"Episode 5 - Leverage."

It was around 11pm when my face started to hurt from the cold. Even the hot chocolates I had didn't counter the chill in the air. We had German hot dogs and bought so many items that made my arms hurt from carrying them around. We bought wolf fur rug, a rabbit's fur Russian hat, Jasmine, sandalwood and tropical scented candles. I almost felt normal.

I bought myself some pretty handmade necklaces and silver earrings. A simple wind chime, couple of mindless decorative pieces for the house and some European snacks. We were on our way back even though the crowd was still thick. We spoke to quite a few stall owners who told us that people from different cities in the state comes to the festival every year.

They also had a fireworks show on new year's eve, which I bet looked awe-inspiring against the back drop of dark sky and the mountains.

"What if it snows?" Gabe had asked to one of the shop keepers.

"The mall is made of glass. We just watch from there." Was his response I usually didn't look forward to things but this little new year's event, I was very much looking forward to.

"I want to take some chocolate strawberries home." Cheekily, I smiled up at him. He never said no to me.

"I'm not even surprised." His laugh made my stomach quiver. It was low and husky. So masculine it turned me on. "I might get another hot dog and the swirly potato fried thing to go."

"You love this." I bumped my shoulder against him, teasing him.

"I do." He nodded, jubilantly. "As a kid it's kind of lame but when you're an adult and can buy whatever, it's awesome."

His smile was infections. My cheeks hurt from smiling along with him. The stalls were a mile long and it took us a while to get back to the mall. I was excited for my second round of food. We turned the corner, a man among the dense crowd stole my attention. He was tall, the puffer jacket and hat disguised his figure but something about the profile of his face made my stomach flip.

I moved slowly, keeping my eyes on him.

An image appeared in my head. A teenage boy, lanky and thin with bright blue eyes holding out a brown teddy bear with a happy birthday sash across it. I had to look up at him, my small hands reached out, snatched it away from. A giddy emotion seared down my throat.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I heard Gabe's voice through the thick fog.

I hugged the boy quickly. Happy to get another bear. He smiled kindly when I pulled away.

"Happy birthday Princess Lucia." He faked a bowed.

There was a tiara on my head, a real pink diamond one. Black curls swayed around my shoulders, a pretty pink princess dress ticked my knees. The dark edges around my memory started to lift bringing the whole picture into view. There were other boys around his age, maybe older, all greeting each other. Majority of them had my skin colour. The oldest of them came over, reaching for my hand.

I happily obliged, taking his hand. He was my favourite because he didn't tease me. Instead he put me behind him shielding me from everyone.

My heart churned.

Cousins.

A whisper came forward from the back of my mind.

I gulped. They were more like my brothers. My eyes drifted upwards, two older men were behind them, patted one another's back like they were old friends.

"Elena!" Gabe was in front of me in a flash. "Baby, you're having an episode."

Breathing out, I dropped my head on his chest. His cold fluffy jacket engulfed my face. I was back but the memory wasn't torturous. In fact, it was a sweet one. I rubbed my face against his chest, snuggled closer to him.

"What's wrong babe?"

"I think I saw someone I knew from when I was little."

"What?" I finally looked up at him.

He was wearing a perplexed expression on his face. I didn't notice other people around me, it was just me and Gabe now. No more part or the future. The present. My mind was shattering. I never thought about my childhood and I guess he was a part of that life. A small part. I wasn't related to him but my family knew his family.

"I think I saw my dad." One of the man behind the group of boys was my father. The one with black hair and brown skin. Like mine.

"Wait who did you see. Your dad?" He kept his voice low.

"No." I turned him around, pointed at the man I recognised. "Him. I think his name is Xavier de la Cruz." I buried into Gabe.

"You were related?" He asked, turning back. "Is he dangerous?" His whole body stiffened. Turning, he put his body between me and him.

I shook my head. "He was friends with my cousins." The last word felt so foreign, it remained stuck in my throat. "I think my dad was hugging his dad."

"We should leave." He stated firmly.

"No." I whispered. My body felt lax. I was bone tired all of a sudden. All the mental pressure was taking a toll on my body but I could push through it. I had suffered worse. "He's supposed to be dead. I knew about him because of Laurence Capone. He killed him and his girlfriend. I remember seeing their picture on the news. I just didn't realise that I personally knew Xavier from when I was a kid."

"Wait, what do you mean dead? I can see him." He turned to find the Xavier hand a bowl of chocolate covered fruits to his girlfriend or maybe wife now. There was a boy holding her hand. All hidden away by the over coats, scarfs and hats.

