A/N: Heeeey guys…I'm back! Sorry I was gone for so long. Again. But my mom was sick, and then I had finals, and then I was sick (and still am…blegh). I'm so sorry! But here's the newest chapter, and a major shoutout to crazedreader96akajetli for helping me with this chapter, as well as giving me all kinds of ideas to use in the future.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 7: Family Matters

Alli's POV

I had her. It took some time, and a few favors, but I finally managed to track her down. I wasn't sure how I was going to confront her; I just hoped that once my eyes rested on her, my fury would do all the talking for me. I memorized the location, and left my apartment.

As I waited for the elevator to reach the lobby, I found myself wondering why I was doing this. For years I have managed to remain out of sight, and potentially I was going to attract all kinds of unwanted attention by talking to her. But every time I closed my eyes, I would see him. I would see his big dark brown eyes moist with unshed tears. I would see a frown that seemed to deepen with each day, rather than that 100-watt smile I've always loved. It truly broke my heart to know he was hurting so much because of her.

The elevator door opened, and before I could step out, the boy I had just been thinking about collided into me. Though I'm 5'9", the force of the collision caused me to hit the ground.

"Alli? Oh, gosh I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" I heard Carlos ask as I felt two hands wrap around me and help me back up. As soon as I was steady, Carlos let go, eyeing me worriedly. Slightly dazed, I placed my hand on my head and looked at the Latino, trying to not melt at all the attention he was giving me.

"I'm fine. It's alright." I responded. There was a pregnant pause, then my eyes widened as a realized why Carlos was now looking at me strangely. Reflexively, my hand flew to my mouth.

"Did…did you just talk with an accent?" Carlos questioned, clearly perplexed. I wanted to slap myself. Silently chastising myself for my faux pas, I let my hand drop to my side and I smiled widely at Carlos.

"Oh, that? That was nothing at all. I guess I banged my head harder than I thought, huh?" I forced out a laugh, hoping that he'd leave it at that. But by the look on his face, I knew he wanted to interrogate me further. But before he even had the chance to say anything, I cut him off.

"Well, I best be going now. I'm late for an appointment."

And with that, I sped out of the lobby, leaving a confused Carlos behind.

Alli's POV

I let out a frustrated sigh when I realized she wasn't there. It took a lot of work and stealth to avoid all the security personnel at this location, and it was all for naught. As I looked through the window, I saw three figures: one tall dark-haired male, a female with brown hair and blonde highlights, and a shorter, red headed female. It looked like they were arguing about something, judging by the jerky gestures they were making with their hands. The redhead looked pretty beat up, she sported a big black eyes and her right arm was in a sling, as well as a bandage around her head. Despite being so damaged, she was poking the male in his chest with her good hand, her face presumably red from shouting. In response, the guy seemed to be shouting as well, as he pointed toward a door. The other girl, though not yelling or talking, seemed to be siding with the tall male, her eyes shooting daggers toward the woman.

I didn't stay for much longer, knowing that I had no need to be there. As I crept away, I remembered the countless times Carlos talked about her. Though none of the boys ever talked about her when they were together, Carlos would mention her often to me. The haunted looks on his face alone inspired me to continue my search, even though I no longer had a solid lead. The only thing I had was her alleged favorite spot, at least according to Carlos.

It took me about twenty minutes on foot to reach the place, and when I peered through the window I was once again disappointed. Deciding that there was no way I'd find her, I decided to go back to my apartment and conduct further research. But not ten minutes of walking had past, when something on the other sidewalk across the street caught my eye. Turning, I got a better look and almost couldn't believe it. As if Lady Luck were shining down on me, there was the person I had been looking for all morning, walking in the opposite direction and away from me.

After quickly checking the road for cars, I darted across the street. Swiftly, I approached the lone figure and as soon as she was in reach, I grabbed her wrist.

"It's been a while, Katherine," I stated casually.

Leigh POV

"It's been a while Katherine," I heard a feminine voice behind me say as I felt a tug on my wrist. I rolled my eyes, not in the mood for this recent event. I already had too much preoccupying my mind; I didn't need this. Though I didn't recognize the voice, I knew she had to have been part of the family, since no one outside of its tight loop knew of my birth name. I stood still, knowing that the last thing either of us wanted was attention. Discreetly, I pulled my wrist out of her purchase and turned around. As I faced the person in question, I felt genuine shock course through my body.

