19. Walk

ALEXANDRA'S POV

This morning was going to be fucking shitty and maybe one of the best of my life. The best, because I'm sure we would have a good time with Hugo and Alison, and fucking shit because I was going to tell Megan that she had decided to let Dimitri go without asking her first, I know full well she wasn't going to take it well at all. I was going to tell Jennifer, too, but first I wanted to make sure she was okay and ask her what she wanted to do with her life.

Once I finished dressing Alison and myself, I told her to go to the kitchen with the others while I talked to them. As soon as she ran down the stairs, I went to the office where they were waiting for me. I went to the other side of the desk and sat facing her.

"You already have us here, what is you want to talk to us about?" Megan asked, sitting down next to Jennifer, but I decided to ignore her. "Jennifer, we need to talk about something serious." I said crossing my arms, "What about?" Jennifer asked, "How are you?"

"Uh... okay?" She said confused where the question was going "Are you sure? Sounds more like a question." Megan said turning in her direction understanding where all this was going "Yes, I'm fine... I just don't understand what the question is about."

"Because I need to know before I think about what you want to do with your life." I said "What do you mean?" She said with a frown. "I mean what do you want to do. If you want to study and stuff like that."

"I wish I could start a degree I was going to do." He said looking at us "If you want to do it, you just have to say it." I said, at least that would keep her distracted. "I'd like to."

"Then we will look at colleges." Megan said starting to get up from her chair "But I wouldn't want to go far from here." I nodded "If it's what you want, you won't, but before that, we have to make sure of one thing and talk about things aren't pleasant for any of us." I said and Megan turned to look at me and ended up sitting back in the chair.

"About what?" Jennifer asked. "What Ale is trying to say is we need to know what you went through in there so we can have some idea of what we can do in case you're scared or someone does something that reminds you of that moment. " Megan said focusing on her.

"At first when they took me, it was bad. They beat us all and made us sleep with people. But one day a man came along who prevented from happening." She said, and both Megan and I exchanged glances, momentarily surprised to hear that "What man?"

"I don't know, I just know he's Stefan's brother." She said and I was stuck in the chair "Dimitri?" Megan asked turning her attention to me. "Yes, that's what it was called. We stayed like that for a couple of weeks while they figured out what to do with the club, and he brought us food and water three times a day. But one day shots and threats were heard against Dimitri. They ended up kicking him out and things got worse than they were by the time Dimitri arrived."

"Are you telling me that son of a bitch helped you?" said Megan angrily "Yes. He told me he was doing all this for a girl and her daughter."

At that moment, it's as if I had a blow to my throat that I ran out of air in less than a second, and Megan noticed that she stared at me with a worried face, so I turned to look out the window and I didn't have to see that face I saw for a long time and didn't feel like seeing it again. "Do you know the name of the girls?" my sister asked without taking her gaze from mine.

"He didn't tell me, but he said they had escaped from there a couple of years ago, too." He said, and this couldn't be happening right now, "What else did he tell you about it?" I got up from the chair to go to the closet where Francesco kept the bottles of alcohol, because at this moment it was what he needed the most, and I could see how concern increased on Megan's face.

"He had been an asshole and at the time he wasn't clear about what was happening to him with that girl, and they beat her many times and did things nobody could stand. From what he told me, that girl had a motivation." She e said with admiration "Which one?" Megan asked getting up to come next to me "Protect a girl who was with her. That they were like sisters or something."

"I understand, could you leave me alone with Ale for a moment? Go have breakfast with the others." Jennifer didn't say anything, but a couple of seconds later, I heard the door open and close, and Megan's footsteps coming towards me. "Are you ok?" she asked from a couple of steps away.

"Are you expecting me to be okay after everything Jennifer just said?" I said turning in her direction and angry as I hadn't been in a long time "No, but…" she started, but I didn't want to hear anything she had to say "Better leave me alone."

