katdancer: Yes, but it was predicted in the previous one.

Trrmo77: Thank you, I was so worried that I couldn't do justice to those parts.

skittlesgirl99: Don't worry, she's got a few years yet. As Gangle said, depends on the patient. I'll be looking forward to the next chapter!

Availre: And...it get's worse.

Chapter thirteen

Eva's POV

I found myself flat on my face; I bit my tongue and tasted blood. "Eva!" Alexander shouted behind me. I screamed and tried to stand up on my feet and cried out at the pain that throbbed in my ankle.

"Eva?" Alexander knelt beside me and I scrambled backwards. "Easy. I'm not going to hurt you." He said as I smacked my back in a wall. I froze, positively terrified. "Is it your ankle?"

I couldn't speak; my heart was pounding in my chest. He knelt and began to move my skirt up. Memories flashed in my head and I screamed. He immediately released my skirt. I sat up and grabbed the skirts at the same moment he touched my ankle. My hands touched his and my heart paused.

His eyes were sparked with impatience, but I could see he was forcing himself to be patient. He turned to look at my ankle, he applied pressure and I whimpered. He looked up at me. "It's sprained." He looked around. "This is a bad neighborhood." He sighed. "How come you always run away when I want to talk to you?"

I shook my head, "I-I was…scared."

He nodded, "I apologize. Father only does that when he's upset."

"his…face."

"he was born that way." He said. "he acts gruff because he'd been abused and tortured. My mother was the guiding light in his life, the only reason why he's so gentle now." He stepped closer to me. "Eva, you can't walk on this."

I shook my head, I knew what he meant. "no."

"Eva, I've never hurt you. I won't do that now."

"please." I begged. "please don't."

"I'm sorry, but I must." I closed my eyes and held my breath and whimpered as I felt him hold me in his arms. The arms I once felt strong in felt awkward and strange to me. "it's all right." He breathed. "I won't let you fall."

"well," my heart jumped in my chest at the sound of my stepfather's voice. "what do you know?"

Alexander set me down and stood in front of me. I bit my hand as I saw my stepfather pointing a gun at us.

"give me the girl, now."

Alexander laughed, a cruel laugh that made my skin crawl. "I don't think so." My stepfather pointed the gun at him. "don't you know who I am? I'm Mr. Y's son."

"and that means?"

"my wallet would mean much more to you that her."

the gun clicked, "hand over the wallet."

Alexander reached carefully into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and threw it. My stepfather greedily grabbed it and he looked down to open the clutch. My stepfather suddenly yelled in pain and that's when Alexander acted.

A knife flew out of his sleeve and stabbed my stepfather in the chest. He let out a roar and I screamed as a gun went off. Alexander pushed me back out of way and he fired a gun that he pulled out of his side pocket. My stepfather cursed and Alexander shifted and pointed the gun at him.

He backed up , not breaking eye contact with my bleeding stepfather. He held out his hand to me and I put mine in his. I inhaled as his arm circled my hips and he swung me up into his arms, the gun still pointing at my stepfather.

"move." Alexander snarled. "before I kill you myself."

"now wait a minute!"

Alexander fired an inch away from his toe. "I said move it!" he shouted. "now!" I clung to Alexander's neck as he walked behind my stepfather. "and don't try anything! I swear I'll kill you!"

"too bad that she can't stomach you. I've been watching you."

"shut up."

"I had her before you."

I whimpered and buried my face in the mint smelling coat he wore. Alexander laughed, "you never had her." I stiffened at the tone in his voice. "she's in my arms now, where she belongs and you won't see the light of day if I hear another word from your mouth you drunken fool!" Alexander shot at his heel. "that, was just a warning. Next time I won't miss."

"you're scaring me." I whispered.

"sorry Eva love," I held my breath as he turned to face me. "but, he won't hurt you ever again."

I stared at him as tears ran down my cheeks. I couldn't believe all he was doing for me, and, an overwhelming urge welled up in. "I-I want to kiss you."

Joy lit up in his eyes, but I also saw restraint there as well. "as soon as he's in custody. Then…I might take you up on that."

Lucy's POV

I held my breath as father came out of mother's room, he looked about to collapse from exhaustion. I stood up and gripped his arm, leading him to the couch. "rest, please."

He shook his head, "in a moment. I've got to deal with Joe first."

"father, not now," I begged. "Please."

"Lucy," he sighed. "shut up." I stiffened as he walked up to Joe. I held my breath as they both studied each other. Father suddenly punched Joe in the jaw!

"father!" I shouted running up to Joe.

Father scowled, "that's for stealing my little princess." Joe rubbed his jaw and I ran up and put my arm around his waist. Father handed him a thick envelope. "and this…is to take care of my princess." I held my breath. Was he giving us permission? He shook Joe's hand and then squeezed it firmly. "and you better, or I'll have you chopped up into pieces so tiny that they couldn't find them with a microscope! Understand?"

I exhaled in relief as Joe shook father's hand. "yes sir. I'll take care of her."

Father scowled and studied his face hard, "you better." He turned and took my hands. "this is my princess." Tears filled my eyes. "treasure her."

"I assure you I do."

"answer me this. If you two were riding alongside a cliff and her horse spooked, heading for the cliff. Would you stop the horse at two feet from the cliff?"

I frowned at my father's trick question. Joe shook his head. "no sir. I wouldn't even let her ride near the edge, or near cliffs for that matter."

"why not?"

"for one, I have a fear of heights." I laughed. "another, it's dangerous at times, the weather and ground unpredictable. I want her to be safe."

Father nodded, "all right Joe. You deserve my daughter…Idonea was right. Who else is more deserving than you?"

The door closed and I heard a stifled moan. "Alexander?" it was Eva and she sounded frightened. "stay with me."

That caused everyone to go to the steps and we all looked down just as Alexander fell forward. Eva gripped him tight, but his weight propelled her forward. She let out a sharp cry as she fell on her knees holding Alexander. She looked up with tears streaming down her cheeks. "we need a doctor! Somebody help!"

Joe ran down the stairs and I immediately helped father sit down. I didn't know how much more of today he could take.

Please ignore all typos, I had high blood sugar and was in la-la land for half an hour. So, I've got to take it easy, sleep longer and get my body back to normal. Please review though.