When I wake up I look around, just to realize I'm not in the van anymore. I'm in a disgusting room that reeks of urine and puke, with revolting stains all over the place.

There's one door. It looks like a prison door. And nothing else. No windows, no bed, nothing but stains, and a single pillow that my head was resting on.

And my clothes. I'm barely wearing any. What the fuck?

I'm wearing a lace lingerie set that certainly isn't mine.

Someone undressed me. Someone saw me naked without my permission. What if-

I shake my head and force myself to stay calm. Panic won't help. I need to stay calm until I know where the fuck I am. Until I know more.

So I take another look around the room and try to listen to the sounds coming from the other side of the door. I hear footsteps, but that's it.

After a few minutes of complete silence, I hear a door open somewhere else. Someone starts screaming.

Another girl.

'Please! Please! I'm sorry! I'll stop fighting, just-' A loud slap echoes through the halls. 'You should've thought about that before.' A man groans.

I want to move closer to the door, to listen to what's going on, but I shouldn't be close to the door.

Because if they open it and they catch me, I'm screwed.

'Please!' The girl shouts, before running away, closer to my door. She tries to open my door, but it's locked. 'Help me!' Shit.

I want to help her, she sounds absolutely terrified, but I don't know what to do.

Even though I shouldn't be at the door, I walk over there, trying to pull the door open to get her in here.

Not that it will do much, since we're in a room.

But I want to help. I truly do.

'Open the door!' The girl shouts frantically. I hear another door open down the hall and soon after, more girls start screaming. What the fuck is going on?

I'm expecting my door to open any second now, but it doesn't. I'm forced to listen to how a bunch of other girls get beaten up, begging me for help. But I can't do anything.

'Please open the door!' A new voice shouts before banging on the door.

And I wonder if I'm dreaming because the girl sounds like Neveah.

'Please open-' Another hit, the sound of skin smashing against skin, and soft cries for help. 'Stop!'

'She's awake! Go get Bryan!' Bryan. The idiot that followed me, the idiot that got me in here.

'Please, no!' I hear something click. A gun. 'No!' I hold my breath and pull on the handle, trying to open this stupid door, but it's too late.

Bang!

I can hear the bullet go through flesh and a loud thud, the sound of a body dropping to the ground. Fuck.

Everything goes silent for a few seconds before more girls start screaming hysterically. I can tell that they're running all over the place.

Some of them end up at my door. 'Let us out!' Out? They think that this is the way out?

It's not.

It's just a room right?

I look around, trying to see how this could be a way out. But it can't be. There's no way, there's not even a window in this room.

Something sticky flows from underneath the door, and I don't have to look down it to see what it is.

Blood.

Its blood. The girl's blood. Fuck.

'Open the door!' I pull the handle again, wishing that I was stronger so that I could open the door.

'You girls never learn, do you?' Someone cogs a gun, before shooting a whole magazine. The girls scream and once the shooting stops and some doors close, everything goes silent.

Not a single sound.

As if I'm all alone again.

Where the fuck am I?

The blood continues to stream into the room, making me step all the way to the other side, praying that this is just another nightmare and that I'll wake up any second.

Even if it's on the boat with Hunter, I would be happier than this. Please.

But no. It's not a dream. And I finally accept it when the door slowly opens.

It's Bryan and Cole. They step into the room, with someone else behind them. A big guy who carries a girl on his shoulder.

She's all bruised up and looks like she's about to pass out any second. She has long blond hair, that could desperately use a wash, and dark green eyes that barely have any life in them left.

'Well, well. If it's not the girl that didn't want to tell us her name.' Cole purrs, stoping on the right side of the room. Bryan stays in the middle, smirking at me, while the big guy puts the girl on the ground.

She's barely able to stand on her own and drops to her knees.

'You should've told us your name, Cataleya.' What? They already know my name, so why the fuck- 'Now. Since we're not allowed to touch you, we'll touch someone else to show you what happens when you misbehave, okay?' Bryan says, making Cole look at him in shock.

As if he had no idea what Bryan was planning.

They took the girl in to show me how things could end up for me.

'Hold her still.' Bryan sneers, stepping closer to the blond girl on the floor. 'What are you doing?' I ask, slowly stepping forward.

I have no idea what I'm thinking, but I can't let that girl suffer because they want to inform me. 'I get the point, you don't have to-' 'Hold her.' Cole gulps and grabs me, before pulling me against his chest.

'Just be quiet.' He mumbles, tightening his grip around me. What are they going to do to her?

I try breaking free, but it's no use. Cole is way stronger.

While I try getting out of Cole's grip, Bryan steps closer, leaning down to make the poor girl look up at him.

She's young. I can tell. Barely eighteen maybe.

'Stop it.' But they ignore me and Bryan continues to touch the girl, despite her cries to stop.

If she wasn't so beat up, we could fight back. But I won't stand a chance against both of them on my own.

