Chapter Text
Life immediately after Gabriel's (half-hearted) attempt to escape la famiglia is… difficult, to say the least. Raphael Angelini and Yakovlevna both want Gabriel and Alina's wedding to happen as soon as possible for their own, selfish, reasons. Meanwhile, the ones actually participating aren't very keen on the idea. Alina is a kind woman who got dragged into the life by nothing more than the accident of her birth. She doesn't belong amongst criminals of the worst kind nor does she deserve having her future decided for her. But that didn't stop her grandmother from using her as a bargaining chip. Nor did it stop her from falling for one of those very same criminals. Alina might try to deny it to Davina, but she's seen the looks that Alina and Nico have shared.
As for Gabriel, well, his heart is also already taken. That's it's own can of worms and Davina dreads the day that she has to tell Ms. Bremerton that she broke the no fraternization rule after the headmistress had warned her. It's almost scarier than anything Raphael Angelini could do to her. But what Ms. Bremerton doesn't know can't hurt Davina. And she'll tell her… eventually. If it comes to a point where she'd need to know.
Fear of disappointing her headmistress and the woman who'd raised her since she was twelve aside, Davina and Gabriel's romantic entanglement isn't the only reason that Gabriel doesn't want to marry Alina. He'd been in an arranged marriage before, and it didn't end well. Niko had been against the agreement since he woke up, knowing that a marriage to Alina would just be another chain around Gabriel's neck for Raphael to take advantage of. But the deal had been struck and there was no turning back; they'll just have to find another way out of it.
Though the implication of Alina's presence in the manor is unwelcome, the woman herself has become as much a part of the household as Conte or Julia. She's content to float in the background, only making herself known when needed. Or when a certain red-headed knife nut is in the room. It would be wonderful having her around—if only the heads of two major crime families weren't looming over everything, watching the manor like a pair of hawks until the wedding was over.3n+$huldi6umg, SCr3n r34ddrS
Calm, under these circumstances, is fought hard for and carefully scheduled. For example, the hour directly after breakfast is set aside for the Angelini father and son to spend however they'd like. And, usually, this is in Mikey's art room, where the owner of said room works on a current project, shows off his previous one, or just generally entertains his daily audience. Gabriel, when not indulging Mikey, usually reads the morning news. Davina has been a reoccurring guest since she was hired as a nanny, but it had always by invitation previously. Now, she's required to attend. Davina hopes her change in status has more to do with Mikey's growing fondness of her rather than because he had learned about his father's. Davina's relationship with Gabriel is still so new and she'd hate to see Mikey hurt if it didn't work out.
Davina spends the hour indulging in hobbies. She'd rather be brushing up on knowledge that would be useful to helping keep Mikey safe or monitoring the dark web for any sign of movement in the underworld but, well, Gabriel had taken to snatching anything that had even the slightest hint of work from her at the top of the hour. Mikey even provided an empty storage chest for him to squirrel away the confiscated items. So, hobbies it is. Davina hadn't had much of a chance to develop hobbies after joining ENA. Okay, that's a lie. She'd had the time and the freedom to do so if she had wanted, but she'd been too driven to excel to take the opportunity. And the life she had before her house had burned down seemed so far away that she couldn't even remember what she liked to do as a kid.
Mikey, once, had asked her about it—what she did outside of work—and… she hadn't had an answer. The sad look on his face had been enough to convince her to fix that. And the social hour had turned out to be the best time to experiment, being banned from her actually job for the duration and all. Davina hadn't managed to find any activity that she had a passion for, but most had been an interesting way to spend some time, at least.
An old grandfather clock in the hallway chimes the hour a whole thirty seconds before Davina's watch beeps to signal that their hour of peace is over. Davina sighs and puts away the crafting magazine she'd been reading. While knitting didn't seem like something she'd get into, Davina isn't quite ready for the quiet, domestic scene she was a part of to be over. But Gabriel is already on his feet and Davina knows how busy he's been recently, so insisting that he delay the start of his day would be selfish of her.
“I'll be taking Mikey with me for the rest of the morning,” Gabriel announces without warning.bUt $kR3vv 41
Mikey's head pops out from behind the canvas he'd been working on, his eyes shining in delight. “Really? Where are we going? What are we going to be doing? Do I get to help you shake down some low-level crime bosses?” By this point, Mikey had put down his paints and is tugging at his father's pants. Mikey is a remarkably tidy artist but his smock does have a few wet patches that decorate Gabriel's charcoal gray dress pants with a cheerful speckling of colors.