"Not a ghost. I think he escaped. He faked their death. That's the only thing that makes sense." I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming along. It was too much information to digest but we weren't close enough for it to be a shock.

"Do you want to speak to him?" He was clearly sceptic.

"No, I doubt he remembers me. He called me Lucia. I think, that he thinks that I am dead." I sighed, moving closer to him. "Let's go home."

I wanted to get the hell out of there.

"Come." Carefully, he manoeuvred me towards the stall. I tried to keep my eyes off of him. I didn't remember the name of his girlfriend. Maybe they were married by now. They had one child and when she turned around, to face the stall, I saw her belly pushing against the long puffer jacket she was wearing. She was pregnant with their second child.

The lady laughed, Xavier chimed in too. He wasn't a warrior. A solider like Gabe. His clean cut demeanour made me resent him slightly. He threw away a whole empire like it was garbage where as my Gabriel was still working for it.

First, discarded by the system and abused by the people who were supposed to take care of him. Then, tortured by enemies of the country he served before getting tossed out for taking a bullet for his country. Even with a medal of honour, he was still robbed of his rights. I felt a raw rage on behalf of him.

"Hey!" The woman waved her gloved hand at me. Startled, I gripped Gabe's arm. Was I staring at her?

"Hello." I faked a smile, waiting for the line to move quicker so we could get out.

"This is your first time here?" Her smile was so bright, it hurt my eyes. She had pretty hazel eyes. Xavier's eyes were on me all of a sudden. Blue and intense. His brows furrowed before his gaze moved towards Gabe.

"I know you." Xavier smiled at Gabe. A charming, disarming smile that was used in board meetings and parties to swoon the clients. I remember that because Daniella used to tell me about the mafia world. How their heirs were moulded into the perfect leader to take over when the previous generation died out. "You came to my store to buy furniture." He extended his hand towards Gabe and he shook it.

"Oh Yes!" I knew Gabe was pretending to remember Xavier. He never forgot a face, even the ones he didn't interact with. I just wished he would have told me before he dragged me to the stall next to them. "You're the owner. Thanks for the luxurious bed."

Xavier laughed. "Anna, this is the new couple who's in town. They are renting one of Lodges by the Don Miller. You know the Pine Grove resort site." He reminded Anna.

"Oh yeah!" She turned, extending her hand toward me. "I'm Anna, Xavier's wife." I remembered their names, just surprised that they were using their first names. Usually when people ran, they never used their names, like Gabe and I.

"Oh I don't know him. I'm guessing our husbands have met before, briefly I presume." I shook her hand. She was too smiley for me. It hurt to fake smile but I did it anyway. It's social standard for women to smile when greeting someone. I wondered what would happen if I didn't. I'm sure she will think I am rude but why did woman always have to smile. Internally, I rolled my eyes.

"Of course. Nice to meet you." I took my hand away, put them in my pocket. "I'm sorry and you are?"

"Mia Anderson. This is Asher Anderson." I completely forgot about introducing myself. Clearly, I was losing social skills from being isolated for such a long time.

"It's nice to meet you Mia. This is my son, Phoenix." She brought the toddler in front of her. "Say hello to the nice lady." Her pitch rose. I'm sure she wanted it to sound younger as he spoke to her son, as all mother did when they made their baby voice. To me it was annoying.

Suddenly, Xavier frowned when he looked at me again, carefully this time. "Have we met before?"

I didn't let the panic show on my face. Instead I scrunched my face, trying to pretend like I was remember something before shaking my head side to side. "No... No. I don't think so. You might have seen me around town? We often go to the Supermarket across the mall."

His whole expressed soften, a realisation sinking in. "Of course. Yes." It was him who shook his head this time. "I'm sorry your eyes. It just reminded me of a friend of mine. Sorry."

I fake smiled again. A bright one this time. "A lot of people have brown eyes, Mr Blue eyes." My heart was pounding out of my chest. My cousins. They were his friends. I didn't remember how close they were but from the small glimpse I had of the past, showed that they were friends.

"No, of course." He gave a nervous laugh. Clearing his throat, he reigned back his uneasiness. "I'm sorry." The line cleared, "Excuse me" he said, turning away.

"Sorry about him." Anna used her normal voice. "So what do you want?"

"Oh no, we'll wait. Don't worry." Gabe waved his hand.

"Please, I insist. Zavi told me that you nearly bought everything from this store. It's the least we could do." She reached for me, pulled me into her line. Gabe came along with me, shielding me from the back.

"That's really kind of you." For the first time, I smiled kindly. The small act of kindness was foreign to me. I was used to being met with cruelty. Gabe was the first person to counter that. Now, I didn't know how to accept kindness from other people.