"I'm not leaving you here with that glass in hand." She said, trying to get closer, but as soon as she saw how I was, she didn't really get closer "Of course you are going to do it. Now you better get out before I lose what little patience I have left." I said turning back to the window "Okay, but don't do anything stupid. I'll be down if you need me."

"Don't even think about telling anyone anything, let alone let someone come upstairs." I said "I won't tell anyone or do anything."

With that, she walked away from me and went to the door Jennifer left a couple of minutes ago. As soon as she leaves, the first thing I do is turn around and throw the glass against the wall and sit on the floor with my hands on my head. I was furious like I had never been before. What had he realized he wanted me? If he had, he wouldn't have allowed them to electrocute me, or beat me up, or cut me until I passed out. That's not loving anyone, and now he was going around telling people he had changed for me? I got up from the ground, wiped away the tears that had managed to escape from my eyes, and went to the desk to get the weapon and the silencer, because it wouldn't be standing for another second.

HUGO'S POV

We were having a good time and laughs over breakfast, but the moment Megan showed up without Alexandra, I got a bad feeling. At the moment we heard something like a glass hitting something, we all got up, and I was going to go to the place where I heard the noise when Megan stopped me.

"As much as you want to go right now, don't go there." She said with her hand in front of me and I do nothing but look at her surprised and not understanding anything "Where is Alexandra?" I asked, "In the office, don't worry, nothing will happen to her."

"That doesn't sound like nothing's wrong." Her mother said with her head tilted to the side, "Megan, where is your sister?" Analissa asked, getting up from the stool. "In the office." She repeated, "Why didn't she come down with you for breakfast?"

"Because she wanted to be alone for a while." She said looking away where her mother isn't "What did you talk about up there for her not wanting to come down?" She said putting her hand on her hip and waiting for Megan to speak, but she didn't look like she was going to. "Nothing, Mom."

"Megan Roselin D'angelo, do you want to tell me what happened up there?" She said seriously "Nothing has happened, really." Megan said raising her hands in the air "Jennifer, what did you talk about?" Analissa asked turning in Jennifer's direction. "About what I had to go through in there and what I wanted to do with my life."

"From what you had to go through in there?" Analissa asked with sadness invading her gaze. "Yes, I told you that Dimitri tried to help us..."

"Who is Dimitri?" she asked, and I could tell she didn't have the slightest idea what had happened to them. At that moment, I hear a door slam, and it doesn't take me long to see Alexandra come down the stairs and head for the front door with a gun in hand. Megan seems to see it too and turns to her mother to tell them not to come out of the kitchen and not to let Alison out.

I didn't finish listening to what she said to her mother, because I quickly left the kitchen to avoid what Alexandra was going to do with the gun. Not long after, Diego, Megan, and another man soon follow me as we follow Alexandra into the back of the house.

As soon as we get there, we see Alexandra pointing at a guy I just recognized as Dimitri. Megan stands frozen next to me while Diego tries to reach out to Alexandra and talk some sense into her.

"Don't even think about moving one step closer because I won't hesitate to shoot anyone." She said without looking away from the Russian "Alexandra... think carefully about what you are going to do... He can help us find Stefan." Said Diego trying to get closer to her again "Ale, what the hell is this guy doing here?" Megan said, making it more than clear to me she had no idea what Alexandra was doing.

"Alexandra, the man is right... I can help you find my brother." The Russian said with his hands up and trying to reassure Alexandra, but I could see he was only making her angrier "I don't give a shit about your brother. Why do you go around telling people you stopped being the way you were because of a girl and your daughter? Are you stupid or what's wrong with you?

"I say it because it's true. You made me change the vision of the world." I heard how behind me; Megan took a breath of air I don't know if surprised or because she knew how Alexandra would react at the statement "AND THAT HAPPENED TO YOU WHILE YOU WERE ELECTROCUTING ME? OR WHILE YOU CUT ME UNTIL I LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS? AT WHAT MOMENT WHILE YOU WERE TORTURING ME DID YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU WERE DOING WAS WRONG?

