These were the kind of cases that always put Angelo on edge. It was more simple to deal with adults missing or any of the like. It wasn’t as if he felt that adults weren’t important, but children were quite the different story. There were always several children within the family as they were so large, and they were the gems of the family that were protected at all costs. This was especially true now that things were coming down harder in purebloods. The family line was starting to mix, with a few children being born halfbloods, but that didn’t seem to deter anyone from thinking that all purebloods had this odd obsession with remaining pure. This case was going to be difficult on him, though he could obviously do it, and get it done quickly. At least he would work day and night to be sure the child returned safe.

He hadn’t had a great deal of details yet about the case. The child was from the orphanage, a young girl who was just dropped off in the middle of the night, who was thought to have been abandoned by Death Eater parents. How the home came up with this, he wasn’t sure. He wouldn’t outright force proof just yet, but he had several other things he needed to know in order to properly open the case. He smoothed out the collar of his shirt as he approached the home. He had decided to go a bit more casual as he didn’t want to raise any alarms to others in the home, staff and children included. He pushed open the doors and approached the front desk when he saw an extremely familiar face, though he couldn’t exactly place her right that moment. ”Hello, I was wondering if you could possibly help me.” He began with a friendly smile as he leaned against the counter slightly.

@cassi
Outfit

Cassidy hated days like this. Weeks like this really. The orphanage had had two different little girls join them this week, and if that wasn't bad enough she had had to listen to Durant rant at the Board meeting about everything that was going wrong in the school. Cassidy had had enough and it was only Tuesday. She ran a hand over her eyes and moved to the front desk. The girl that normally manned it had had to deal with some emergency or another, and so Cassi took the opportunity to sit down for just a moment. She heard the front door open, but knowing that some of the older kids were back for the holidays she didn't bother to look up. Cassi lifted her gaze when she realized that whomever it was had stopped in front of her at the desk, and to say that she was surprised was an understatement.

For a moment Cassidy thought that she was seeing a ghost. Eleven years. She had gone eleven years without so much as catching a glimpse of Angelo DiTraverso, and here he was standing right square in front of her. Completely unaware that he had a daughter playing in the next room. To cover her surprise Cassi put on a smile. "I hope so." She paused, did he even remember her? Did she introduce herself just in case? "I'm the Director here at Safe Harbour, what can I do for you?" Cassi had decided that a proper introduction could wait until she knew why he was even here in the first place, instead she focused on calming her nerves, which were sending butterflies straight to her stomach.

Outfit

It broke Angelo’s heart any time he got a case that dealt with a child. There were always small children about in his family given the sheer number of them. He would always catch himself thinking of them, and what he would do if something happened to them. If one of them went missing he was sure there would be no rest until they were found. That included his family going through all the resources they had. They had connections to less savory individuals and he knew they wouldn’t hesitate to use them. They often tried to come across as neutral though given their blood status they knew that no one was really routing for them in the slightest. Work had helped him get through things without going entirely mad. He did have several sensitive cases that dealt with the discrimination the Ministry had, but he was doing his best to right those wrongs in any way he could.

When the woman looked up Angelo stopped for a brief second to take in her features. She looked very familiar, and he wasn’t sure exactly where to place her, though he was willing to bet it would click soon enough. His memory just needed to be jogged at times. ”Angelo DiTraverso.” He replied holding his hand out to greet her as she stated that she was the director of the home. ”I’m looking for information on a child that has gone missing from your facility.” He added as he continued to study her face inconspicuously. It was really bothering him that he couldn’t place her. The last name had seemed familiar on the report he had already started though he had carelessly not written down her first name for this. ”And you are?” He asked politely.

Cassidy heard Angelo give his name, as if there was an echo in her head. His voice was distant for a moment, before she refocused and smiled. His next sentence sobered her thoughts a little and the nerves that she had been fighting upon first seeing him suddenly switched to a sense of dread. She should have realized that that was why he was here. The girl that had gone missing was not something that Cassidy was taking lightly. Even if it wasn’t directly her fault, she was the orphanage’s director, and ultimately it was on her.

“Brennan.” She took his hand and shook it, the corners of her mouth not quite as high as they had been originally. She hadn’t expected him to recognize her, not really anyway, but it was still hard. Cassi could only hope that if he did end up recognizing her that Lizzie wouldn’t come wandering in looking for her. The last thing she needed on top of this was the confrontation she expected to come if he found out that she had kept a child from him all of these years. “Cassidy Brennan.” She dropped his hand, but held onto her hesitant smile. “What can I do to help?”

