7. Return

ALEXANDRA'S POV

Luckily for me, after an hour I managed to get both Analissa and Alison asleep. Since we'd gotten at the hotel room, Analissa hadn't spoken, but at least she'd stopped crying since we'd given her the tranquilizer. Dinner had been silent and I could see Megan was holding back the urge to continue crying. It hurt me to see my family like this, and all because of the Russians.

I closed the door to Alison's room and went to the balcony, where Megan is. Before entering I could already hear she's crying, so I didn't hesitate to enter, I sat next to her and hugged her.

"We have to take revenge Ale." She said "And we will. We will make them pay for everything they did." If there was something I wanted to do even more, it was to kill them. Megan wiped away her tears and pulled away from me. "Did you tell Alison?"

I denied. I had no idea how to tell her "I don't know how to tell her. She shouldn't have lost her grandfather like that, she loved him very much." I said closing my eyes for a few seconds "If you want, I can tell Alison." She offers.

As much as I appreciated her telling my daughter, I knew this was more complicated for Megan than it really was for me. That's not because I didn't love my father less, I loved him, it's just Megan was the one who had the best relationship with him in some way "No, I don't want you to have to go through that."

"You must be going through the same thing as me, it's not going to be anything special." She said "I appreciate that, but no, you don't have to." She nodded and we both turned to look at the dark sky.

"Are you really going to tell me how you are, Ale?" she asked, because if there was one thing, I used to do most of all, it was not really told how I felt. "Well, like shit. I may not have always called him dad, but I loved him"

"Me too." She said, I took her hand and started to run my thumb over the back of it "Do you remember the day we first called him Dad?" A small smile appeared on her face, because that day was one of the only days, we could see Francesco cry "I remember how he started to cry. It was a great day. I nodded. "I wish they were my parents from the beginning."

"I would have loved the same. It would be a way for us to really be sisters." I pulled away from her and looked at her without understanding what she meant "We're sisters." I said "I know, but you know what I mean." I knew what she meant, but that doesn't imply anything, Megan was like my blood sister to me.

"What will happen to the mafia, Ale?" she asked "It will become ours, there is no other way to get more information than by directing it, but something strange is happening." I said. "Why do you say so?"

Megan moved away from me and sat across from me so she could see my face. "Why didn't they call us to tell us that dad died?" I asked, because that's the first thing they should have done. "What do you think they're doing?"

"I have not the slightest idea, I just know that it doesn't give me a good feeling." I said, because I had a bad feeling, and not precisely because of the Russians, "Do you think the Russians are behind all this?"

I denied, because even though it was all too likely their fault Francesco was dead, the fact we hadn't heard from the Russians meant something. If those two bastards did anything, it was rejoiced in people's pain, and above all they would do it with ours.

"No, taking into account the people dad was surrounded by and they all wanted to be in his place..." We were left wondering for a second what could be happening, but most likely they wanted to keep the mafia for themselves and that we didn't find out, which was stupid when you think about it. "Do you think they want to take away what is ours?" "I'm almost sure."

The anger was growing in both of them, because those bastards had decided to betray our father to keep the mafia. Did they not think we would claim it? "We can't allow that."

"And we're not going to do it, I need to make a couple of calls." I got up to go get my phone at the coffee table with Megan behind me "Who would do you call?" She said without confused "We are going to need reinforcements and I think I may know someone who can help me."

I turned to look at her, and you could see she was surprised at whatever she thinks we're going to do. "And you're not going to tell me?" A smile appeared on my face, because I know he was the only one who could help me "Sure, his name is Diego and he is a former navy seal."

Megan's brow furrowed, because she knew it was rare for me to see a man, but I trusted Diego more than anything in the world after Megan. "How do you know him? And why do you smile when you talk about him?

"He's a great guy and I know he won't let me down and will help me. He can get us more people to help us." A smile appeared on her face, and I'm pretty sure she thought there was something between us, which wasn't possible. "Is there something between you?" she asked raising and lowering her eyebrows "Between me and Diego?"

