Damon felt a migraine coming on as he listened to Giuseppe's uncle explain the state of things in Milazzo. The older man was heaping yet another problem onto his great-nephew's already overflowing plate. Just seventy-two hours ago, Damon felt as if everything in his personal and professional lives were on track. Now everything had gone to shit. He found himself rushing around trying to put out fires that he was just learning had been burning for quite some time. Damon knew that the complications of his personal life were all his doing. However, his professional life was in shambles because of his father's treachery. Damon was sorely tempted to gun the old bastard down in the street and be done with it. Unfortunately, the nature of their business would require him to be calculating—not impulsive.

"Thank you for being honest with me, Zio. I'll see you next month for Christmas. Ciao," Damon said. He ended the call and threw his phone at the wall in frustration. "Son of a bitch!"

Ric looked at the cracked phone a mere foot from where he was standing. He removed his hands from his pants' pockets and then walked up to the desk. "Was that really necessary?"

"Don't start with me! I'm not in the mood right now! I've had it up to here with your fucking brother! Brutto figlio di puttana," Damon angrily spat.

The older man's eyebrow went up at his outburst. Giuseppe raised them in a multilingual home but Damon rarely spoke Italian outside of small phrases of endearment. He sat down in front of the desk and waited for his nephew to calm down. It was pointless to talk to him once he'd worked up a good head of steam.

It took five minutes for Damon to settle down. He refilled his glass of bourbon and took a deep breath. He ran a hand through his dark hair and said, "He's been playing me this whole time. He has been playing all of us. Uncle Bruno said that Giuseppe has been in Milazzo solidifying his own position. He's been worried for awhile now that I would take the family from him."

Ric groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. There was a nugget of good news hidden amongst the bed. The good news was that his older brother realized that he didn't have the support to clip Damon. "Giuseppe must have found out that you have been doing the same thing stateside. He has to know that your position is all but guaranteed here."

Damon had been ingratiating himself to their people for the last two years. They all knew that Damon was the future of the organization. He was also preferred because of his balanced temperament. Well, he was balanced in comparison to Giuseppe. The elder Salvatore didn't limit his rage to just the members of his biological family. The slightest infraction could prove to be lethal if Giuseppe was in a bad mood. Damon also had the full support of Elijah Mikaelson. The alliance with the Mikaelson organization would stretch well beyond Giuseppe's tenure.

"He will split the family in half, Zio. Even the ones loyal to me know that our connection to the old country is crucial. Giuseppe needs to die before he can move against me. He might have sped up his plans because of what he did to Bonnie. He knows I'll want retribution."

Ric silently considered their options for a moment. "You need to reach out to Big John. We need the Bendettos' support now more than ever. The operation on this side of the Atlantic is loyal to you but you need to secure the other side. Having the Benedetto family on our side will go a long way. If Giuseppe loses favor in Big John's eyes, he is dead in the water. They might be close but the attack on Bonnie changes things. John will always choose family over business."

Damon incredulously asked, "Are you suggesting I tell my biggest ally that I allowed my father to beat the shit out of his first cousin's pregnant granddaughter? That's your big plan?"

Ric said, "No, I am suggesting that you use that relationship to your advantage. The Bendetto Family will go the way that Bonnie does. Maybe once she's all healed you take a trip to Milazzo. Before then, you and I need to take the trip over. You need some face time with our family. They need to understand that the Salvatore line doesn't end with Giuseppe. I've done my best to talk you up but you need to make that connection. You haven't spent any meaningful time in Milazzo in the last couple of years. It ends now, Damon!"

The younger man ground his teeth in anger but conceded Ric's point. He said, "Uncle Bruno and Uncle Jackie are on my side. They can help pave the way for me."

Bruno and Giacomo were Giuseppe's uncles. They were of course getting on in age but their ties to the organization ran deep. Giacomo had been Giuseppe's consigliere for 30 years before he retired and moved back to Milazzo. John Gilbert took his place in the organization. Bruno had been an underboss for almost as long before Ric took over for him. Bruno lived in Milazzo now, too.