"No problem. Now tell me what you guys want. I'm going for the chocolate strawberry bouquet." Her smile never slid off her face.

"Same please."

"What about you Asher?" Xavier asked. It felt weird to have Gabe being addressed as Asher.

"Mixed fruits with dark and milk melted chocolate. Thanks." I looked back at him, feeling a tug in my chest. His eyes were assessing every corner of the market making sure it wasn't a trap. I held onto him like my life depended on him. I didn't want to speak to Xavier. My mind was holding it together by a thread.

Gabe was rubbing his hands up and down my back. Looking down, he gave me reassuring smile. "I wanna go home." I mouthed. I really did want to get out of there.

"I know." He mouthed back.

"So, how long have you been married?" Anna's voice startled me.

"A year actually." I told her our fake story. The one Gabe and I made up once we got to the safe house. "What about you?"

"Oh! It's been a 6 years now." I wondered if her cheeks hurt from smiling too much. Because mine were hurting from watching her smile.

"That's lovely." I didn't know what else to say to her. What did girls talk about? A sick feeling entered my stomach. I didn't know how to interact with her because I never had a girlfriend in my life before. Someone to speak to or call when I needed them. Speak about boys or share make up and clothes with.

I wanted to throw up. It wasn't her who was acting odd, it was me.

"How long have you lived here for?" I sighed, trying to be nice.

"A couple of years. We moved here because it's a lovely place for a family. Good schools, good neighbours and amazing sights, so what's not to love about Mountilse." She was right. Well, about the Town but everything else she mentioned was pointless to me.

We were all distracted when the vendor finally passed all the order to Xavier. He paid even when Gabe insisted on splitting it. Their son got a whole cup of melted chocolate with a side of marshmallow and chocolate biscuits. Anna and I got the same thing but I had lost my appetite. The coldness from outside was seeping into my bones. The coat was useless.

"Thank you for this guys, we're going to get some stuff and head home. Maybe we'll see you around?" I offered. With all the lies they were making up, I knew for sure they weren't going to turn us to Jude Capone. They were living off the grid as well, like Gabe and I. It wouldn't be the worst idea to have an ally in Xavier. Lucky for him, he was presumed dead, hence no one was looking for him. Unlike us.

Damn it.

"You should come on New Year's eve. The fireworks here are beautiful. Last year it snowed, we all stacked up against the glass in the mall and it just looked so beautiful. The whole mountain lit up." She clapped her hands soundlessly because of the gloves. Her joy irritated me. Trying my best not to roll my eyes, I smiled and bid our goodbyes quickly.

"We'll be there. Take care Anna."

She looked disappoint by our quick departure but we had to get out of there. Regroup. Figure out how we ended up in the same town as them. De la Cruz's empire wasn't family based as the Capone or the Catalan's but their bond was still thick as blood.

He took my hand, put it in his pocket again while we waited in the line to get hot dogs and cheesy fries. Bending, he put his mouth next to my ear. "We'll talk in the car." I nodded, feeling unnerved.

The whole interaction with them felt surreal. Like a dream.

We bought hot dogs with caramelised onions, corn dogs, a bucket of fries with melted cheese and chilli. Gabe was discreetly keeping an eye on Xavier. "I can't believe that just happened."

"I think Nathan Ross knows about them. I think that's why he sent us here." I speculated on the way. If that was the case, they weren't safe in Mountisle. "What shall we do?" I asked as we walked through the mall and towards the car park. "Should we leave?"

Even though I was acting calm, my emotions were on overdrive. My whole body broke out in sweats from the fear of being discovered when I saw him. If it was a divine plan for us to meet in a whole different city, far away from our usual lives while we were both on the run, was preposterous. I didn't believe in fate. Fate usually relates to karma as in good actions, usually contributes to a good future and a bad intent or action contributes to a bad future. So, I don't know who the fuck I pissed off at 9 years old that I was punished so severely.

"Nothig yet. She said they'd been here for a long time. I need to get in touch with Ross, find out if he sent us here so you can get protection from Xavier's old group. Surely, he will still have some power over them as his father was the one who created their Empire." He theorised, biting into his hot dog without a care in the world.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew him?" Food was the last thing on my mind.

"He didn't set of any alarm bells when I first met him. He said his name was Xavier Braddock. When I did a background check on that name, everything appeared normal. I didn't know." Simmering down, I looked back to see if someone was following us. When I found no one suspicious following us, I relaxed.

"I'm not blaming you. It just surprised me when you took me right in front of him." I didn't expect that behaviour from him.

"Honestly, I did that so I could use his wife as a leverage if something happened."

"WHAT?" I shrieked.