I knew she was referring to him, but I wanted to make sure anyway just in case. Megan just rolled her eyes, waiting for my answer. "There's nothing between us. He is my friend." I said "Well, it's the first friend you can say you have since we left that disgusting place."

"Yeah, he's a great guy." I knew from her face she didn't believe me. "Are you crushing on that guy?" she asked "No, I feel comfortable around him, that's all. It took me a while to let him get close."

"Like everyone, but he succeeded. That's quite an achievement considering you're the unreachable one." Now it was my turn to roll my eyes, because that wasn't so, not letting anyone get close to me in college had nothing to do with being unattainable, but I played along anyway "And I still am, darling."

"So... between you and him there is nothing?" she asked full of curiosity "It's impossible." Megan's brow furrowed again and she stared at me, "Why? In college they want you, it can't be fair that boy doesn't want you." I laughed, because even though that was true, it had nothing to do with "Well, yes he can, because he's gay."

"Oh shit, really?" she asked "Why do you think he's my friend?" I said raising an eyebrow. Until today, I hadn't let any guy get closer to me than Diego had "Because you know he won't do anything to you."

I nodded and looked for his phone number. Hopefully he was in New York "Yeah, that and because he once hit a guy who tried to touch me. He sent him to the hospital." I said. Megan laughs and to sat on the sofa. "I like that boy." She said with a smile, "Me too, besides, Alison adores him."

I punched Diego's number and went to look at my sister who seemed surprised by what I just said "Wait, wait, wait, does Alison know him?" asked

"She calls him Uncle Diego and everything" I said smiling and waiting for him to answer "How come I didn't meet him before?" she asked completely surprised he knew Alison, that would be something that would make it clear to her what kind of man Diego was. "I like to have the tough girl image." I said shrugging.

"And since when are you friends?" She asked. She knew that Diego had caught Megan's curiosity and she wouldn't stop asking questions until she was satisfied. "For five years." Her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as he was surprised by that information "That's practically how long we've been here."

I nodded. Megan relaxed on the sofa without looking away for a moment. "I hope to meet him soon, he seems nice." "He is, and you will meet him soon, what's more, I'm going to call him."

Finally, Diego picks up his phone "I get the feeling you have a spider-sense dear, because you always call me when I'm about to have fun." He said, making it clear to me he was grinning like a lunatic, "I need your help." I heard him say something to someone and then the music was going down in volume, giving me to understand he was exiting from wherever he was.

"What happened?" he asked seriously "Where are you right now?" I asked going directly to the point " In New York..." I didn't even have time to finish " Great, I'll send you a location, I need you to be here as soon as possible."

"But is everything alright, Ale?" he asked, but this one with concern and agitation present in his voice "I'll tell you once you get here." I told him " I'll be there in five minutes, see you, beauty."

We hung up, I sent him the location where we were now and I sat on the couch thinking about all the shit was coming our way, it seems like I could never have peace, and if there's one thing that's more than clear to me, it's that I want both my daughter, Megan and Analissa have a peaceful life, and I will do everything in my power to achieve that, whatever it takes.

After a couple of seconds, I get a phone call and when I see it, I am a little impressed, but it doesn't take me long to answer, at least I hope that Adriano's hollow mind is of some use.

"Impressed you call me after all." I said coldly, "Miss D'angelo, I have to talk to you about something." I could tell he was upset and he was talking faster than normal, which made my suspicions of what had really happened with my father true. "Of what? What is my father dead from and what was the fault of the Russians?" I said to see what he was really going to say "How did you find out?" He asked, but that wasn't the answer I wanted to hear "You mean how I didn't find out from you, stupid."

"Miss, let me tell you what's going on." He said fearfully, which I expected him to tell me what was really going on, "You have two minutes." I said "Miss, I wanted to call you, I swear, but most of those who worked for your father wanted to be in his position, and now there is no one in his position they want to stay with him. And there's something else you should know." He said more nervous than he was at first.