Alexandra ended up sticking the barrel of the gun into Dimitri's forehead and I could see the guy start to tremble "The moment you left." He said practically in a whisper, "DID YOU EXPECT ME TO STAY THERE SO YOU WOULD END UP MURDERING ME OR MY DAUGHTER LIKE YOU DID THE FIRST ONE?" Alexandra yelled and I could see tears streaming down Megan's face. "This time I wouldn't allow it."

"IT WAS YOU WHO GAVE ME THE KICKS THAT KILLED MY CHILD DIMITRI!!!! DO YOU REALLY THINK I'M SO STUPID TO BELIEVE YOU?" A couple of tears ran down Alexandra's face and things didn't seem like they were going to get better at any time "I know it's hard to believe me after everything we did to you, what I did to you. I admit none of the torture we did to you was right, but Stefan…" he started, but Alexandra started to deny "YOU DID IT TOO, FOR FUCK'S SAKE! YOU SAID WHAT TORTURE I HAD EVERY FUCKING DAY."

It was hurting me to hear what Alexandra was saying, and from what I could see, the others didn't have a clue what she was talking about, because Megan had tears running down her face, and Diego had his fists clenched as if he wanted to hit. someone with all his might. And on the other hand, there was Alexandra, who seemed ready to kill that guy, but I wasn't going to let her do it, because I could see she was hurt, and I didn't want her to be, so I went up to her and put a hand on her shoulder

"I hope it's not you Hugo, because I don't want to shoot you." She said without turning around "Alexandra...you have to calm down...killing this guy won't help you at all." I tried to calm her down, but instead I noticed how she tensed up. "You don't know anything, Hugo." She said more like a whisper.

"It's true, I don't know anything about what has happened to you or what is going through your head right now... but if I can know anything, it's that killing him won't do any good." I said, "I don't give a shit if it doesn't do me any good… now please move you out of the way before I have to shoot you, because I really… don't want to."

"Come on... do it... Shoot me, Alexandra" We all stopped to look at that guy who had spoken and hadn't stopped looking at Alexandra for a single second, but I didn't expect him to ask. "Don't shoot him… Shoot me, after all, I'm the one who did all this to you. The man has nothing to do with this." Alexandra snorted. "Tell me something I don't know." At that moment, the guy who had come with us steps forward and stands by Alexandra's side.

"Ale, do you remember what we talked about the other day?" he asked focusing on her "I don't give a shit what we talked about the other day... I'm not going to forgive him." Alexandra said "And you don't have to…he didn't give you a reason to. But I don't mean that." He said calmly, and it seemed strange to me he was the only calm one in this room.

"Then what the fuck do you mean Fabio?" Alexandra asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "Do you remember you told me you wanted to do everything in your power to ensure your daughter was safe in Italy? He asked, and that was what got Alexandra's full attention, but instead of calming her down, it made her angrier if that was possible.

"Don't even think about bringing her into this because she has nothing to do with it." She muttered angrily, "I don't want to put it in, and I'm not going to. But what happens when something happens to Alison, and you haven't done everything necessary to protect her?" He said and this time Alexandra changed the direction of the gun towards the man, and it didn't take long for Megan to catch up with her with a weapon she had no idea where she had gotten it from. "Don't even think about continuing there, stupid, because nothing will happen to my niece and her mother. I will take care of that"

"Are you threatening me, Fabio?" Alexandra said, practically jamming the gun to his temple. "I wouldn't do such a thing. You are my boss, but we also talked about how you would try to forget about those things are not good for you."

"HOW DO YOU PRETEND I FORGET IT IF THIS GUY IS SAYING THINGS ARE NOT TRUE?" She said yelling at the guy "And we won't let him say them. That's over. But as I told you the other day, you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened there. What he did to you was bullshit, and he'll pay for it as soon as we find Stefan." He said, and I must say he was too calm considering both Megan and Alexandra pointing the gun at him. "I can find him on my own." Alexandra hissed.

