Ana's POV

I was in an honest to God cell in a warehouse, complete with cement flooring and metal bars. I could see through the dusty old windows near the ceiling that it was dark out, but they were so high up I wasn't able to actually see out of them so that left me not knowing even a general location.

I was tied to a chair and I'd learned quickly to keep still unless I wanted to rip out more stitches from the still raw c-section scar on my lower stomach or jostle what felt like a broken collarbone.

"I bet you regret not listening to me girl."

I glared at the man who'd been the one to force me out of the hospital in the first place.

"I told you, all you had to do was leave my son alone, take your bastard child and go about your business. But no, you made the decision to stay and cause trouble for my family."

He threw down a tabloid magazine on my lap.

"You've got my son out here looking like some kind of sissy carting around your bastard in a stroller in a fucking park!"

And as if him screaming in my face wasn't enough to showcase his anger, he decided to top it off with a backhand across the face.

"Look at it! Look at what you've turned my boy into!"

I looked down at the cover of the magazine where Alex was front and center, his large body bent over a stroller that I knew held my baby.

Alexander Rush Gives New Meaning to being a Daddy?

The headline would've made me giggle any other day, but I could barely take my eyes off the photo. Alex was smiling, barely noticeable if you weren't looking for it, it was nothing more than a slight curve of his full lips and even though he was wearing sun glasses, I knew that he had that look in his eyes that melted my heart, I knew that they held a softness that he reserved for those he cared about and I was glad to see that that fondness, that softness was extended to my baby as well. He looked relaxed in the photo, his hair was free of any product and I could see the beginnings of the beard that he insisted would make him look "too lax" around the office, I could even see the tattoo that he tended to keep covered peeking over the neck of his loose fitting shirt. There was a slight tenseness in his shoulders but despite that, he was visibly relaxed, a rare state for him.

"I didn't make Alex do anything he didn't want to."

That earned me another backhand.

"You did! I don't know what you did to him but that's not the boy I raised, the boy I raised would have left you and your bastard on the street but no, he's out there bringing shame to my name, acting like some kind of sissy that doesn't give a shit about the business, the only thing on this godforsaken planet that truly matters."

There was this manic glint in his eyes, it made me nervous because there was no way my involvement with Alex was enough reason for him to kidnap me. What was he planning to do? Kill me? Sell my organs?

"What do you want from me? I've done nothing to you."

"I want you out of my way, you've been fucking up the plans I have set for Alexander, he was meant to run the company, follow his routines just as he'd been doing for years I needed him to be predictable and it was working until you showed up."

I was confused to say the least, I knew for a fact that Alex always set aside time for work and up until we'd moved to the apartment in the city he'd gone to the office most days. I agree that my being here may have interfered with Alex regularly going to the office some days but I couldn't reason why Alex missing a few days would be such an issue.

"The FBI has been sniffing around my more illegal ventures and I plan on framing Alexander of it all in the end."

I looked up at him curiously.

"We used to be close, Alexander and I but as he got older he started to deflect, disobey me and even with my best efforts he ran off, slipped from under my thumb but I still had some control over him. He did the job I told him to, followed my plans blindly so long as I kept my distance but then you came along and he started rebelling, looking too closely at things I had him doing and now I'm forced to take drastic measures to force him to dome bidding."

He stood up and walked around me, a hand gently caressing my cheek.

"You know, I was planning on threatening harm to my wife or my youngest daughter as a way to motivate him but I think you'll do just fine, a better solution actually."

"He'll be looking for me, he's going to know I'm not at the hospital. He's going to know it was you."

He chuckled lowly as he stared at me, eyes so much like Alex's but filled with a coldness that I'd never seen from him.

"I'm a businessman, I always ensure that my plans are full proof. I found myself a business partner, one that is more than happy to take you off my hands once I'm done with you."

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. There was only one person that that would have a vendetta against me, only one person that wouldn't hesitate to take me as far away from Alex, from safety and as I felt a large, clammy hand clamp around the back of my neck and as he leaned closer, warm breath on my ear.

