28. Trauma

POV HUGO

It was half past seven in the morning, and I had been awake for about an hour, but I know I couldn't fall asleep again, so I got up without disturbing Alexandra and went to the bow of the ship to take in the views. 

I don't know why exactly why today I have had the nightmare after everything Alexandra and I experienced tonight. It had been one of my best days next to Alexandra and of my life and I didn't want anything to spoil it, but of course, my mind had to reproduce two bad moments in my life, seeing how Amelia was killed and how Alexandra was almost killed, a few of the women in my life I love the most. 

It may be what happened to Amelia was a long time ago, but nothing took away from the fact her death didn't hurt me, after all, she was my first love. 

Flashback

It was a summer day and I had agreed to pick up Amelia at her house. Today we had been together for four years and I was happy to have her in my life, it can be said it was the best thing that had happened to me since I can remember. 

After a few minutes in the car with my mom, we arrived at Amelia's house. Before leaving the car, I gave my mother a kiss on the cheek, and she left. It wasn't until I entered the house, I noticed there're cars belonging to my father's people in the house, which gives me a bad feeling. 

As soon as I get to the door, I start banging like there's no tomorrow, and after a couple of minutes, one of my father's men opens the door. This couldn't be good. My father is an Italian mob boss, not as big as the notorious Titano di Ferro, but big enough to take out what he sees as a threat, and I know he sees Amelia as a threat. 

"Ah, until you arrive. I thought you weren't going to come to this whore already." Said my father with a big smile on his face "Don't call her that." I muttered, trying to contain my anger "I call her what I want, that's why I'm your father." 

"Well, leave her alone and let's get out of here, she has nothing to do with this." I tried to convince him, but he just laughed "Oh, of course she has to do with this. She's keeping you from growing as a man, and it has to stop." 

"Don't do anything to her." I asked my father "And who said I was going to do something to her?" he asked me, but it was more than clear who was referring to "Then let's go." I insisted "No, it's too early to leave. First we have to talk, you and me." 

"And can't it be somewhere else?" I asked desperately, trying to get us to leave here "Unfortunately not." He said as if he was sad, but his smile said the opposite "So what do you want to talk about?" 

"You start worrying a little more about the business instead of chasing this girl's skirts. Someday you'll be the boss and have all the bitches on your ass if that's what you're worried about. I denied, because that would never do "I don't care about other girls, I only love Amelia." I assured him stretching "Okay, then here's the deal. You agree to be the boss of the mafia one day, and I leave your dear girlfriend alive…" 

"I'm not going to accept it never in life." I denied and he raised an eyebrow "Are you one hundred percent sure?" he asked "Yes, I'm not going to lead the shitty life you lead for a couple of euros more." I assured him, I didn't want to dedicate myself to what he did, that was more than clear to me "Well... Then it has to be the hard way." 

In that, one of my father's men holds Amelia and the latter doesn't hesitate for a single second to shoot her in the head, killing her at that very moment. "Now the problem is over, I hope you show up at the office early tomorrow so you can start looking after your business." 

With that, they left, and I was left there crying for my girlfriend. At that moment I swore I would put my father in prison and all the drug traffickers I could. I was going to end all this shit. 

Before I left Amelia's house, I called the police anonymously to report what had happened at the house and I wrote a letter to my mother to apologize for leaving her, but I was doing it for the good of all of us. 

End flashback

I hated feeling like this, and I really didn't want to. Over the years, Amelia's thing got better. It hurt me? Obviously, but now at least I could think about the happy moments we had spent. 

But that wasn't what bothered me the most about the nightmare, at least one of them, but I had relived the moment in which Dimitri almost killed Alexandra, and everything Diego had to do to get her to come back to us. 

That day, I was beyond scared of losing Alexandra. If I have something more than clear, it is that I do not want to lose her for the world. After what had happened with Amelia, I didn't want to have a girlfriend or anything like that, as in case my father found out, he would have her killed. I didn't trust him being in jail yet. 

The fact is I didn't want to lose the person I loved more than anything and I will do everything in my power, so nothing happens to her. I would never forgive myself, especially if the danger came from my father. 

I decided it was better not to get into too dark thoughts, I didn't want to ruin the day, not after the great night I had with my beautiful girlfriend. I was thinking for a while about everything what happened in all this time I had been with Alexandra, and it can be said they are the best days of practically my entire life. 

After spending another hour doing nothing but contemplating the landscape, I got up and went to the ship's kitchen to make Alexandra breakfast and at least give her a small surprise. 

