You could say it was love at first sight. They were late to a meeting, Dino desperately needed coffee in him before he crashed, and the only cafe that wasn't packed was the one she worked at.

She smiled at him...and that was all she wrote.

Somehow, Dino found a way to see her again, even discreetly learning what her schedule was so he could chat with her during the slow times.

Her name was Hope, she was seventeen and she had recently moved to Italy from Japan. She was a rather caring young woman who always treated everyone with kindness, especially children. She always showed gentle amusement when his clumsy nature kicked in, and actually listened to what he had to say.

Dino would never forget how much he enjoyed their first date. Or their fifth.

It wouldn't be until the tenth one that he realized he was head over heels in love with her.

Which lead to this particular dilemma...

"How am I supposed to tell her I'm in the mafia?" bemoaned Dino.

Romario looked amused. Then again, Dino knew this was coming when he realized he really loved Hope enough to possibly marry her. She was a civilian, thus he ran the risk of breaking Omerta and getting into trouble with the Vindice.

Dino was still trying to figure out what to tell Hope when he took her out for their date that night.

"Dino, what's wrong?" asked Hope.

"I have something to tell you, but I have absolutely no idea how to go about it."

Hope gently put a finger on his lips.

"Before you say anything, let me state this. I have seen what a relationship built on lies and deceit ends, and I have no desire to fall into the same pit my mother created for herself because she married a fool who didn't have the decency to be honest or put her first. If what you want to say is important, then at least have the courage to tell me the truth outright," she said firmly.

Dino paused, before he mentally steeled himself. If she wanted honest truth, then giving her a small fragment of what she would be getting into if their relationship progressed any further should suffice until they were properly married.

"I'm in the mafia."

"I rather figured that considering I've seen your bodyguards. They are good, but their subtly needs work," she replied dryly.

Dino stared at her.

"You knew?"

"When the guy you're dating can't go anywhere without a guard from a specific group of people without tripping, you tend to pick up on the obvious. And seeing as how evasive you were about what you did for a living, it was an obvious conclusion. Civilians aren't as oblivious as you might think, and most of those with even a hint of underworld connections is aware that this is Cavallone territory," she deadpanned. "Most are content to ignore the hidden truth about who rules the area because they actively protect the people living in it."

Dino honestly had no idea the civilians were more or less aware this was his territory, but turned a blind eye. It made sense though...most mafioso these days were hardly discreet.

He relaxed slightly.

"I didn't want to drag you into anything, because if we started getting serious then you would be considered connected by default. But I can't go into any detail unless we were married, because there are certain rules even I have to follow."

"Understandable. The question is, how far are you willing to take our relationship?" asked Hope calmly.

"You're taking this rather well."

"Mafioso or not, you're still the man I fell in love with. Finding out your job is slightly less than legal isn't going to change that."

Dino blushed, though he felt nothing but relief. She hadn't rejected him, or tried to leave. She took the news he was in the mafia calmly and accepted it as fact. She still loved him.

Any doubts he had about possibly marrying her died that moment.

"And like I said, I can put up with a lot so long as you're honest with me. Unlike him," said Hope darkly.

"Him?"

Was there an ex-boyfriend who had hurt her before?

"Let's just say there's a reason I tell people my father is dead, despite the fact I still haven't been able to have him declared as such so that my mother can finally move on with her life."

Dino was over the moon...which was why six months later he proposed to his girlfriend. He would tell her everything once they were properly married, because she would be covered by Vindice law.

She already won the hearts of his Family shortly after she moved into the mansion. She seemed to conspire with Romario a lot to make him rest and actually relax after hours of paperwork.

After the first night, Dino told Hope everything. What his position was in the Alliance, Flames, what it meant to be a Sky and what Harmony felt like...everything. Hope listened patiently (still very sore from their first night as husband and wife...Dino truly was built like a horse) and made a point to kiss her husband.

The fact he trusted her enough with the truth was worth more than he knew.

Which was why she felt he deserved to know the truth too.

"I might not have been entirely upfront about why I knew you were in the mafia before you told me," said Hope.