Angelo was used to having children around most of the time. In a family as big as the DiTraversos there were always children being born. There hadn’t been many babies as of late, and most of the children were damn near close to school age. They were his life, and he would protect them at any cost. That made his work quite difficult when he got cases like this. It was hard to think that a parent would give up their child, and then a child to just go missing. He knew he would have to go through their security procedures as there had to be something flawed for something like this to have happened. He would try not to jump to conclusions as that would not help this all in the slightest. His duty was to that child first. Granted, he would certainly be revisiting this all later when it came to their security.

He had noticed that the woman looked slightly uncomfortable. It was his job, after all, to notice small things like that. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the missing child or something else. He would assume that it had to be very difficult for her to lose one of the children in her home. He was still bothered that he couldn’t place her. The moment her name left her lips everything clicked into place. He hadn’t seen her in several years, and the last time he had it was her leaving his bed after solving a case for her. There were several women like her out there, though he wasn’t proud of that. He had a bit more fun than he really should have when he first started his firm. ”Cassidy, it’s nice to see you again. What has it been, a decade?” He replied with a light chuckle. He never felt awkward about these kinds of situations. He looked her over slowly, noting that she had aged rather well before clearing his throat to continue. ”I need any information you have on the girl, mainly copies of paperwork on her. I also would like to interview your staff at some point.” He added.

Cassidy shifted uncomfortably the moment that she knew he had placed her. “Yes.” She smiled, “There about anyway.” There was no way that she was going to tell him that it had been ten years and nine months ago. She had to stop herself from glancing over her shoulder towards the room that Lizzie was in across the hall. It was not in today’s plan to tell the man on the other side of the desk that he had a secret daughter. She prayed to Merlin that Lizzie wouldn’t come in here now.

“Of course.” Her smile returned and she stepped back to the filing cabinet that was just behind her. She ruffled through it until she pulled the file that he was asking for. She slid it back across the surface to him. “Everything that we have on her is in here. Along with interviews conducted right after she was discovered missing.” She knew that he was going to want to question all of them again. The staff and herself, and she didn’t blame him. He was here to do what he could for that little girl, and that was all she asked for. “As far as the interviews go, we can set them all up whenever works best for you.”

Cassidy was about to ask if there was anything else specific he needed right then when she heard the tell-tale sound of feet running through the hall. When she spent as much time around the kids as she did she could tell by the footfalls who was who, and she braced herself. Here was to one more unanswered prayers. The cry of “Mummy!” as Lizzie came tearing around the corner left no doubt that the little girl was her daughter.

Angelo certainly didn’t miss the way the woman had shifted nervously when he had brought up how long it had been since he had last seen her. It was his job to notice small things like that, but he wondered if it was because they had slept together or something else he wasn’t getting. Either way, he hoped he hadn’t made her too uncomfortable. Obviously, he wasn’t about to mention just how they knew each other as that would be extremely inappropriate and unprofessional to say the least. His main and only concern was the case he was on. It was important to him on a personal level, even if he did work to separate personal and professional life now that he was older. He was relieved to see that she smiled after he brought up the paperwork he would need. He watched as she moved to the filing cabinet, taking note that she was still very attractive, though quickly pushing the thought from his mind. Thankfully none of that had come across his features.

”Thank you.” He replied with a polite smile as he took out the folder and flipped through it briefly to the interviews. The handwriting looked familiar and he briefly wondered if his cousin or her husband had conducted them through the Ministry. ”Who was doing these interviews? Who was sent out to start this investigation?” He asked as he continued to skim the paperwork. ”I’ll let you know.” He replied as he started shutting the folder and heard a child approaching. When he looked up he was stunned at how familiar the face looked to him. He raised an eyebrow as the girl called Cassidy ‘mummy’. The girl looked a bit older, but he was positive she hadn’t had any children when he was working on a case for her. ”Well aren’t you adorable.” He said to the girl with a large grin, still not able to shake the surprise of her familiarity as he looked at her. ”I didn’t know you had a little one.” He added, looking over Cassidy with a look of confusion. His mind was going places he really wished it would stop going.

Cassidy was glad that professional decorum was a thing. It prevented Angelo from saying anything about how he knew her. Her status here at the Orphanage was that which she felt demanded respect, and he was enough of a gentleman to not mention it at all. When she turned around to get the files he asked for she felt his eyes on her, and she didn’t know whether to be flattered that he was watching her or slightly paranoid. As if he could see that she was hiding something.

