Children of the Don

Secret meeting

The guard will not talk as they all want to see their Don happy, and Donna Harper is the best Donna for Don Dean in their eyes. The guard knows that the old Don is pretending and just smiles. He shakes his head as he knows Don Filippo has called in reinforcements. Poor Harper Casella and Dean Morrelli do not stand a chance against the team of older people and Carley Morgan. They have all teamed up against Harper and Dean. Soon, they will have the two leaders of the Casella family and the Morrelli family fall in love and live happily ever after. Or so they think. The guard is not sure it will work that way as Dean and Harper are very bright and may see through the plans the people in the room are making.

Dean works in his room and is not too worried about his grandfather. Seeing Jayda not looking too concerned has put his heart at ease. He will follow Jayda Morgan's advice and let his grandfather rest for a few days. He is glad it is not his grandfather's heart or anything serious, but Dean is still slightly concerned, although he does not want to admit it. His grandparents are like parents to Dean, and he will always worry about them and their health.

In the room, Carley, Dante, Jennie and Filippo look at Melissa, telling them about Dean's conversation with his mother. Then, they smile as Melissa tells them that Brooklyn wants Dean and thinks he will marry her one day. But of course, they all know that will never happen, not if they can help. She tells them that she made Dean call his mother back and accept the invitation to dinner.

"What!? Are you crazy, my love? You can not let Dean walk into the lion's den alone!" Filippo says.

"Who says he is going to be alone? I told him to take a date, and I told him I would arrange for someone to go with him. That is where Dante, Jennie, and Carley come in. They will have to convince Harper to go on a blind date," Melissa says.

"Hmm, you are clever. It will give Dean and Harper a chance to get to know each other better, and it will mean that the two have to pretend to like each other. It will also give Harper a sense of revenge when she realizes Brooklyn wants Dean," Jennie says. She smiles.

"Exactly! We must keep it a secret from the two until they see each other that night of the dinner. It must be a surprise for both of them, and since they only talked to each other in front of other Dons, they will feel too awkward to cancel the date. Or so I hope," Melissa says.

"Okay, I will nag Harper to go on a blind date with family friends. I will ask her to do it for the family, since the friend is critical to us as an ally," Jennie says. Dante nods.

"I will help. I know Harper puts the Casella family first, and she will not dare to ruin anything for the family," Dante says.

"Great! After their first date, we will decide on the next step. We will have to see how the date goes before we can plan anything else. They may fight or hate each other," Carley says. She is still sceptical about uncle Filippo's plan to lock the two up in a lonely cabin in the mountains for a week. What if they kill each other? They will have to see how this blind date goes before taking drastic steps.

"I am telling you, if those two are alone for a week in the mountains, they will fall in love," Filippo says. Everyone looks at Carley and Filippo.

"Uncle Filippo has a cabin in the mountains where he and aunt Melissa spend a week without outside contact every year. Uncle Filippo wants to get Harper and Dean to the cabin and make them spend a week alone. But, I am afraid they might kill each other, and we will only get corpses back after the week is over," Carley admits.

"Yeah, let us first see how this date goes and if they do not kill each other tomorrow night. Then we could try that if they are not in love already and dating," Melissa says.

"Fine, but I still think it is a great idea," Filippo says. He knows his grandson and Harper are warm-blooded and will not be able to keep their hands off each other. They are Italian, after all! Harper has been brought up Italian, and no one thinks of her as anything else.

"Calm down, honey. We want to make sure they do not hate each other before we take drastic steps," Melissa says.

"I know my grandson, and I know he likes Harper. But, you have not seen how they look at each other," Filippo says. Melissa smiles as she knows her husband. But, once Filippo wants something, he will stop at nothing to get it.

"I believe you, honey. However, do not upset yourself, as you may really get sick," Melissa says.

"Uncle Filippo is right. I know Harper, and she likes Dean more than she will admit. It is a damn shame the two of them have trust issues. It would have been easier for us if they had not," Carley says. She is mad at Bruce and feels like her grandmother about killing him and Brooklyn. Those two are responsible for Harper's trust issues.

"Sometimes I feel like killing Milla for what she did to our grandson. I know she waited five years to marry after his father's death, but she should have reassured him about her love for him. Instead, Milla showered her stepdaughter with love and neglected Dean. Maybe if she showed him the same love she had for him before she got married again, he would not have been so bitter about her getting married again," Melissa sighs.

"Yeah, I think the fact that Milla pushed Dean to like Derrick Norris and accept him as a father also played a role. She even tried to get him to take his stepfather's name," Filippo says.

