Here we go!
"Just after you turned five, your mom came and got you from your dad. You'd been with him for the summer holidays and a little bit after because she'd remarried and was on her honeymoon. Your dad wanted to fight for you so much, to keep you with him, but your mom's new husband had the money to fight him in court. I don't like to speak ill of the dead, Isabella, but your mom, she sounded so distant when it came to you. Obviously, we've only heard your dad's side of things, so I'm not too sure, but it seemed that you were always happiest when you were with him... Anyway, you had a relatively normal upbringing, visiting your father often, and although you got on okay with your stepfather, Philip, he didn't take to you as well as your mom would have liked.
They tried several times for a baby of their own, but it never happened. Philip got a job as a coach for a well-known football team, and it took him away from the home quite a lot for away games and training camps. You always seemed to blossom when he wasn't around."
Recapping the information that we both knew already, I tried to delay explaining it all. She needed to know, but the thought of causing her more pain…
"As you got older, you flourished even better when he was on the away games. When he was home, you turned in on yourself, at home and at school. When we spoke to your dad after you disappeared, he said he was worried about how much school you'd missed out on, because by that point, your new year had already chosen their options for the exams. He had put his foot down with your mom and said that you had to come and live with him, regardless of the courts, money, or Philip. He was sure you'd catch up, though; he'd even gone out to get you extra textbooks and revision guides to help you. He also mentioned you were a little nervous because you didn't know his new wife that well, and you were a big sister by then. Even though you hadn't spent much time around your baby brother, you couldn't wait to play with him and help him color, something you both loved to do. Charles told us how happy you were to be going home to him and he was beaming with pride at what a wonderful young woman you were turning out to be.
It was just three weeks before you were due to move back home. Philip was finally home, that current football season was over and that was the weekend when everything turned into a nightmare, no doubt for you and everyone else included.
That Saturday was when I first saw you. Alice, my sister, had been at the library. I still see it as my fault. I carry so much guilt for what happened and even now, all these years later, I despise my actions. I'd kept putting off looking at a stupid paper jam on her printer. That's all it was; she had to go and print off some school work, all because I hadn't put her first that one time.
It was one of the worst days I had ever experienced. The man's name was James by the way, not that it makes much difference now. When he grabbed my sister that day, he'd been sent by someone to get you. Both you and Alice had similar builds, both with dark brown hair, quite short, too.
It had been raining, and after Mom gave me a grilling about letting Alice go to the library on her own, I went to collect her. I even had it in my head that I would buy her a new printer, I would spoil her for letting her down. When I pulled up in front of the building, James was there with his hand around Alice's throat, dragging her down the steps. To this day, I still don't understand how no one saw them. You did, though. In a split second, before I could even process what was happening in front of me, you were out the door, and he was covered in blood. I hadn't even seen what you'd attacked him with. When I went back to the scene, I found the geometry compass you'd dropped in the struggle. That's how I was able to get your fingerprints, in case I needed them. You had damaged his jugular badly; he didn't make it. Which was good, because I would have killed him myself.
Just seconds after my sister was free, you ran. You dropped your bag and ran for your life. Fight or flight. That's what it came down to, and by God, you flew. I'd never seen anyone run so fast.
I phoned my brother while getting Alice in the car. I'm ashamed to admit I found it hard to concentrate on where you had gone while I was looking after my sister. That's another thing I will never forgive myself for. If I had just gotten her in the car and then chased after you, you wouldn't have gone through all these years of hell.
It wasn't until two days later I was informed of what had happened to you. The whole family had been reeling about Alice. We were trying to hunt down the people involved, and your bag and weapon were the least of our concerns. I swear my dad had to sedate Mom to stop her from leaving the house. Most of the time, we got dead ends, but something didn't add up. It wasn't until Emmett, my younger brother, looked into you that we could tie it all together.
I don't know how much you know, but there was someone carrying out surveillance on Philip. It had come to light he'd been gambling, fixing scores, and taking backhanders to get his team to win or lose each match. He'd gotten into really bad debt, as bad as you could get, with the worst people in the country. That one weekend was when they came knocking on the door to collect. If he didn't pay up, they were to take you as leverage. James went to your house first, but no one was in, so he tracked you down. We still don't know how. All we knew was that by Sunday morning, more men were sent.
