"Alice." My eyes open slightly and I see James.

I roll over to face away from him. "Why don't you go get a life? It'd be better than annoying me all the time."

A hand grabs the blanket and I smack it. "Don won't like having to come wake you up himself." I only grunt, and he laughs. "You won't like it either."

He leaves and I relax back into my covers. It doesn't take long for me to fall into a sort of sleep, and let my guard down. I don't hear the door open, or the feel the lifting of my mattress. It isn't until I feel a cold breeze brush my cheeks that I decide something is wrong. My eyes open and I see the tops of trees. I bolt up on the mattress, effectively shaking it and scaring myself further.

"Next time, I won't let you wake up before they dump you in the pool. Your body may be damaged, but I don't have time to waste." The Don abruptly turns and begins to walk off of the balcony attached to my room.

I hasten to get off of my mattress and to him. "This isn't fair. I need my rest, like you said." He turns to look at me and I stop speed walking.

"Yes, but I also said you need to wake up." I cross my arms and glare at him. "You can scour all you want. It's no skin off my back." He turns back to the door and walks out. "Get dressed. We have to go see your friend today."

Don leaves my room and closes the door behind him, which also means he left the two guys who had been putting my bed back. I wait for them to finish and leave before I get ready, but they don't leave.

"You can go no-"

"The Don said not to leave the room without you. You can change in the bathroom." One of the two gestures to the door with his head.

Instead of arguing, I huff and grab some clothes out of a bag James had brought me. Once I have a shirt and some jeans, I sneer at the two, then saunter into the bathroom.

It doesn't take long for me to get into the shower and to start washing myself. For some reason, the Don is on my mind. Nothing in particular, just an itch that's begging to be scratched. I don't know what pushed me into a full fledged montage of him rolling through my head, but I did and here I am. Picturing him as I've seen him, but with some slight changes. He looks less angry, and more playful. Odd, I know.

A sharp knock brings me out and I quickly rinse out my hair. A few of my bruises are more sore than others because of how hard I dry myself. "Hurry up, Alice." One of the guys orders through the door.

"It isn't that easy doing stuff when you're covered in bruises." I shout at them. I pull on the clothes as quickly as possible and walk out of the bathroom. "Happy?" They look at each other a moment then nod.

"We'll tell Don you're ready then." One of them pulls out a phone, hits a few buttons, then puts it to his ear.

I turn to the other and cross my arms. "What's your name?"

"I'm Gas and he's Brake." He doesn't pay much attention to me, and watches after his friend.

"Those are odd names, are they nicknames?" He probably wasn't paying attention who he was talking to and just gave me their gang names.

Despite giving me vital info, he doesn't seem to see me as a threat and just nods.

We stay quiet and I know I should've listened to the other conversation rather than try and get information out of Gas. Brake comes back over to us and stands beside Gas. If I wasn't me, I'd feel threatened, or at least uncomfortable. I need them to know I can handle this stuff, so I cross my arms too and glare at them. Even when the knob turns, I remain glaring at them. Neither of them seem to care about my glaring, and ignore me.

"Don." Gas turns his head as the door opens and Brake looks shortly after. "She's ready to go."

"I can speak for myself you know. You don't have to talk like I'm not here." Gas barely even shrugs at me, not giving my glare a second thought. If only I wasn't supposed to be a weak, unassuming girl. Instead of visualizing hurting Gas's pride and body, I turn to the Don. "I'm ready to go."

His arms always seem to be crossed, like they are now. He regards me with a nod. "Well then come on." He turns around and bend his knees.

"Are you planning on attacking the hallway?" I remark sarcastically.

"I'm planning on carrying you on my back. Now, hurry up so we can go." I hardly notice Gas and Brake leading me towards Don's back until I'm right at it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, first of all, I can walk. Second, that's incredibly awkward." He stands up and turns to face me. The look he gives me is devoid of emotion, but there's a hint of something I can't pinpoint.

His arms cross and he watches me for a second. "Would it be less awkward if one of them did it?" Don gestures towards Gas and Brake with his head, and I cringe.

"I'd rather just walk on my own. You know," I lift up one of my legs. "Use the legs I have attached to my body?" Gas and Brake snicker, and I turn to them. "You think that's funny?" They shrug their shoulders and shut up. Don clears his throat and my head spins and I meet his eyes. He doesn't move away from me, even though he's only a foot away.