'Let's have some fun, shall we?' Bryan, being the filthy piece of shit he is, pulls the girl's shirt up, and starts touching her breasts, making her sob quietly. What the-

'This could be us if you want us to.' I feel like I'm about to puke and turn my head the other way when he starts kissing her. She obviously doesn't want to be near him, but she doesn't fight it either.

'Stop touching her, she-''This is her punishment for causing trouble!' He sneers, slapping her since he can't touch me.

Wait. God knows why, but he can't touch me.

Neither can Cole.

'You're hurting me!' I shout.

Bryan doesn't care, but Cole does. His grip loosens and he looks at me with wide eyes. 'I-' I turn around, kick him in the nuts, and turn back to Bryan, who's finally looking at me.

'Are you stupid?!' He shouts at his friend, who is crying out of pain. Bryan rushes to his friend, while I run to the girl to help her up. She shakes her head and tries to push me away. 'Let me help you.'

'No! You-' And then, without warning, a single gunshot. And she drops to the floor.

I gasp for air and turn around, but before I can even comprehend what's going on, Bryans's hand travels to the back of my neck and he pulls me up as if I weigh nothing.

'You can't touch me!' I sneer, trying to kick him, but he's quicker and throws me against the wall.

I drop to the ground and land in a pool of... Blood.

All the blood that came in from down the hall and the poor girl that's dead now, lying on the ground.

Fuck. I look away, trying to focus on Bryan, but I can't. She's dead.

I didn't do anything and she's just lying there and she- 'Get up.' I move to the other side of the room and try taking a deep breath.

Breath. Just breathe.

I can't do it alone. I can't face death like this alone. I need someone to help me through it. Just like Rio did.

Rio.

I try imagining him holding me, telling me to breathe again and again, until I'm finally able to.

Pathetic if you ask me, but I need it. I need his voice to calm me down.

'Get up!' I look up and realize that Bryan is closer than I thought. 'Get the fuck up, Cataleya!' He shouts, taking the last step.

Even if I wanted to run, I wouldn't be able to. He's too close and would barely have to move his arm to reach me.

'You're all drenched in blood.' He grunts, kneeling down so that he's on the same height as me. 'Now I have to clean you up.' He mumbles, slowly tracing his hand up my leg.

I could kick him.

He would fall down. But then what?

I could reach for his gun and shoot him. Yes.

A plan. Finally.

Just as I'm about to kick him, he grabs my leg and pierces his thumb into the bullet wound from Hunter. Or one of his guys.

I scream out of pain and try pushing him away, but he's stronger and continues to press his disgusting, fat finger into the wound.

So far for not being able to touch me.

The pain is unbearable as if a million knives are piercing my leg.

Everything starts to spin and I can feel myself slipping away, but I won't allow it. I won't allow myself to faint. Not now.

And then he stops. Bryan jumps to his feet and chuckles.

I didn't even realize, but I scratched his face. I drew blood.

And he wipes it away, smiling at me. 'Interesting.'

I crawl away from him and look at my leg. Now I'm not only smeared with their blood, but I have my own dripping down my leg as well.

'You said-' I sneer, but he cuts me off by stepping closer again. Just one step. 'You had that wound already, so it's nothing new.'

He grins as he takes it all in. Takes me all in. It's only now that I realize that we're alone. Besides the dead girl on the other side of the room. We're all alone.

Bryan throws a towel my way, I have no clue where he got it from, and looks at me. 'Clean yourself.'

I stay put on simply look at the disgusting towel.

'Clean yourself and get up.' He repeats, folding his arms this time.

If I don't get up now, he'll hurt me worse than what he just did. 'What do you want from me?' I ask, trying to stall whatever it is he has planned.

'I want you to get the fuck up, before I drag you down the hall.' I take a deep breath and try getting up, leaning on the wall for support. My leg hurts like crazy, worse than when I got shot, but I'm somehow able to manage.

He groans, grabs the towel en quickly drags it over my leg, wiping most of the blood away. But not all.

'Good.' He smirks as he heads to the door. 'Follow me. And don't even think about pulling something, because we have more Sarah's in here.'

In here... Where the fuck are we?

I stumble after him, into a dark hallway. It looks pretty clean, meaning they cleaned it while Bryan came into my room. Only the hallway though, because there's still blood in the room I was just in.

There's more now.

Sarah. She's dead.

I mean, I didn't even know her name until two seconds ago, but she's dead. She's gone.

Fuck. I blink away my tears and take a deep breath.

If I want to make it out of here, I have to stay strong. I have to.

'Keep up, Velez!' Velez. He knows who I am.

He knows my name, probably my age as well. Why the fuck did he act like he didn't?

Who's behind all of this? Why am I barely wearing any clothes? And where the fuck am I?

But most importantly, what are they going to do to me?

A big door opens, letting purple and red lights shine into the hall.

