"Episode 39 -  Don't push it."    

She stared at me open mouthed, shocked beyond her wildest imagination. Pulling back, she stood up, fighting my tight grip on her hips. She looked terrified like she'd seen a ghost. Her natural tanned complexion paled within seconds.

"You can never utter those words again." She backed away, nearly tipping over when her calf backed into the edge of the coffee table. Jumping up into action, I reached for her arms, steadying her.

"I've known for a while." I understood her fear. "That's not the point, it's time for you to leave."

"No." She shook her head, acting jittery. "You can't do that." I, on the other hand, was more confused than ever.

"Do you not want to leave?" She turned, trying to head for the door when I blocked her effortlessly. "This is not your home Elena. You had a home. A mother and a father who took care of you until these people kidnapped you." She looked like I had slapped her.

"I'm trying to protect you." She looked anywhere but me. Her body language scared me. She had always been someone who kept it together, no matter what. Even after shoving a knife into someone's heart in front of other people and walk out like nothing happened. "You don't know them."

"Who?"

"Capone and his..." When she finally looked up, her defeated expression broke me. "...Brother, they are so cruel." Her lower lips quivered, tears shone in her beautiful upturned eyes. She tried to side step away but I blocked her again.

"Your dead father's name was Alberto Catalan."

"No." She kept trying to find a way to get away from me.

"Your mother was a beautiful woman who was called Sofia."

"Please stop." She cried.

"They threw you a huge 9th birthday party with all your uncles and aunts and cousins. Your name is Lucia Catalan."

"No."

"Capone and his men killed them all. Don't you want revenge?" I tried to reach the fire that simmer under her skin, the psychotic angry side of her. If I could light that up, she'd hopefully override the scared emotion. I knew she was strong enough to do that.

"You don't know what he did to me." She stilled for a minute, looking off into the distance like I wasn't even there.

"Capone?" I asked, my heart hammered.

She gulped, shaking her head. The vacancy in her eyes scared me. "The other one." I could tell she was sucked back in time. PTSD.

"Jude." She flinched like someone just raised a hand at her. She nodded.

"He's the one who raped you." It was a statement, not a question. She stepped back, defeated. "I knew someone had hurt you but now that I know it's him I have to tell you that he's coming back."

"WHAT?" She was not just shocked but terrified. "No." She walked back until she found the bed under her hands. "Please no." I explained to her what Capone told me before I received the radio from Jamie.

"You have to get away. He can't know what you mean to me Gabriel." I stared down at her like she was crazy.

"You'd have to kill me to get rid of me." I kneeled in front of her, taking her face into my hands.

"That's what he did, the last time." Tears streamed down her face but she didn't sob. "Dex trained him." She spat instead. It looked like she was in pain, when she had to say his name. "He's a psycho. I was just nine when he started to hurt me and no one did anything until Dex sent him away when I was only 13 for a muder." She finally broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. "I can't." She shook her head from side to side. "No."

"I don't let him come anywhere near you Elena."

"That's what Daniella said and they made me watch her get burnt alive." She spat. "I can't let that happen to you." She tried to get up but I held her down.

"I don't fucking care about me. I'm taking you away before he gets here." I tried to shake her, make her understand that I wasn't backing down.

"I know I'm not related to the Capone, I remember some snippets of my life. I just can't remember what the people looks like."

"You drew them. You drew your parents in the busy collage of faces in that book of yours Elena." My chest constricted when her liquid eyes stared at me with so much pain, that I physically felt the intensity.

Shaking her head, she tried to compose herself while standing. "Do you know why they kept me alive?"

"No. Maybe Jude is just a sick bastard." I explained. I honestly didn't know but I had to contact Nathan with the information as soon as possible. We sat there, staring at one another. Two people with so much pain from the past that it didn't want to let go of its hold on us in the present. A ragged sigh escaped my mouth.

Cupping her face, I wiped her tears away with my thumb. "I would never." My voice hollowed. "Never, let him touch you, ever again." She paused, thinking something over. One thing I was glad about that she at least stopped crying.

"What did they look like?" Her voice was hoarse, eyes red with agony. I didn't know how to console her apart from taking her into my arms.

"Just let me hold you." I stroked my hand down the back of her head, while the other held onto her back tightly. She was my responsibility and I'd take care of her. Instead of hugging me back, she sat still. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, I let her go. "I'll show you, just wait here."

Striding to the closet, I removed the cupboard, then the back tile to retrieve my black laptop when I heard the door shut. Dropping everything I ran back into the room to find it empty and a fucking note. Where did she even find the time and paper to write the damn thing. I shoved it in my pocket and ran after it.

All I saw was her hair flying in the air as she turned the corner at the end of the corridor. I chased after her to find her sprinting up the stairs in the main sector of the mansion towards Capone's mother's bedroom.

"FUCK."

I went after her, like a hungry predator after its prey. Taking the stairs two at a time I reached the top with her nearly at my reach. She swerved, stumbling her way into the elderly woman's room before she shut the damn thing in my face.

She fucking had the nerve to look heart broken when she closed the door when in reality, she just took my fucking heart with her. Pulling my hair in frustration, I stared at the door like it was a cursed object.

My phone vibrated and I remembered that I had left my door open, exposing my secret stash. This girl was going to ruin me. "ELENA." I shouted through the door. That room was out of order. I knew the next room was connected to the main one from inside so she'd have a safe place to stay.

I ran back to my room, put everything back to where it was before taking out the disposable cell. It was from Nathan Ross. My heartbeats went on an overdrive. The adrenaline pumped through my veins. Too much happening for me at the same time and I needed a fucking break from life.

Ross: I wasn't using this SIM. You have more info?

Me: Jude's coming back from Cuba. Dex got someone to kill the man who testified against him and his family, I need you to get Elena and I out.

Ross: What the hell did you do?

Me: It wasn't me. If you can't get me out, get Elena out. She doesn't know why Jude kidnapped her but kept her until 13, before he left America.

Ross: That bastard. I can't come in guns blazing. You know that.

Me: I do but I'll do everything to get us out, I just need something on the outside. That's all man. I know you don't owe me shit but Elena is innocent. Jude's been violation since she was fucking NINE. He can't do that again. I need her out before he comes back.

Ross: I get that. Man, what the hell did you get yourself into? Okay I'll see what I can do out here.

Me: Don't worry about me, I'll get Elena to you, no matter what.

Ross: I get it. I'll see what I can do.

I put the phone back in my pocket, remembering his wedding band. If he didn't come through, I had to take her on the run with me. I knew survival skills but she's been trapped inside for so long, I wondered how far she'd be willing to go before hating me. That's why I wanted to build an impenetrable empire where she could fucking rule the damn empire.

I pulled out the note that burned a hole in my pocket. Gabe, I'm trying to protect you. Leave before it's too late. Elena.