"I told you you'd never get away from me Annie."

Shit.

**

Alex's POV

My home had more or less turned into an FBI command center, turns out we weren't the only ones looking for my father. Apparently a good bit of the wealth he'd accumulated hadn't been earned legally and my family had been on their radar for years now and kidnapping Anna had been enough for them to have enough reason to arrest him for kidnapping and for the other crimes he'd committed. But that there is why I wanted nothing to do with them and I was fully prepared to send them on their way and figure out how to find Anna on my own because it was their carelessness that had gotten her kidnapped in the first place.

"Alex you have to calm down, they can help us find her."

"No, it's their carelessness that got Anna taken in the first place so they can get the fuck out of my house!"

"Mr. Rush, let's not be reckless here, a woman's life is in danger."

"No, you failed her the moment you let her walk until her feet were fucking bleeding in the freezing rain in the middle of the night! You knew he'd broken into my house but you did nothing to stop him and you did nothing to help her so I don't want to hear any of the saving her life bullshit you're spouting at me right now when you could have done something months ago!"

My mother chose that moment to force her way between me and the FBI agent I was two seconds away from punching in face.

"Alex, they're staying."

"Wha-"

She raised a finger to stop the argument she knew was coming.

"No Alex, they're staying, and I won't argue with you on this. I understand that they could have prevented this and that they should have helped her but they're here now and if anything happens to her, her blood will be on their hands. I know you want to get her home, back to you and Elijah, but they are much better equipped to deal with this than you are so go and feed Elijah and put him to bed and once you're calm you can come out and help, we need level heads working on this and you'll only be in the way if you're upset, so go."

I sucked in what was meant to be a calming breath but it did nothing of the sort.

I turned to the head agent on this case and stared him down with a look that I hoped held all of the rage I was feeling right now.

"When this is done, I'm going to have this agency wrapped up in so much legal red tape you won't be able to take a piss without judge signing off on it."

"Sir, this was the best plan of action to catch your father, otherwise he would have walked free, sometimes people get caught in the crossfire but we're doing what we can to help her now."

I felt the simmering rage bubble up at his words.

"She isn't just some random civilian and my father isn't some textbook white-collar criminal! He's a sadistic bastard that will do anything to get rid of people that are in his way and you have severely underestimated him and because of your carelessness a woman might lose her life."

"Listen Mr. Rush, I understand that you care for this woman but there is a bigger issue as a whole at hand right now."

"The only thing you're chasing him down for is generic white collar crime and suspected ties with the mafia that you can't confirm! The only fucking reason you're making a move to arrest him is because you finally have something to charge him with so he can sit in jail while you imbeciles scramble to find halfway decent evidence. And you speak as if I' m the only person that cares for her, she has friends and an infant that she hasn't even laid eyes on yet. He's too young now but I swear to God that the second he's able to understand I'm sitting him in front of you so that you can explain how you let his mother die."

"Sir-"

I held up a hand.

"I don't want to hear another fucking word out of you if it doesn't involve my girlfriend being found."

I turned around to be met with the sight of Katherine holding Elijah.

"Come on Alex, you can show me how to make his bottle and stuff."

We both knew that she knew exactly how to make bottles but neither of us mentioned it as we moved to the kitchen. I needed to focus on something mundane before I did something brash.

I nodded stiffly and turned to make my way toward the kitchen.

I was going through the motions of making Eli's bottle when Katherine finally spoke up.

"It's gonna be okay Alex, they're gonna find her."

I sighed.

"I wish it was so easy to believe kid, you know how dad is, you know what he's capable of. Whatever his plans are with her, he won't be gentle and that worries me. Sometimes he just doesn't know when to stop."

She was quiet for a moment, she knew all too well about our fathers lack of boundaries, his lack of control.

"I know, but I feel like sometimes if you wish hard enough, the thing you want the most comes true. I remember wishing for dad to be gone for so long but it finally came true, I thought I would never have to see or hear from him again."