Ric nodded. "Now you are using your head, Damon. Giuseppe is dead no matter what but we aren't going to lose control of the family. You've earned the top spot and the old man knows it."

Damon's phone started ringing across the room.

The older man retrieved the phone for his nephew. "I am surprised that the damn thing is still working after the way you threw it."

"Thanks," Damon muttered as he took the phone. His cerulean eyes darkened when he saw that it was Katherine. He immediately ignored the call and tossed the phone on his desk.

"Trouble in paradise?" he asked. Ric wasn't fond of his nephew's mistress. However, he wasn't exactly in the position to be anyone's moral compass about infidelity. Alaric's relationship with his mistress spanned nearly two decades at this point.

"Don't start," the younger man warned.

It had been two days since Bonnie's confession of her feelings and Katherine's betrayal. Damon still hadn't figured out how to handle his mistress. He gave her a certain amount of leeway because she had been with him for years. However, it would be an understatement to say that she crossed a line by trying to hurt Bonnie. He was too angry to deal with Katherine right now. He was worried that if they spoke, she would say something flippant or disrespectful to send him over the edge. It wouldn't take much for Damon to brutally remind Katherine of her place but he didn't like being that type of man.

Ric shook his head. "Go spend some time with the family. It'll help you relax. I'll stay in here and make some calls. I need to talk to Uncle Jackie. He can give us a road map of the old stalwarts that you are going to need to sway in our favor."

Damon considered rejecting the idea but he did want to spend more time with Bonnie. "Put more pressure on our people to find Giuseppe. Maybe he's shacked up with one of his whores."

"They'll find him, Damon. It's just taking time because we don't want to arouse any suspicion. He's laying low to test the waters after what he did. Get out of here and let me work my magic."

The raven-haired playboy snorted at his uncle but reluctantly left the office. He walked outside where the rest of their family was congregating. Jo and Meredith had decided that it was too nice an evening to be cooped up in the house. They were grilling dinner on the heated patio.

Bonnie and Caroline were seated on the far end of the patio shucking fresh corn for dinner. They were also keeping an eye on Tony while he played in the playpen beside them. The toddler was Caroline and Stefan's third and final child if you believed the blonde event planner.

Zach was kicking a soccer ball around with Bella, Nico, and Sarah in the backyard.

Damon sat down beside Stefan. "Double D definitely inherited Blondie's athleticism."

Stefan snorted and rolled his eyes. Everyone knew that he was the more athletic of the two Salvatore boys. Stefan had played football and baseball all four years of high school. "Caroline has told you a million times not to call him that."

He clapped his younger brother on the back. "You shouldn't have named him Damon Domenico Salvatore if you didn't want me to call him Double D. Trust me he'll love his nickname once he's interested in girls."

"I named him after you because I love you, asshole," Stefan said.

"I know." Damon smirked and watched as the kids tried to score a goal around Zach. However, his uncle was actively swatting the balls away from the net.

"Have you talked to Sarah about what she saw that night?"

The elder brother's eyes darkened. He bit out, "No. I know that I should but…"

Stefan offered, "Maybe she could talk to a professional. I sure as hell wouldn't know where to start." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair and said, "It was bad enough having to keep our girlfriends away from the house. I hoped that I wouldn't have to worry about my wife's safety. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect Bonnie."

Damon smiled wryly He said, "He would have kicked your ass, pretty boy. You've never had to fight him one on one."

The younger man nodded and tried to ignore the sense of shame that washed over him. His uncles and older brother had been stepping in the way of Giuseppe's fists for years. "Maybe but I would have gladly taken it to protect her. I mean it's Bonnie. The one time I shoved her as a kid I thought he was going to beat the shit out of me. He probably would have if Sheila didn't get in the way. How does he go from protecting her like his own kid to attacking her?"