Gabriel grins mischievously and kneels down until he and Mikey are on the same level. “It's a surprise. Now, clean yourself up so we can get going.”
“Right! I can't go out in this! It would be a stain on the family name if I were to go out in a suit meant for at home leisure!”
Mikey tosses off his smock and sprints from the room with frightening speed. At least Davina knows he'd be able to outrun most kidnappers.
“I wonder if he realizes that we could leave sooner if he'd pick up after himself,” Gabriel mutters, shaking his head in amusement.
With an lighthearted sigh, Davina eases herself off of the couch before snatching Mikey's discarded smock off of the ground and making her way to the easel to collect his painting supplies. “He's just excited.” After a pause, she adds, “Do you need me to come along as well?”
Gabriel pushes himself back to his full, rather intimidating, height and shakes his head yet again. “No, I'll be bringing Val and Nico with me. You can take the rest of the morning off.”
“You're not actually taking him with you for work, are you?” It's a ridiculous question. Gabriel hadn't taken Mikey along since Davina started working there. It's why he'd hired Davina to watch Mikey. But still, he's never gone on an outing with Mikey with Val and Niko in tow. Davina has been Mikey's protector since day one. So being dismissed like this, however kindly, is… suspicious.
“Of course not!” Gabriel takes Mikey's dirty brushes from Davina and walks over to the sink to rinse them clean. “I don't even know why he's mentioned it! He hasn't been interested in the family business since…”
“Since that incident with your cousin?” Davina finishes for him.
“… Yeah.”SgSRG8RSHR
The pause is heavy and Davina can guess what's going through Gabriel's mind. It had been the first time Davina had gotten that hurt on the job. She would have died had Gabriel not gotten there so soon. Her memory of that night is fuzzy but she clearly remembers the days afterward; Gabriel had obviously been concerned about her and incredibly grateful that she had kept Mikey safe, but he hadn't carried any sense of guilt toward her injuries nor had he expressed any kind of fear for her safety. So why is he hesitant to mention it now? Because of their new relationship? The idea is somehow both flattering and offensive.
Davina places the paints back in their drawer and moves to join Gabriel at the sink, Mikey's palette in tow. Putting the palette down in the basin, she offers a hand to take the cleaned brushes away to dry. Gabriel passes two over before starting to work on the last one.
“I knew what I was getting into,” Davina assures him.
“Huh?”
“With your family. With what working for la famiglia entails. With what,” Davina flushes slightly, “being involved with you means. I entered into this position with open eyes, so don't think that you suddenly have to worry about me just because we're…” They're what? Dating? They hadn't really gone on a date—hadn't had the chance with all the surveillance. Is going on dates a requirement to call a relationship dating? Or is the fact that they've kissed enough? “Together,” she finally settles on, hanging up the brushes to dry.
Gabriel passes the last brush to Davina and gets to scrubbing the dried paint off of the palette. “Why shouldn't I worry? I'm the one who brought you into this.”
“You hired me to do a job.” Quietly, she adds, “You wanted me to take Mikey away from all of this. Did you think I'd be safe doing that?”
“No,” Gabriel admits. “But I was hoping that I could keep you distant enough not to care.”
Davina laughs. “I don't think that quite worked out as planned.”
“No, it didn't,” he agrees with a chuckle. Putting down the sponge he'd been using to clean the palette, Gabriel takes Davina's hand and lifts it to his face, placing a quick kiss onto it before finally meeting her eyes once more. “You shine far too brightly to ignore.”
Davina can feel the warmth spreading across her face once more but she smiles easily. “Any nanny you picked would have been just as good at the job.”
“That's not what I meant.” Gabriel's voice is low. He uses the hand he still has a hold of to bring Davina closer to him, placing it on his shoulder to free his up his own to reach around her waist. It's wet and paint-stained but Davina doesn't care. She cranes her neck back to look up at Gabriel—who is frustratingly tall at this moment despite leaning down to meet her, his free hand gripping the sink's basin to bear his weight. His gaze mets hers before quickly flicking down to her lips in a silent question. She answers by wrapping both of her arms around his neck and pulling him further down. Davina closes her eyes in anticipation of the feeling of Gabriel's lips on hers, her heart nearly beating out of her chest as he draws closer. And then-
“Papa! Davina! What's taking so long?”
The atmosphere around them pops at the sudden interruption, leaving Davina feeling far too hot and yet cold at the same time. She takes a smooth step away from Gabriel, who releases his hold on her waist to return to washing the palette, and puts away the final paintbrush as if nothing had happened.