Neither you nor your mom knew anything about what Philip was up to. We still don't know all of the details either, but the best we've pieced together is that your mom was shot first, and then Philip. Her death was fast, instant, but Philip's was dragged out. He was beaten, cut, and broken before they ended it.
The police working the case knew they'd taken you, and we could only assume it was because of Philip's repayment, or lack of. Jasper hacked their files repeatedly to try and trace you. Alice and Mom were beside themselves with worry over you. They made us swear that we would find you." She fidgeted nervously as I spoke. She didn't try to interrupt me or even utter a sound, so I continued.
"It was only about seven or so months ago that we found you again after you had completely vanished off the radar, which we knew was a possibility. You had slipped through the net so many times, with them re-naming you each time you were moved on. We'd followed dead leads, sightings, and anonymous reports, to no avail, but then you showed up. I was dealing with an issue of another family encroaching too close to where we worked, and there you were. I had to be sure at first, so more of our men were brought in to help me.
We didn't know at that point there was any link between the family we had leads on and Ms. Maksimov. It turned out one of the top-ranking men in the organization was a relative of hers, and she had bought you from him. It took six months of hard negotiations to arrange to 'buy' you, but the night I came to you in that room, that's when you became mine, in their eyes. You became free."
By the time I had finished talking, my voice was a hoarse whisper, and Isabella was shaking. I had connected all the dots for her. How both sides of the story were actually one and now she had to process it. I wanted to ask if she'd seen what they'd done to Phillip. It was morbid, but curiosity was getting the better of me. She was just a small girl, a young teenager who should have been celebrating her birthday., not watching someone being cut up, beaten, and then shot.
"He told them to take me as payment. He said… He said that I was a vir… That they could get more for me being so young and innocent, he said I had no other family that would come looking for me." her voice was so broken, so quiet.
Rage erupted in me to a level I've never felt before. How could he? How could Phillip do that to such a young girl, to anyone?
"You're not American." Her voice, when it broke through the silence, was strained. I had no idea where this question came from, but it was enough to calm me down, even just a little.
"I have dual citizenship. I was born here in good ole Ireland but went to school in the States when my granddad moved us all out there. He wanted us kids to have a better education and what he wanted, he got. Dad was happy enough to expand the business there, so it was a done deal. I spent all my time there unless we came home for a vacation."
Isabella gave a slight nod but didn't make eye contact.
What is she thinking? I wanted to ask her but knew to give her time. We walked back to the house a little while later, and she was still silent, but carefully leaning on me as we walked.
"My brothers and sisters will be here soon. You've already met Alice, but not the others. Emmett is my younger brother and he's married to Rose. Jasper, Rose's brother, is married to Alice. All of us work together with what we do, it's a real family business. Mom didn't want Alice doing what we do, but after what happened to her, Mom backed down. They were all involved in getting you out of there and bringing down the ring. Isabella, I won't lie to you and say that I'm a good guy, because I'm not. I'm not good at all and I've done some shit I'm either proud of, or not at all and I won't turn my back on what I do. But I need to tell you that although I'm no danger to you, I am a dangerous man. I don't do what that bitch did, with all those girls, but I'm not innocent," I said quietly as we walked into the house.
Isabella dropped my hand at the door and walked off, just leaving me there.
I went to find dad. He needed to know that I'd filled Isabella in on what happened, and he was always good at listening. I needed to vent, but I didn't know how. I didn't do well with emotions, because they got you into trouble, they caused you to lose focus.
My overriding fear with emotions was if Isabella could ever recover from what she'd been through emotionally, probably more than physically.
So... Yeah.
Someone asked how long this story is now. It's 19 chapters and an epilogue. We still have a way to go and a couple of chapters might not be to your liking. No trigger warnings will be needed, but Edward has to step up... ;)
I don't know if I'm going to post super early tomorrow or super late. I FINALLY GET TO SEE MY SON, MUM, AND SISTER! I haven't seen them since May! I just wanted to hug them so damn tight!