"He's a psychopath. There is no use trying to assign logical thought to his actions." Damon looked amused. "Why the hell did you shove her?"

"I can't even remember now. She was annoying the hell out of me because you weren't around. I got frustrated and shoved her, but Bonnie has always been tiny. The shove sent her straight to the ground. I remember her just looking up at me in shock. I couldn't have been more than ten at the time. The way Giuseppe barreled out of the house…I thought I was a dead man."

Damon looked at his brother for a moment and then thought better of it.

"What?" Stefan asked.

"What? What?"

He rolled his eyes. "You had that look, Damon. You wanted to say something. Is this about Mom?"

Damon huffed out a laugh. "I'm still not ready to talk about you taking my niece and nephews to go see that traitorous bitch."

Stefan didn't bother sticking up for their mother. Lilly had made her own bed where Damon was concerned. She chose her own safety and wellbeing over that of her sons. "Then what is it?"

He lowered his voice and said, "I don't know…it's just something that Bonnie said to me recently. She said that she's been in love with me for years."

The younger man laughed and clapped Damon on the back. "You're just figuring that out? Apparently, I got the looks, the athleticism, and the brains."

Damon glared at him.

"Did you completely forget the summer after Bonnie's 16th birthday? I spent most of that summer hard as a rock because of her walking around in tiny bikinis and short shorts. Trust me she wasn't prancing around the manor like that for my benefit. I checked."

Damon licked his lips because he remembered that summer very well. He avoided her like the plague because despite being a manwhore he drew the line at statutory rape. He scowled. "Wait! What do you mean you checked?"

Stefan shrugged. "What? She wasn't your wife back then. She was just our little Bon-Bon. I put on the standard Salvatore charm and she ended up crying in my arms about you going out on a date with Sybil."

He winced when he thought about Sybil. The woman had been a terrible decision on his part. She played Damon and Enzo against each other for months. "You're lucky that you were always so bad at talking to girls. I would hate to have to kneecap my own brother. There is no statute of limitations here."

Stefan grinned at his brother and clapped him on the back. "Whatever you say, big brother. Although, I think you are being a bit hypocritical considering all the women you've drug your dick through over the years. I'm surprised that Sarah is your only kid."

"Bastard," Damon muttered. Frankly, he was surprised, too.

Stefan winked and then jogged over to join the soccer game. He was tired of watching his uncle denying all of the kids' scoring attempts.

Caroline scoffed loudly. "Seriously? I can't believe that…that…harlot!"

Damon looked over at his wife and sister-in-law with curiosity. That was pretty salty language for Caroline. He stood and walked over to the table. He smirked and asked, "What's wrong, Barbie?"

The blonde woman glared at him. "You and your man parts are what's wrong, Damon," she accused in a heated tone. "You men are just so disgusting. Thank God Stefan is nothing like you."

"Well, no one has ever accused Stefan of being a man. What is it that I have supposedly done this time?" he asked.

Bonnie looked to be near tears. She snapped. "Stop, Care."

"You don't need to put up with his crap, Bon. I definitely wouldn't do it."

The girl stood up and said, "Well, you and I are in very different situations. Aren't we?"

Caroline immediately looked chastened. Stefan being the younger brother meant that he was free to marry anyone of his choosing. Their marriage had been for love. "I'm sorry, Bon. I wasn't thinking. Please forgive me and my big fat mouth."

Bonnie said, "It's fine. You were just trying to stick up for me."

Damon was getting irritated. His position in the family meant that when he asked a question, people rushed to answer him. He was already on edge after his conversation with Bruno. He asked, "What the hell is going on?"

Bonnie glared daggers at her husband as she brushed by him. She rushed into the house because she needed a moment to collect herself. She was angry, hurt, embarrassed, but most of all she was shocked. Being blindsided was what hurt her the most. Bonnie strived to prepare herself for any situation. However, twice in as many weeks something unexpected had knocked her off course.