ALEXANDRA'S POV

At this moment I couldn't be happier. I felt great and after last night, I feel greater, quite the opposite, to what I really expected. I'm not going to say I wasn't afraid, because I was scared to death, but Hugo was slow and kind. I thought that wasn't possible. It was a new world for me in this field, especially if we consider from the age of seven to nineteen, I was constantly raped. 

I stretched out my arm to see if I was reaching for Hugo, but to my surprise he wasn't there, which makes me get up and start looking around the room, and I don't see him anywhere, so I get up, put Hugo's shirt and start looking around the ship, or at least that was the intention, because as soon as I open the cabin door, I see him. 

"Good morning love, I thought you hadn't gotten up yet, I came to bring you breakfast." Hugo said with a smile on his face, but I noticed something strange about him "Good morning to you too." I said, giving him a little kiss on the lips, "So, now you're up, would you like to go have breakfast on deck or here?" He asked. "We'd better go on deck." I opined, because the weather wasn't bad "As you wish, honey." 

I gave him a kiss on the cheek, we went to the deck and sat facing each other. Hugo put the things on the table. "How are you?" he asked, and I was a bit surprised by the question honestly "Well, much better than I expected." I assured, because all the experiences I had with sex were painful. 

"What did you expect?" he inquired, and I wasn't really going to tell him what I'm thinking, I didn't want to make whatever was bothering him so much worse at this time of the morning. "My mind had another concept, not as bad as it was in there, but not as good as I felt it either." 

"You were afraid?" he asked, and I nodded, because in part I was "I'm not going to lie to you, because I really did, but not because of you but because I didn't like it, or I somehow relived what happened there." 

"And does something hurt?" he asked again, and I denied, another surprise I liked "So, I can assume you liked it?" I smiled, because I was amused by the way he asks as if he doesn't know the answer "You don't have to assume, you know. Were you afraid?" 

"Of course, I didn't want to hurt you in the slightest. I just wanted you to feel how much I love you and somehow try to erase those memories." He said, "Although I don't want to believe it or it's hard for me to see it, I realize every day I think less about what happened in there, and I'm sure a large part of that is thanks to you." 

"I think it's more because of the therapy." He maintained, but I'm not so sure if it's something because of the therapy or because I trust him "It might be it's helping, but I think you're the one who's helping me more than the therapy. Thanks to you, if a man touches my arm, even by accident, I don't hit or kill him. I feel somewhat calmer being surrounded by men who are not homosexual, although I know very well, I will not get over everything, at least I have made some progress in this time, and it is thanks to you." 

"I'm glad I could help you, even a little." He said holding my hand "It's a lot, and besides, thanks to you I was able to make Alison's dream come true." I smiled, because I always wanted to give her the father she wanted, and when I least expected it, "Which one?" Hugo asked with a frown. "Having a father... It was her dream since she was little, but I could never make it come true until you came along." 

"I'm glad I helped you with it, but what about your dreams?" he asked, and I frowned, because I have no idea what he was talking about. "My dreams?" I asked "Yes, I'm sure you have." 

I kept thinking about what my dream was supposed to be, but I couldn't find anything could fit that definition and wasn't related to Alison "My main dream was to get rid of the mafia, but then it occurred to me I could help a lot of people with a mob, so I guess that's my dream now apart from Alison being happy" I said with a shrug. "And the others?" He kept asking "Well, feel normal and be with you." 

"You'll always be with me if that's what you want, but let me tell you you're not normal…" I denied, because I knew we didn't have the same definition of normal right now "Why do you say that? Because it gives me the feeling, we're saying it for different reasons." 

"Well, because you are one of the strongest women I know along with your sister, your mother and mine. You are the most beautiful my eyes could see and despite everything you went through, you do whatever it takes to keep a smile on your face, and most importantly, you didn't give up Alison even though she's the result of a rape… Why did you stay with her? he questioned, and I leaned back in the chair staring at him. 

"Let's say that at first, I wasn't a fan of having a child, even less knowing it was from that bastard. I had always liked the idea of having them with the person I loved... and why fool me, at that time, I did nothing but think about the way to end my life ... I think everyone knew those were my intentions, from the beginning, they sent us to so many psychologists, but nothing worked and I'm completely sure they had assimilated it, but Alison was born, and I couldn't allow her to be left without her mother... I wanted to be the mother I didn't have when I was a child, and I did have after escape from there... She made me sane and somehow made me not think so much about it... I won't deny after she was born, I tried to end my life, because I did try... but luckily for all of us, Megan arrived and she called everyone... Dad took it upon himself to call the best doctor he knew, and they tend my wounds, at least my physical injuries..." I said, remembering the first years since we left that hell 

"Well, let me tell you one, I'm very grateful to that doctor and to your sister who prevented what nobody wants from happening, and two, that you managed to be the best mother Alison could have in this world." 