"The fact that?" I asked, but I had the idea that it was " It wasn't the Russians who killed him." He said practically in a whisper "Then tell me who the hell it was, Adriano, I don't have all night"

"They were one of us." He said making me squeeze the phone. Megan realized something was wrong with me and got up from the couch to stand next to me. At this very moment I was angry and I wanted to take down those assholes who had dared to murder my father. "Who is it."

"Leonardo and his colleagues, but they managed to convince the rest of the staff to stay with them and help them run the mafia." He said "Where are they now?" I asked starting to put together a plan in my head to kill those guys " At your house, they are having a good party."

My anger only increased. Those guys were celebrating our father's death in his own house. They had no idea what was coming their way, that's clear "And you are with them?" I asked as calmly as I could at the moment, which wasn't a big deal "I'm with you Miss D'angelo. But I have to pretend that I am on his side."

"Listen to me, Adriano, get out of that house as soon as possible and go to a hotel. I will take care of the expenses myself." I said starting to walk from one side to the other " When will you return?" he asked "Tonight, we will be there tomorrow. Later you tell me in which hotel you will stay and we will meet there." I said. My hand was beginning to shake from how angry I was at this moment. " So, are you going after the mafia?" he asked. I could hear how he was walking the other way, I imagine leaving the house "I'm going after the mafia. Now please get out of there without them noticing."

"As you order Miss D'angelo, but I warn you they are strong and have a lot of people." He said, and even though Adriano knew what I was like, he told me anyway, which was stupid, because normally there was nothing to stop me when I proposed something, much less when I was angry "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it. I'll call you as soon as I get to Italy."

"We're talking miss, and be careful, at this moment there are many people who are looking for you and your family." He said "Thanks Adriano, take care of yourself too."

When I hang up, I throw the first thing I find against the wall, resulting in my hand being cut, but that's the least I care about right now, what I care about right now is killing those sons of bitches who dared to kill my father.

"Ale, what's going on and why did stupid Adriano call?" Megan asked, stepping in front of me to stop me from going for something else to break it. "Turns out that jerk is the only one we have on our side right now." I said trying to calm down, which was practically impossible right now, I just wanted to shoot those guys between the eyes, but not before torturing them.

"What are you taking about?" she asked, although her anger was beginning to rise in her "I'm talking about the others deciding to take over dad's mafia, that's what happens." It is at that moment the anger increased in her "But what..."

"That's the same thing I think, and it's not the worst thing that can happen to us at this moment." I said starting to pace back and forth again "And what's the worst thing apart from Dad being dead?" Megan asked, but I know she knew the answer, she just didn't want to know it. "Dad's right-hand man was the one who killed him" I said.

Now Megan was going to be the one to throw something to break it, but before she did, I grabbed her from behind to stop her from doing it. We didn't need at this moment her hurting herself "I'll kill him." She said like a wild beast "We will do it dear sister, to him and his lackeys, but first we have to win what is ours" I said and after a few seconds I released her "But how? Because if what Adriano said is true, we don't have any way to beat them."

I denied, because it may be if it was just the two of us, there was the slightest possibility we couldn't handle him, but Diego could find us people we could trust. "We have one and I'm sure it will help us."

"Who?" she asked not knowing what I was referring to "Little sister, get ready to meet Diego."

At that moment someone bangs on the door and out of the corner of my eye I see how Alison leaves the room with her teddy bear in her hand and Megan goes to put her back in bed. I take out the gun in case it's not Diego, but when I open it, I see the bodyguards lying on the ground and Diego planted in front of them with a gun pointed at them.

"Can I enter, beauty?" he asked without taking his eyes off them "Sure you can, you two get up and do your damn work before I put a bullet between your eyebrows." A smile appeared on Diego's face and he lowered the gun "Wow, I don't think I'll ever mess with you, beauty."

I rolled my eyes and stepped aside for her to come in. "Come in and let's stop being cute, we have more important things to talk about." I said "Is the girl, okay?" he asked concerned "She is, it's another thing we have to talk about, sit down, and you guys to work."