Caroline said, "Just give her some space, Damon. You've done enough."

Damon dismissed his sister-in-law with a heated sneer. He marched into the house with his blood boiling in his veins. If he didn't like people ignoring him, he definitely didn't appreciate his wife walking away from him. He growled, "Bonnie!"

"Leave me alone!" Bonnie yelled over her shoulder. She ignored the pain in her ankle as she marched up the stairs. She tried to slam the door but Damon raced forward and grabbed it.

Damon forced his way into the bedroom and slammed the door closed behind them. Then he grabbed Bonnie's arm and said, "Don't walk away from me when I am trying to talk to you, damn it! What the hell has gotten into you?"

Bonnie threw her phone into his face and asked, "Are you going to slap me around like your father did?"

The phone to the face hadn't affected Damon but he released Bonnie's arm when she suggested he might strike her. He backed away from the girl and stared at her with wild eyes. "I would never…"

Bonnie got a sick thrill watching the way Damon recoiled at her venomous words. "Just leave me alone, please."

"If I've done something, I'd at least like to know what it is. I thought that we were okay now," he said. His voice was calm as if he were talking to a spooked horse.

"Your girlfriend thought now was a good time to send me a few choice pictures of the two of you together. Although, the screen captures of your text messages were a nice touch. You found a real winner with her, Damon. Maybe I should have accepted that divorce when you offered it."

Damon stepped forward but stopped when he saw the hardened look in Bonnie's tear-filled eyes. Those eyes didn't belong to his beautiful wife. "You don't mean that."

"Don't I? I have tried so hard to be a good wife. I have turned a blind eye to your affair...no matter how much it hurts me. How much disrespect am I supposed to take, Damon? If you don't appreciate me, someone else will…"

He was getting ready to object but his jaw ticked when Bonnie suggested there could be someone else. He ground out, "What the fuck are you saying?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes at his denseness. She said, "I'm saying that I'm young, beautiful, and rich. If Katherine means so much to you then let me go. I promise that I won't be alone for long! I'm saying that I can do a hell of a lot better than you, Damon Salvatore!"

Damon growled and got in her face. All he saw was red as he thought about someone else touching his wife. "Are you fucking someone else?"

"You've got a lot of nerve accusing me when you just spent two weeks with your mistress! What if I do have someone else in my life? What if I am seeing someone that actually loves me and cares about my happiness? What the hell could you do about it?"

"It's not the same thing and you know it! You are a mine. You are my wife. If I ever found out that there was someone else, I would slit his throat in front of you, Bonnie! Don't play games with me, little girl! Now answer my fucking question! Are you fucking someone?"

She rolled her eyes at his threat.

Damon picked up a lamp and threw it at the wall. "Do you think that I am joking? I am the only man that you will ever be with, Bonnie."

Bonnie looked unimpressed by his outburst. "Do you love her?"

Damon got whiplash with how quickly Bonnie switched topics. His mind still reeled at the possibility of another man touching his wife. "Of course not!" he shouted. "Why would you even ask me something like that?"

"Here's the thing…either you're lying to her or you are lying to me. Either way you are a freaking liar," she screamed as a sob shook her body. Bonnie dashed into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Damon stood there in shock for a solid minute. He stared at the closed bathroom door and debated going after Bonnie. However, he looked down at her phone lying at his feet and then bent down to pick it up. He was glad to find that the screen wasn't locked. Damon felt the urge to choke the life out of Katherine when his eyes fell onto a picture that she had sent Bonnie. It was a selfie of Katherine lying naked beside Damon while he was sleeping.