I hear a bunch of voices, a lot of old men, and look into the room.

It's huge, filled with a lot of old men with cigars, and a big stage on our right. A bunch of girls are dancing on poles and I try to understand what's going on.

It doesn't take long for me to realize what this is.

They're selling me.

I can tell by the greedy look in all those disgusting eyes.

'Go up that stage and show them what you got.' Bryan chimes, before pushing me onto the stage. I almost fall as I take the last step up, and look into the crowd.

Every single guy in this room could be my grandfather and I feel like throwing up.

I stay put in the corner, ready to leave again, but Bryan clears his throat and nudges his head to the center of the stage.

My eyes roam over everyone in this room, from the girls behind the bars to the girls dancing on the poles, to the disgusting men lurking at me.

Until they stop at his eyes.

Those fucking blue eyes.

I gasp for air when I see his dark hair and the tattoos crawling up his fucking neck.

Hunter fucking Steel.

He's sitting in the audience, keeping his eyes on me, while trying to talk to someone on his right.

Did he do this? He might've. I mean, he said he- No. I don't have time to panic. I need to think straight, instead of going on and on about what might be. I need to get the facts in first.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize that Bryan started talking over a microphone. 'The beauty of tonight, Cataleya Valentina Velez, once owned by the famous Rafael Curzio!' Owned?

The crowd goes wild at his words, taking every word he shoves on their plate.

Rafael didn't own me. Sure, he knew exactly what to do to get his way and he wouldn't let me go. But he didn't own me.

Not like this.

'We start at five-hundred-thousand!' What? I look at Bryan, who's pointing at an old guy in the crowd. 'To number four, six-hundred-thousand!?'

Another hand is raised and it doesn't take long for the price to end up at four million.

My heart is racing and I feel like puking. But I can't stop looking at Hunter. That sick fucker probably planned all of this and is enjoying the show more than ever.

Hunter finishes his drink and jumps to his feet.

'I'll take her for five million!' He shouts, making everyone turn to him with a gasp. 'Five million, anyone!?'

No one else is willing to pay five million dollars for me. And I don't know if I should be glad or not.

For all I know, he's the reason I'm in here in the first place.

'Going once, going twice?' Not a single hand is raised this time. And Bryan claps before pulling me closer. 'Sold to the young gentlemen in seat sixteen!'

I gulp when Hunter nods and keeps his eyes on mine. That sick-

Before I can even react, Bryan pulls me back into the disgusting hall. He pushes me into the dark room again and locks the door behind me.

Sarah isn't lying on the floor anymore, they cleaned everything and it looks like nothing ever happened.

I try taking deep breaths, but they don't seem to work anymore and panic takes over.

Hunter owns me now. He fucking- and what the fuck is all of this? Since when is this still a thing?! What the hell is going on?!

And my mom. What time is it? She must be freaking the fuck out. And she'll search for me and then- Fuck!

'Don't take another step-' I shout when I hear the door unlock again. I move to the other side of the room and press myself against the wall, wishing that I had magical powers so that I could just go through the stone walls. 'It's me.'

It's Hunter.

I saw him in the crowd, between all those other perverts.

'That doesn't make it any better!' I sneer, staying at the wall.

He paid five million dollars for me.

He owns me now. He can do whatever he wants and I won't get a say in it.

'I'm here to help you.' He whispers, closing the door. I hear the lock fall in its place and panic. He's going to do much worse than the others threatened to do.

'Cataleya, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise.' There he is again, with those promises. 'What the fuck was that?'

I point at the door and keep my eyes on his. 'The auction, I don't have much time to explain, but I'll explain everything once I get you out of here. I promise.'

'You bought me.' 'I had to, otherwise, you would've ended up somewhere I didn't want you to be.' He wants me to be with him. Wait...

'You knew about this, didn't you?' I ask, feeling my anger boil up again. 'I knew about the auction, yes. But I had no idea that you would end up here until I heard that they got you.'

I don't know if I should believe him. He said he would do anything for me to stay by his side, which is extreme. He bought me. He paid five million dollars to own me like I'm some pet.

'How do I know you didn't plan all of this?' His eyes widen in shock. 'What?'

'You said you wanted to keep me by your side more than anything else, so how do I know if you're here to help me or not?'

'I still want you by my side, but I would never do it in such a cruel way. If you're going to stay with me, I want you to come to me willingly, not like this.' He explains, grabbing something from the inside of his jacket.

'Here.' He strides over to me, making me panic before he hands me a... knife and a bunch of clothes 'Use it if you feel like you're in danger.'

Hunter turns back to the door and knocks twice. 'I'll be back to get you.'

The door opens and he slowly steps out of the moldy room. 'Hunter wait-' But it's too late, the door is already closed before he could even turn around to face me, and I'm at the door, banging my hand against the cold metal.

'Don't leave me here!' Shit.

