Mary and Daphne came to greet him, Daphne carrying a homemade chocolate cake she’d clearly let Mary do the frosting for. He was too distracted with greeting Mary and complimenting her handy work to notice how Daphne tensed up.
“What’s she doing here?” Deli snapped as she placed the store bought cake down on the counter and glared at Daphne.
“She’s a friend, Deli, she made dinner.” Frank explained, confused by his sister's sudden attitude shift. “Do we have enough for another?” Frank looked to Daff finally, even more confused by the forced smile on her face followed by her overly positive tone affirming his inquiry and then disappeared back into the kitchen.
“The meatloaf just came out of the oven.” Mary said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet and swaying her arms. “Daff let me mush everything together.”
“I’m eager to try it.”
Deli followed the pair into the kitchen. Her hatred for Daphne Barnes wasn’t really justified but Daphne had Bucky in a way Delilah couldn’t and that was reason enough for her to despise the woman. Though she was aware the whole situation was a result of Bucky’s continued poor decision making, furthering her annoyance with her boyfriend. She was supposed to be with him right now but their latest fight was the whole reason she was at her brother's house trying to avoid all of it. But jealousy was an unreasonable bitch and therefore Daphne was the bane of Delilah’s existence, motivating her to glare at Daphne as she set another place at the dinner table.
“Shouldn’t you be home taking care of your husband?” Deli snapped as everyone got comfortable at the table. Frank was finally picking up on the hostility coming from his sister towards Daphne, and it had nothing to do with whatever had been bothering her before they entered the house.
“My husband is rarely home for dinner but should he come home hungry there is dinner in the fridge with reheating instructions.”
“I don’t think it's appropriate for a married woman to make her husband reheat his own dinner while she provides a feast for another man.” Deli sneers. Frank glares at his sister trying to shut her down without words but it's too late, Daphne snaps.
“And I don’t think it's appropriate for my husband's mistress to lecture me on my responsibilities.” Daphne’s hand flies up to cover her mouth, eyes wide in regret and surprise at herself.
“Mary, go to your room.” Frank says sternly with no room for argument, Mary pouting but leaving anyway.
“I’m so-” Daphne starts but Franks stops her.
“Don’t.” he moves his reassuring, soft eyes from Daphne to his sister, his expression hardening to anger. “Bucky is the married man you’ve been asking me for advice on?”
“Frank-”
“Bucky! One of the few people who’d receive the entire family's blessing, yet you let him marry and destroy someone else?”
“You’re in love with her.” Delilah is breathless as she makes the conclusion, looking back and forth between the two. Daphne’s eyes unwavering from her lap, indicating to Delilah that the feeling is mutual between the two. “You’re cheating on Bucky! You fucking slut!”
“No,” Daphne whispers in the broken tone Frank has worked so hard not to hear from her ever again. Tears falling in a rush down her face at the insults thrown her way, though her crying is silent at present time.
“Don’t you dare insult her like that,” Frank’s voice has dropped to a decibel neither women have ever heard from him. “We have done nothing wrong. We recognized our connection and made sure we were never alone to respect the sanctity of marriage, a courtesy you have not shared.” The quick whimper has Frank’s attention shifting back to Daff, he takes her hand and rubs his thumb over her knuckles to offer comfort. “You don’t get to judge us when you fucking her husband.”
“If you’re so in love with each other, why don’t you divorce him?” Delilah redirects her brother's animosity.
“I can’t, the marriage can only be terminated by James according to the contract that forgave my fathers debt.” Daphne’s voice is small but it rings in Delilah’s ears as she boils in rage.
All this time, all those fights about divorcing Daphne so they can finally be together and it was on him. Bucky had led Deli to believe he was at Daphne’s mercy, that he couldn’t leave her but the reversal here is maybe the man she loves doesn’t love her enough to commit to her for the rest of their lives. His excuses of Daphne not being able to provide for herself, that she would end up on the street if they ever got divorced, it all doesn’t matter anymore because Frank is in love with Daphne and would never allow such a fate to befall her.
“Question is, why hasn’t Barnes divorced Daff if he’s so in love with you?”
“He is responsible for her and she has no practical world skills to be able to get a job if they divorce. Do you want her to be homeless?”
“She’s right.” Daphne mumbles, something Frank will correct later but for now he is focused on his little sister.
“You aren’t incapable,” is all Frank offers for now before returning to his sister. “I would never allow that.”
“Do you promise?” she asks her brother, a new hope surging up within her. “Because if you can guarantee she will be provided for, I will give Bucky the ultimatum that will make us all happy.”
“Of course,” he states firmly before continuing with his eyes on Daphne who is still looking at her hands. “Perhaps you missed the part where I’m in love with her.”
Delilah takes out her phone and sends a single text to her boyfriend.
Divorced Daphne or lose me permanently.
Delilah apologizes to Daphne for the unwarranted treatment and bows to make things right in any way she can for them. Starting with her leaving so they can try to salvage the rest of the evening.