"That's what I try... If it wasn't for her, I'm sure this conversation wouldn't be taking place right now." I assured him, because I would have tried more times until I managed to kill myself, "Well, I'm glad Alison was born." He said with a small smile that made one appear on mine, "Me too. Can I ask you a question?" 

"Sure, whatever you want." He said, leaning back in his chair, "What's wrong with you?" I asked him directly, because I didn't like seeing him the way he was today, he wasn't the same Hugo as always "Why do you say that?" he asked "Because I get the feeling something isn't right." 

He stared at me for a couple of seconds and then put his hands behind his head and started to look at the sky instead of looking at me, which confirmed to me something was bothering him. "Hugo, I'm here to listen to you. You know you can trust me." I assured him "I know, but it was just a nightmare. Nothing else." 

"The nightmare has you upset; do you want to talk about it?" I asked. I knew better than anyone that nightmares could be very annoying "The first one wasn't a nightmare as such, just a memory I've been trying for years not to affect me, at least as much and then another bad memory." He said, the last practically a whisper, "Do you want to talk about it?" 

"Do you want to hear it?" he asked surprised, which I don't understand why "You know I do. I don't like seeing you like this, and I know very well what it feels like, even if I'm not one of the people who speak it." I shrugged and waited for him to speak. Maybe he would feel better after talking about it. For a few minutes he stared at me and then straightened up in his chair, resting his elbows on the table. 

"The first…was the moment my father killed Amelia…Maybe at that moment I was no longer in love with her…but…but she didn't deserve to die like that…and at that moment I thought I loved Amelia… I don't want you to think I don't love you or anything, because I do…" I took his hand and gave it a little squeeze, because I wasn't thinking about whatever was going through his head right now "Hey, I know you do. You don't have to explain yourself to me, what's more, if I didn't miss her, I'd worry because you weren't good enough." 

"Do you understand?" he asked surprised, and I nodded with a small smile on my face "She was your best friend since you were a child and your first love, of course I'll understand. The first love is never forgotten or at least that is said. I said, because that's what I had heard "And I think it's true, but don't think I don't love you because I do." 

"I know. What is the other memory? I asked trying to get us back on topic "The moment Dimitri almost killed you." And at that moment I could see a couple of tears escaping from him, so I got up from where I was sitting and went to hug him, because I get the feeling it's something he needs right now. 

"Hugo, I can get the idea of what was going through your head at that moment, but nothing happened to me. I'm fine and now if I was in that situation, I would do everything in my power to come back to you." I assured him. I knew Megan kept having problems with it, what I didn't expect is he did too, never crossed my mind. "Oh really?" he asked, and I nodded. 

"I love you; I love Alison and our family. I wouldn't leave you for anything in this world. Much less with Stefan's constant threat." And that was true. It was impossible for me to leave this world without making it safer for Alison. "But I don't want anything to happen to you." He said and I gave him a kiss on the cheek "And nothing will happen to me, I assure you. I will do everything in my power, so nothing happens to me." 

"You promise me?" he asked "It's not something I should be promising, but I promise you. Also, I remind you Megan and Diego make me hang out with a bunch of ex-military guys who always protect me. It's difficult for something to happen to me." I said with a shrug, "I hope so, because I really don't know what would become of me." 

"You'll see nothing will happen to me and neither will you. Now, can I ask you a question love? I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck "Sure, which one?" he asked curiously, "How long has it been since you went to therapy?" 

He stared at me for a moment trying to understand where I'm going with the question I guess, but I was curious as to how long. From what he had told me, therapy helped him "Since we have been here... Well, something more if we consider in the last two weeks, we were in Italy I didn't go." 

"And why don't you talk to Fabio?" I asked, maybe he could help him with his nightmares "He's not bad, but I don't trust him enough to tell him about my life, and I don't want to have to start from the beginning of everything that happened in my life. And considering I can't talk to the one I had before because we are dead to the world, I prefer to stay with it inside." 