I quickly put on the clothes, a big shirt, and some shorts, before listening to the hall again. No one. Not a single soul.

After what feels like decades, the door finally opens again.

Bryan steps into the room and smiles at me. 'You should be happy that Hunter Steel is willing to pay five million to have you, I need that exact amount to pay someone off.'

The knife.

I can stab him and run.

'Not a lot to say now, huh?' That prick.

He deserves it.

I take a step forward and hold the knife behind my back, not even trying to hide the fact that I'm carrying something.

He deserves to die.

He shot Sarah. He deserves to die.

'What do you have there?' Before he can look over my shoulder and notice the knife, I swiftly pull it out and stab him right in the chest.

Not a vital point, but if I pull it out- No.

I can't. He's just- I can't kill him. I just-

He screams out and latches onto me, screaming at the top of his lungs.

'She has a knife!' And then it happens, more shooting coming from down the hall and I wonder what's taking them so long to get here, but I keep my eyes on Bryan.

'You bitch.' He sneers, making me have flashbacks of my first kill.

Luca. I killed Luca.

I killed a teenager because he threatened to kill the man I loved. So what's stopping me now?

This guy is a rapist and tortures girls for fun. He deserves it.

He truly does.

That's why I slowly pull the knife out of his chest and watch him bleed to death.

I convince myself that he deserves it and continue to take deep breaths, with Rio's stupid voice in the back of my head. "It's okay, just breathe. Breathe for me. Breathe."

And I do.

I won't allow my lungs to give in. I won't allow myself to panic.

I won't allow myself to freak out again and listen to the gunshots down the hall.

I never liked the sound of bullets, but this time they sound soothing. They're the only thing keeping me sane.

The door opens wide and I flinch for a second. It's Hunter.

'We have to go.' He states, trying to catch his breath. He has bloodstains on his button-up, but not a single scratch on his face. 'Come on!'

I run after him, into the hall. Some of the security guys are dead on the floor, bleeding like the girls earlier. Every single door is open now, and I realize that all the rooms are empty.

He let them go. He got all of them out.

'This way!' He grabs my hand and turns to the right, instead of heading through the doors leading to the club. My leg hurts like crazy and I wince, making him turn to me.

He looks at me and ends at my leg, which is bleeding again. 'Who did that?' 'He's dead, now go!' I sneer, pushing him forward.

Hunter takes a deep breath, before lifting me up and continuing to run.

If I wasn't so exhausted I would've told him to put me down, but I don't think we'll make it out alive if I walk myself.

Because people are running behind us. I can hear them, almost feel their breaths on my neck.

Hunter pushes through a door and as soon as they open, I'm greeted by the night sky and the sound of cars honking in the distance.

There's one car parked in the empty parking lot.

Hunter runs over to it and lowers me to my feet, before opening the door and waiting for me to get in.

I know I shouldn't. I should be running the other way, but that won't get me far.

'Cataleya get in.' He says patiently, looking back at the building. A bunch of people are holding guns, ready to shoot at us. But they need to get closer first.

It's either getting shot or hopping in the car with him and making it out alive. Guess that's it.

I jump in the car and watch when Hunter does the same, tapping the driver's shoulder. We race off the parking lot and onto the still crowded street.

'What time is it?' I ask, trying to pull my leg up. Hunter helps me and grabs something upfront. An aid kit. 'Shit, princess. Back that quickly?' The car slowly stops, probably because of the red light.

I look at the person talking and realize that it's Noah. He's the one driving. 'I knew you missed me, but-' 'Noah, just shut up and drive.' Hunter sneers, looking back at me. 'Who did this to you?'

I roll my eyes and pull the bandaid out of his hands. 'I told you already, he's dead.'

He nods and grabs a needle and thread. 'What are you doing?' I ask, moving away from him a little.

'The wound needs to be stitched, Cataleya.' As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. 'Let me help you.'

I move my leg onto his lap and grasp the seat with my hands, readying myself for the pain. 'You have some explaining to do.'

They both chuckle and I see Noah nod through the rearview mirror. 'What the hell happened back there?' He asks, more to Hunter than me.

'A lot, the place has gotten worse than last time.' Hunter replies, tying something around my knee. 'You said you would explain, so explain.'

Hunter sighs deeply and nods, before grabbing the needle again. This is going to hurt... 'What you just witnessed was the auction.'

He takes a deep breath and looks at me, before pushing the needle into my skin. I clench my teeth together, almost breaking my jaw, and close my eyes.

'It's a place where people can go to... Buy girls.' Old men. That's all I saw. I only saw old men there. And then Hunter.

He was definitely the youngest one there.

I can feel the thread pull my skin together and try not to scream, but it hurts too much.

'I have a friend that works there, she told me that they were selling someone important,' Me? 'so I had to look for myself.'

I hear some snapping and then he gently unties that thing from my knee. Is he done already? I finally open my eyes and look at my leg.

