*** Brenda Hampton owns all secret life character. I have no intention of stealing her story or characters at all.

*Just want to let you know, I worked on this during Hurricane Isaac lol. This is it, the update, enjoy and then review.

Amy's PoV

Some sick part inside of me loved the new attention I was getting, the other, not so much. Before the party Friday, I'd been known as the nice, quiet, innocent, new girl, but now, I was the new bad bitch. People wouldn't stop talking about what had happened a couple of weeks ago Friday, the day that I truly regretted. It was the reason that my fellow peers found out about my problems, even if they thought they were only rumors. It was the reason that Adrian had been getting on my case a lot more lately. I knew that she wouldn't back down, I didn't want her to.

She wasn't scared that night; she was surprised, caught off guard. Adrian didn't think that I would really go after her, but how wrong she was?

Grace began to avoid me, going back to Adrian for all her tribulations, even staying with her now. It seemed like everyone was afraid of me, or pitied me. I wasn't with the pity, the fear, I could handle.

On the upside though, I'd established myself at the new school, even if it wasn't the way I wanted to. I'd been called into the counselor's office; she wanted to get in my business, naturally. She had finally decided to go through my file and she saw all the problems from my old school, she'd seen all my therapy sessions. Now she wanted me to come to her office twice a week so we could talk. This was exactly what I wanted to evade. Caitlyn, the counselor, had even called my mom, who was now keeping a closer eye on me. I couldn't get over the disappointment that crossed her eyes every time she looked my way.

Ashley ignored all contact with me. She didn't even like being in the room with me, or walking passed me for that matter. I'd told her I hated her, which made my heart feel like it was cracking every time I thought about it. I was in the heat of the moment at the time and she had told Adrian everything about me, leaving out nothing. It was the ultimate betrayal; I wasn't ready to apologize to her yet.

Sitting outside on the curb in front of the school, I held back the tears that were threatening to fall. I hated this. I hated being like this. I'd worked so hard to change, and I had somewhat, but one night ruined everything. It was karma that was the only way I could explain this mess that I'd gotten myself into.

I threw my head in my hands and grumbled. Then, I ran my hands through my hair. It felt right to skip class today, to skip a session with the counselor. I deserved a break.

The sun beat down on top of me as the cool air slapped my bare skin. I welcomed the chill bumps that ran up my arm. This is how I would punish myself, by sitting in the cold. I was too proud to apologize to my sister, who was really the only one I cared about, not matter how much I insulted her or was mean to her. She and my mother's opinions were the only ones that actually mattered. Everyone else didn't count; they wouldn't be there with me in the long haul.

I felt like I'd let them down, my family. My mom had rooted for me as I went through therapy, she had wanted me to get better and I thought I had, but now, I wasn't so sure. This time, I would go back, I would go to someone better; I would make this work, for my family, for myself. The question was did I want it to work? I'd said the same thing last time and now I was right back at the beginning.

The wind stopped hitting my back abruptly and I realized that someone had thrown a jacket around my shoulders. I knew it was him, I could smell his scent on the thick coat. Turning my head to look up, I had to squint to get my eyes to focus passed the bright sunlight. He stood there smiling down at me sympathetically. I didn't need his pity either.

"What do you want?" I asked shrugging off his jacket. Averting my eyes to the side, I ran my fingers through my hair. He walked from behind me and sat down on the curb, putting his hand on my knee. "Can't you see I want to be alone?" I asked bitterly, snapping my head around to look at him. He gave me a curt chuckle.

"Maybe we can be alone together," he said finally looking at me. Sighing, I remembered that this was the guy I had poured my heart out to one fateful night, and then I'd stayed the night in his room. He'd slept on the floor, giving me the bed like a gentleman. "Come on," he said standing up and pulling me with him. His grip was strong against my own, there was no way that I would be able to let go.

Dusting off the back of my pants as we walked, I saw that same black car that was at the convenient store before the party at my house. My heart picked up speed as I moved closer to Ricky. He glanced down at me and then looked at the car, pausing only for a moment to stare at it, before the car sped off. I didn't think we could get any closer until he pulled me into his arms and we continued on our journey. I could feel how tense he had gotten. I could feel the fierceness as our skin touched. That car or whoever was occupying it had made him upset.

"Who was that?" I asked lowly. He continued to walk along the sidewalk until we reached his car. "Ricky?"

"Don't worry about it," he said opening the door for me. I slowly got in, still planning on getting the name of the man or woman, who seemed to take in interest in me all of a sudden.

George's PoV

I looked at the large black van, seething. My baby girl was in there, suffering. There was no telling what they were doing to her, what they had done to her. This was some stupid game they were playing, sending me letters, ransom notes. What did they want from me? They were already tearing my family apart.

I knew it was Marshall; he was the only man that would do this to me. I'd taken Anne from him, he didn't deserve her. Anne couldn't lead the life of a Mafia wife, she was to sweet, to innocent. I'd gotten out of it barely with my life and I'd taken Anne with me. She'd suspected that he was involved in criminal things, but I'm sure she wouldn't have been able to handle this. Now, because of me, our precious little girl was hurting, scared.

Marshall didn't have the guts to do it himself, so he'd hired someone off the street, to do it. Joseph had scraped up that information for me. He was willing to help me, we had been friends once, and I was even his daughter's godfather.

I hadn't seen Grace in so long, she probably wouldn't remember me. She and Amy had played together whenever I'd visited California to see my parents. Every once in a while Amy would talk about her, well, before she was taken. After I got her back, I would let her visit Grace.