"I know you can do it, but you won't be able to discover everything without his help. Stefan must be looking for you and Alison, and if he can help us prevent where the hits are coming from, we'll have no problem doing our job." The man leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

I could see how Alexandra's hand was slowly lowering, but the grip remained firm. Dimitri kept looking at her and there was something strange in his eyes, but Alexandra had stopped looking at him to focus on the man next to her.

"Do you believe what he says?" Alexandra asked, turning the gun back to Dimitri. "I'm not saying the part about he changed for you and your daughter is true, but the part about helping you really means it. Otherwise, he could have tried to escape during the night, and he didn't. He didn't even try to move or leave, and all he has to do is get out of here, call a bodyguard so they won't leave him alone for a single moment, but you already know that. Don't do it."

She started to lower the gun slowly, but then quickly raises it, slamming the butt into his head and shooting into his shoulder. She turns in the man's direction, gives him the gun and leaves, but not before telling Diego to heal him and make sure nothing happens to him. Megan doesn't take long to follow her and giving the gun to Diego. I stare and process everything that had just happened.

"You're lucky she didn't kill you, because if I were her, I would. You are a degenerate." Said the Diego "I will not deny you in life." Diego quickly approached Dimitri and put his hand on his neck and the man who had convinced Alexandra didn't take long to put a hand on his arm.

"Diego…let go." He said quietly, "He doesn't deserve to be alive." Fabio nodded and gave his arm a squeeze. "I'm not going to deny it, but what happened to Alexandra is over. Now we have to keep him alive to help us catch his psycho brother."

After a few long seconds, Diego released the Russian and I could see how the boy calmed down. Diego turns in my direction and tells me to go with Alexandra before leaving and going who knows where. I had no idea where she could be, but I'm going where we had been this morning. When I saw her, she was sitting in the same place where we had been at dawn, but she was with Megan, so I decided not to disturb them and went into the house where the others were.

"Everything is alright?" Analissa asked and I nodded, I had no idea how far I could tell her and I preferred not to mess up "Do you think we play while your mother comes over and the three of us go for a walk if your mother feels like it, princess?" Joy appeared on Alison's face and I couldn't help but smile. "We go for a walk?"

"Yes, if your mother wants." I said as seriously as I could, because in the end it depended on the mood Alexandra was in when she returned. "Of course, I want to and mommy will like it" I nodded, because before it could be, now I'm not sure.

"Alexandra is going out? At least tell me that you will bring bodyguards." Analissa asked drying her hands on a towel "Of course. I won't let anything happen to Alexandra or Alison, Analissa." Tranquillity was evident on Analissa's face, which makes me understand her father probably didn't provide her with security because of the mafia's risks, but rather because of his peace of mind and especially, of his wife.

"You leave me calmer. We're going to prepare the room where your mother will stay. Can you keep an eye on Alison?" she asked and I nodded.

They walked out the door and I decided to go to the living room to play with Alison while I waited to go see Alexandra and make sure she wanted to continue going out for a walk, because if something wanted to go well today, it was for Alexandra to forget about everything and enjoy without having to worry about everything.

ALEXANDRA'S POV

As soon as I left the room where Dimitri was, I headed for the pond in the garden. It always helped me relax, and I was going to need it, because I could hear Megan calling my name from just a few steps away. Once I got there, I sat down and it didn't take long for Megan to do the same.

"Ale, what is that guy doing at home?" she asked with concern evident in her voice "Because he's the only one who can help us catch Stefan." I said in a whisper, "He isn't. You said yourself, we could find him on our own."

"And I don't doubt it, but he knows things we wouldn't even know about." I said trying to make her understand, I didn't want to have any more doubts about my decision "Like what?" she asked, fixing her gaze on the side of my face.