"Allessandra? Is that you?" I asked, stupefied. She didn't respond, her blue-green eyes piercing through me. I could tell she was angry about something. I looked around at our surroundings before returning my gaze on her.

Lowering my voice, I muttered, "Look, whatever you want to talk about, let's do it somewhere more privately." Not waiting for her to respond, I began walking. Sensing her presence behind me, I led her to the one place I knew we could talk with interruption.

Since I discovered the truth about what happened two years ago, my memory has sorted itself out. And one of the first memories I got back was a restaurant named Madam Wok's. It was one of the few places where I felt safest when I was in L.A. I completely trusted the owner, knowing she'd never betray me.

It didn't take us long to get there, but it felt like a ton of weight was lifted off of my shoulders as soon as the restaurant doors closed behind us. To my relief, I saw Madam Wok approach us. Her eyes clearly showed no recognition of me; I figured my now-dark hair was the cause. I began speaking to her in Mandarin and after a pithy exchange, I managed to jog her memory. She smiled pleasantly at us and led us to the back room of the restaurant. She left as soon as we were situated, promising to return with the menu. When I was certain she had left, I focused my attention on Allessandra.

"I take it this isn't one of those happy family reunion type scenarios." I prompted, knowing she wouldn't beat around the bush.

"You've got a lot of nerve, you know." I quirked my eyebrow.

"I'm afraid I don't follow." She sighed, rubbing her temple with her finger.

"You leave Carlos, Kendall, Logan, and James without any explanation, only to return two years later unannounced. Don't you realize how much they care about you?"

I clenched my fist, getting more and more infuriated by the minute. "Look Allessandra, the past day has been hell for me. And the last thing I need is for you to come in pointing fingers, especially when you don't know the whole story."

Allessandra shrugged. "Doesn't seem like there's much to it, if you ask me. You were on some mob-related business, used the boys for your own personal gain, and left as soon as you got what you wanted. You always were good at obeying your father's orders."

I gritted my teeth. "For your information, I actually ran away. You're not the only one who didn't like mob life. And for the record, I was taken by the mob against my own free will. I would never have left them."

She sighed again, pinching the brim of her nose. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but you need to find them and tell them that yourself."

I stared at her in disbelief. "What? Are you crazy?"

"Maybe so. But you need to listen to me and listen well, Katherine. That night they saw you at the Chinese Theatre…it changed a lot. I'd never seen them like that before. They all think you left them of your own free will. They need to know what happened. I know that they understand your "profession", so to speak. I'm not about to be a mediator. You and you alone need to do this. It'll be up to them to forgive you." She pushed her chair back, and stood up. "And one more thing, I managed to make it out and stay out. Maybe you can do the same." Without another word, my cousin walked to the door, opened it, and disappeared out of my sight.

I slammed my fist on the table. "Damn it!" I was beyond frustrated at this point. I didn't know if I could face them, especially James, after all that's happened. Would they even believe me? And if they do manage to forgive me, where do James and I stand? Truth be told, ever since I got my memory back, he was all I could think about. Well, he and Riley. Riley and I may not always see eye to eye on some things, but there is definitely some undeniable chemistry between us. And he is perhaps one of the few people (besides Allessandra and AJ), who understand what it's like to be me. That kind of understanding is important to me. Really important to me.

Standing up, I made my way to the door. I shot Madam Wok an apologetic smile as I sped past her and out of the restaurant. As I walked "home", I thought long and hard about what I needed to do. By the time I arrived, I made my decision.

I was going to talk to the boys.

A/N: Sooo…what did you think? I hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought.

Oh, and I want to work on James and Juliet for the next chapter, so if CarelessMan'sCarefulDaughter could message me? I actually wanted this update to be about Juliet and James, but I for some reason can't message you, so if you could contact me, that would be great! :)

Thanks for reading and reviewing you guys! It means so much to me. I love you all and Happy Holidays!