I lived the life of someone who wasn't able to breathe, or turn her head without being watched. There was always someone wanting me dead by default, see I was the daughter of mob boss extraordinaire Sonny Conrinthos. And because of that my family was always in danger. Always living in fear that any day would be our last. Funny thing because as of right now I would love nothing but to be dead. Not here, not with living in my own filth in a closet hoping that someone, anyone would come save me.

See my dad was in a war against Anthony Zacarra's, a ruthless, psychotic man who's daughter was killed by my brother's hand. He didn't care about Claudia's death he never liked her, but it gave him a reason to start a war and it did. I had been at ELQ, Michael had invited me over to come see his office and to show me around the building. I never made it through the front door. I had parked in the underground garage, and was making my way to the door when a man grabbed me from behind. Pulling me from off the ground my heels slipped off of my feet and to the ground and I kicked and struggled against him as he locked his around around my neck. I was still fighting back even as I drifted off into oblivion.

I woke up startled, laying on a cot in a small cool closet. I had my hands chained to a bar on the wall and my wrists were chaffed from pulling on them in my sleep. My first reaction was panic, my chest heaved in and out, and I had to stop burning tears from breaking the barriers of my eyes. I stopped myself, I couldn't panic, I couldn't cry. I had to find a way out, and quick because whoever put me here would be coming back to get me, or worse...kill me.

I realized that I wouldn't be able to get the cuffs off, the closet had no windows, but what closet did? My only exit was the closet door, and I would have to wait until someone opened it for me. I stared at that door for ages, until finally it opened. And Johnny Zacarra stood there, smiling menacingly at me, his eyes were empty and at that moment I felt bad for him, his father didn't care about him, his mother was dead. And the only other person he gave a damn about in this world had died. That didn't give him the right to do this to me though, to kidnap me.

"Krissy..." He said, he bent down and he came to eye level with me. And I grimaced at how devoid of emotion his eyes were. It was like looking into a dark hole.

"Friends and family call me Kristina, you will call me Kristina Adela Davis Corinthos, or nothing at all." I felt the Cassadine coming out of me, some part of that wicked Helena thriving vigorously in my soul. We didn't cower facing death, we laughed at it!

I heard a old cackled behind Johnny, and Anthony himself stepped behind Johnny. "The girl has some spunk! I like her."

"My father is going to kill you."

He laughed, rubbing his hands together. "Oh yes, I'm looking forward to your father coming after me to save you. If he can find me."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're not in America anymore, you're in Australia far from anywhere your father would think to look."

"It doesn't matter if you put me on the moon, my mother, my father, and my sister, will find me. They'll never stop looking." My sister was a private detective, and a damned good one at that. She had been on a case for two months, chasing down a mob boss that had been spectated as murdering two girls that worked at his club. She had eliminated a enemy for my father, just as cleaning up the streets. It was ironic when you thought about it. I chose not to think about it.

"That doesn't matter little girl, because when they find you...you won't be here." Anthony replied.

I stood up, the chains raising up the bar, I stood tall and strong. My long, dark hair laid on my back and my chin was tilted proudly. I refused to look weak. "Then where will I be?"

"With the highest bidder of course." Anthony crowed.

"And who is this...highest bidder?"

Johnny who had stood up when I did smiled, "One of your father's enemies, you're almost priceless Kristina." He chuckled as he told me. "Do you know how much you're worth? Millions. Your father's enemies will pay millions to get you in their grasps. To use them against him and Port Charles savior Jason Morgan. Being a Conrinthos is going to ruin your life."

"Don't forget Johnny, I am also a Cassadine."

I woke up in the dark, they'd turned off the closet light. I stood up, my chains rattling and fumbled around for the switch. I made more noise then I'd like before I finally flicked it on. It had been a few days before I spoke with Anthony or Johnny. They'd had left that day with a promise that I'd be shipped off to the highest bidder. Which meant I was well as dead. I refused to believe that though, someone would come save me. If it was my father, mom, or my sister, or the law. Someone would come looking and find me.

I looked around the closet for something to pick the handcuffs with but found nothing. Then I an idea came, and I felt stupid for never trying it in the first place. I took a bobby pin out of my hair and straightened it out. I wasn't even able to try it out because the door swung open. Just because the Zacchara's were not around didn't mean they had left me here by myself. The guard they left to watch over me was overweight, tall, and his breath reeked of rotten teeth. I hated him.

"I need to use the bathroom." I said, glaring up at him.

He smiled, his teeth tiny little yellow nubs. It was so quiet in the apartment that I could actually hear the central air pushing air out of the vents, it was almost like I could hear him lick his teeth as I watched him. He just stared down at me like a bald (very patchy) eagle. I was waiting for him to say something but he refused, instead he just looked at me.