They both nodded and Diego closed the door. I put the gun back in my pants. We go to the living room and sit on the sofa, when he realizes the damage, I did a while ago.

"Was there a third world war in your living room or what?" he asked with a raised eyebrow "I'm not kidding Diego." He became serious again and stared at me for a moment "Okay, tell me what I'm good for... well, let's heal your hand first."

"My hand is fine." I said, but I knew he wasn't going to pay attention to me "It's a pretty deep cut, so no, we'll heal it first. If you want, we talk later."

He started taking things out of the backpack and began to treat my wound. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed that Alison was next to me looking at me worriedly and Diego had gotten up before she arrived to go to the kitchen.

"I tried to make her fall asleep, but she wanted to see you were okay." Megan said from the entrance to the room "I'm fine." I said looking at Alison "No, you have a very large wound in your hand."

"It's nothing, you should go to sleep, it's not hours for a good girl to be awake." I kissed her on the temple, but didn't let her go. She leaned on my shoulder and stared at my hand until she heard Diego say, "Your mother is right, besides, I'm here to take care of your mother's beauty."

I could see how her whole face lit up and it didn't take long for Alison to get up and run towards her uncle "Uncle Diego!!!!" She screams jumping into the air, giving him practically no time to put down the things in his hand "Hello princess."

"What are you doing here?" she asked after giving him a kiss on the cheek "I came for a couple of days and I wanted to surprise my beautiful girl. Now listen to your mother and go to sleep if you want to continue being a good girl." Diego said trying to get Alison to go to sleep, which at this point would be difficult because she was so excited, she would have a hard time falling asleep "Okay, I'll go. Are you going to be here tomorrow, uncle?" she asked hoping the answer was yes.

"I'll be here waiting to play with you princess." He said after giving her a kiss on the temple. Alison kissed him again and got off Diego's tail, coming running in my direction "Okay, I love you mommy." Alison gave me a kiss on the cheek and I gave her a hug and a kiss on the temple "And I love you too, princess."

She smiled and started walking in the direction of her room "I love you, aunty, I love you uncle." Megan followed her to put her back in bed and try to make her fall asleep while Diego bandaged my hand and sat up as soon as he finished bandaging it looking at me.

"Now you can tell me what I'm good for, beauty." He said sitting next to me "They have murdered my father." I said nonchalantly with the intention of not getting angry again "Oh crap, I'm so sorry." He said running his hand over my back, "Thank you, but that's not what I need you for." I said getting up from the sofa, pacing back and forth, "Then what for?"

"I need you to help me get my father's mob back." I said turning around to show him I was serious "What do you mean getting the mob back? And, first of all, what are you doing here? I thought you hated America."

"And I do, believe me that if I'm here, it is by obligation, but now my father isn't here I have to go back to Italy and win what belongs to my family." I said without stopping too much on the subject of the United States "The mafia."

I nodded and he got up doing the same as me. It was something that helped us focus and think "Then tell me exactly what happened for you to have to take back the mafia that belonged to your father."

I crossed my arms and looked at him "I don't know if you've heard or not, but in Italy a war was about to start between the Russian mafia and Francesco's." I said changing my focus point "I heard something about it, but I didn't think it was your father's."

I nodded, but it was hard not to think so, there weren't too many mafias in Italy other than Francesco's "Well, yes, and Francesco got us out of there to prevent me and Megan from going after those stupid Russians." I said "So they were the ones who murdered your father I must assume."

"You guess wrong, it was my father's right hand." I said causing him to stand still in the middle of the room surprised "I can't believe it. And is he the one with your mob now?" he asked annoyed, if there was something Diego couldn't stand, it was traitors "He himself, and I want to get hold of it."

"I thought you didn't want the mob." He said crossing her arms, "I don't mind having it. It will give me the information I need best and protect Alison, but most of all I need to take down the Russians." I sat on the sofa and closed my eyes for a while "I can help you with that and you know it." He assured "I know, but I want to do it myself. That is something between me and my sister."