“No problem. You have every right to them,” She watched him flip through the file and when he asked his question she thought back on it for a moment. “Nikolai Petrov.” She answered him. She kept enough tabs on her daughter’s family to know that the man was Angelo’s cousin through marriage. “Of course.” Cassi nodded. She would expect the interviews to come whenever it was convenient for him.

Cassi answered Lizzie, but she was watching Angelo. She didn’t miss the raised eyebrow at her being ‘mummy’ and if she wasn’t mistaken it had taken him by surprise. She didn’t let any emotions cross her face when he spoke to her, no their, daughter, but it was hard. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of him the entire time, so when he looked back up at her she met his gaze. “Yes.” She answered with a small smile, one hand on Lizzie’s shoulder, as she pulled her back in closer to her. She thought for one second that they were going to get through the moment, but then Lizzie’s voice broke the silence, “I’m Lizzie. I’m ten. Who are you?”

Cassi squeezed, her shoulder but it was too late. Instead she tore her eyes away from the man standing in front of them and looked down at her daughter. "Elizabetta! Manners!"

Angelo had always been a discreet bloke, thankfully. He was sure his younger years would come back and bite him in the arse if he hadn’t been. He was a bit of a wild child, he supposed. He never did tell anyone who he slept with, even if he bumped into them in public, which wasn’t all that rare, unfortunately. Quite a few women seemed uncomfortable around him afterwards, though he didn’t treat them any differently. Then again, there were the select few that, upon seeing him, practically threw themselves at him. That was always embarrassing as he would then pretend not to know what they were getting at. He was sure that was probably a terrible move to make, but he didn’t want to deal with that sort.

He was thankful that Cassidy didn’t seem to be one of the crazy ones. That always helped, especially with the work he was trying to do. What he did was serious. He no longer had little petty cases, though he would never call them that for obvious reasons. He gave her a small smile as she said who was the one that came out initially. That helped a great deal, really. ”Excellent. At least I know the initial paperwork will be thorough.” He replied, thankful that it was one of his cousin’s that had been there. People who worked in the Ministry knew Petrov’s and DiTraverso’s were related though he wasn’t sure if she would, not that it really mattered.

It was strange seeing the little girl, and feeling like something was off. Normally his senses were pretty spot on, but he was sure he had never seen her before, even if she did look so familiar. He nodded at Cassidy as she said that was her daughter. It really was strange that he didn’t know about this. He froze for a fraction of a second when the girl spoke, though it wasn’t noticeable to anyone else. There was absolutely no way… no. No one would be so heartless as to keep something this big from someone. His mind was playing tricks with him. It had to be. He chuckled lightly as the young girl asked who he was. Opening his mouth to say something though Cassidy had spoken before he had a chance. ”She’s just curious. No shame in that.” He said to Cassidy raising his eyebrows at her before turning his attention back to Lizzie, stooping down beside her. ”I was very curious as a kid too. That’s why I became a detective.” He said warmly to the little girl. It only took those few moments of looking at her closely before he was convinced. ”You are just as beautiful as your mum.” He added with a soft smile before standing up again and looking pointedly at Cassidy.

Cassidy had been a stickler for the rules when she was younger. She had made very few mistakes and didn’t have a habit of getting herself into awkward situations. All of that flew out the window however, the day she had walked into Angelo DiTraverso’s investigating business looking for her brother. The tall man with blue eyes and blonde hair had helped her to no end. They hadn’t found Callan, Cassidy didn’t know anything about what had happened to her brother, but she had a feeling that after all of this time she would never really know the truth. Instead she had found her way into Angelo’s bed, and she had left the next morning without hardly a word.

In the weeks, and the months that had followed leading up until Lizzie’s birth she was sure that she was making the right decision. He didn’t need to know about the baby. She could handle this all on her own. Right now though. With him standing in front of her and their daughter between them, she wondered if she had honestly made the right decision or not. When he crouched down next to her Cassi knew that it was over. The spell was broken, and Lizzie was no longer hers alone. She saw her daughter smile at her father, though she had no idea who the man was, and she saw the recognition flash in Angelo’s eyes.

Cassi didn’t react to his pointed gaze, instead she then looked down at her daughter, “Why don’t you head on back?” She nodded towards the room that Lizzie had come from. “When I’m done in here I will be back to check on you.” She watched as her daughter waved once to the man she would have to explain sooner rather than later, was indeed her father. She waited until she couldn’t hear Lizzie’s footsteps anymore before she turned to face him. “She’s always been beautifully curious. It’s one of the things I love most about her.”