How To Love Her

Chapter Twenty- Eight

~~Emilia's POV~~
I hold Sophia's hand in mine tightly as we walk into the dimly lit night club, owned by a gang banger.

Bodies brush against each other as sweat travels down people's skin. I shiver, pulling Sophia closer to me as I spot security taking a man out back. He must've insulted the owner.

"Hey, you guys can't come by this way."

I look up at the burly man towering over me, smirking. "Tell Octavio that it's Emilia."

He narrows his eyes at me before nodding for the other two guys to let me by. I clench my jaw, feeling it tick in anger as they check out Sophia.

One of the dirty clubbers reach for her and I step forward, grabbing his hand and twisting it, "Watch where you put your hands or I'll cut them off." I push him away, instantly regretting bringing Sophia along with me. But she wanted to know more about this life. My life.

We walk into the back room where Octavio's office was located. He was an old friend of my fathers, I basically grew up with him. I considered him an uncle.

"Ahhh," he chuckles, "is that my little bonbon?" I roll my eyes at the nickname, hearing Sophia let out a small giggle behind me. She won't be laughing once she finds out what he does.

"Octavio." I respond curtly. This trip didn't have to be as long as it was making it to be.

His smile falters, a hard expression falling onto his face as he realized I meant business. He was like an uncle to me. Until I grew up and found out the hard truth about how he operates. I've lost respect for this man, but he gets shit done for me. He's trusted.

"Ahh, I see. That's how it's going to be then?" He opens his arms, palms up.

"I need you to look into the Otero family. You have spies in there, yes?" I pull Sophia up next to me, my body half shielded in front of her.

"Mhm and who is this?" He completely disregards my words as he glances at Sophia, his eyes lighting up as he finally noticed her. I step closer to him, blocking his view.

"She's one hundred percent off limits, Octavio." I growl out, my voice deepening.

He laughs, coughing haphazardly before lighting a cigar.

"Can you give me information or not?" I spoke through gritted teeth. I wanted to punch him in his smug face.

"Yes, yes, yes. But what will you do for it?" His eyes flicker once again to my girl behind me. I clench my jaw before saying in a low voice.

"I'm not fucking playing, you nasty bastard. Give me the info on their family by midnight, tomorrow. Or I'll make sure your dirty little club will be the last thing you'll have to your name." I spat, glaring at him before walking out. Making sure Sophia went out before me.

She's been quiet this whole time, and I'm wondering what she's thinking. She usually has a lot to say. I glance over at her, noticing red tinting her cheeks and a deep furrow in her brow.

We get out safely, walking towards the car. I walk to her side, opening the door and waiting until she got in to shut it. I walk to the other side, getting in before starting the car and driving off. The breeze relaxing a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Who was that? And what did you mean that I was off-limits?" She asks quietly as she turns her body towards me.

I tap my fingers on the wheel, taking a deep breath before answering, "He's basically a pimp, if that's the word for it. Girls are desperate for money on that side of town and he takes advantage. The strippers in there, the lap dances and the sex rooms."

I glance at her momentarily. Her eyes are wide and she looks as if she's seen a ghost.

"Soph?"

"Is it only here? Or does he own other places and women," she spat, "like this?"

I take a deep breath again, "Just calm down-" I'm cut off by her angry voice.

"Calm down?! This fucking bastard takes advantage of women for money? As if their lives are worth a few bills!"

I shake my head, not completely agreeing, "They want it. They want that money an-"

"Emilia, please don't tell me you're okay with his operation?" She asks me incredulously, disgust in her eyes.

"I don't agree with it. But they wanted it. They wanted to do that for a job to make fast money, and they got it. That's what I do agree on. Everything else..I don't."

"Everything else? There's more?"

I swallow, nodding " He beats them. And uses the power of drugs to keep them there. Gets them hooked by constantly drugging them. When they first get there, drug addicts or not, he has people slip it into their drinks. They crave more without knowing why or how. He gets them so hooked on it that when he finally reveals that he has what they want, they don't react. It's like their emotions and feelings are just...dormant."

She sits back, no doubt feeling sorry for the girls going through this. I grimace before taking one hand off the wheel and placing it on her thigh, " I'm going to do something about it. I've waited so long to. I found out of his operation when I turned seventeen. They believed I was finally old enough to understand but..it wasn't the same."

"I- I think I know what it's all about," she whispers quietly, "m-my mother. She uh, my father forced her to have kids. He wanted to make sure they were all girls."

I pull over at the side of the street, a few minutes away from my house to receive a little privacy before looking at her.

"If they were boys..he wasn't as nice to them. He-" She closes her eyes as if she was in pain and clenches her fists at her side as I rub my thumb over her thigh gently. Waiting for her to continue.

"He used to hurt them in front of me, and blame me for their pain. For everything he did to them. He beat us until he thought we learned our lesson. Just told us that the beatings meant something. That it was a good thing." Her voice breaks as her eyes begin to water. She stares off into the distance, her eyes distant and cold.

"I hated him. I hated everything he did. I hated his smell, his voice, everything. I even hated my mother for not standing up for us. But she did it all for us. She did it until the day she died. And I never got to say thank you. Every day, her eyes became more sunken. The bags underneath just grew darker, her skin was paler and her body was so frail.

"It was only then that I found out she had a brain tumor. And my father wasn't paying for help. He was slowly letting her die off, while making her sell her body so I wouldn't have to. She did it for me." I sit there in shock, a sadness erupting in my chest as she sobs.
"And it's all my fault. It's all my fault. I could've helped her. I could've saved her but I was so wrapped up in myself that I- I didn't even look to her to see if she was okay. And she wasn't a bad mother,I believed she did her best. But how can you do your best for others when you're so broken yourself? I'm fucked up and I'm damaged. I'll never be the same."

"Hey hey hey," I unbuckle my seatbelt, leaning closer to her "Listen to me Soph, this is not your fault. If you need to blame anyone, blame your dirt bag of a father. He hurt you all and it left some damage. But you're not damaged and it's not your fault. Okay? It was never your fault." I pull her to me, her head resting on my chest as she sobs, gripping my shirt in her hands. I rub her back, kissing her forehead as I whispered how it wasn't her over and over.

A few minutes pass by as her sobs turn into hiccups, her grip on me becoming softer. I press a kiss to the top of her head.

"Let's go home princess. You need to rest." She looks up at me with sad eyes before nodding and sitting back in her seat. I grab her hand and kiss it before pulling away from the curb and driving down to our home.