I'm still covered in blood, but the wound is stitched. 'We need to clean you up. Noah, stop at the gas station.'

'No. I want to go home.' I state, looking outside. I have no clue where the fuck we are, but I need to get home. 'Just take me home.'

'Do you want your mother to see you drenched in blood?' Shit. If my mom sees me like this, she won't ever let me go out of the house alone.

She'll freak the fuck out.

'Fine, but afterward you're dropping me off at Wilson's and then I'll walk.' I can't have my mother seeing me stepping out of a fancy car. She'll think I came back from a date or something.

'Well, then I'm walking you home.' He insists, making me shake my head. 'Not in those clothes.' I point at his bloodied button-up and he shrugs. 'I have something in the back, I'm walking you home Cataleya.'

'No, you're not.' I sneer, looking at him. His eyes are glowing out of joy. He's enjoying this again. 'I'm not letting you walk alone after what happened, especially at this time of day. They will be out, looking for you now.' Fuck.

'How do I know this isn't a trap?' Hunter sighs deeply and quickly glances at Noah, before looking back at me. 'How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not the enemy here.'

'And how many times do I have to tell you that I don't trust you.' All of this can't be a coincidence. It just can't. 'There has to be more to this.'

He takes a deep breath, and I can hear Noah chuckle before he glances at Hunter. Just for a second. A quick second that says enough.

There is more.

'Tell me.' I insist. If there's more, I deserve to know. 'They know where you live. That's how I knew it was you.' What? 'They know where I live?'

Noah turns to the right and almost crashes into a passing car, but he manages.

'They know the area, it won't take long for them to know your exact address.' A breath of relief escapes my lips.

If they knew my address already, they could've gone to my house. To my mom. Fuck.

'So that's where I want to suggest something.' Hunter continues, making me look at him with a raised brow. 'You need to move out. At least until everything is safe again.' Move out?

'I don't have-' 'He wants you to stay with us.' Noah says, smiling a little. What?

I look at Hunter who rolls his eyes at his friend, before turning back to me. 'It's an option. But I wouldn't mind getting you a place to stay. The only problem is, you would need to be supervised the entire time. There will be people watching your every move and there would still be a risk that they would get you back.'

This doesn't make any sense. 'Why would they go through such lengths to get me back?'

'Because of your history with Curzio.' "Owned by the famous Rafael Curzio!" Bryan said.

People are after me because of my history with Rafael. Because they saw us together. 'But I don't-' 'It doesn't matter what happened between you, they think that you mean something to him.' Hunter states.

They think I mean something to Rafael? If only they knew...

'I'm not forcing you to do anything, the choice is yours. And I promise to make sure that your mother is safe too.'

Everything that's going on, everything that happened today, is because people think I mean something to Rafael.

I'm so lost in thoughts again that I didn't realize we stopped driving. 'Go change inside, we'll be waiting here.' Hunter says, handing me a bag of clothes.

I can already tell that some of the clothes there are summer dresses. I usually don't wear summer dresses.

I hop out of the car and run into the disgusting toilets, to change. Thank god, there are some shorts and a big sweater that reaches my knees.

I look at myself in the mirror and almost gasp for air at my reflection.

I'm indeed covered in blood.

And for once I don't know how to feel about it.

I wish I was crying, wish that I had any amount of regret for killing Bryan. But I can't. I can't let myself care. Now is not the time to care.

And I don't.

But that scares me.

I should care. I mean, I killed someone. Sure, he deserved it, but I killed him.

So why am I not freaking out? Why am I not crying, or panicking, or feeling something? Anything?

Why am I glad that I killed him? Glad that he can't harm anyone else ever again?

I shouldn't be feeling this, but I can't help it. It felt... Good.

It felt good to kill him because he deserved nothing else. Just death.

No. I want to cry, I want to feel the regret for taking his life. But it's impossible.

'Cataleya?' The door opens a little, making me focus on that instead of everything going on in my mind. 'What the fuck are you doing?' 'We have to go, they're still after us.' Right.

I quickly wash off all the blood and change clothes, before looking into the mirror again.

It's as if nothing happened to me at all.

Not a single thing off. Great.

Let's just hope that my mother buys it too.

I make my way back to the car and throw the dirty clothes at Hunter, who's waiting at the back of the car, before getting back onto the backseat.

After two seconds, Hunter jumps into the seat next to me, tapping on Noah's shoulder. We immediately start driving.

'Stop at that shop on the corner, Wilson's. Right?' I nod and look out of my window, trying to see if we're close enough already.

I need more time. I need to be able to act like my leg isn't hurting like crazy. I need to be able to act like nothing happened while I was gone.

'What time is it?' I ask, turning back to Hunter. 'Ten pm.' What? I've been gone an entire fucking day.

My mom is going to freak the fuck out. Especially now that I don't have a phone.

Shit. How the fuck am I going to come up with a story?