"You will get on my back, and you will not argue any further, or else I will have them carry you down with your arms and legs strapped down." I take a few deep breaths and take a step forward.

"I will do no such thing." Standing a few inches away, he stares into my eyes with a fire behind them.

"Get out." I go to say something, but he stops me. "Not you. Gas, Brake, get out." They seem to think he's joking at first, but before he has to say it again, they walk out. The entire time, I never break eye contact. If he is going to straight out challenge me, no way am I backing down. "You are not what I thought you were." Don doesn't go on to elaborate.

"What did you think I was then?" My voice remains level and calm despite my heart beating furiously.

"I thought," he takes a step back and combs a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure, but I didn't think of you as the kind of girl to glare down two... very strong guys that could hurt you, nonetheless to me. I'm much worse than them." He looks over at me with a questioning look.

He crosses his arms and just looks at me with the same gaze. "What?" Don starts to walk around me, and stops behind me. I feel his hand lift up my arm and he tests the muscle. He drops it and goes on to my other arm.

"Was your brother really the only one that was an active member?" He asks as he's face to face with me.

I am so screwed. I look down an slightly behind me, where he's still standing. "Not exactly."

He watches me. There's a long, anxious pause. I feel my heart bang against my chest and I pray to any god that he doesn't find me out. "What do you mean by not exactly?"

"My father was in it too." Not that he cares who my father even is.

Don gives me a sad nod. "I'm sorry for your loss, but you're still riding on my back."

I groan and roll my eyes. "You can't be serious. I'm stronger than you think. I can handle going down some stairs."

"I can carry you another way, if you feel that would be better for you." I think about him carrying me against his chest, with my legs around his hips- WHAT?! I shake my head to clear it of the images popping up in it. "Then get on my back."

"I guess. Just don't be weird about it, okay?" He nods and bends down for me to get onto his back. I put my arms around his neck and I get on his back.

"Are you alright?" He asks once I'm situated.

"Yeah, can we just get out of here?" Don opens the door and walks out with me. I try to not think about me being the other way around, but that only makes me think about it more. I don't get like this, ever, over anyone. What the hell is wrong with me?

We get outside and he gently lets me down. "Get in the SUV. I'll take you in a minute. I just need to get something." I shrug and get in. It's extremely quiet, so I close my eyes and lean my head against the headrest.

"Look who's up." The door opens and slams while James jumps in, being obnoxious.

"Yeah. I almost got dumped into the pool. Thankfully Don was kind enough not to let me drop." Don gets into the driver's seat and starts the car.

"Why do you two argue all of the time?" Don queries as he pulls out of the elaborate driveway.

There's a loud silence and James stares out the window. I'm not quite sure what that's all about, but it must be something. "It's nothing." I say to try a difuse the tension.

James grunts, and his change in character is unnerving. What caused him to flip so quickly?

"Well it shouldn't take long to get to your friend's house. Maybe ten minutes. James, you'll stick by her while I go talk to Cutter." The Don looks in the review mirror at James. "James, it'll be alright. It's just a dip." That's the first time I've ever heard him use emotion. It surprises me even more when James only nods. Shouldn't there be some emotional come back?

I watch the both of them and before I know it, we are getting out and I'm being carried up to the door. James places me beside the Don, and I grip his arm for balance. Damn, he's ripped. Wait, why do I care if he's ripped? I'm a badass fighter too. Stop whatever is going on, now. I let go of his arm and straighten up. Despite the small pain in my back, there isn't much else to wince about. I know it's the pain meds, but I still don't feel like I need this much babying. It's degrading.

Don knocks on the door, and seconds later Thomas appears in the doorway. "Oh thank God!" He pulls me into a tight hug and I hug him back, smiling. "We were so worried. Desire went nuts and we couldn't get her to stop sending out search parties." He pulls away and looks me over. "How are you?"

I glance at my arms and visible skin. "I'm a little bruised, but I think I'll be alright." I back out of his grip. "Thomas, this is Don and James. James found me in an alley and had me taken care of."

Thomas comes up to them and shakes each of their hands. "Thank you both, so much." He walks to the doorway and braces himself. "Kalvin! Pedro! Our girl is back!" The sound of feet pounding inside the house is heard, and what seems like seconds later Pedro and Kalvin come barging into view.