"That's not good, you told me so yourself." I said, frowning, "I know, and I know it's hypocritical for me to tell you, but I really wouldn't feel good telling Fabio, and I don't want my problems to influence your improvement." He said as if it were nothing special, but unlike me, therapy helped him much more than it could help me "Do you think what you told me would affect me?" I asked him and he shrugged. "I don't know, but I don't want to risk it either. I hope you understand." 

"I understand. Do you trust the therapist?" I asked him with a plan forming in my mind "With my life." He said quickly, "We'll find a solution to this." I said thinking about talking to Luke so somehow Hugo could talk to his therapist without anyone knowing we're alive "I don't think there is, but I appreciate it anyway. Do you want to go home?" 

"Shit, I forgot. They must be going crazy looking for us." I said getting up and looking towards the coast "Don't worry about it, I told them last night we weren't going to return until today." And even though that relieved me a bit, Megan probably wouldn't be comfortable. "Thanks, I'm sure Megan would have sent everyone out looking for us if I hadn't." 

"She was a bit worried, true, but she relaxed after I told her we weren't coming back until today." He assured me getting up and calmed me down a bit more "Great then. Let's go, Alison will wake up in a while, and I'd like to spend some time with her." I said and his smile appeared again on his face "As you wish. Go get dressed while I head to the port." 

We gave each other a little kiss and then we each separated and when I finished dressing, I went to him so he could change, which didn't take too long and not long after we arrived at the port. I had to fix this with Hugo, I didn't want him to miss his therapies just so we wouldn't risk finding out we were alive. I wouldn't let anything get in the way of her once-dead improvement. 

After an hour and a half or so we got home, both my mom and Megan were sitting in the living room watching TV and mobile respectively. "Hello." I said and it didn't take long for both of them to look up "Until you show up. If it wasn't for Hugo, the FBI would be looking for you right now." Megan said sulking and I rolled my eyes, because sometimes she could exaggerate things too much "You exaggerate Megan." 

"I'm worried, that's all, and considering we're playing dead, I thought someone who works for the Russians had taken you and brought you to stupid Stefan, nothing to worry about." 

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you, but I fell asleep." A mischievous smile appeared on her face, and she stood up "I can already imagine why." She said, and I had no idea what she meant by that, "What are you talking about?" I asked. 

At that moment, Hugo's mother appears with a worried face, which automatically makes him tense up. It must not be normal to see his mother so worried, and I can say since she lives with us, I have never seen her worried, at least that I can tell. 

It doesn't take long for Hugo to go with his mother towards the kitchen, leaving us there without understanding anything about what was happening. "What's wrong with Rose?" I asked them "I don't know. She's been weird ever since she woke up, and I've tried to get her to tell me, but she won't tell me nothing." Said my mother sighing "Is it something wrong?" I asked. "Let's hope not." 

"Going back to the topic from before, what made you tired, Ale?" Megan asked with a big smile on her face. "And I ask you again, what are you talking about?" I was lost and didn't understand what she meant. "Do you prefer I talk about it in front of mom or are we going to another place where we can talk quietly?" 

"Darling, before you were born, your father and I already did those things, so if you want to talk, I have no problem." Analissa said with a big smile and both my eyes and Megan's increased their normal size by two "Mom!!!! You don't need that much information." Megan protested. "I still don't understand what you're talking about." I said, or at least what Megan meant. 

"My dear, what your sister is talking about is the hickey on your neck." She said and for a few seconds I was processing what Analissa had said "What?" I asked once my brain processed the words. I couldn't help but go to the mirror in the hall, and once there I could see what they were both referring to. Out of nowhere Megan appears with a big smile on her face, mocking me, the sparkle in her eyes said it. 

"So, when will my nephew be?" Megan asked with a laugh. "Don't say stupid things." I seriously said "Oh come on, it's not bullshit. You should know better than anyone, you should know how children are made." 

"I know it just like you. Now, will you let me go change?" I said trying to get him to leave me alone "Oh, of course I do. You reek of sex. Now I hope you don't go doing it in every corner of this house or at all times." 

"Megan, really, you're a case." I said denying and I could hear Analissa laughing "We better go change, I have to ask you thousands of questions." She enthused, "Why do I get the feeling this was going to happen?" I asked, "Because deep down you knew, and if it were the other way around, you would be asking too." 

"As you wish, let's go before mom gets curious too." Megan said grabbing my arm. "Am I not invited to that gossip session?" asked Analissa humorously "Mom, it's not gossip, it's knowing." 