One of the top things Megan and I had on our lists was to take down the Russians, and we didn't want anyone to do what we had to do. "I understand, but what are you planning to do then?"

"That you help me recover what is ours and that you work for me as head of security." I said opening my eyes and looking at him "That would be an honour, but you know I'm expensive, beauty." He sat next to me and took my hand "Don't worry about the money, I'll give you everything you want, and of course you can do whatever you want."

"Seems fair to me, I'll have to do a lot of work and tame those fools." He said thinking about what he would do "You can forget about those, I need new people I can trust."

"I know the right people, they have the same training as me or very similar. The advantage of being in the army is you are loyal to your boss." I smiled and nodded, because that was what I needed. "When do you need all that?" I looked for him, because it was obvious that I needed them already. "The private jet to fly in a couple of hours, I can't be here another second."

"I get it, and for the people, I can get it for you. The best are here, but in Italy there are also people like the ones you need." He said starting to look at his mobile "Perfect, but also call those here to go to Italy, I'm going to need a good protection of the house now that the Russians are in Italy." I got up and started tidying up the room. "We'll need them in case what the guy said the other day is true."

"What are you taking about?" he asked, focusing his gaze on my sister and I rolled my eyes, because it wouldn't happen even if I was dead "Megan, that's not going to happen. I'm not going to let that happen." I said "But they will have to know, after all, they will be our security force in the house." She said crossing her arms and frowning.

"What am I missing?" Diego asked. "What about the threat Alison have? They told her the Russians wanted to take her daughter with them." Diego tensed and got up with his cell phone in hand "I'm not going to allow that. They are stupid if they think I'll let them get close to her. I will personally take care of your daughter's safety if necessary."

I smiled, because now with Diego too, it was impossible for something to happen to Alison "I really would like that." He gave me a smile and put the phone away "Don't worry, I'll take care of this. Let me call a couple of people and I'll be right back."

"You will stay?" I asked surprised he was going to do it "Obviously, I promised Alison and you need me here right now, those guys at the door are a bit useless I must say." A smile appeared on my face. Whenever I saw him, he did whatever it took to make me feel comfortable, which I appreciated more than anything in the world.

"I know, but it's what I was able to get at the last minute." I said causing him to take her hands to my arms and then he hugged me practically squeezing me "Well, now I'm here and you won't need them. You can send them home."

It might be I could do it, but in case someone came after us, I would hear how those stupid were killed or knocked out "They will stay here until tomorrow."

He nodded, gave me a kiss on the forehead, and walked out of the living room to the balcony to talk on the phone, leaving me and Megan alone in the living room. She picked up the crystals on the floor and sat down next to me when she was done.

"Are you ok?" she asked worried, which she shouldn't be because right now I was angry and nothing more, so I nodded and earned a sigh from Megan, who ended up taking my hand. "I'd say you're not. I know you're angry and sad deep down."

I laughed because this girl knew me better than anyone and sometimes, I didn't like her doing it at all. "That's something you don't care about Megan." I said trying to play it down "You know it does, and since I know you won't tell me anything until you need it, I want to tell you that I'll be there for the moment you need to talk."

A smile appeared on my face. It was something we always did, she comforted me in a certain way and was there for me when I needed it or felt ready to talk about it "I'll be fine, stop worrying about me."

"You are my sister, and I will always worry, let it be clear to you. Now tell me what is the plan that is forming in your head, because from here I can see how those gears of yours are working. She said with a smile "Nothing really, we know the house better than those stupid guys and we know all the hiding places in it, we're going to catch them by surprise."

She kept thinking for a moment until the smile on his face grew larger, letting me know that she knew I was right. "Then I guess we'll go into the house." She said getting comfortable on the sofa "I'll go in, you do what you want." I got up from the sofa to do something to distract myself until we left, in the end, we hadn't even unpacked our bags "I'll go in, I want to kill those sons of bitches with my own hands."