Dino had checked...Hope hadn't been exaggerating when she said the common citizen in his territory was well aware of the mafia, even if they didn't know actual details.

"Is it something that's going to come back and hurt my Family?" asked Dino seriously.

"No, it's just absolutely humiliating and I refuse to acknowledge the other party as related to me if I can absolutely help it," said Hope depressed.

Dino was patient. Hope decided to bite this particular bullet and get it over with.

"I'm related to the Vongola through my father. And not as a minor official either."

Dino blinked.

"How is your father related to the Vongola?"

"Remember that braying jackass that was practically fondling his date during that one party you took me to? The one I asked about because I was disgusted with his behavior?"

"You mean Sawada?"

No one liked Sawada much...he was an arrogant asshole who played at being the head of CEDEF, but anyone with eyes could tell the group had gone into a sharp nosedive under his leadership. It was rather baffling how much the Ninth relied on the man's inept information to run the Vongola.

Hope just looked depressed.

"He's my father," she spat in disgust. "I can't believe that arrogant bastard is living it up as a 'bachelor' here in Italy while my mother is stuck living under the scrutiny and disdain of the neighbors because he never visits. He never even gave her the decency of telling her the truth, telling her he worked construction in the Arctic or some nonsense. The last time he visited, he told her he was 'off to become a star'. That was eleven years ago."

Dino was stunned. He had a hard time believing his wife was related to that moron, but at the same time he wasn't going to dismiss it. After all, what would Hope have to gain by claiming to be Sawada's daughter when she had been living paycheck to paycheck as a barista in a small cafe rather than ask for help? It was clear she wanted nothing to do with him and refused to acknowledge the relation.

He pulled her into a hug, and the tension in her shoulders slowly bled out.

"Does he know you're here?"

"He literally looked at me during that party and I saw zero recognition in his eyes. He has only spent all of a month, in one week increments, in my actual presence and never all at once. I was essentially a part of a single-parent family and I only moved to Italy to get away from harassment and to track down where that arrogant bastard actually was since he left a letter behind by accident and I found out it was in Italian. And then I met you, while trying to earn enough funds to hire an information broker."

Dino hugged her tighter.

"You are honestly the best thing about Italy," she admitted, snuggling into his side.

Romario was many things, but blind was not one of them. So when he noticed a slight glow to Miss Hope, he knew immediately she was pregnant. It was to be expected really...the young couple had been going at it like bunnies since the honeymoon.

Hope had a very sensible head on her shoulders, and unlike other mafia wives was not content to merely act as eye candy for her husband. She became a driving force behind her husband, supporting him and insuring he didn't overwork himself trying to improve the Family long-term.

Which was why Romario decided to have a quiet talk with her while Dino was away doing a minor inspection. It wasn't really a necessity...but it served as a discreet reminder to his people that he was paying attention to what was happening under his watch.

"You seem to be glowing recently. Married life suits you," said Romario.

Hope paused in sipping her tea (she did drink coffee, but tea was her general preference).

"Ah...so you noticed it too. I'm hoping to spring it on Dino at the perfect time to get a proper reaction from him," she admitted.

"Reaction?"

"You know, the sort of reaction he can be teased over for years with, caught on camera so he can't back out of it," she said impishly.

Romario...had a sudden premonition Hope would get along terrifyingly well with Reborn, Dino's old tutor.

"If I may ask...what exactly did you tell the Boss that has him working so hard lately?" asked Romario. He knew it had to have been over the honeymoon, but for the life him he couldn't figure out what had lit a fire under Dino to increase the influence and power of the famiglia.

Hope openly winced.

"I told him the truth. He deserved to know, considering the current climate of the underworld."

That got his full attention.

"Current climate?"

"Right now, the underworld is at the brink of an all out war. The Vongola has been losing heirs left and right, and ostracized another to the point he challenged the Ninth directly and was subsequently hidden away so thoroughly that he hasn't been seen since that night. Everything is at the edge of a knife, and it's only going to take a single push before an all out war starts. A push...like the loss of the Ninth Vongola without a clear heir in line for succession, or the sudden loss of all the heirs that could take his place."