She was so mature for her age most of the time, was forced to living in the same house as our father during her formative years, but then there were moments like this where her age showed. These little moment of naïveté where wishing for things was a serious matter, an effective solution to all the worlds problems.

I sighed again as I handed the now finished bottle over to her.

"Sometimes, things require a bit more work than making wishes."

She made a sound of frustration.

"Don't patronize me Alex, I know there's more to things than just making wishes, I'm sixteen years old, hardly a child."

I only smiled sadly at her.

"You had to grow up too fast Kat, and that's my fault. I was so busy running away from my own problems with dad and with myself that once I'd left I didn't take the time to think about how you would be hurt by my choices, you were eight for gods sake, a little girl and I left you because I was only thinking of myself. You should be able to just wish on stars for things and believe that that's all that needs to be done. So yes I'm aware that you're no longer a little girl but I also know that you deserve to just be a kid."

"Don't blame yourself for what dad's done, it wasn't your fault you did what you had to to protect yourself."

"Yes, but I left you and mom vulnerable its my job to keep you two safe, hell even if Cara wasn't such a fucking bitch it's my job to keep her safe too. I left the three of you to fend for yourselves and you shouldn't have had to do that."

"It's dad's job to keep us safe and he obviously failed but you shouldn't feel bad about that, you were there for us in the end and you're here for us now and that's all that matters."

I sighed.

"Yeah but it seems like too little too late these days."

**

Ana's POV

"Oh, my little Annie, I've missed you so much."

I felt sick to my stomach as John caressed my face, it felt like his clammy hands left behind a nauseating oily slime behind. He grabbed my jaw and forced my head up so that I was looking him in the eye.

"Tell me Annie, did you miss your husband?"

I shook my head as best I could.

"You're not my husband."

He shot up to his full height, infuriated with my words.

"You lie! Your are bound to me forever Annie, you will never be free of me. I own you and I own that little bastard of yours."

"You stay away from my baby John, your problem is with me."

He was quiet for a moment as if he was contemplating something.

"That baby is my problem just like you are Annie, because it belongs to me isn't that right? It is mine, right? Or was I right when I said you cheated on me, hmm? Is that my child or is it some other man's bastard?"

I hesitated. I knew my response would determine not only my fate, but the fate of my baby as well. I had two options, either I could tell the truth and let John know that the baby was his and put my child's life in his hands should he force me to go back with him with my baby in tow or the more likely possibility that he'd kill me for running away and pursue custody, his being the biological father overriding any legal document that left the baby in the custody of Alex, Marissa and Cameron. The second option was to lie and deny John's paternity it wasn't the safest option for me but it left less of a chance that he would go after my baby I knew that he wouldn't want the responsibility of caring for an infant. This choice would almost guarantee my death because I knew it would send John into a fit of rage that had been building up for the months that I'd been in hiding.

I hesitated another moment, my decision already made. I'd promised myself that I'd be a better mother than my mother had ever been to me after my dad died.

"No, the baby isn't yours."

There was maybe a full second of silence before he let out what could only be described as a guttural scream of rage and pain blossomed on my cheek as his fist connected with my face.

**

I wasn't sure how long it had been since I'd been trapped in this warehouse with John constant presence nearby at all times, ready to cause bodily harm to me any chance he could get. I felt like one big bruise, my eye was swollen shut and I imagine my whole face was swollen as well, several of the stitches holding my abdomen together had been ripped out from my harsh treatment and there was a white-hot pain radiating from my broken collarbone on top other newly inflicted injuries.

A bright flash gave my fuzzy brain something to focus on.

"You've done well, this should work with motivating him."

I heard familiar laughter.

"No problem boss, I've been looking high and low for this little wife of mine, this is just the beginning of her punishment, I'd better get it done with while I have her somewhere where no-one will hear her fucking screaming."

"Do your worst, the worse she looks in these photos the better."

I felt a rough hand patting me on my bruised face.

"Oh Annie girl, we're gonna have so much fun."