"So, I'm not invited to know?" She said getting up from the sofa "It's nothing you haven't done before." We both said with a shrug, "I know, but considering since you guys escape of there weren't any boyfriends or anything like that and what we pretty much know about what happened to you, I at least hope I know that." 

"I have to wake Alison up." I said trying to get rid of them "Don't worry about her, she woke up early and wanted to go for a walk, so Diego took her." Megan assured with a big smile on her face, which makes me think she did it on purpose. "At least she would have breakfast, right?" I asked, though it would be too weird if she didn't ask to eat. "Yes, she has." Megan reassured. 

"But she may be back soon." I tried again "I doubt it, not much they went out and walked with the ball." Analissa said, coming up to us. "Tell me at least they took more bodyguards." 

"They have done. Don't worry about them, they'll be fine, and she's with Diego. He adores that girl enough to have anything done to her." Analissa said rolling her eyes like I'm exaggerating, which may be "Mom is right. Diego adores Alison, he won't let anything happen to her. Now relax, and better tell us how your night was." 

"Okay, but first I plan to take a bath." I said starting up the stairs, but with them following me close "Don't worry, we'll sit on the bed in your room and that's it. We can listen carefully." 

"If I didn't know that Megan is your adopted daughter, I would think that she is your biological daughter. You are both such for each other." I rolled my eyes, because sometimes I couldn't understand how these two were so equal in many things "You know we like to tease you daughter, but we like to see you happy like this." Analissa said with a big smile on her face "I also like to see you happy, but that's not why I ask you how your sex life is." 

"Because it is non-existent in both, and you know it. Now stop complaining and tell us. If I go into too much detail, please, I don't want to traumatize myself at my young age." Analissa started to freak out and I rolled my eyes. Sometimes I couldn't understand how she was so smart for some things and stupid for others. Once we got to my room, I decided it was better to take a bath later, so we sat on the bed. 

"He forced you?" Megan asked curiously and I rolled my eyes because that was a stupid question. "Don't be stupid Megan, you know he wouldn't do such a thing." I assured her, crossing my arms, "I had to make sure, but tell me, I want to know." 

"What exactly?" I asked and she sat up with curiosity present in her gaze. "Is it anything like that?" I smiled and denied, because it had nothing to do with what we went through "Nothing. I must say I was scared. I didn't want it to look anything like over there. And he always worried I was okay." 

"Oh really?" she asked surprised, and I smiled again, it was rare Megan was caught off guard "Yes. It feels great. He normally shows me he loves me and all, but after this I'm more than clear he loves me." 

"Isn't it clear to you that man loves you more than anything, darling?" Analissa asked incredulously, but I already knew, even though it was hard to believe sometimes. "I know he loves me, but after everything we've been through, it's clearer to me." 

"Will you ever tell me what happened to you in there?" she questioned and both Megan and I looked at each other without knowing what to say, I didn't want Analissa to have everything that happened to us in there on her mind "Mom, it's not a pretty conversation." 

"I can imagine that, but I'd like to know what I'm up against when either of you isn't yourselves." She said, but I denied it, because even though it might have helped her, I still didn't want her to have that in mind "It happened to me the other day because I met someone I don't like, and Megan hasn't done it for years." 

"This morning isn't years." She said and I quickly turned in the direction of Megan who was looking out the window avoiding my gaze. I had no idea about that, and it may have happened to Megan very rarely, but when it did, it wasn't good. 

"Megan, what was it triggered it?" I asked. It wasn't normal for Megan to experience it "It doesn't matter, Ale." I denied, because if it had happened to her, it is because it was important. I just hope stupid Skolov didn't do anything to her, because then I'll kill him. "Of course, it matters. You can tell me; you know I won't judge you." 

"Do you remember that day I wouldn't stop crying when we were in there?" I nodded, because that day, was something I could never forget, I had never seen Megan so desperate and depressed "Yes, I did everything in my power to make you stop crying, but it was useless." 

"There's something I didn't tell you the day the ship broke down." She said looking at her hands and I frowned, because it was strange, we didn't tell each other things "What?" I asked. "About David and me." If I was lost before, now I was even more "What's wrong with you?" 

"Who is David?" Asked Analissa, who I forgot was with us for a moment "He's a guy who was dating in a way, and he tried to get me and Alexandra out of the club." Megan whispered, and for a moment it reminded me of that day I wish I couldn't remember "What?" 

