❝ 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞. ❞
When Ricardo Esposito bursts through a door and finds a girl handcuffed on the floor, he decides to take her in and give her something she never had.
A fam...
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Alessia sat on the floor in her bathroom.
The image of the car crash imprinted itself in her mind. There were body parts, arms, legs, heads, no matter where she looked.
She rocked back and forth until her door was broken open, but the sound reminded her of when the truck rammed the car.
Someone touched her.
Someone was constantly touching her- no matter what she did, how often she showered, the feeling never went away. Her hands have been covered in blood since she was six years old- someone is constantly hovering over her, tearing off her clothes, making her feel cold on her chest.
Alessandro pulled his hands back as soon as he noticed how she tensed at his touch and pulled her legs closer.
He looked at the girl he considered his little sister from the moment he talked to her. Even though he never said it out loud, maybe not to overwhelm her or in case something went wrong, and he'd lose her.
Alessia looked up at the person she, as the time progressed, started considering not only her brother but also one of the few people in that world who had never done her wrong. But she'd never called him her brother, in case he had to pay the price for being someone she loved.
"A head," she said not above a whisper.
"I know; we got rid of it," he assured her. She looked up at him again; he constantly removed obstacles in her way.
"He's dead."
It wasn't Jason's death in particular that bothered her; it was who killed him, as at the end of the day, Henry seemed to be the root of all of her problems.
"Do you think it was an accident? The car crash?" She asked.
No, it wasn't. What are the chances of three trucks driving in three cars at the same time?
"No, but there's no proof yet. The Polish say they did it, but there is more to it."
He could have lied to reassure her, but he told her the truth; she was grateful for that.
"They kill people," she whispered and looked at him. "You kill people too.
"I killed people too," she finally added.
She showed three fingers. "Three. I killed three people. My mother, my father and Samuel.
"You don't know how many, do you?" she asked, and the silence that followed answered her question.
"But you kill people who deserve it," she told him.
"I kill the people who I believe deserve it, according to my opinion and belief. Some do it that way too, some think it is wrong or have other beliefs," Alessandro explained to her, and she nodded.
"I trust your belief." He never gave her a reason not to.
"Do you?" She asked. "Do you trust me?"
At that moment, Ricardo came through her open bathroom door.
"You never gave us a reason not to," Alessandro said aloud what she just thought about him.
"Have you never thought that maybe Henry destroyed her? Maybe he manipulated her, sent her here as a spy? Maybe she's here, gathering information, waiting for the day he comes for her? Maybe she's just another Elena? Have you never wondered that?"
They were both silent, observing her, and a bit confused when she started to chuckle lightly.
"You don't trust me," she whispered, "But it's not like I blame you after all the betrayal. I'd be cautious too."
"Do you trust yourself, Alessia?" Alessandro asked a question she constantly asked herself. "Do you trust that you have no loyalty towards him?"
It was eleven years, not a few months, two-thirds of her life. She didn't know anything other than him- her life in that cellar and the control he had over her.
"Sometimes I'm a bit angry at you," Alessia started, looking at Ricardo. "When something bad happens to me, I sometimes think, why didn't you just leave me there? But that is the fear of change that wonders that. Thank you for getting me out of that place."
Alessia adverted her gaze and recognized that waiting for the right moment was useless. She had promised Domenico to tell the truth, and even though he was no longer here to support her, she wouldn't break that promise.
"Henry, before you came that day, he came to me. He said a man would come, Ricardo Esposito."
She stared at a spot on the wall while she continued to tell them something that could make or break their relationship and the rest of her life.
"He is an enemy; he told me, not a good person but a person who knows something about your past. You will go with him, enter his inner circle and gather information for me until the day I come to pick you up.
"On my first day in the facility, I called Henry. I was ready to tell him everything I knew because I was angry and blamed you for everything."
Alessia noticed that none of them had the intention to interrupt her. They were carefully listening to her and letting her finish instead of doing the cruel things they would do to anyone else who told them such a thing.
She had always wondered whether she was more than just a guest to them, and this time she trusted the feeling inside her that told her she could be more.
"The connection was bad due to the weather- I couldn't call him. Maybe it was fate or a sign, but I don't know what I would have done if he had answered. However, on other days the connection was good, but the more I thought about calling him, I realized that Henry was my abyss. And then I noticed a difference.
"Maybe I would betray other people for him, but I would never betray you for him. Yet I would betray him for you.
"It took a while, but I think I'm beginning to understand the concept of this whole family thing and this lifestyle. So if you want me to pay the price, if that is what you want me to do to forgive me, then I will," she stated.
"There's nothing to forgive, Alessia," Alessandro pointed out, making her look at him questioningly.
"Didn't you hear what I just said? I broke-"
"You didn't do anything."
Alessia searched her eyes for something but found nothing that made her feel like she should run.
"I mean, I don't know what will happen in the future. Maybe I'll die, maybe Henry will come back-"
"He will come back," Ricardo said as he crouched down in front of her. It didn't take a psychic to know that he would try to take her back to him. "But will we let you go?"
"What if I go? What if he makes me believe him?"
"We still won't let you go," he said, sounding sure, but Alessia just gave him a small smile.
"Is it a promise?" She asked.
Alessandro crouched down on the other side of her and held out his small finger as pinky promises were her foundation of trust. She looked back and forth between them before giving Alessandro her finger.
"It's a promise."
Life had yet to teach her that promises are meant to be broken.
--
y'all I feel like Alessia's healing process could have been a bit easier without the additional trauma & Jason lol