"Do you know he has DEA people working for him? Hugo's partner is one of those and they have been planning to kill him for some time. They almost made it except Dimitri told me he was one of Stefan's children. And if it wasn't for his phone, we wouldn't know the head of the DEA works for them, too." I said sighing "You must be kidding."

I denied, because it wasn't " I wish I were, but it isn't." I said hugging my legs "Shit…we need him…how the fuck do you deal with him out?" she asked, and I didn't have a single answer to give her, because I didn't know myself.

"I have no choice... and I want to get Stefan off the streets as soon as possible so he doesn't get even one kilometre closer to Alison." I said, holding back my tears, "Can I ask you a question?" she asked again, causing a small smile to appear on my face. "You've already done it." I told her, looking in her direction, "It's not that, Ale." She said seriously, and I had a slight idea of what she wanted to do.

"Then do it, although I imagine the question you want to know." I said, focusing my gaze on the horizon again "What you told him... is it true?"

"Specify a little more if you want me to answer what you want." I told her, and even though I didn't feel like talking about this, I didn't want Megan to get over-stressed about something that happened a long time ago. "The thing about being electrocuted and about the cuts."

I stayed silent, because even though I hated to talk about it, it was about time I told her at least, she deserved to know, and maybe Fabio was right and could help me a little to deal with everything, so what better person than her who was in there with me? So, I nodded and I could hear how he took a deep breath "What else did they do to you? And why you alone?

"I don't know why me. It may be because I told them they could do whatever they wanted as long as they left you alone. But according to Dimitri, Stefan has something against me." I said shrugging my shoulders, because I still hadn't managed to find anything "What?" she asked curiously making itself present in her voice.

"He hasn't the slightest idea, let alone me." I said "Do you think he can help us figure out and catch that son of a bitch?" she asked in a whisper "Honestly, I have no idea, but I think I have no choice but to trust."

"This must be hard for you. Now I understand why you wanted to have it to yourself. But thanks." She said, and I turned around not understanding why she was thanking me, "Why?" I asked "For doing everything in your power in there so nothing happened to me."

"I had to do it." I said "So Dimitri knows Alison is his? Why didn't you tell me before she was his daughter?" she asked and I denied, because I didn't want anyone to really know "Because Alison is just my daughter. He doesn't deserve to be her father, let alone after killing his other child."

"Wait, wait, another child? What are you taking about?" she asked. "Let's say Dimitri was forcing the rest of the customers to use condoms, including Stefan, while he didn't. Once in one of the checkups they did, they told me I was pregnant, and they took me out of there and ended up giving me the beating of my life, causing me to lose my child."

Her eyes widened. This wasn't something I had told anyone; it wasn't a topic I liked to talk about at all. "So, you were going to have a child before Alison?" I nodded, at this point I couldn't say anything more "That's why you decided it was time to train to get out of there."

"Yeah. I was sick of being in there. I'm sure the next time something like that happened, I wouldn't make it out alive and then they'd take it out on you again. I couldn't allow that." I said and she nodded "And why did we leave that day exactly?"

"Because that day I had another medical examination because one of the clients had decided to use whips for his games, and I had an infected cut. They did a test and it came out I was pregnant. I couldn't let it happen again, so I hit the doctor with all my might and went looking for you to get out of there." Megan ended up taking my hand and intertwining our fingers, giving it a light squeeze.

"So, you always knew you were pregnant, right?" I nodded, what else could I say? "Why you didn't tell me anything?" she asked surprised "Because at that moment I was happy we could get out of there. I didn't want to ruin that."

"You wouldn't ruin anything; I'd be glad I was going to be an aunt." She said with a small smile on her face "I know, I found out later." I said letting out a small laugh. That had been one of the best days of my life. I still remembered Megan's tears. "It can be said it was one of the happiest days of my life after leaving there."