What's going to be the story?

Shit.

'Stop the car.' I say when I recognize a little park fifteen minutes away from our house. Noah looks at Hunter, waiting for permission. 'Just stop the fucking car!' I sneer, hitting Noah on his shoulder.

And he does. In the middle of the fucking road.

I open the door and jump out of the car, ignoring Hunter's calls for me to get back into the car, and head towards my house.

There aren't many people on the street anymore, because it's already this late.

So almost the entire street is empty. Besides the people getting home.

I take a deep breath and try walking normally, which works as far as normal goes.

Maybe I could lie and say that I bumped it against something and that it hurts again?

She will probably call me stupid, but at least it'll work.

'Cataleya!' Someone spins me back around and when I meet Hunter's blue eyes again, I push him away. 'Don't touch me!'

He raises his hands and takes a step back. 'Go back to the car and leave me the fuck alone.'

'I told you I was taking you home, didn't I?' I grunt and continue my walk home, trying to walk away fast so that I can shake him off at some point.

But just like Rio, Hunter has long legs.

'Have you thought about my offer?' I stop in my tracks, making him bump into me. 'You mean about your sneaky plan to keep me with you?'

'I gave you two options. You don't have-' 'What if there is a third?' I ask, continuing my walk again. 'What did you have in mind?'

'You leave me the fuck alone and continue your life like never before?' Hunter looks me dead in the eyes and takes two big steps, right in front of me. 'Stop acting like I'm the enemy, because you know I'm not.'

'How about you stop acting as if you care because I know you're just doing this to get a reaction out of Rio. Newsflash! That won't happen, because he doesn't care!' I shout, trying to walk around him, but he's quicker and grabs my arm.

'I said, don't touch me.' I sneer, pulling my arm away. He lets go of me again and sighs deeply. 'You think I'm doing this because I want to annoy Rafael?'

My silence says enough and I walk around him, to get to my house. 'I'm not, you know!'

'And you expect me to believe you?' I ask, not once slowing down. Hunter runs up to me and almost grabs my arm again, but my angry glare says enough.

'I'm not trying to annoy Rafael through you, I promise.' I stop again and pull the knife out of my pocket, pressing it against his stomach.

Yes, I took it with me.

I'm not that dumb.

'Make one more stupid promise and I'll stab you, you idiot.' He doesn't even fucking flinch and simply stares at the knife. 'I know what you did to Neveah and her family, so don't even-' 'That wasn't me, that was my father.' he interferes.

I roll my eyes, but keep the blade pressed against his stomach.

'As if I can believe that.' He takes a deep breath and raises his hand. 'I pro-' 'No more promises, remember?' I ask, pushing a little harder.

Not enough to actually cut him though. Just the shirt.

Because if he's going to walk me home and I actually do cut him, people are going to wonder what happened. And I don't have time for that.

It's a good thing that no one's on this street right now because this would've caught a lot of attention as well.

'I didn't do it.' 'Did you stop it?' He furrows his brows and slowly shakes his head. 'That makes you just as evil, asshole.' I pull the knife back and continue to walk as if nothing happened.

He silently follows me, at least until we get to Wilson's.

'You can stop now. I live there, as you must know, so you don't have to-' 'You need to tell me what it's going to be first.' He says, blocking my way again.

I should've stabbed him. I should've stabbed him and ran. At least then I wouldn't have to put up with his shit.

'About what?' I ask, folding my arms across my chest. 'About the threat.' Right.

I forgot about that for a second. Because Hunter is annoying me too much. 'I'm not leaving my mother.'

'Because you love her, right?' I nod and take a deep breath. 'I could try to put some security on the block, but it won't be enough.' He mumbles, more to himself than to me.

I don't get why he's so eager to help me. Especially after what just happened.

'It would be safer for you to move out, that way your mom would be safe and you could be on supervision for a while. Just to make sure. I would pay for everything, of course.' He says, before walking into my street. 'She's safest if she's far away from you.'

I follow him and sigh deeply. 'Why?' He looks at me and smiles. 'Because I want to make sure you're safe.'

Just when I'm going to ask him why, I hear a loud gasp coming from our house.

'There you are!' It's my mom. She's standing in the doorway to her house and waves her arms as if I'm not already heading towards her.

'Where have you been, I've been searching for you for hours! What happened?' She looks at me, quickly scanning for anything that might be wrong. 'Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost.'

'I'm okay.' I lie, stepping closer to her. 'Who is this?' Shit.

I forgot about the six-foot-three American model standing next to me.

'This is-' What do I do now?

I can't tell her the truth, but I can't come up with a lie this quick.

All this time and I still didn't come up with a solid lie.

'I'm Hunter Steel, ma'am. I'm a friend of your daughter and I just wanted to make sure she got home safely.' What the hell is he doing?

'Oh, how nice of you!' My mother chimes, smiling at her brightest at the handsome man standing next to me.