He scrolled through four pictures obviously taken in the last week. However, the screen caps of their text exchanges really took the cake. His relationship with Katherine was as complicated as it was long. Damon used her for sex and companionship. Katherine used him for money and companionship. He all but supported the family she thought he knew nothing about. However, Damon wasn't the type of man to enter a long term affair with a woman he didn't know every detail about. If he was being honest, he had grown to care about Katherine over the years. However, he only said that he loved her because that's what women wanted to hear. It was his way of appeasing Katherine. He certainly didn't feel for her what he felt for Bonnie. There wasn't another woman alive that he would want as his wife. Damon could honestly say that he loved Bonnie more than he'd ever loved another person.

"Damn," he muttered softly.

Damon walked over to the bathroom door and knocked lightly. "Bonnie? I'm sorry. Baby, let me in."

"Just go, please. Leave me with a little dignity, Damon," she pleaded through the door.

Damon leaned his forehead against the door and tried to settle himself. Yelling at Bonnie was the last thing she needed from him. He had already crossed the line by grabbing her like a fool. "I'll sit here all night if that's what it takes, Bunny."

"I don't know if I can keep doing this," she said. Bonnie tried to stifle a sob. "Maybe you'd be happier with her."

Damon said, "I won't lie to you, Bonnie. I care for Katherine but it isn't what I have with you. It never could be and she knows that. She's jealous of you, baby. Don't you see that?"

"She makes me feel like I'm the other woman, Damon. Maybe I am the other woman and I am just too stupid to realize it," she replied.

Damon's fists clenched in frustration. Katherine really wasn't worth all of the trouble she was causing. He looked around the room for something to pick the lock on the bathroom door. However, his eyes ran across the balcony doors. Damon was suddenly glad that this was a Greek Revival house. He walked out the balcony doors and opened the ones that led into the bathroom.

Bonnie leaned against the counter as she cried. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. She hated feeling weak. She hated letting Damon affect her this way. She jumped when the doors opened. In her fit, she hadn't thought about locking the doors.

He walked into the bathroom and stood in front of Bonnie. "You are not the other woman. You are my wife, Bonnie Salvatore. And I love you. I do not love Katherine or anyone else."

"I don't believe you," she whispered. "You don't need to lie to me, Damon. I don't actually want a divorce. I was just angry. Maybe it is time for me to grow up and start looking at this marriage as the business arrangement it was always meant to be. We wouldn't be the first couple to live separate lives."

Damon felt something crack inside of him as he watched Bonnie turn colder in front of him. He gently grabbed her face and pulled her into a kiss. "No. You're my wife. Do you hear me? I love you and I know I'm a shit husband, Bon. But it isn't because I look at this as a business arrangement. I'm just not a very good person."

Bonnie wasn't swayed one iota by his declaration. All she felt was her heart breaking. "I'd really like for you to leave me alone now. I just need some time to myself. I am sure I look a mess after all of the crying. I need to fix my makeup."

Damon leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, "I can't just leave you alone while you are hurting. I'm sorry, baby. Please, forgive me. I never meant to hurt you. I didn't think that Katherine would pull a stunt like this. I promise that I will end the affair. I'm done with her. You have my word."

Bonne's dewy eyes fluttered closed in despair. She didn't believe a word coming from his faithless mouth. Bonnie might have allowed herself to believe him before she saw those text messages but they were damning. Damon loved Katherine. Bonnie couldn't have foreseen that wrinkle in her plans. All of her insecurities came bubbling to the surface. What was wrong with her? What more could she possibly do to make Damon chose her? She finally understood that the heartbreaking answer was nothing.

"Did you hear me? I am done with Katherine, bunny. From now on, I'm just going to focus on our family. We have so much to look forward to, right? Our family is growing." He rested his hands on her flat stomach. Damon nuzzled the side of her neck. "I love you."

A little voice in Bonnie's head was urging her to slam Damon's face into the mirror behind her. She wanted him to hurt as much as she was hurting right now. However, she ignored the violent impulse and instead forced a smile for her husband's benefit. "I love you, too."

Damon relaxed when he felt the tension leave Bonnie's body. He now knew exactly how to handle Katherine. It was time for her to get a visit from Enzo.