I let out a big whoosh of air and repeated myself, "I have to go to the bathroom, are you going to let me go, or is that closet going to get messy? The Zacarrah's won't like that." I said their name mockingly because in my opinion they didn't deserve any respect. It was a unspoken rule that you don't go after the children of the mob. You went after the men, period. Nubby boy stepped closer to me and I didn't budge a muscle. He took another and I stood my ground, even though on the inside I was a quivering little girl wanting her father or mother to come rescue her. Conrinthos. Cassadine. Those names gave me strength. They were my family, my loved ones and they would come for me.

All of a sudden he yanked me by my arm and pulled me close to him. His body reeked, and his breath was even worse this close up. "Can you say pretty please?"

I looked up into his eyes, they were empty. The only thing he probably could process were the orders he was given by his boss'. He was only a flunky they left with me because they were over confident that I couldn't be found, and I wouldn't' be able to get away from him. They thought wrong. "Let me go to the bathroom, or the Zacarra's are going to be pissed that their carpet is stained. Don't you know what happens when you make mistakes? You disappear."

He grunted and shook me by my arm a bit, then he straightened up and stepped over so I could walk out of the door. He didn't move far enough so my body brushed against him as I passed by. The guard didn't know but the Zacarrah's had given me a...jar. A jar to pee in, it was disgusting, berating and humiliating to use it. I hated it, and I would hold on to the very last minute to use it. Anthony would wait right outside the door, and of course the house was dead silent. He would laugh outside of the door and tease me that I wasn't able to go. This was the worst time of my life, nothing would be able to compare. I started walking around quickly, trying to see what the place looked like before he yelled at me. It didn't take long.

"The bathroom is right there! Go!" Nubby yelled at me, he pointed his index finger to the bathroom door.

I looked over towards the glass double doors and my heart leap. It was a balcony, I could jump! "What floor are we on?"

"Don't worry about it."

"I'm just asking because it'll take a really long time to get me out of here if my family finds me. You won't be able to escape and you'll die." It was true.

"Well Anthony, and Johnny are smart guys, and we're on the second floor once we even get a whiff of the Conrinthos...you'll be stuffed in a trunk somewhere onto another safe place." He told me, I could tell he was pissed off by what I said. "I could put you back in that closet ya know. No one is hear, I can do whatever I want. Whatever I want!" He yelled at me, his chest heaved up and down and I could tell he was getting angrier by the second.

"I'm sorry...what's your name?" Nubby. You'll be Nubby forever in my mind.

"My name isn't of your concern...Kristina." He said my name like he should get a prize. Since he knew mine but I didn't know his. I didn't know what to say next. I just stood there, stuck. Looking at him as he looked back at me. The air was much cooler out her and my skin chilled to the bone.

"Fine. I 'll just go to the bathroom." I rushed into the room, closing and locking the door behind me. After actually using the bathroom I hurriedly found a weapon. I turned on the water and looked around. The bathroom was oddly bare. Except for this really expensive thing that held the tissue up on the wall. It was all chrome. I yanked it, and yanked it, but it only budged a little. I froze when I heard the doorknob twist. Nubby was trying to come in. I put my foot on the wall and pulled again and the holder finally came loose.

"OPEN THE DOOR YOU LITTLE BITCH, OPEN IT OR I'LL KICK IT OPEN!"

I turned off the water and took a deep breath, I could possibly kill him from a blow to head. I honestly didn't care. If my survival meant him dead, then so be it. "Give me a couple more minutes." I yelled out, and then quietly unlocked the door. Just as he began to yell I yanked the door open. It felt like it was happening in slow motion. I swung my arm and the chrome tissue holder slammed into his head. He fell to the floor squealing, I hit him again for good measure and headed to the balcony doors. My hair swung in back of me as I ran, and I felt the wind hit me as I rushed through the doors. I swung my legs over the stone railing and fell through the wind.

I braced myself in seconds to fall to the ground but I did not. I landed in some one's arms. I could feel soft but calloused hands. One arm holding me to his chest as the other had my legs dangling over it. I looked up into the face who had caught me. And I felt breathless all over again. He was gorgeous. It was his eyes that captured me the most. They held his soul, and they weren't empty. He wasn't empty. Whoever the man was I was grateful that he caught me but I couldn't' stay in his arms forever. I wrangled myself away and without another word other then 'thank you' I ran. I ran, as my bare feet trampled the ground. I looked behind me and he was staring after me. Then he came running after me, his feet pounded twice as hard, he ran faster, and I knew he would get to me quickly. Who was he anyway? No! No! How could I be so stupid! He could be working for the Zacarra's, he could be wanting to kill me. Letting me run away was probably only because he was stunned that he just caught me as I jumped from the second story balcony.

I turned a corner and ran into an apartment building. And headed to the reception desk, I was going to call my mom. Before I even reached the desk I heard someone call my name, I looked back and saw a unfamiliar man. I ran.

"Stop her!" Zacarra's goon called.

No one stopped me, and I continued running. All the way to the back I found an exit in the next hallway and as soon as I opened the door I ran into a chest. A smooth, chiseled chest. I looked up and there he was. My rescuer. "Move!" I demanded trying to get around him, "They're after me, they'll kill the both of us. Move!"