"Megan, what happened between you two?" I asked, fearing the worst. "I was thinking about what you told me I could be in love with him, and I found out it's true." She said looking at me, but soon returning her gaze to her hands "What?" I asked, trying to follow her train of thought. "That I liked the boy. I wanted him. The point is one day he came in the afternoon, and we talked, we ended up making love, don't ask me how we ended up in that situation, but I got pregnant from that time." 

"Pregnant?" Analissa asked, not understanding where this was going, but I froze in place, because I didn't like where this was going. "Megan, what did they do to you?" I asked in a whisper "I got a puncture to make me lose it... Today it would be nine years old..." And with that, she began to cry. I never realized Megan was pregnant, but I must assume as soon as they found out one of the girls was pregnant, they killed their children. 

Both I and Analissa got up and went over to hug her and we stayed like that for a long time, but at this moment, it doesn't matter to me how much time we were like that. What mattered to me was comforting her in some way, because I know what it feels like. 

"I know it's not… it's not the same… as what they… did to you… but I was excited… you know? Even David was…" she said, and I deny it, because I didn't give a shit it was the way I had lost mine, it hurt just the same, especially if she wanted it, but then I remember something "Wait, did you know before they did? I asked and she nodded "I noticed my period didn't came... you know it's like clockwork... so I figured I was... and it was true." 

"It's true but let me tell you even if you didn't lose your child like I lost mine, it hurts just the same." I said trying to comfort her. Now I understood many things "Girls, can you tell me what they did to you in there? Because I don't like what I'm thinking at all, and if your father were alive, he would kill everyone who dared to hurt his girls." Analissa assured in a whisper. 

" Ale... I think it's time for... for mom to know." Megan told me and I denied, because I didn't like the idea "I don't think it's best for her to know." I said practically in a whisper "I don't care if it's not the best I know, I just want to know..." 

"I know you want to know mom, but I don't want anything we tell you to make you feel bad." I knew what Analissa was like, and most likely she didn't take it too well. "It makes me sick not to know too." 

"Ale... she's right..." Megan said "Are you sure you want to tell her?" I looked at her to make sure, "She deserves to know, and it will help her the moment something like that happens to us." I sighed and closed my eyes "Okay." I said with a lump in my throat and Megan straightened up next to me. 

"We had been there twelve years. When I got there, I didn't understand much. I had learned some English at school, but not enough to know what the fuck they were talking about." Megan said with a laugh that had not the slightest trace of humour in it. "How come you didn't understand English?" Analissa asked. 

"I was born in Romania, and even though I hardly know Romanian now, at that time it was all I knew. Alexandra helped me learn English. What's more, she's the only one who came up to talk to me." She said with a small smile "How not to. You were little and those bastards had bought you." I snorted, because I still didn't understand how the hell they had done it and how they had put her in that place. Megan was only four years old at the time. "Bought?" Analissa asked with her eyes twice their normal size. 

"Our parents sold us on, well, at least Megan's." I said with a shrug, "And yours?" she questioned again "Let's say my mother sold me to my father who put me in there?" 

"Wait, wait, wait... Did Sergio buy you from your mother?" she asked horrified "Sergio isn't really my father, at least biological." I said, "So who is it?" I took a deep breath, because I didn't like talking about that bastard, and even less like my father "One of the Russians who kept us locked up." 

"The one we had at home?" she asks horrified, and I quickly denied, but I was no better than him either "No, his brother." I assured her "I don't understand anything." 

"I don't understand what happened there either, but from what Sergio told me, the lady who brought me into this world, was a prostitute who went to bed with everything that came her way and they gave her a couple of grams of cocaine… After Skolov fired Sergio, he got hooked on coke, but despite being high, he never laid a hand on me, and my mother beat the life out of me." I said shrugging. I would always appreciate Sergio being there and protecting me in a certain way. 

"Your mother did all that?" whispered Analissa and I nodded "Yeah, she hates me to death, and now she must hate me more for my brother's death." I said thinking it was most likely "Brother?" she asked blankly "One of the DEA." 

"And why did they sell you, Megan?" Analissa asked, having a hard time understanding what our life had been like. "Because they had no choice. It was either that, or my little sister would die, and since I was a rebel, they didn't like me that much, so they decided to do it." 

I knew the question Analissa was going to ask now, her concern said it clearly. "And your sister?" If it were in another situation, I would have laughed at Analissa being so expressive, but it wasn't the situation right now. "She died anyway, and they were killed years later." 

"That was your life?" she asked with tears in her eyes, which is why I didn't want to tell her all this. "It might not have been good from the beginning, but things got worse the moment they put us in there." 