Kalvin is the first to reach me. He lifts me up in a hug and spins me around. "I'm so sorry." He whispers in my ear I squeeze him harder, my way to say it's okay. Kalvin puts me down and Pedro pulls me to him. his hug is more gentle, and he's probably trying not to hurt me.

"We are so sorry that we didn't find you before them. They won't let you stay with us, despite the fact that we all know you here." He shoots a glare at Don then looks back to me. "How are you? What happened? Who did this?"

"I'm fine. I don't remember much, just that I blacked out, and I have no clue who did any of it." I look down at my feet. "It would probably be easier if you knew who it was. I know you guys would kill anyone for me."

The Don steps up. "What do you know about these guys? They say they're your friends, but I probably know more about them than you do."

I look up at the boys, and they nod at me. "They're all a part of Cutter's gang."

Don and James share surprised looks.

"Is this the gang your brother was a part of?"

"You told them? Well you must have gotten cozy with her huh. What did you do, sedate her?" Pedro gets defensive and I place a hand on his arm.

"They didn't do anything of the sort. I told them of my own volition." He looks back at me and nods before settling back beside me. "And yes, Don, this is the gang my brother was a part of."

The Don looks like he wants to ask something else, but he remembers this isn't just me and him and stops himself. "Well, let's go get you to your friend, tell her you're okay, and get out of here."

"You're not going to go see Cutter? I thought there were things you needed to ask him?"James slightly nods his head at me and Don shakes his. "Alright. Let's go see your friend."

"We'll take her." Kalvin says, smiling at me.

Don glares at him. Why? I have no clue. "That won't be necessary. You can just lead the way."

Kalvin looks to me for approval, and I give him a nod. "Alright. Follow me I guess." Kalvin locks arms with me and we walk a little ahead of the others. I can feel Don and James watching me. I wonder if they know that I know a lot more about them. "So, what name did you give them?" Kalvin whispers to me.

I giggle so they don't think we're talking about anything important, and Kalvin catches on and smiles at me as we walk. "Alice Reed."

"I'm guessing it was a surprise to them for you to know about gangs?" I nod and lay my head on his shoulder. "You told them about your brother, why?"

I take a deep breath and shut my eyes for a second. "I'm not even sure why. I just did. It was just something that came out. I was rambling, trying to seem helpless, and I just said it."

He doesn't say anything, and I appreciate that. When we reach the room he knocks on the door. "Des? There is someone here to see you."

There's silence for a moment or so, then the doorknob turns and out appears Desire wrapped in a blanket and red eyed. As soon as she sees me her eyes widen, and she drops the blanket. I get two seconds to brace myself, then she leaps onto me. "I was so scared. Ask Kalvin. I only asked questions about you. Oh I'm so happy to see you." She squeezes me harder and I wince a little bit. She notices and begins to pull away, but I pull her back in.

"It's okay Des. I'm okay. I promise." I give her another squeeze, then let her go.

She looks back at Don and James, but doesn't comment on them. "You better be okay. If not, I will send every man under my brother's control out to go kill anyone who tries to hurt you. Cutter would probably agree. He may be an ass, but at least he cares about..." She stops talking and looks at Kalvin.

"Yeah, let's just drop that topic there. No need to bring that up when we just got her back." Kalvin says as he pulls me into his side.

Don steps forward. "I'm actually interested to hear this one. Why don't you indulge us, Kalvin?"

Kalvin nervously looks at me and, even though I have no idea what he's thinking, I give him a sad nod. "Alice is betrothed to Cutter."

I almost cough, but I save myself by looking to Desire. Don and James step closer to us and Don looks angry. "Why?"

Kalvin sighs and hangs his head. He lifts it back up and looks at me. We share a silence. One that's just between us. "She is the old Don's long lost daughter."

James openly stares at me, wide eyed. Don looks at Kalvin as if testing how truthful he is. "That's enough Kalvin. My life isn't a soap opera being broadcasted on tv. They don't need to know every detail of my life." I turn to Desire and she grabs my hand, leading me into her room. Don and James go to follow me in, but I turn and stop them. "You two can stay out here. I need time with her, away from a bunch of guys."

We walk in, and shut the door behind us.