Thalia

I cried out as I felt someone tugging me by my hair. I heard Peter curse and felt a gun to my head. How many times am I going to be held at gun point tonight?

"Looks like things didn't go the way you planned Ronans! You were spending so much time planning that you didn't even notice me creeping up behind you." Jason laughed. They all aimed their guns at him, and he chuckled. "Do you all really want to try and see who can pull the trigger first? Considering how I remember what you assholes did to me that one night, I'd advise against trying it."

I was frozen by fear. This was it. I was going to die right here in the arms of this man who tried to kill me before. I couldn't help it. I cried. I was afraid.

"Awe, look! She's crying!" Jason teased using the gun to lift my chin up so everyone could see my pathetic state.

"Really?" I heard Caesar coo. "Wow. I would have thought she'd be stronger about situations like this. She's been through it before."

My heart stopped and my eyes widened. Did he know? No. He couldn't possibly...could he?

"Your old ex really did a number on you, didn't he doll?" Caesar grinned.

I felt sick. He knew! Somehow, someway, this man knew about my ex and what he did.

"I wonder, If I say his name, will you snap. Is that how far gone you've fallen, doll?

"Shut up!" I stated with a shaky voice

"What the hell are you on about?" Fiona demanded, being the first one to speak up.

I could practically hear Caesar's sick smirk. "Oh! Thalia didn't tell you all about Harden?"

"I said SHUT UP!" I yelled this time, struggling against Jason's grasp. He tightened his arm around my throat and I stopped as I remembered my situation. Tears spilled down my face.

"Who the hell is Harden?" Peter asked, his eyes meeting my own.

"I-" Caesar cut me off with a chuckle.

"Don't worry, Doll. I'll be telling the story today."

"Please don't." I begged, my voice no higher than a broken whisper as I closed my teary eyes. "Please don't."

"Harden was her boyfriend before you were Peter. Only he was a lot less...kind to her." Caesar began.

I shook as my vision became blurred by tears. This wasn't happening right now. It could be.

But it was.

"He was a pretty rich guy. He kept them both comfortable. But Thalia here felt as though things weren't working out between them so she broke things off." Caesar chuckled a bit before continuing. "Harden didn't like that."

Corey's eyes shifted from mine to Caesar's in worry as the story progressed. Rhys gulped and looked over to Peter whose eyes were staring at Caesar just like Corey. Only his were filled with rage. Fiona's face gave away no emotion, but when she glanced at me for a split second, I could see sympathy flash within them.

"Harden followed her home from work one day. He broke in and restrained Thalia. Then, he tortured her. Sick stuff really. He cut her arms and legs open and poured salt and lemon juice into the wounds. Nailed her hands and feet to the chair he'd tied her to. He even had a little fun with her while he was at it." Caesar continued.

"My God." I heard Rhys mumble.

I was staring directly at the floor now, my tears falling down onto my dress and the floor. I couldn't do much else at that moment. I half wished Jason would just pull the trigger and end me right then. But I knew Caesar wasn't going to let me die that easily.

"Lucky for her, her neighbors heard the commotion and called the police. She was saved and Harden's been behind bars ever since. It's a sad tale really. It honestly makes me remember the whole Jason incident a few months back. How traumatizing that must've been for her. So you see, Thalia is practically damaged goods! She's broken merchandise. You're not the first, to control her, Peter and based on her previous experiences, I'm sure you won't be the last. You're not special." Caesar taunted.

A small cry escaped my lips as Caesar finished telling the story of my trauma. I tried burying that memory deep into my subconscious and suppressing it until I'd forgotten it. That, combined with my countless therapy sessions had helped to make my life a bit better, more normal.

But now it all meant nothing.

Caesar was right. No matter how hard I tried, I was still damaged goods. No matter how hard I tried to hide it, trouble seemed to follow me wherever I went. There was no way in hell the Ronans would want anything to do with me now

"Control?" Peter asked. "Control? My relationship with Thalia isn't based on control and you're a sick twisted fuck if you think it is." I looked up and Peter was silent for a moment before continuing. "Sure Thalia may have a bad past but we all have something we're trying to hide." He turned to look at me. "Besides, I love her too much to let something like that get between us."