I can already see the look on her face. She's probably thinking about all the worst-case scenarios in her head. But nothing like what actually happened.

'You've been walking for hours, you two must be starving!' She exclaims, stepping aside just a little. 'Mom, I don't-'

'Come on in, we have enough food for all of us!' She smiles at me, but it's not genuine. It's more a warning to be polite and ask him in.

But I don't.

I don't want Hunter Steel eating with my mother and her new boyfriend.

'Thanks for the offer, but I don't think-' 'I insist.' Her tone turns a little dark, but I don't think Hunter got it.

That's because he doesn't know my mom yet.

'Oh come on.' She pulls Hunter inside and doesn't wait for me to follow.

I wonder if she would offer him dinner if she knew who he was. But I guess we'll never know.

Leonardo was right, sometimes it's better to be clueless.

I'd like to keep my mom clueless. To protect her.

I follow them inside and listen while my mom introduces Theo to us both.

Theo and I both act as if it's the first time we're meeting each other, you know, to make it less awkward.

While my mother makes us both a plate and Theo sticks to her ass like a little kid, Hunter and I take a seat in the living room.

'She's nice.' He whispers, smiling at me. 'She is, so leave her alone.' He nods and glances around, probably hating every single thing.

'What? Not used to bare minimum?' He shrugs and turns back to me. 'It's... Cozy.'

I almost laugh at his face. He looks like he absolutely hates this place. 'It's a dump, but at least it's something.'

I wonder what's taking mom so long? I hear her mumbling something to Theo about Hunter. She certainly likes him.

'Cataleya, remember what I said earlier. It's safer to move out.' Right...

'How do I move out, without making it too obvious?' I ask, panicking a little.

I don't want her finding out about any of the mafia shit. She'll have a fucking heart attack. But I don't want to lie to her either.

'We could tell her the-' 'No.' And just when he wants to say something, my mom walks back into the room with a tray filled with food.

She made a bunch of food. Fideuà, migas, tortillas and croquetas. Probably to celebrate my... Return.

And now I have to leave again. Fuck.

How am I going to do this?

'I bet you two are hungry!' She exclaims, placing the tray on the table in front of us.

My mom looks at Hunter, he's a guest so he has to grab first, but he's not even looking at the food. He's looking at me.

I nudge my head towards the food and he gets the hint, instantly grabbing a tortilla.

'So tell me, Hunter, where and when did you meet my daughter?' Mom asks, getting straight to business. I grab a tortilla as well and wait for Hunter to explain so that our stories align.

But he has no clue.

And to be honest, neither do I.

'I'm way more interested in knowing how you two met, mom.' My mother turns to me, with a smile that looks faker than anything I've ever seen before.

The smile that tells me that I'm getting my ass beat as soon as Hunter leaves.

But I'll be gone by then as well.

Somehow.

'We met at school, actually.' Hunter chimes, sensing my mother's curiosity. School...

'Oh really, what's you're major?' She asks. I knew this was going to happen. She's going to keep asking questions, and we're going to be fucked. 'Finances, we met in the library. I was studying and she needed a book about management. She ended up in the wrong section, so I told her where to look and then we started talking.'

What. The. Fuck.

I look at Hunter, a little shocked that he could come up with something this quick. But it's brilliant.

'Typical Leya, not knowing where to go.' My mother jokes, smiling at me.

I can tell that she likes Hunter a lot. A lot more than she should.

'Now, about you two.' I point at my mom and Theo, who's sitting next to her.

'You already know the story dear, I told you over the phone.' Right. They met at work. 'I must admit, you two look lovely together.' Hunter chimes, making my mother blush.

She's blushing.

She never fucking blushes.

'Hunter, we should get something to drink.' I sneer, trying to smile away my harsh tone. He wants to get up, but my mom jumps up from her seat and heads to the kitchen first. 'I'll get it.'

Theo eagerly follows her and I wish they take longer than they should.

'What are you doing?' I ask, wanting to throw my plate at Hunter's face.

'I'm just trying to make a conversation.' He says as if it's nothing.

'You need to stop acting like an innocent man when you-' 'You need to tell her you're leaving.' He interrupts again.

'How do I do that?' I ask, wanting to shout at him for pushing me so much. But I can't be too loud. 'Find a way, because the longer you wait, the harder it gets.'

He's right. I need to get this over with.

So I get up and head to the kitchen, leaning against the frame of the door.

I haven't seen my mother for nine months. And never, in my entire life, have I seen her this happy.

Theo has his arms wrapped around her waist and slowly kisses her, while she smiles and tries to brush past him so that she can grab our drinks.

She looks so happy.

And I have to ruin it again.

'Mom?' She pushes Theo away and looks at me. 'Can we talk?' Theo gets the point and slowly walks past me, back into the living room.

'What's wrong, Ley?' she asks, reaching out for me. I grab her hand and hug her tightly, before slowly letting go of her again.