He pulled me away from the door and stepped aside so he wasn't visible. I wanted to run, I really did but I stayed in place. And I started to feel the soreness in my feet, my feet I knew were bleeding from stepping on glass. It added insult to injury as we were standing at the back of a hotel a couple feet away from a dumpster. The goon came running out of the door and Ethan had him on the ground in seconds. The man wasn't a match for the dark haired stalker (I'm calling him a stalker because he followed me three blocks and waited behind a hotel for me).

"Who are you?" He demanded to know. His voice was hard, but I could tell this wasn't him. He didn't go around chasing girls down saving them. He didn't stick his neck out by planting down a thug who was after said girl either. Who was this guy, and why was he helping me?

The thug spat up at him, and he made a disgusted grunt and punched the thug. The man's head whipped to the side and he spat blood on the pavement. "Fuck off, I'm not telling you anything."

"You better tell me something or I'll put a end to you, and throw you over in that dumpster over there."

I thought about it, I could run, I could run while the thug was on the ground and...whoever this man was, was keeping him busy. It didn't matter who the guy was, I knew why he was after me. I knew who had hired him. So why was I still here? I spun on my heel and sprinted down the alley, I wasn't going to look back this time. I was going to run until I was far enough I know someone wasn't going to find me. Not until after I called my family, or the police.

I was going down another alley way when all of a sudden hands grabbed me around the waist and successfully stopped me from running. I fought the hand off and tried to get away but they just got a better grip on me, I opened my mouth to scream but a hand came and covered my mouth. "Look here you little runaway, I'm trying to help you and you are not making it easy."

I tried to talk but I just came out muffled under his hand. And plus I was getting a bit dizzied. I don't know what came over me so suddenly. My mind just felt cloudy. And his chest pressed against my back didn't help, or his groin pressed against my butt. His long, defined arms that were wrapped (restraining!) around me, and...what was I thinking? His body didn't matter! Getting to a damn phone to call my parents did! His hand uncovered my mouth and I felt I could breathe better. Now that something of his was not touching me. "Do you have a phone?"

He snorted, "Hells, no."

"Who doesn't have a phone? Everyone has phones!"

"I'm not a man who needs one, sorry to disappoint you." He said not feeling a bit sorry at all. The guy actually sounded pretty amused. I struggled in his arms but he wouldn't' let me loose, "Why do you have blood on your shirt?"

"I have blood on my shirt?" I looked down and sure enough there was Nubby's blood splattered on my shirt. There wasn't much but I was still worried that he'd died, but no he was still groaning when I jumped so he had to be okay.

He turned me around to face him and he cupped my chin in his hands. "My name is Ethan, and I can help you. If you let me... that is."

I shook my head, "I don't need help, what I need is a phone."

"First tell me what's going on. I just saved your life! Twice! The least you can do is tell me why you jumped off of that balcony in the first place."

"My name is Kristina Conrinthos, I'm the daughter of a mob boss-"

"You're Sonny Conrinthos daughter?" He didn't sound like he believed it.

"You've heard of me? Who are you?" I asked him stepping back, he was so shocked of who I was that he didn't bother to recapture me.

"I'm Ethan Lovett, I'm a..." He didn't have anything to say, and it showed in his eyes. Ethan didn't let it get to him, I could almost see him shaking off the memories, and the pain he though of in that moment. "I've heard about you because there are a lot of people who want you. They're bidding. And they have connections everywhere. If you go to the police they'll get you."

"No they won't I'll be in custody."

"Believe me, I've seen it happen. You're over seas they can easily say they never had you at all. These people are greedy, powerful and manipulative they can flip a couple people at the police department. You call your dad and they go to whatever plan b they have."

"Well what else can I do?" I was slowly, but surely running out of options.

"I can get you back home, with your family."

"I don't believe this, any of it. You don't know me, so why would you be helping me. This isn't America, things are different if I go to-"

"I'm Australian I've lived here most of my life and I know these places inside and out. I 've seen it happen Kristina. You go there...you may not be seen ever again. And then who will be able to save you."

I looked at him, and I burst into laughter. Laughter that turned into tears, that rose into sobs. I was completely ugly crying in front Ethan and I didn't care. I didn't care at all. I'd been wanting to cry for such a long time. I was tired of being strong, and not letting what was going on bother me. Ethan pulled me into his arms and I didn't even resist in burying my head into his chest. He smelled like sandalwood and sweat, I didn't even mind the sweat part. "Please, don't cry." He cooed, he brushed the hair away from my face and cupped my chin, tilting it so I could look up at him. " You're safe now, and I promise nothing is going to happen to you until we get you back to your dad."

I pulled away, a bit reluctantly and wiped my tears away. Right now wasn't the time for them. I had to get inside somewhere since it was getting dark outside and that's mostly when police are out looking for crime. And a girl running around bare footed, wearing a bloody shirt and messy hair sure looked suspicious.

"We need to get inside soon."

His lips lifted, it was a charming smile. "I have a place."