"I remember how much you cried." She laughed "The three of us cried in case you didn't notice." she said and I agreed, because it had been impossible not to have noticed that the three of them had cried. "So now it all makes sense." she said and I frowned, because I have no idea what he meant "What make sense?"

"The fact it cost you much more to adapt to being at home. I couldn't fully understand it before, but now that I know everything they did to you, I understand it, and I'm glad you decided to tell me." She said giving me a kiss on the temple "Fabio says it can help to talk about what happened in there."

"Wait, wait, wait, I think I'm missing it. Didn't you have feelings for the DEA guy?" she said with confusion on her face. I don't understand what was going through her mind, but it wasn't anything like that, I was sure of it "It might be I do, but what does that have to do with it?"

"Nothing, but it just gives me the feeling you trust that boy as much as you trust Diego or the one from the DEA." She said surprised, knowing how hard it was for me to trust people "To start with, the DEA guy has a name and it's Hugo. Second, Fabio showed me I can trust him and he's the uncle of one of the girls we took out of the club that night."

"Oh really?" she asked surprised "Yes, he told me so himself." I said, "At least I feel good I was able to help those girls. But why do you trust him so much? she asked "Do you remember the last time we talked to mom and dad about psychologists?"

"Yes, I remember you got angry." I nodded, because there was no reason to hide it "Well, maybe they were right that we had to find the right one." I said and once again, surprise flooded her face "Is that what I'm thinking?"

"Fabio studied psychology before he got into this, and he really believes what he says and won't just gawk at us because any man would have a better chance than any of us."

"So, he's your psychologist?" I shrugged my shoulders, because it wasn't like that, but at the same time it was "You can he is. And I tell you, he's good. If you want to talk to him, you know where to find him."

"I'll think about it, but now we have to talk about something very important." She said suddenly becoming serious "What about?" I asked, because I didn't want to keep talking about what happened in there "From the DEA guy."

I rolled my eyes, because when she got stubborn, "I told you his name is Hugo." I said rolling my eyes too "Yeah, sorry. We have to talk about Hugo." She said and I frowned, because I have no idea exactly what we had to talk about him for her to have to get into "What exactly?"

"I don't know if you realized it or not, but since you've met him, you have a smile on your face more often. You seem calmer and that only means one thing." She said and I denied, because for me, it had nothing to do with anything "Do I feel something for him?" I asked her "I don't have to tell you anymore, but yes, I think you have feelings for him."

"Honestly, I have no idea." I said turning to look at the pond "Do you want me to tell you what I think?" she asked, but I rolled my eyes, I knew she was going to tell me what she thinks anyway " I think you have to give him a chance, I'm not saying that you're with him, but to meet him. Let him meet this Alexandra and not the one everyone knows."

"You know that's not easy." I said looking at her, "I know, but the guy seems nice, and the way he looks at you shows he's not bluffing. He loves you Ale, you just give yourself the opportunity to meet him and let him meet the real Alexandra."

"I think you are right. What's more, today he asked me to go out for a walk with the three of us." I said and a small smile appeared on my face remembering when he asked me out "You should accept." She said with a big smile on her face "I accepted. It seems Alison likes him."

"Even your daughter is unconsciously telling you. That man loves you, Ale, and I'm sure he won't do anything to you." I nodded, because I was almost convinced of it. "Thank you, Megan, for everything." I said giving her hand a squeeze.

"I didn't do anything, but you're welcome anyway. If you need to talk about anything, you know where to find me, or your psychologist." She said and I nodded, I could always count on her and it was something I knew and was grateful for "Let's go home before the man worries more"

We got up off the ground and went home. Before entering it, we could see Hugo playing with Alison. Hugo was tickling her and Alison managed to get away, but not for long, because Hugo was always reaching her and tickling her more. "It looks like your daughter adores him, and from your smile, I could tell you like him." I nodded, because I liked seeing Alison so happy. There were few things that made me so happy.