Romario winced himself.

"With how old the Ninth is, and his odd reluctance to pass on the reigns, the odds of a massive fight breaking out are far too high."

"What does this have to do with us? We might be allies with the Vongola, but we're not involved in their internal politics."

"That was true...but that changed when Dino married me."

Romario looked at her hard. He didn't have to wait long.

"My original name was Nozomi Sawada, daughter of that arrogant jackass Iemitsu, the external adviser. What very few know is that Iemitsu is a direct descendant of the Primo through his second marriage when he retired to Japan. He might be out of the line of succession due to his position, but his children on the other hand..."

Romario paled. The implications of Hope's heritage hit him like a brick.

If word got out who she was related to, then there would be an intense pressure from the Alliance for her or her children to take over the Vongola, if only to stablize the political climate, regardless of whether they wanted the position or not.

At the very least, odds were that the Cavallone would become absorbed into the Vongola, or at worst her children made into shadow puppets for the Ninth or Sawada to use in order to rule from the shadows. It would be disasterous.

"I do not want my children to be dragged into that mess, and I have even less desire to lead that pit of vipers when they've allowed this mess to become so bad in the first place through complacency. More to the point, I have no doubts that they would simply try to use us as a puppet for their own agendas, regardless of the chaos it would cause long term."

Romario sipped his cold coffee. The implications of her words hit him hard, and he suddenly understood why Dino had been acting slightly odd of late.

He was trying to insure the Cavallone had a future to look forward to, without being strong armed by the Vongola once they learned of Hope's existence.

"That being said, I'm not entirely without a plan on how to deal with this situation. However I know the Ninth generation would never agree to it due to their personal idiocy regarding that individual."

Romario looked at her hard.

"Our best option at this junction is to get Xanxus to take the throne as Vongola Decimo."

"What?" said Romario baffled.

"Let's face it, out of the available heirs he is the best choice. He's already well versed in Vongola politics, he has a solid support base and he understands how to keep unruly elements under control. Being the boss of the Varia isn't a job for the weak."

"How would Xanxus be the best choice?"

"Because he would be acting as a placeholder," said Hope simply. "I've already talked it over with Dino about this extensively. Xanxus might be brash, but he was also able to lead the Varia for two years before something set off the powder keg between him and his father. By the time any of our children would be old enough to take the rings, Xanxus and his Elements would likely be more than happy to retire. After all, he would mostly be used to keep the Vongola from collapsing due to internal strife until someone of the 'proper bloodline' was old enough to take over. It's a win-win situation for everyone except the Ninth generation."

Romario thought that over. Hope and Dino were young, and only one of their children could become the next boss. Agreeing to supply a 'proper heir' to one of the 'spares' in exchange for allowing Xanxus to take over was a rather brilliant, if simple compromise that the Alliance could live with.

Xanxus got the throne he had wanted for years, the Cavallone wouldn't be forcibly dragged into the Vongola's internal dispute over who would inherit, and the underworld would avoid a massive civil war from the power structure collapsing.

"That being said, we're going to need more than a sudden boost in influence and money to keep the Vongola from trying to strong arm the family simply because the Ninth is unreasonable when it comes to his youngest son. Never mind what that jackass will attempt once he finds out who I am."

"What did you have in mind?"

Hope's eyes glinted, and Romario had a sudden vision of deja-vu. Namely for a moment there, the image of Daniela Vongola when she was still alive overlapped with Hope's form.

Suddenly the idea of Hope being of Vongola blood didn't seem that far fetched, though rather than the Primo reborn it felt more like he was in the presence of a second Daniela Vongola.

"Do you have the number of Dino's old tutor? I would like to see if he'd be interested in a temporary bodyguarding contract... besides, I want to see if he'd be interested in acting as the godfather of our child when it comes out."

Romario felt a chill go down his spine.

(And they had finally gotten rid of the last of Reborn's traps too...)