I nodded, because that was our main goal. I don't know what he was thinking, that's really stupid of them, but he must have been more than clear in his head we weren't going to be able to beat him, which is a mistake. "We will keep them for later."

"What are you planning?" she asked "Well, I think it's time they knew what we're capable of, and by the time they realize we're inside the house it's going to be too late for them to react. As soon as Diego catches those guys, they'll take them to the warehouse." I crossed my arms and leaned against the nearby closet. "The place we were last time I would guess."

I nodded and began to walk around the room again "That will be the moment in which they discover who we really are." My sister's satisfied smile made it clear she liked the plan, or she could be thinking about everything she would do to those guys after what they did to Francesco "They'll be surprised when they find out."

"Then I must assume this is the famous Megan you and your daughter talk about so much." Said Diego entering the room again. He had a big smile and seemed pleased. "There can't be another, but let me introduce her to you."

"I think I know her very well." He said denying, because if we didn't do something Alison and I was to tell him about Megan "Well, introduce yourself to her. Megan, this is Diego, the friend I told you about." Megan looked him up and down, nodding, letting me know she liked him, but as I'd told her before, we didn't have a remote chance with him.

"We both know I'm your best friend." The smirk on Diego's face made it clear he knew, but I would never admit it to him either, it wouldn't be funny. "You're a cocksucker, you know that right?"

Diego laughed, sat down next to Megan, and then settled back on the couch, still with that "Oh, but you adore me" his smile plastered on his face. I denied with a smile on my face "We will see that with time. Now tell me you got what I need."

"I got it. I can get the guns and bulletproof vests." He said, but he didn't really need to worry about that, we had plenty of that in the house in our hiding place. Not even dad knew we had them "You don't have to worry about that, we have plenty at home."

He stared at me strangely without understanding what I was referring to "I understand they are at your house." I nodded and looked over at Megan, who had a big smile on her face as well. "They are, but no one in the world besides Megan and I know where our cache of weapons is."

He nodded and then I proceeded to tell him the plan we had to recover the house, but the other one I had prepared for Leonardo and the others would be better. It was two in the morning and Megan had fallen asleep on the couch, but I wasn't able to fall asleep, not after everything that had happened today.

"You're not going to sleep, are you?" Diego asked from the kitchen door "I'm not sleepy." I said looking to the window "Well, you should sleep, as you told your daughter, a good girl has to go to sleep early."

"But we both know I'm none of that." I said without looking away from the window, "You are, you just went through a lot half the people couldn't stand. You and your sister are the strongest people I know." Diego sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him and making me put my head on his shoulder.

"I know it's hard for you to believe you are, Alexandra, but what you're doing is to protect your daughter from everything out there. The Russians won't stop looking for you two. I don't know why they want Alison, but if that's their goal, you have to do whatever it takes to achieve it. It doesn't matter if you have to kill thousands of people for that, nothing takes away from you not being a good person."

I didn't say anything, because even though all of that was true, I know it wasn't and I didn't care, the only thing mattered more than anything was protecting Alison, nothing more. "How did you find out your father was dead?" he asked after a couple of minutes in silence.

"Alison called us to tell us that Analissa wouldn't stop crying." He pulled me away from him to look at my face, surprised I left without Alison. "Weren't you here when you found out?"

I denied it and went to the other side of the sofa, because I knew he was not going to like what I was going to tell him. "Where were you then?" he asked crossing his arms. "At the club." I said casually "In the club where..." I nodded and he stared at me for a couple of seconds analysing what I had said.

"And can you tell what the hell you were doing there?" He said getting up from the sofa and standing in front of me "Get the girls out there, that's what I had to do." I could tell he was upset I hadn't said anything to him "And you couldn't have called me for that?"

I sighed and closed my eyes for a while because my head was starting to hurt, and I didn't want it to get any worse "I didn't know you were here, why would I call you? Also, I had everything under control." I said keeping calm, because someone would have to do it "Stay a moment while I go with those girls" I said getting up from the sofa, but before I could get to the door, Diego stopped me "I'll go with you" he said without leaving room for discussion, so I nodded.