My heart stopped. He...loved me? Peter Ronan loved me.

"Not to mention," Peter turned back to Caesar with a smirk. "We've got you where we want you asshole."

"What?" Caesar questioned, his smile melting away to reveal a confused expression.

"Leo!" All eyes turned to the other side of the ballroom just in time to see Ricardo toss a gun over to the stage. Leo, who'd somehow managed to make his way onto the stage behind Caesar, caught the gun midair and aimed at Caesar's face.

"NO!" Jason exclaimed, releasing me and turning his aim to Leo. Without thinking, my body reacted on its own and I kicked Jason in the back of the leg. He crumpled to his knees with a grunt and before he could recover, I elbowed him as hard as I could in the head. He fell to the ground and dropped his handgun.

A loud bag resounded and Jason's eyes glazed over as blood seeped from the wound in his head.

Hands wrapped around my waist and I jumped in fear. It was then I realized it was only Fiona. She still had her gun trained at Jason's head, a frown etched on her features. "Assholes!" She yelled. Her brown eyes shifted up to meet Caesar's green ones. "Both of you."

Caesar's eyes widened in fear and he raised his hands in surrender. "If you do this, You'll be hunted down for the rest of your puny ass lives." He stated shakily.

"You know what," Leo began breathily holding up his gun. "That's the funny thing. If we do this, we'll be done with you and the rest of the mafia for the rest of our lives, which doesn't seem too bad if you ask me."

"You see, Caesar, You made the biggest mistake of your life when you decided to target us." Fiona said threateningly.

"We may argue amongst ourselves and come off as divided, but we're still family." Ricardo stated, making his way over to the group, holding his wound to stop the bleeding.

"And if you come for family," Peter began walking up beside me and grabbing my waist protectively, "You better be ready for one hell of a fight."

"Goodbye Caesar." Leo smirked.

"WAI-" Three shots to the head cut Caesar off. His eyes glazed over and the fear on his face melted as his body fell to the floor with a sick thud.

"It's finally over." Ricardo smiled breathily.

"Yeah...Over..." Leo said weakly. He collapsed to the ground with a wince, holding his stomach, which was now bleeding intensely. Fiona was instantly at his side, holding him close as she examined his wounds in our dark surroundings.

"We have to get him out of here and to a hospital." She said. "I can't see how serious his wounds are right now. I'm sure Caesar has a car around here somewhere. Corey! You and Rhys go look. Take some guns with you too in case you run into anyone willing to give you trouble." The boys nodded and left.

"Is everyone...alright?" Leo asked slowly.

"We're fine. Ricardo and I just got shot in the shoulder, nothing too serious." Peter answered calmly.

"What about...Thalia?"

I stepped forward. "I'm okay Leo." I said shakily.

Leo smiled. "Good...that's good."

"What about what Caesar said?" Ricardo began. "About how we'll always be hunted down no matter what?"

The room was silent for a few seconds before Fiona spoke up. "We'll move. Drop all ties to the Mafia and leave the states. We'll move somewhere lowkey like..." She trailed off.

"Japan." Peter interjected. "There aren't any people with mafia ties over there, I'm assuming. Father taught us several languages growing up so we know how to speak the language."

Fiona nodded. "Yeah. We'll start new lives. We'll act like none of this ever happened and finally live peacefully. What do you think Leo?"

"I like that idea." He said with a chuckle. "Sounds fun."

"Fun?" I asked with a small smile. "You think moving to Japan in an attempt to hide from the Mafia sounds...fun?"

"Why not?" Leo asked, returning my smile weakly.

Peter pulled me closer to him and I laid my head on his shoulder.

Suddenly the doors opened and Corey poked his head into the dark room. "We found a car with a high tech GPS system. We can type in the coordinates for the hospital by your house and get everyone patched up there." He announced.

Fiona nodded. "Sounds good."