"Wow, Dean felt betrayed by his mother, and he felt like he lost both his parents in five years. That is why he has trust issues. I think I understand him better now," Carley says.

"That is what we were thinking, and that is why we took him in during the school holidays, and after he finished university, he came to stay with us. Of course, we wanted him to know he still had us, but we did not want to take him away from his mother. She is his parent, after all, and we are only his grandparents," Melissa says.

"Yes, but when he was a grown-up, we could no longer tell him what to do, and he preferred to stay with us," Filippos says.

"We never talked badly about his mother, but Milla blamed us for Dean's decision to cut her and Derrick out of his life," Melissa explains further, and she feels sad as she always saw Milla as their daughter while she was married to their son and before she married Derrick.

"Yeah, Milla broke off all contact with us after she married Derrick, even after we told her we would always be there for her and still saw her as our daughter. She wanted nothing to do with us after her second marriage. It also upset Dean a lot, as he thought his mother wanted nothing to do with his father anymore and everything that reminded her of him," Filippo says.

"No wonder Dean thinks all women are unfaithful and will only love you while you are around. Harper is not like that. She never had a relationship after she and Bruce broke up, as she felt the hurt of her first love betraying her. Her best friend betraying her was also a hard blow, but she did not fall in love again. Harper is not someone that can move on easily. If she should get married and her partner dies, I do not think Harper will ever be able to remarry again. She is too loyal to her feelings and the love she feels in her heart," Carley says.

"It is true. Harper is very loyal. From a young age, Harper was loyal to everyone around her and protective over the ones she loved," Jennie says.

"I wish Dean and Harper would talk about their past with each other. They will understand each other so much better if they do," Dante sighs.

"Yeah, but I think they both have built a wall around their hearts as they are afraid of getting hurt by the people they love. It will be hard for anyone to win their trust, and one wrong step will ruin everything," Carley says.

"I agree. Harper and Dean will have to talk to each other about their past and why they have trust issues. Then, they will have to learn that they can trust each other with their secrets and maybe with their hearts," Jennie says.

"I am so glad we have you on our side. You are all very wise, and we will all need to work together to get the Dean and Harper together before one of them makes the wrong decision and marries the wrong person," Filippo says. That is his biggest worry, especially with Dean. Dean has shown that he is willing to marry someone like Sienna to benefit his family. Dean is willing to have a loveless marriage as long as he can make the Morrelli family grow in power. Filippo can not allow that, and if the other Dons find out that Dean is willing to get married as long as the Morrelli family benefits, they may take advantage of the situation. Filippo will never allow it, but Dean has a will of his own, and he will not listen to Filippo or even Melissa.

"We need to get them together as soon as possible. So let's start with the date and make sure the Dons know that they are dating," Melissa says, as she is also worried that Dean and Harper will end up with the wrong person.

"That is a great idea. None of the Dons will come between Dean and Harper as they fear the Morrelli family and the Casella family. Some of the Dons may take advantage of the situation to better their families and try to marry their children off to Harper or Dean," Dante says, concerned.

"Yes, that is why we need to let everyone see that Dean and Harper are together, so no one will try something like that," Filippo agrees.

While the secret meeting is going on in Don Filippo's room, Dean is staring in front of him. He does not feel like working and he can not get Harper out of his head. He is afraid that Agosti may put a hit on her. He will secretly let his men keep an eye on Harper and make sure the leader of the Italian Mafia is safe. He knows Harper has not officially taken over from Jayden, but they all know it will happen soon. Dean acknowledges that Harper Casella is beautiful and that she is not someone you can take on without gloves. Dean respects her and he will do anything to protect the Italian Mafia, as he is loyal.

Harper is sitting in her office. She is running most of the finances now and she can not help but think of Dean. She knows that Dean does not like her as she does not like him. Or does she like him and does not want to admit it to herself? Harper snorts as she thinks of men and how they are. She will never trust any man ever again! Bruce has shown her what to expect from men. They can not be loyal!

"Harper Casella, your dad, grandfather and uncles are all faithful! Yeah, but they are not just any men, they are Casellas. Casellas are always faithful because they have been raised that way," Harper said to herself. Harper gets up and walks down to her car. Her grandparents want to see her tonight. She knows they want a favour of her if they ask her to come to their house. Harper smiles as she walks past the photo of the four pirate children and their dog. Harper misses Willow everytime she looks at the picture and she is even thinking of getting herself a dog, but then she will have to move out of her apartment and get herself a house. It will be very lonely in a big house with only her and her dog. So Harper decides to wait before buying a house.