I turned to wake Megan up and tell her I was leaving. It took me a while to convince her to stay in the suite, but I finally got it and by now we were on our way to the hotel the girls were staying at.

The way for my luck we did it in silence. I hadn't seen Diego for a long time and I liked spending time with him, but right now I didn't want to talk to anyone, I wanted to go to Italy and put an end to all this crap so I could at least have a quiet life.

"You are very quiet." He said when we were about to arrive "It will be because I don't feel like talking Diego." I looked to see if I had a loaded gun in case, I needed it "I know you don't like being told this, but I'm really sorry about your father. I'll be there whenever you need to talk."

When we got to the hotel, I parked, went to the floor where they told me the girls would be, and went into the room where they had been put. There were ten girls and they all crowded into a corner by the time Diego and me entered the room, but I quickly put the gun down on the table near the door and held up my hands to show them I didn't want to do anything to them.

"Don't worry... Nothing will happen to you... You are safe here." They stared at each other for a while and then looked at us. I looked back and I could see that Diego was in the same position as me. "Are you the girl who got us out of there?" asked one of the girls.

"That doesn't matter, I just wanted to see if you needed anything and how I could help you." I said taking small steps in his direction "Could the boy go out?" another asked, I turned to ask him to leave with my eyes and he didn't take long, making it clear that he would wait outside the room.

I lowered my arms and approached them, sitting in the chair that was near the bed. "Thanks for getting us out of there." I denied, because the least they had to do was thank me for something the police had to take care of "It's nothing, really, I know what it feels like." I said and they stared at me for a couple of seconds.

"Why did you take us out?" All the girls had focused their eyes on me waiting for my answer, and although I didn't like being the centre of attention, I kept calm so as not to upset them "Because as I told you, I know what it feels like." They stared at me again and I waited for the next question that was more than clear that they were going to ask "Were you in there?" asked one of them and I nodded.

"My sister and I were there, and it took us twelve years to get out of that hole" They all stared at me, but this time with surprise. I imagine since we had escaped it was impossible to escape without being killed first.

"Is the girl who was with you alright?" asked the girl who was in the room when Megan had been shot, and I nodded "She had the vest, she just has a bruise, but nothing else" I said "So what are we going to do now?"

All eyes focused on me, partly scared and partly hopeful "Whatever you want, I'm here to help you."

"I want to go home with my parents." They all nodded and I could see how they all relaxed a little more. I went over to the bed and sat on it, closing my eyes for a couple of seconds. "If that's what you want, I'll help you get to your house. You just have to tell me where you are from and you will go with your family."

They started saying where they were from and I signed them up to ask for a plane ticket so they could go home with their families, but there was one who hadn't said anything and was looking at the ground. "Where are you from?" I asked approaching her "Italy." There was something about this girl that reminded me of Megan. She must have been about the age she was when we escaped from there, I just hoped it wasn't the same story as ours "And you don't want to go with your family?"

"My family died in a fire when I was little and since then I was in an orphanage, they sold me to those guys." Not even in an orphanage were the girls safe. They all hugged her and I got up from the bed and stood up to her gaze. "I don't want to go back to that orphanage." She said terrified, and I understood her, I didn't want her to go there either, I'd take care of finding out who the hell had dared to sell her, and the person wouldn't have a comfortable ending, that's guaranteed.

"What do you think if you come with me to my house?" The girl looked up in, but ended up denying, what she didn't know was I wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you and you'll be fine in our house. I don't want to leave you on the street."

She stayed staring. I could see she was about to deny again, so I used something that might help calm her down. "My daughter will be delighted to have a friend to play with." She looked up and stared at me for a couple of seconds. "Your boyfriend won't mind?"