"Why?" she asked "Because they made people rape us. Hence, both Alexandra and I were pregnant." She said with a shrug, "How long were they doing it to you?" Horror could be seen in Analissa's gaze, and I was more and more convinced we shouldn't have opened our mouths on this subject "Me for five or six years, but after a beating they gave me, Ale decided to take everything they gave me and her." 

"What are you taking about?" She looked at me in fear, but I decided it was better not to look at her, so I looked out the window "They left me alone and they tortured and raped her twice as much." Megan whispered, probably looking at me, but I didn't want to see the sadness on her face one more time. "What tortures?" 

At that I got up and took off my shirt. I think it was better to teach her to tell me, because I'm sure I wouldn't be able to tell half of the things she wanted to know, and at least that way, I could show her a small part of what they did to me there. 

"What did they do to you, daughter? Is that why your father hated the Russians so much? You told him and you didn't tell me?" she asked somewhat offended, but we both denied it, we would never have told Francesco "We didn't tell dad anything, he had the means to discover it. I suppose that's how he found out a few things about what they did to us, but I assure you, he didn't know half of what they did to us." 

"And how did you escape?" she asked with tears running down her face "That day they did thousands of tests on me to see if I could continue having sex with their clients and them. I think out of all the times I've been tested, it was the first time none of them were there, so when the doctor told me I was pregnant, I didn't hesitate to hit his head and go for Megan to get out of there." 

Analissa put her hand over her mouth to cover her fear, but at least now we were on the good side "On the way, we ran into Stefan, but we had been training to get out of there for more than a year, so it wasn't that complicated leave that place, and since neither Stefan nor Dimitri wanted something to happen to Alexandra, we were able to escape from there." 

"So, you always knew you were pregnant?" Analissa asked me and I nodded "Why didn't you ever tell us?" she questioned "Not even Megan knew. I really appreciate you hosting us. But at that moment, I didn't trust anyone but Megan, and I wanted to kill myself." 

"We realized that, that's why we wanted to send you to a psychologist, to see if we could help you in any way." She said taking my hand and giving me a little squeeze "They would do nothing but look at us like all the people in there did, or they were so hypocritical they told us to do something they didn't believe in." 

"You've been through a lot. You didn't deserve it." She whispered and we both shrugged, because it could be, but right now, it wasn't something that mattered too much to us "Maybe not." Analissa laughed, but then tensed again. "And what happened to Megan when we were in New York? I remember seeing a bruise on her back." 

"That was because some stupid people dared to shoot her." I muttered "Shoot her? Why?" she asked surprised "Because Alexandra decided to enter the club we were involved in to get other girls out, that's why they shot me." 

"Did you go in there again? Despite everything it brought you?" Surprise was evident on her face, as if we weren't expected to go in there, but it's what we had to do "We had to go in. I didn't want any of those girls to go through as much as we did." 

"So that's where Jennifer came from." My mother said connecting the dots "Yes. She was Italian and I couldn't put her back in the orphanage." I answered. I still didn't understand how they had given her to the mafia. "And her his parents?" asked Analissa. "Apparently they died when she was little." 

"And how did they manage to get her out of there?" she questioned looking for a logical answer to everything "Because the same orphanage gave her to the mafia." I snorted. "Poor girl, but she's not as bad as you were." 

"Because apparently one of them decided he was in love and he shouldn't do what they were doing, so the rules were relaxed." Megan said and a chill ran through me "In love? Come on man, that's impossible. A person who does cannot be in love." 

"According to him it was, of the girl and her daughter." Megan continued and I could practically feel the breakfast trying to rise up my throat "Oh, what he had a girlfriend and a daughter. Did that girl know where the guy was at?" Analissa asked angrily and I nodded, because it was more than clear to me. "I knew, but I didn't want him to get close to Alison at all." 

"Why was he leaving…? Wait, are you the girl? she asked again in surprise, her jaw practically on the bed. "According to Jennifer, yes. She didn't directly say it was Alexandra, but it all fits her, and the girl has more in common with Alexandra than it would if she were just her mother." 

"I don't understand, what are you talking about?" I was going to get up, but Megan stopped me, took my hand and squeezed it as if she were trying to encourage me "Because Alison, apart from being my daughter, let's say she's my cousin in a way." 

The face my mother left at that moment was one of total shock. Really, I didn't want to keep talking about my family, because I must say they are too crazy for me to lose my sanity at this moment, and apparently, from the look on my face, they understood that we were taking a risk, so they hugged me between the two of them and we stayed like that for a couple of minutes. 

