********Warning this chapter will have mentions of self harm*********

Kendall

I ran inside after Alan left; I cannot believe they have found me. I enter my bedroom with tears streaming down my face, and my heart is beating so rapidly that I am convinced it will burst. As I rush into my closet, I reach up and grab my bag. I walk out, throwing it onto my bed, and start emptying my dresser. Once I have my clothes from my dresser in the bag, I head to my closet and grab all the pants I can fit in my bag and stuff them in there. As I head to the bathroom, I hear someone coming into my room. "What are you doing?" I hear, causing me to jump. I turn and see Arlo and Ashley standing in the doorway.

"That's it? You are leaving?" Ashley says Her eyes are filled with pain as I gaze at her. "Ash, you know I have no choice. Craig will come here if I do not leave right away, and I cannot risk hurting you, Missy, and, God forbid, Eliza. I speak. She shakes her head. "That's a copout, and you know it. I can look after Eliza and myself. "Kendall, you do not need to worry about him. I and the guys will deal with him, but I need to know why you are running "Arlo says, and I just laugh.

They will be in danger because they truly have no idea who Craig is or who he is involved with. I shake my head with fear. My eyes are starting to well up with tears. "You do not understand Craig and his family are dangerous. He will kill anyone who gets in the way of having what he wants, so if I leave now, you all will not be in danger. I am sorry, but I must leave." I say as I grab my bag. Arlo continues to stand in my way as Ashley leaves my room. Taking my bag out of my grasp, he flings it onto the bed. "I said you are not leaving; now tell me what the hell is going on." He shouts.

I started to shake when he yelled at me; he noticed it because I heard him swear under his breath. He walks over to me and extends his hand. I shouted, "No," and leaped back. When Reed hears the shouting, he rushes into the room. "Arlo, back away. Can't you see she is scared?" Reed speaks. Arlo looks over at him. I know she is scared, and I am not going to hurt her." He says to Reed. Arlo backs up, and Reed looks at me and motions for me to follow him. I leave my bag on the bed and walk out to the living room. I go and sit next to Missy. Ashley must be laying Eliza back down. "All right, Missy gave us some information about what is happening, but we need to know everything." I look down at my hands in embarrassment and shake my head when Reed says this to me. I hate talking about this part of my life. I hate living in fear.

I inhale deeply and glance up at everyone except Arlo. I do not want to see the pity in his eyes. I also do not want him to see me any less. I do not know why, but his opinion of me is important. "So, I grew up in the system; in other words, I was in foster care. When my mother and her boyfriend attempted to smuggle drugs into Canada, they were caught." I say, glancing at everyone, and since there is no response, I go on. "I was there until I aged out. After I turned eighteen, the state gave me money and all my important papers and left me to fend for myself. I met Craig and Alan while I was living with one of my friends until we graduated from high school. Craig took a liking to me fast. He was sweet and fun. Always surprising me with flowers and gifts, he would take me out on dates and even introduce me to his family. After a few months of dating, we moved in together. I started college. That is when he started to be controlling. He would lose his temper with me and yell at me, degrading me. He would throw stuff at the wall. It was not until a year later he started to hit me. When I went to his parents' house and discovered a man tied up, bleeding, and beaten in the basement, that is when he first hit me. Because I let him go." I say, not looking at anyone. I jumped a little when I felt someone touch my knee after a minute of silence, but I calmed down when I looked up and saw it was Arlo.

"Who is his family?" He asks me. "His last name is Mitchelle. Craig Mitchelle. His dad works for." I start to tell him, but he cuts me off. "His father works with my dad." I stare at him in disbelief as he says that. "How is that even possible? He lives in New York, and you live here." I say confused. "Wait, so all three of you are criminals." I say in a soft voice.

"Yes and no." Arlo responds. I look around at everyone. "Yes and no, what do you mean? You are either a criminal or you are not. Are you also associated with the Mafia? I ask him, and he looks taken aback, shocked. "I think you all should come with us, and my father can explain everything. Remember, he promised he would never harm you." Arlo says as he gets up and backs away. I shake my head and get up, and I leave.

While Arlo and Elias climb into the front seat, Missy, Reed, and I climb into the back. Ashley is staying home since Eliza is sleeping; it is already after midnight, and Amanda offered to stay so she is not alone in case Alan decides to show up again. On the way to Arlo's house, he calls his father and tells him to be in the office; he needs to speak with him; it is important. When we get to his house, it appears to me that it is a mansion rather than a house. It is made of stone and stairs to head into the house. There are flower beds along the house, and there is a fountain in the center of the circular driveway. Even in the dark, it is stunning, but it is more visible thanks to the fairy lights that line the driveway and the house. Arlo gets out, and everyone follows behind. I stay close to Reed and Missy. I put my hands in front of me and begin picking at the bed of nails as I feel my nerves getting the better of me once more. Missy sees me doing this; she takes my hand in hers and whispers to me. "It's going to be ok." I shake my head, taking a deep breath, and follow behind everyone.

My breath is taken away as soon as we enter the house. The entrance is enormous and exquisite. It features gleaming white granite flooring that is so spotless that you can see your reflection on it, I promise. There is a huge chandelier in the center of the room, and the walls are a pale blue color. Naturally, the double staircase, which is composed of cherry red wood, is also stunning. I am absorbed in my thoughts and enthralled with the beauty as I look around. "Kendall, this way," I hear Missy say, and I see everyone standing in the hallway, so I follow closely behind, keeping my eyes down and no longer looking around.