Davina glances over her shoulder at the small blond head that was peering into the room. “We would be finished by now if you had taken the time to help clean up,” she scolds lightly.
Mikey looks a little lost at first until his eyes lock onto the hanging paintbrushes. “Oh! How could I have been so careless! A good artist needs to take care of his materials!”
Smiling, Davina meets Mikey at the door where she ruffles his hair playfully. “It's okay to make mistakes every now and then. I know you were just excited.”
“Hey! You'll make a mess of it!”
Davina laughs. “I'll fix it after you get changed. Come on, your father's nearly done. You don't want to make him wait, do you?”
“No, let's go!" Mikey almost darts away again before a chagrined expression crosses his face. “Sorry that you and Papa had to clean up after me.”
“Just be more mindful in the future and we'll call it even,” Davina offers.
“Deal!” fIOhOiw f ghQOHGI
Davina notices then that the sound of running water is gone. Almost at once, Gabriel appears behind her. “You think I can get through?”
“Of course, we were just going,” Davina answers, his proximity enough to cause her cheeks to pink in memory of what they'd almost been caught doing. She steps through the doorway, guiding Mikey out of the way at the same time.
Gabriel grins. “Then I'll met you,” he says to Mikey, “at the front door in fifteen minutes. Davina,” he turns to her, “we should be back by lunch but I'll inform you if plans change.”
Davina nods. “Understood. I hope the two of you have fun doing… whatever it is that you're doing.”
“I'm sure we will.” Gabriel brushes Davina's arm as he passes by and further fluffs Mikey's hair before leaving the two of them, presumably to change into a paint-free suit.
Taking Mikey's hand, Davina leads him to his room to get him ready for his mysterious outing.
“What were you and Papa doing?”
Davina forces herself not to react to the sudden question. “In the art room?”
Mikey nods.
“We were rinsing the paint off of your brushes. You know, what you are supposed to do once you've finished using them?”
Mikey shakes his head. “No, I mean when I came back. It looked like you and Papa were holding onto each other. Did you fall or something? Did he catch you?”
Davina laughs wryly. “Something like that.”
“How did you fall? There was nothing on the ground. You're usually more coordinated than that!”
“It was your father's fault," she explains, not untruthfully. "He distracted me and I wasn't careful where I put my feet.”
“I'll make sure to tell him off for you," Mikey assures her. "But you should still know better than to let yourself get so distracted.”
Davina shrugs, amused by how serious Mikey's taking this. “I'm only human, and your father kept me from hitting the ground. I think everything turned out okay, all things considered.”
“But what if you had got hurt? Who would keep me safe when Papa isn't around?” The distress in Mikey's voice banishes the humor of the moment.
Davina stops, kneeling down so that she and Mikey are eye-to-eye. “Oh, Mikey, a little slip-up like that couldn't keep me down. Besides, if something happened to me, Val or Nico would take care of you until I was capable again.”
“I don't want Val or Nico to take care of me. I want you to, 'Vina.”
“And I will, as long as I can.”
“What does that mean?”gwioae;gweij gw4
“Well, I'm only here on a year contract. If your father doesn't renew it…” He would, wouldn't he? Mikey was already so attached to her and she and Gabriel couldn't keep up their relationship if she was sent to another family.
“He'd better! I won't accept a new nanny if he doesn't renew your contract!”
“Oh? That's the best performance review I could ask for!”
“I'm serious," he says. "I'll discuss it with Papa while we're out. I'll even make him hire you on permanently!”
“I'd like that,” she tells him genuinely. “But you won't need me forever. One day, you'll grow up and not need a nanny.”
“Then we'll keep you as a nanny until I'm old enough not to need one, then make you in charge of cyber-security. You already do that, right?”
“That's true. I suppose that could work. But I don't know if that would be right.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I trained with ENA to protect kids like you. If I stay even when you don't need me anymore, I'd feel like I was letting down the other children that I should be protecting.”
Mikey hums thoughtfully. “That's true… Oh!” He snaps his fingers and Davina could almost see the lightbulb appearing above his head. “Papa just needs to have another kid for you to watch once I'm old enough! I'd get to keep you around and I'd get a little sibling to be my underboss! It's win-win!”
Davina can't help the laugh that escapes her at that. It's the kind of idea only a little kid could truly consider. “That's up to your father to decide, but it is a nice thought. Now,” Davina offers her hands to pick Mikey up, which he takes eagerly, and gets to her feet, “let's get you ready for your outing with your father.”