Sighing, I put my head in my hands. Why couldn't I just go get her now? She was right there in my contact. All I had to do was reach out and touch her. Putting my hand on the door handle, I felt a hand reach over and grab my arm.

"George, we have to wait," Joseph said demandingly.

"She's right there Joe, all I have to do is go get her," I said looking at him incredulously.

"We could risk them killing her George. For all we know right now, they could be watching us, they could know that we were here and be waiting for us to make the wrong move," He said putting his hands back on the steering wheel. They probably couldn't see us. The windows were to dark for anyone outside to see in.

"That's my daughter and I need to go get her," I put my hand on the door handle again. "If this was Grace, you would do the same thing," I put my hand on the gun that was on my waist and opened the door stepping outside of the safety zone.

Anne's PoV

I remember the day that George came back with our daughter in his arms. Amy looked so traumatized, she was barely moving. I'd cried over her that night, cradled her in my arms as she lay in her bed wide awake, sweating. She didn't say, but I knew that she was afraid of the nightmares.

Amy was only a toddler; she shouldn't have had to go through all of that. I knew it had, had something to do with George. I'd played the naïve wife for the sake of our children, our marriage. I'd known long ago that he was involved in some shady activities. Marshall hadn't tried to hide his life from me and George was always around him, along with another guy I wasn't too familiar with.

I don't understand why I was so drawn to all of it. The darkness of the whole situation. It had added excitement to my life, before I had the kids, then it started to scare me. One of my daughters being taken had been my worst fear, and I was scared to death when she'd come up missing. That very moment made me realize that I couldn't let my daughters grow up in such a place, in such a life.

I'd made the decision to move away from California, to Texas, it hadn't made much of a difference. George was still involved with them, my father had told me one day when I went to visit him in prison. Anthony Rizzolo had been a very dangerous man at one point in his life, well, up until the day he died actually. George had no idea who I really was, that I was a mafia princess. I knew a lot about how it worked, and how to work it. My mother had taken me away from that life before my eighteenth birthday, changing my name, to something less mafia like.

At first, it took me awhile to get used to the name Anne Grant, it was so plain, so boring. For a long time, I resented my mother for snatching me away from such a perfect life, but now I knew how she felt. I respected her for it. I was too young to understand the hazards of it, the poison that ran through it. I'd spent months, angry with George for reentering me into such a life, but I'd never left.

Every man that I was ever attracted to was just like my father in so many ways. They were strong, dangerous, knew how to take care of their families, in yet, they all cheated. Yes, my father was a cheater, a drug addict too. He'd gotten too involved with his own "production". My mother told me the stories after she was diagnosed with cancer. She felt like she should tell me before she passed away. They'd both kept so much from me, trying to protect me. That's why I hadn't told my daughters about their father's life, that's why my husband didn't tell me about his life

It had taken me years to figure out that it was all about protection, keeping one another in the dark to make sure we lived. My father hadn't been so considerate, putting me and my mother's life in danger continuously. That's not the life I want for Amy and Ashley, and they weren't going to get it. Now that George was gone, it was over, that's why I'd come back to California. There was nothing to worry about anymore.

Ricky's PoV

Michael Rivera was beginning to become a nuisance in my life and I wanted him to be taken care of. I'd felt Amy tense up when his car stopped in front of us. He had her afraid and that awakened this beast inside of me. I pulled her closer to me, wanting to protect her from him, but I knew how impossible that would be. I really needed to smoke; this whole situation was almost puzzling to me. Something in her body movements had let me know that she'd recognized the car, which scared me even more than I probably should be.

We sat in the car in silence as I drove. The atmosphere inside was thick, almost suffocating. I cut the air on inside hoping that it would clear some of the air. Amy shivered in her seat, I smiled. The girl was always cold, which was something we definitely didn't have in common. I loved the cold air. Surprising me, she cut the air off and I didn't know whether to be upset, shocked, or amused. She'd done it so freely, like it was her car.

"It's freezing in here," she stated, answering the question I was about to ask. "It's inconsiderate of you not to ask me if I'm cold or not before you just turn the air conditioner on. I'm the passenger," she said crossing her arms. I smirked and glanced at her. She had her lips turned into this cute pout and I just wanted to lean over and kiss her. Bad thought Ricky, very bad thought. I scolded myself.

"Well it's my car and I'm the driver, which makes me more important than you," I stated playfully. Giving her a fleeting look, I saw the shocked expression on her face which made me laugh.

"Fine, I'll turn the air back on so we can both be sneezing and coughing tomorrow," she said putting her hand back on the A/C button, but I put my hand on top of hers to stop her. Her skin was so soft. I grabbed her hand gently and kissed the back of it as I looked at the road. She pulled her hand away looking out the window, but I'd already noticed the redness creeping up her cheeks. I smirked.

"I don't get sick," I said trying to make her comfortable again, not regretting any of the decisions I've made since I've been with her today. "It's not possible for me," she turned back around in her seat to look at me. "But for you, I'll leave the air off, I'm sure I'll live," she smiled shyly. Wow, I was laying it on thick today. I'd never really had to work this hard for a girl, usually they kind of fall at my feet. However, I didn't really mind the challenge of this one.

"Thanks… I guess," she said unsure of herself, pushing her hair behind her air, sadly I wanted to do that. Amy bit her bottom lip and looked into the side mirror of my car. "Ricky, I don't know if you noticed this, but I think we're being followed," she said still looking in the mirror. Looking into mine quickly, I noticed the black car behind us, damn that Michael Rivera.

Between graduating high school and starting college it been rough, but guess what, it is done, finally a new chapter. R&R!