I showed her a smile and denied, in the end I had no one to worry about in that aspect "I don't have a boyfriend, I'm a single mother." Terror crossed her gaze, I guess she didn't want to upset me by assuming I had someone, but it didn't bother me so I put a hand on her arm and sat down next to her.

"Do not worry it's alright. Besides, my sister and my mother will be able to help you with whatever you want, you just have to accept." She nodded and I gave her a smile to try to reassure her "Alright girls, I want to ask you a small favour, I don't want you to say it was me and my sister got you out of there."

I could see the question on their faces, but I really didn't want anyone to know it was us, the Russians were going to get after us that's why I didn't need the police behind too "It's not a bad thing, but I don't want them to the police appear at my door and it would not look good to say that a citizen entered a club with bullets"

They all nodded and I passed the phone number to the girls and they put it in their pockets. Little by little they were sitting on the bed and I on the chair to make them more comfortable. I got up to leave the room and go back to the hotel "Well, tomorrow you will be back at your house, I have to go because in a while we have a plane to catch, are you coming?"

"Are you going to leave?" asked one of them and I nodded "I have things to solve in Italy, but as I told you, call me whenever you need me, I'll be there for whatever you need. Shall we go...?" I asked not knowing her name "Jennifer." I smiled at her and stretched out my hand in her direction for her to take it "Can I say goodbye to them?"

I nodded and left the room to give them privacy. Before going out, I take the gun and when I get out of it, the first thing I find when I go out the door is Diego leaning against the opposite wall with a smile. "And then you say you're bad."

I shook my head and leaned against the wall next to him. "Shall we go?" he asked, pushing away from the wall. "No, we'll wait for Jennifer." The question was present in his face which made me laugh because Diego didn't tend to be so expressive, unless he was with Alison and me "You'll see, now what I need is to get someone to take care of them and get the I fly to their homes."

Diego's face lit up and a smile appeared on his face "You're going to take care of them." I nodded, it was the least I could do after all those girls had been through "You're going to spend all the money you have, and you're a millionaire." I refused, because even though we had plenty of money, I wasn't stupid enough to spend it all either. "I'm not going to spend it, stupid I have the restaurants that belonged to Francesco and which Megan will take care of because I have no business idea." He laughed and returned to support my side "No, you only have an idea of numbers, fights and weapons." I shrugged, because all of that was true. "Well, yes. Also, I'm good at the stock market, so by investing well, what I spend I'll have again." He denied with a smile on his face. "You already have everything planned, don't you?"

I rolled my eyes, because I have no idea why I always get asked if I had it all figured out. My life consists of making plans before getting fully involved in something, I had a lot to lose and I didn't want my daughter to grow up without a mother, that was more than clear to me.

At that moment, Jennifer left the room, closed the door, and as soon as she notices Diego is next to me, she sticks to the door, looking at him scared. "Don't worry, he won't do anything to us." I said approaching her "I promise he isn't going to touch a single hair. He is with me, and believe me, if he was like the rest of the men you met in there, he would already be at the bottom of the Mediterranean." I said trying to convince her.

"That's true, she's a complicated woman, you'll understand as soon as you meet her. By the way, I'm Diego." He said stretching out his hand in her direction "Jennifer." He took her hand and shook it "It's nice to meet such a nice girl. You weren't like that Ale. You didn't break my face by a miracle."

Jennifer laughed and I was grateful Diego was here at this time, at least she could calm down around him "I really regret not doing it." I said turning away from the wall and starting to walk towards the stairs and out of the hotel.

"My flight leaves at twelve something" I stopped short and turned to look at him, because sometimes I didn't understand how he could be so stupid "You will come with us on the jet, I need someone to be with Alison while I watch my mother does not cry all the way." I said turning back in the direction of the stairs "Shit, I didn't ask you before, how is she?"

I shrugged, because even though we'd gotten her to sleep, I know she was screwed over everything she was going through. In the end, her husband had been murdered, it shouldn't be that easy to get over. "Not good, but we'll get her by."

Diego stood next to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "I know you'll make it, I'm proud of you, my beauty."