This is going to hurt like a bitch.

But I need her to stay away from me. To keep her safe.

'I don't like Theo.' I mumble. It's not a lie, nor the truth. I don't like him, but that's because I'm selfish. I don't want to share my mom, but if he makes her happy, I'll live with it.

But I need her to think that I hate him, that that's the reason why I'm doing this.

'What? Why not? Did something happen?' Fucking hell... The concern in her voice is making this so much harder. 'I just don't like him.'

'What happened?' I shrug and look straight into her eyes, tears rolling down my cheeks. I don't want to do this.

I want to stay. I want to hug my mother and never let her go. But I can't. Because it's not safe.

'I think I'm going to stay with Neveah for a while.' I lie, wiping my tears away. She looks at me with a raised brow and grabs my arm so that I won't be able to run away.

'Háblame cariña.' No. A sob escapes my mouth and I hug her tightly, taking a deep breath to remember her scent.

It will only be a while, but god does it hurt.

'Que esta pasando, Cataleya?' She asks, hugging me back. 'Nothing. I just don't like him. But I can tell he makes you happy, so I'll stay with Neveah for a while. At least until we have enough money to get our own place.'

I try stepping back, but she's not letting me go. She starts crying herself, holding onto me for dear life.

'Mom, please.' 'You don't have to go. Tell me what's going on and let me help, please?' She begs, slowly loosening her grip on me so that she can look me in the eyes.

'You can't shove your happiness away for me, be happy. I can tell he makes you happy. I don't want to ruin it. We'll be in touch.' I hope...

I step back a little, watching her heart break with each breath she takes. 'No. You can't leave, I just got you back.'

My lungs feel like they're about to give in. So instead of responding, I turn towards the hall and notice that Hunter's already waiting for me by the door.

They heard everything.

'We should go.' I mumble, trying to contain myself for when we're gone. 'Okay.'

I open the front door and hear my mother walking into the hall. She runs towards the door and shuts it before I can leave. 'You're not leaving, Cataleya. Talk to me. Tell me what's going on.'

I can't...

'I don't like him.' I repeat, almost dropping to my knees.

This. Not the murder, not the torture from earlier, but this is the thing that breaks me. Saying goodbye to my mom like this.

Theo steps back and looks at the ground, ashamed of something. Even though he didn't do anything.

He's a good guy.

'Please mom, just move.' She shakes her head and gently grabs my face. 'You're not leaving.'

I don't want to hurt her, but she's not going to let me go. So I gently nudge her to the side, and since she's crying and doesn't want to hurt me either, she steps away.

'Te amo.' I whisper, pulling Hunter with me. 'Cataleya, no vayas.' She sobs into Theo's arms.

I didn't realize that they were standing so close to each other until I was almost crossing the street.

And then it happens, like some kind of switch flipped inside her mind, she runs out the front door and pulls me back. 'Regresa aquí!'

'Go! Be happy! You don't need me!' I shout at her, hating myself for doing so. I never shout at her. Never.

She raised me better.

And my tone shocks her just as much as it shocks me.

Before I can even react, beg her to forgive me for raising my tone, she smacks me right across the face.

Exactly what I deserve. No. I deserve worse.

'We should go.' I mumble, turning back to Hunter. 'My apologies, I will-' 'Move!' I sneer, not wanting Hunter to say another word to my mother ever again.

He silently follows me to the end of the street, where I break entirely. Tears pour out my eyes like freaking waterfalls, and I kick against a wall, making my leg hurt even more.

A car rolls up to us and Hunter opens a door. I look back at my street, the street I used to live in at least, and take one last deep breath, before wiping my eyes and turning back to Hunter.

Every step I take feels like I'm walking on glass. Like it's piercing not just my feet, but my entire soul.

'Cataleya, I-' I look at Hunter and he instantly goes silent at the sight of me. 'Don't start.'

And he doesn't.

I climb in the car and curl myself up into a little ball, looking out my window as soon as he closes the door.

'What happened?' Noah asks when Hunter climbs in as well. I barely notice that he's not sitting next to me. He's sitting in the front.

'Nothing. Just go.' And Noah does. He drives off, away from my town, my home, my place filled with memories, my family.

And all I can do is cry.

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A/N: So this chapter took me three fucking days! BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW HOW I WANTED THAT SHIT TO GO SO HERE YOU FUCKING GO!!!

Also, don't hate me for doing this. LIKE I SAID, EVERYTHING HAS A REASON!!

I decided to try to post every Sunday (it works best for me with school and shit, so I hope you guys understand). If I have finished a chapter beforehand, I'll post earlier, but that means I probably won't be posting that Sunday then if that makes sense?

Thank you for all the love this story is getting so far!!!!!!!!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please remember to vote and comment and let me know what you guys think!

Bless you and your families, and I'll see you in the next chapter!!!!!