"Well, what matters now is you're fine and nothing's going to happen to either of you. They will have to step over my dead body first." She said seriously, but it's something neither of us would allow to happen "It won't be necessary mom, we know how to defend ourselves, but we appreciated." 

"You are my girls, after all. I'm not going to let them do anything to my girls." She said giving us both a kiss on the temples and then hugging us "We love you, mom." At that moment, we heard someone bang on the bedroom door, and then it slowly opened, revealing Hugo's mother, who had tears in her eyes. The three of us quickly get up and make her enter the room to sit on the bed, because her legs were clearly shaking. 

"Rose, what's up?" I asked putting myself at her eyes level "It's Hugo..." she said, and it didn't take me long to tense up "What's wrong with him?" I asked in a whisper and with Megan's hand on my shoulder "I don't know where he's gone... I'm afraid he's going to do something stupid." 

"How is he gone? Where to?" Megan asked, because I had no idea what was going on. "I don't know." Rose whispered and I got up starting to pace back and forth "Hey, both of you calm down, it's going to be fine. Better, tell us why he would do a stupid thing so we can understand what is going on." Said Megan who stood in front of me to stop me. 

"Hugo's father was released from jail." As soon as those words were out of Rose's mouth, I turned to her in surprise, because this couldn't be happening. "What?" 

I didn't even wait for her to finish telling what was happening, because I know how Hugo must be feeling right now, and if his mother is afraid he will do something stupid, it's because he's capable of doing it, and I don't want anything to happen to him. 

" Luke!!!!" I called out to him and it didn't take long for him to come out of wherever he was "What? Everything is alright?" he asked confused "No... I need you to trace Hugo's phone." I told him going to the office and picking up the weapon I had in the safe "What for?" he asked even more confused. 

"I need to find him, NOW!!!!" I ordered him and he raised his hands in the air taking his computer out of who knows where "Okay, I'll have it in a couple of minutes. You must calm down." He said starting to type "I'll calm down as soon as I know where my boyfriend is. As soon as you know, you call me to tell me." 

"Where you're going?" Megan asked from the office door. "To look for him, I can't sit idly by." I said and loaded the weapon "Ale, you have no idea where he is." Luke said and I denied, because at this moment I didn't care I didn't have the slightest idea where he could be. "I don't care." 

"Ale... Luke is right... Hugo isn't going to do anything stupid..." Megan tried to reason, but it wasn't going to work, Rose's words were still in my mind "That's not what his mother says." I said looking at her and tucking the gun into the waistband of my jeans "Because she's upset, that's why she said it." 

"She knows Hugo like no one else... I don't want anything to happen to him." I said and she didn't take long to stand in front of me with her hands on my shoulders "Nothing will happen to Hugo... Now relax..." she said breathing with the intention I would continue her breathing, but at this moment I couldn't "I'm not going to wait for him to appear through that door, no way." 

"Well, we're both going." She said turning to the safe and grabbing her gun, but I didn't need her to come with me "No Megan, you stay for when Alison gets here." I said turning in her direction "Then you're not leaving the house either." She assured crossing her arms and I denied "You can't help that." 

"I'm sorry sister, but I can." She said taking out a syringe from I don't know where, but before she sedated me, I hit her in the arm making her drop the syringe. I know right now I can seem crazy or something, and I know full well Megan knows how I am in cases like this, but I wasn't going to let her not let me look for Hugo. 

"If you prick me that, you will realize what I am capable of." I said menacingly "I can't let you out like that. We both know how you are in these cases Ale. Do I need to remind you of the time that boy tried…?" she started, but I denied it, because I knew perfectly well what she was referring to, and if it happened to me again, I would have done it without once hesitating "You don't have to remind me, because I remember very well what I did to that bastard... But listen to me... I know what you're saying, okay? I don't want him to do anything stupid..." 

"And what if someone who works for Stefan sees you?" she asked now annoyed "It's not going to happen, but I don't want them to see him either." I assured my sister, because Stefan was likely using it to her advantage and it was something I would not allow in life "Ale, think twice before walking out that door." 

"I've already done it, and that's what I'm going to do." I confirmed her and left the house to look for Hugo, because if I have something more than clear, it's I'm not going to let anything happen to him, much less that his demons eat his head, because better than anyone I know what it feels like, and I don't want him to go to a dark place, not just because his stupid father.