We continue to walk down the hallway until we come up to glass double doors. Arlo knocks on the door and waits until we hear someone answer saying to enter. We enter the door, and I see sitting behind a desk is Lucian. Arlo's father, and there is a man sitting across from him with brown hair. I cannot see his face due to his back facing us. "Father, we need to talk about something." Arlo says. As we walk further into the room. I stay by the wall trying to blend into it. "Yes, son, what is this about?" Lucian says. It was brought to my attention that Craig Mitchelle is after a friend of mine, and since he is one of your men, you need to deal with him." Arlo says. And as he says this, the man in the seat across from Lucian speaks. "Is that so? What has my son done now?" I hear him, and as soon as I hear his voice, I can feel my blood turning into ice.

Craig's father turns and faces us, and when he sees me, he fakes surprise. "Kendall, dear, how are you? And what are you doing here? He says to me in a fake tender tone. I try to back away, but since I am up against the wall, it does not work very well. Reed and Arlo stand in front of me, trying to block me from his very. "Mr. Mitchelle, I am sure you being here is not for a business deal. "Well, no, not exactly. I came here to let your father know that Craig is asking for help to find his bride-to-be. She disappeared when he went out, and it has been over two months. But it seems to me she has been here warming someone else's bed." Craig's father says. I look at him with disgust as he says these things about me. "I have not been warming anyone's bed. I left so your son would not kill me. Also, I am not his bride-to-be. We were not engaged to be married. I would never marry him, and no one can make me." I speak. I can feel the anger and rage burning through my body. I have never wanted to hurt anyone, but right now I just want to claw his eyes out. "Those are lies coming out of your mouth. My son never laid a hand on you. Now you are going to come home. You are spoken for, and you being here with Arlo is disrespectful to Craig." Mr. Mitchelle says.

"Now Fred, I already told you that we are not going to force her to go with you. As I was saying before my son showed up, Ms. Wyatt is under my protection, and I have heard from people on how he treats women, so I believe her when she says he abused her. Now you will leave and not come back because I am not going back on my word to her. If I see you or your son anywhere near her again, or your people, I promise you there will be war." Lucian says to him. Fred gets up and walks out of the room but not before stopping in front of me. "You won't always be in the protection of Arlo." He sneers at me and leaves.

I let the breath out that I didn't know I was holding, then weakly walk to the chair. I sit down and let out a sob. Missy walks over to me and wraps her arms around my shoulder. "Shh, it's ok, Kendall; you are safe. We will not let them get their hands on you." She says to me. After a few minutes of crying, I finally calm down. And look over to Arlo and the rest of the guys huddling around Lucian's desk.

I get up to walk over to Arlo and the guys when someone walks into the office I was not expecting to see. "Lucian, Rosaline, and I are back." Mrs. Goodwin says. I look at her with shock, and she sees me and smiles. "Ah, Ms. Wyatt, what a surprise it is to see you here." She speaks. "What are you doing here? I am sorry; I do not mean to be rude." I speak. She smiles, "It's okay, dear. Lucian is my brother. I come here on the weekends to visit with his wife and him." She speaks. I shake my head and walk back over to Arlo.

"Thank you. For helping me. But I am tired, so can Reed take me home?" I ask him. He looks at me, then back at his father. "I think it would be best for you to stay here tonight. I know Fred wasn't too happy with my father refusing to help." He says to me. I shake my head, agreeing. "I will have one of the maids help you to your room you will be staying in tonight," he says.

I follow him out to the hall, and he finds a housekeeper. "Alice, can you show Ms. Wyatt and Ms. Lodge to their rooms for the night, please?" Arlo asks. "Yes, sir, right away. Follow me, please, ladies." She says,

We follow her up the stairs and down a couple of hallways until we are in front of a wooden door. She opens the door, and we walk in. "I hope this will do for you." She says, and I look around, and again, just like the rest of the house, this room is beautiful. It has a queen-size canopy bed in the middle of the room and a TV hanging on the wall. The floor is red oak, and a glass door that leads to the balcony, along with another door that leads to the bathroom, I assume. "Yes, this is just fine. Thank you so much." I say as Missy finishes looking around. "Ms. Lodge, your room is right next door." Alice says before walking out.

"Oh my God, they are really loaded." Missy says, looking around the room some more. I just shake my head and climb into the bed, not bothering to worry about changing since I have no clothes, plus I am too tired. "Kendall, you know that you will be ok, right? We will not let anything happen to you." She says to me. "I know, and that is what I am worried about. I am not worth any of you getting hurt over." I mumble and roll over, putting my back to her.

"I will see you in the morning." She says and walks out of the room. I lay in bed for a few, but I cannot seem to close my eyes. My emotions are all over the place, and I am sick of feeling, so I walk to the bathroom, not bothering to look at it. I go to the sink and look through the cupboards and find a razor. I grab it and talk it apart and slide it across my wrist, and I keep doing it a couple more times as I watch the blood dripping down my arm. I start to feel numb, and I sigh with relief. I get up off the floor, clean my arm, and head back to bed and finally feel at peace and close my eyes.