"Well, you know what you have to do. Now I'll take your daughter to change before you leave. I hope I don't have to tell you to wear bodyguards." She said and I rolled my eyes, I can't believe she's asking me this "I won't forget. Besides, I'm not crazy enough to put Alison at risk." She sighed and if it had been at another time, I would have given her a smack in her head "Well, thank goodness."

We went into the house and Megan took Alison to change, while I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. It didn't take long for Hugo to enter the kitchen and sit in one of the chairs behind me. I could tell he was trying to ask a question, but it didn't seem to come out, so I turned to face him with a small smile.

"Do you still want to go for a walk?" he asked "Of course. Also, Alison looks excited." He nodded with a small smile on his face "She is, but I want you to be okay. If you don't want to go out, I'd understand."

"Hugo, I want to go out. Really." I said trying to make him see I want to do it "Okay. By the way, your mother asked me to bring bodyguards." I nodded, because I knew Analissa would want something like that. "We were going to take them anyway, but thanks for telling me."

He nodded, and it didn't take long for Megan to arrive with Alison hopping up and down. While Alison, Hugo, Diego and Fabio went to the car, I went to get Alison's ball, because I'm sure she would end up wanting to play ball. Once I picked it up, both Analissa and Megan told me to have a good time, to which I couldn't help, but smile.

When I got to the car, Diego opened the door for me, I thanked him and he closed it once I was inside. I turned to see Alison next to me laughing at something Hugo was telling her.

"Where are we going to go?" I asked with some anxiety in my chest "To a place." He said mysteriously, which made me turn and look at him with a big smile "Okay genius, tell me something I don't know."

"Mommy, Hugo says it's a surprise." Alison said next to me and I smiled at her, "So you know where we're going, don't you?" I asked her and she nodded "Yes, but I can't tell you because Hugo said it's a surprise for you. "She said proudly and I frowned without understanding anything. "For me?" I asked looking at him.

"I told you this morning you were going to get happy moments in your life after what happened to you. I just hope this is one." He said, I would say shyly, which made a small smile appear on my face "Well, let me tell you, I hate surprises." I said "That's a lie mommy, you tell me you adore them." Alison said with a pout. "Who am I supposed to listen to?" Hugo asked with a smile. "To the girl, she never lies." I turned in Diego's direction, meeting his gaze in the rearview mirror and sending him a glare. "You shut up and drive if you don't want me to do what I had to do years ago."

They all laughed and the rest of the way it was all laughter while I was looking out the window and trying to figure out where the fuck we were going, because I wasn't lying when I said I hated surprises, Alison thought I don't hate them, but I really do, especially considering they always told me they had a surprise for me. It turned out to be a new torture.

An hour later, Diego stops and both he and Fabio get out of the car to open the door for us, but before any of them do open mine, I do it and get out of the car.

"One cannot be a knight with you." Diego said, denying "You should know by now." I smiled at him and closed the door. "I should, but I don't. Now you have to do me a favour." He grabbed my arm and turned me around so he could see me. "Which one?"

"Forget everything you have on your mind and have a good time." He said seriously, and for me was rare to see in Diego "That's what I came to do." I told him with a small smile, even though I hadn't liked the surprise part that much, "I'm glad to hear it. We'll be here if you need anything."

I turned to go to the two who were laughing. At this moment I couldn't be happier to see my daughter so happy and laughing. It's all that mattered to me, that Alison was happy.

"Hey princess, why don't we go tickle your mom?" Hugo said, looking at me and Alison's gaze brightened more than it was a couple of seconds ago, and the two began to slowly get closer, which I didn't like a bit. I hated tickling. "Don't you dare come one step closer." I said seriously but it didn't take long for them to start running in my direction making me run in the opposite direction and less time for Alison to catch me and tickle me. I could see Hugo was around too, but he wouldn't do it to me.

After I got her to stop, Alison wanted to play hide and seek, until she got tired and wanted to show Diego some new tricks she learned with the ball. I went to sit on a nearby bench and much later, I notice how someone sits next to me, and without a doubt I know who it is. "I like to see that smile plastered on your face." He told me, surely with a smile on his face and that I confirmed when I went to look for him. "Thanks for this Hugo, really."

"You're welcome, at least tell me you had a good time." I nodded, because in the end it was true "I can't remember the last time I had such a good time." I said thinking if at some point in these six years I had had such a good time "I'm glad to hear that."

We were silent for a while watching Alison play, but the words of Diego, Fabio, Analissa and Megan, but above all Alison's, were going through my mind. "I was thinking about something." I said without taking my eyes off Alison, "What?" Hugo asked

"In what you told me." I told him and turned to look at him. I could see a glimmer of hope or something like that "What exactly?" he asked again "The thing about you loving me." I said "You don't believe me, do you?" he said, quickly saddening "No, it's not that." I told him trying to get the sadness out of his face "So what?"

"You have to do a lot to love a person like me." I said half whispering "It's true I love you too much, but I don't understand what you mean as a person like you." He said with a frown, "I have a hard time trusting people. Above all, I have a hard time letting people I don't know touch me, and even then, I have a hard time letting them touch me. And there are the nightmares and all the shit in my head. If this is not easy for me to deal with, I can't imagine how difficult it is for someone else to deal with."

"That has nothing to do with me loving you the way I do, Alexandra. All of this may happen to you, and I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you to deal with it every day, but again, I love you more than anything, and I want to help you through all of this." He said, and I could see everything he said was true.

"I'm not sure it can ever be stopped." I said, trying to make him see everything in its entirety and not focus on just one thing. "Well, in case we can't do it, we will learn to live with it together. I really want to help you Alexandra, and I will wait as long as it takes and I will do everything in my power to make you understand that I love you."

"But I don't want to hurt you." I whispered "You won't do it, and if you do, it won't be your fault, I know what I'm getting myself into and I know. You may not love me the way I love you, but not for that reason." I'm going to stop trying, if I don't try, I'll end up thinking the ifs… and I'm not one of those people." He said with a small smile on his face. "I really don't know how I feel about you."

"You'll find out in time, I assure you." He said tilting his head to the side. "I would like to try it." I said "What?" he asked. "Try to have something with you." It didn't take long for his joy to appear on his face, and if he was already handsome by himself, now he was even more so.

"Really?" he asked in a whisper, as if he didn't believe it "Yes, really, I only ask you one thing." I said "Whatever you want." He quickly replied "Can we go slow?" I asked him, because that was something I need. "We will go as slow as a snail."

I couldn't help but laugh. It was funny and it was true when he said I had no idea how I felt about him. I never felt this way I feel about him about anyone, and it was a strange feeling but not unpleasant.

"How about we start by getting to know each other better?" he asked looking in the direction Alison was. "I'd love to." I said "Would you like to go out tonight?" he asked looking at me again "Where to?"

He kept thinking for a couple of seconds and then he focused his gaze on me again "Somewhere quiet so we can talk without anyone bothering us." He said with a big smile on his face. "Okay, but it will have to be after Alison falls asleep."

"That seems perfect to me." He said "Alexandra, your mother just called to say you will have dinner soon, so it's better we leave." Fabio said, approaching where we were. "Okay, let me go for Alison and Diego, they look pretty entertained."

With that, Fabio went to where he was before and I was about to get up to go for Alison and Diego when Hugo stretches out his arm palm up. I looked at him who had a big smile, and my doubts about taking his hand went away, so I took it and he intertwined our fingers. "Let's go get Alison before we're late and your mom tells us off for not being on time."

My smile widened and we started walking in the direction where the two of them were playing ball. Once we headed towards the car, I could see Diego's gaze drop to our clasped hands, and the smile on his face widened, making me shake my head in his direction. Apparently, this would not change in life, something that made me happy but I would not tell him to prevent him from becoming too annoying.